LINEA ABIERTA | THIS WEEK | PREVIOUS PROGRAMS

Linea Abierta Programs for August 2004

Monday, August 2nd

PROGRAM # 4279 - 12:00 PDT
ASTHMA AND POLLUTION. Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley are among the regions most polluted with soot and pesticides in the air. Soot in the air is related to a number of cases of bronchitis and asthma attacks. Medical experts and community activists discuss what’s being done to help families and to clean the air. A listener gives testimony about how his child, while covered by government-sponsored children health insurance, has to suffer asthma due to the poor living conditions in their small trailer home in the fields. Another listener warns about contamination of agricultural soils now developed for housing units. She had to take her asthmatic son to Mexico, where he found relief in alternative medicine. 

Guests: Rey Leon, Latino Issues Forum, Fresno, CA; Carolina Simonovich, Fresno Metro Ministry, Fresno, CA; Mario Alfaro, Darin Camarena Health Centers, Madera, CA; Dr. David Pepper, Medical Advocate for Healthy Air, University of California, San Francisco – Fresno Office, Fresno Community Hospital.

Tuesday, August 3rd

PROGRAM # 4280 - 12:00 PDT
UPSET ELECTION AT THE BORDER. A candidate of the formerly ruling party in Mexico won the race to mayor of Tijuana, Mexico’s border largest city. Jorge Hank Rhon, a gambling industry tycoon with deep ties to the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, defeated a candidate of PAN, the party that has ruled the state of Baja California for more than a decade. This is a news report by Mary Vazquez, of Radio Tecnologico. 

ALSO, IMMIGRATION EDITION. Attorney Carlos Spector Calderón comments on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s promise to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform plan within one hundred days of taking office. He also answers listeners questions on immigration and citizenship procedure.

Wednesday, August 4th

PROGRAM # 4281 - 12:00 PDT
DEMOCRATS ON THE ROAD. This is a conversation with Aída Alvarez, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration under President Clinton and currently a co-chair for the Kerry-Edwards Campaign. She comments on eliminating tax breaks for creating jobs overseas, increased support for small businesses, expanding health care to working families, cutting the costs of money remittances and more. Listeners call in to give their views on health insurance, the war in Iraq, investing in schools, the economy and mobilizing to vote.

Thursday, August 5th

PROGRAM # 4282 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Francisco “Paco” Huerta, a veteran radio journalist and civic journalism’s foremost advocate, broadcasts live from Mexico City a new edition of his series “Voz Pública,” a listener-driven program featuring a wide array of commentaries about the top news stories.

Host: Francisco Huerta, www.vozpublica.com.

Friday, August 6th

PROGRAM # 4283 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis in issues on women and peace in the Caribbean basin.

Host: Wanda Colón Cortez.

Monday, August 9th

PROGRAM # 4284 - 12:00 PDT
RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES AND FOUL AIR. Global warming is bringing more smog and less air quality for many large cities in the United States, increasing the risks for people with asthma and respiratory diseases. Dr. Elmer Huerta discusses these new findings and provides practical advice for patients and listeners at risk. Also, Dr. Gabriela Lemus, director of policy and legislation for the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington, DC, comments on the reports Air of Injustice and Clear the Air, which reveal that 70 per cent of Latinos are breathing sub-standard air and Latino children are two and a half times more likely to have asthma than White children.

Tuesday, August 10th

PROGRAM # 4285 - 12:00 PDT
MICHOACANOS SEEKING CLOUT. Michoacanos from Mexico and the U.S. get together in Northern California to flex political muscles and find support for community investment programs and human rights efforts. Also, a Central Valley university professor may become the first Michoacan émigré to have a seat in the local state legislature after the November election. He was nominated to run for Congress by the Partido de la Revolución Democrática.

Guests:  Luis Magana, Organizacion de Trabajadores Agricolas de California, Stockton, CA; Rev. Marcos Linares, Community organizer, Atacheo, Michoacan; Dr. Jesus Martinez Saldana, professor of Chicano Latino Studies at CSU Fresno, candidate to Michoacan state legislature, Fresno, CA.

