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LINEA ABIERTA | THIS WEEK | PREVIOUS PROGRAMS
Linea Abierta Programs for March 2007
Thursday, March 1
PROGRAM # 5064- 12:00 PDT
CLIMATE WATCH LIST. Leading U.S. investors announced the formation of a “Climate Watch List”, a list of ten companies that have been identified as failing to address a response to climate change. Investors have filed in 2007 a record number of shareholder resolutions seeking greater disclosure from companies on their plans to deal with global warming.Guest: Brooke Barton, Corporate Accountability Manager, Ceres, Boston, MA.
ALSO, “STILL TOXIC AFTER ALL THESE YEARS”. Despite being known for its tradition of “green” activism and progressive policies, the San Francisco Baye Area is home to serious environmental inequalities. According to a study, neighborhoods of color of this nine-county region face greater exposure to air pollution and toxics, and are at higher risk for cancer and respiratory illnesses. This is a conversation with Dr. Rachel Morello-Frosch, professor of Environmental Studies and Community Health at Brown University.
Friday, March 2
PROGRAM # 5065 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts this edition of the Voz Pública series from Mexico City. The civic journalist brings news and analysis on Mexican developments.PROGRAM # 5066 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. In this pre-taped edition from San Juan, PR, WRTU’s Wanda Colón Cortés, brings news and analysis on major developments in the Caribbean basin.
Monday, March 5th
PROGRAM # 5068 - 12:00 PDT
MICHOACAN SIMULCAST: THE MEGA-TUNNEL. A freeway tunnel that is announced as a world-class engineering marvel is planned for construction at Michoacán’s Santa María Hill (La Loma de Santa María), a forested area that was declared a nature reserve or protected area by legendary President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río. Construction of the freeway project could begin in March, if it survives legal challenges from local residents. This is a simulcast with the
twelve-station network of Radio Michoacán.Guests: Dr. Patricia Avila García, Academic Research 2003 Awardee, Morelia; Fernanda Navarro, local resident, Morelia; Arturo Núñez Lozano, director, Public Works Department, Morelia City.
Tuesday, March 6th
PROGRAM # 5069 - 12:00 PDT
LATINO LEGISLATIVE DAY. Magdalena Peraza, a community activist from Yakima, WA, reports on the outcome of the Día Legislativo Hispano in Olympia’s Capitol. Peraza reports that 700 community lobbyists and Gov. Chris Gregoire attended the event.ALSO, IMPOUNDMENT OF VEHICLES. A federal court found that the impoundment of the vehicle of an immigrant driver from the driveway of his home was not justified. This conversation explores the impact of this court decision on immigrant drivers in the Western states involved in the court ruling.
Guest: Xóchitl Arellano, Spokesperson, State Sen. Gil Cedillo, Sacramento, CA.
ALSO, DEPORTEES. After recent raids by immigration agents, at least one city is reportedly living like a ghost town and local governments have approved resolutions against the federal roundups. This program includes a conversation with an immigrant health worker who was detained, incarcerated, deported, and separated from her children in one of these actions.
Guests: Myrna Brenner, health care practitioner, deportee, Tijuana; Mirna López, councilmember, author of Resolution 1107 for Immigration Reform, City of Richmond, CA.
ALSO, BUSH IN LATIN AMERICA. A brief interview with Gonzalo Gallegos, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, about this week’s visit of President Bush to five countries in Latin America. He comments on the shadow that a projected border wall and a failed immigration reform policy cast on this visit.
Wednesday, March 7th
PROGRAM # 5070 - 11:00 PDT
TEXAS EDITION – BILL CRIMINALIZES UNDOCUMENTED RESIDENTS. A bill that would “make it illegal to be illegal” in Texas has been introduced in the state Senate. Under the bill, being undocumented would be considered criminal trespassing. Supported by the Republican caucus, the bill includes other restrictive measures and is seen as a political bellwether.Guest: Carlos Spector-Calderón, immigration law expert and regular commentator, El Paso, TX.