Wednesday, August 11th

PROGRAM # 4286 - 12:00 PDT
JOURNALISTS PAY TRIBUTE TO PIONEER. Hispanic journalists gathered in Washington, DC, inducted the late Ignacio E. Lozano Sr. into its Hall of Fame. Lozano, a pioneer of Spanish-language publishing in the U.S., founded the daily newspaper La Opinion in Los Angeles. Monica Lozano, grand-daughter of Ignacio and current publisher of La Opinion, talks about her grandfather, the challenges for her newspaper, and her editorial vision.

ALSO, FEWER LATINOS IN MAJOR NEWS MEDIA. Juan Gonzalez, outgoing president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and columnist for the New York Daily News, talks about his conversations with managers of major news media organizations about the decline of journalists of color in the newsrooms. He also comments on the presence of the top presidential contenders as keynote speakers at this year's joint conference of Black, Latino, native American and Asian journalists, announced as "the largest and most diverse gathering of news professionals in American history."

ALSO, SALVADORAN BISHOP VISITS L.A. Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chavez, a Salvadoran Catholic bishop, visits Los Angeles to attend festivities for El Salvador's patron saint. In this interview, Msgr. Rosa Chavez raises questions about his government decision to send troops to the war in Iraq.

Thursday, August 12th

PROGRAM # 4287 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Francisco “Paco” Huerta, a veteran radio journalist and civic journalism’s foremost advocate, broadcasts live from Mexico City a new edition of his series “Voz Pública,” a listener-driven program featuring a wide array of commentaries about the top news stories.

Host: Francisco Huerta, www.vozpublica.com.

Friday, August 13th

PROGRAM # 4288 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis in issues on women and peace in the Caribbean basin.

Host: Wanda Colón Cortez.

Monday, August 16th

PROGRAM # 4289 - 12:00 PDT
FOODBORN DISEASES. The summer season brings with it more barbeque parties and picnics, more spoiled food, and a number of cases of food poisoning. Reports of food borne illnesses are on the rise in the U.S. Health experts comment on news about food poisoning outbreaks and share advice on the basics of food handling, including shopping, storing, cooking and handling the leftovers. 

Guests: Dr. Gilberto Chávez, deputy director, Epidemiology Department, California Department of Health, Sacramento, CA; Dr. Elsa A. Murano, Undersecretary for Food Safety, USDA, Washington, DC; Eustolia Ruiz, Latino Five a Day Campaign, Fresno, CA.

Tuesday, August 17th

PROGRAM # 4290 - 12:00 PDT
IMMIGRATION EDITION. Attorney Carlos Spector-Calderón comments on recent developments in the immigration law area. Spector-Calderon also answers listener calls on immigrant rights and citizenship procedures.

Wednesday, August 18th

PROGRAM # 4291 - 12:00 PDT
BATTLING POVERTY. Grassroots organizers and lawmakers from throughout California got together in Los Angeles joining efforts to achieve equity and alleviate poverty. Participants share views on the issues they identified and the ways they propose to fight poverty. 

Interviews: Dolores Huerta, civil rights and farm worker activist; George Ortiz, California Human Development Corporation, Santa Rosa, CA; Maria Islas and Paula Plascencia, Lideres Campesinas, Salinas, CA; Arturo Ibarra, Watts-Century Latino Organization, Los Angeles, CA; Fidel Sanchez, Shalom Ministry, Pico Union Methodist Church, Los Angeles, CA; Sen. Richard Alarcon, Los Angeles.

Thursday, August 19th

PROGRAM # 4292 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Francisco “Paco” Huerta, a veteran radio journalist and civic journalism’s foremost advocate, broadcasts live from Mexico City a new edition of his series “Voz Pública,” a listener-driven program featuring a wide array of commentaries about the top news stories.

Host: Francisco Huerta, www.vozpublica.com.

Friday, August 20th

PROGRAM # 4293 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis in issues on women and peace in the Caribbean basin.

Host: Wanda Colón Cortez.

Monday, August 23rd

PROGRAM # 4294 - 12:00 PDT
FARM WORKER HEALTH CARE. This program features interviews with farm worker leaders who comment on health care services for migrants and other topics. On the eve of the national convention of the UFW in Fresno, this program brings an update on the efforts to pass the AgJobs bill in Congress, pesticide reform state bills, and recent calls on growers to take voluntary action to ensure field sanitation. The program also features a community-wide proyect to train and involve farm workers in efforts to access the health care system and promote healthy lifestyles.

Guests: Arturo Rodriguez, President, United Farm Workers of America, Seattle, WA; Antonio Gallardo, deputy director, Farm Worker Institute for Education and Leadership Development, Bakersfield, CA.

Tuesday, August 24th

PROGRAM # 4295 - 12:00 PDT
MEDICARE CARDS. A federal program to provide discount cards for prescriptions drugs for Medicare beneficiaries has been received with mixed views. Many low-income Latino beneficiaries are not even familiar with the new cards. In this program, health care educators explain how to enroll in the plan and take advantage of the benefit. 

Guests: David Santana, Health Insurance Specialist, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, Philadelphia, PA; Magdalena Castro-Lewis, director, Center for Health Care Professionals and La Promesa Program, National Alliance for Hispanic Health, Washington, DC.

Wednesday, August 25th

PROGRAM # 4296 - 12:00 PDT
SIMULCAST U.S.-WESTERN MEXICO. Audiences from the Mexican state of Jalisco and the U.S. are encouraged to call in for a live interaction across the border. In this monthly edition, Radio Bilingüe and XEJB, Radiarte in Guadalajara simulcast a live interview with Juan Jose Frangie Saade, president in Jalisco of Coparmex, a business chamber. Frangie Saade announces a plan to encourage and support migrants who return to their hometowns to invest their dollars in small businesses.

ALSO, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS IN MEXICO. Former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin and Ana Maria Salazar, former national security advisor for President Clinton, visit a large community of U.S. expatriates in Chapala to campaign for the Republican and the Democrat presidential tickets respectively. In these interviews, they talk about Mexicans in the U.S., immigration reform, and abuses at the border. 

ALSO, ARCHBISHOP ROMERO CASE. Civil-rights attorneys introduce evidence in a federal court in Fresno, CA, linking Captain Alvaro Rafael Saravia to the assassination of Archbishop and human rights champion Oscar Arnulfo Romero in San Salvador in 1980.  A relative of Msgr. Romero and prominent Salvadoran human-rights leaders are scheduled to testify at this landmark court hearing. 

Guests: Attorney Almudena Bernabeu, Center for Justice and Accountability, San Francisco, CA.

Thursday, August 26th

PROGRAM # 4297 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Francisco “Paco” Huerta, a veteran radio journalist and civic journalism’s foremost advocate, broadcasts live from Mexico City a new edition of his series “Voz Pública,” a listener-driven program featuring a wide array of commentaries about the top news stories.

Host: Francisco Huerta, www.vozpublica.com.

Friday, August 27th

PROGRAM # 4298 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. Meet Wanda Colón Cortés, the host in WRTU, Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico, who brings interviews and commentary on news developments with an emphasis in issues on women and peace in the Caribbean basin.

Host: Wanda Colón Cortez.

Monday, August 30th

PROGRAM # 4299 - 12:00 PDT
HEALTH. The number of uninsured families has grown in these times of widespread unemployment. President Bush has responded promising to make health insurance more affordable through association health plans, health savings accounts and refundable tax credits. Are these plans really helping to improve health care for Latinos, the most uninsured population? This Línea Abierta edition discusses the issue with guests from the Republican Party and independent commentators. The program also airs hard news and feature reports on the first night of the Republican National Convention. The program also airs news stories on street demonstrations, which are expected to be the largest at any political convention since the 60s.

PROGRAM # 4300 - 18:00 PDT
THE CONVENTION I. Special, live coverage of the first evening of the convention. This two-hour-long program includes segments of keynote speakers, news reports from the floor and public activities outside Madison Square Garden, and analysis by guest commentators.

Tuesday, August 31st

PROGRAM # 4301 - 12:00 PDT
EDUCATION. President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law promising to make history by raising performance standards for all students. At a time of enormous budget deficits, are public schools in poor areas getting the money to pay for the lofty demands? In this edition of the weekday program Línea Abierta, Republicans and independent analysts discuss the Bush/Cheney agenda on public education. 

PROGRAM # 4302 - 18:00 PDT
THE CONVENTION II. Special, two-hour live coverage of the second evening of the convention. The program includes remarks from keynote speakers, interviews from the floor, and analysis by guest commentators.

To tune in to this news service, check our Affiliate Stations page to find your nearest station. Also, the audio of these news stories will soon be available live in this same website.

LINEA ABIERTA | THIS WEEK | PREVIOUS PROGRAMS