ALSO, FARMERS BRANCH ELECTION. Political campaigns are in full gear for the upcoming local elections in Farmers Branch, a Dallas suburb known for
enacting an ordinance banning apartment complexes from renting to undocumented immigrants. Many predict that this debate may draw the largest voter turnout in the history of the city. This is a report on the stakes behind this election.Guest: Rosa Rosales, national president, League of United Latin American Citizens, San Antonio, TX.
Thursday, March 8th
PROGRAM # 5071- 12:00 PDT
RESTORING BENEFITS. A bipartisan coalition introduced a new bill that would allow states the option to provide health coverage for legal immigrant children and pregnant women who are currently denied critical health care because they are legal immigrants. Guests also discuss the impact of current border control measures on immigrant families.Guests: Rep. Mario Díaz-Ballart, Republican, Miami, co-author of the bill; Dr. Andrés Jiménez, director, California Policy Research Center, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; Geraldine Henrich-Koenis, press secretary, Families USA, Washington, DC.
Friday, March 9th
PROGRAM # 5072 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts this edition of the Voz Pública series from Mexico City. Ramírez interviews Mexican congressman José Jacques Medina on his probe on the treatment Central American migrants receive in Mexico, President Bush visit to Mexico and other topics.PROGRAM # 5073 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. In this pre-taped edition from San Juan, PR, WRTU’s Wanda Colón Cortés, marks the anniversary of International Women’s Day and interviews communicator and college professor Cándida Coto.
Monday, March 12th
PROGRAM # 5074 - 12:00 PDT
LEADERS CALL FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM. Leaders of the U.S. Senate have announced comprehensive immigration reform is a top priority for 2007. In recent days, top members of the White House appeared before the first Senate hearing and a legislation package may be ready at any minute. This week, thousands go to the nation’s capitol to lobby for a number of bills, including health care, education opportunities, and comprehensive immigration reform. This program also looks into efforts to mitigate the effects of mass deportation raids.Guests: Reporter Ruben Tapia, Washington, DC; Clarissa Martínez de castro, Campaign coordinator, Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Washington, DC; Arnoldo García, Senior Program Associate, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Washington, DC; Miguel Robles, organizer, Alianza Latino Americana por los Derechos de los Inmigrantes, San Francisco, CA.
Tuesday, March 13th
PROGRAM # 5075 - 12:00 PDT
IMMIGRATION EDITION – DIRECT LINE TO CONGRESS. Host Rosalba Piña talks with Emma Lozano, executive director of Centro Sin Fronteras, who is in Washington, DC, heading a delegation to Capitol Hill that lobbies for immigration reform. Piña also facilitates colleague and listener calls into the Switchboard of the top congressional leaders to air the sounds of a citizen petition drive.
Wednesday, March 14th
PROGRAM # 5076 - 11:00 PDT
IMMIGRANTS LOBBY FOR RIGHTS. Latino advocates from Texas travel to Capitol Hill to lobby for the DREAM Act, the Citizen Promotion Act, a moratorium on deportations, and immigration reform. Carlos Spector-Calderón and Samuel Schmidt co-host this edition from El Paso. They facilitate a conversation between Fernando García, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, Oscar Chacón, director of NALACC, Leticia Carrillo, Gamaliel Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago; and Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, D-Chicago, from the office of Rep. Gutierrez on Capitol Hill and about immigration reform legislation.
Thursday, March 15th
PROGRAM # 5077- 12:00 PDT
THE IRAQ WAR: FOUR YEARS. On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the war and occupation in Iraq, veteran leaders are being invited to comment on a recent journalistic exposé, revealing the neglect and poor treatment wounded veterans face at Walter Reed Army Hospital. They are also invited to comment on President Bush request for another 90 billion for the war and the congressional debate on the supplemental spending bill.Guests: Sergio Bocanegra, member, Veterans of America in Iraq and Afghanistan, McAllen, TX; Ramón Leal, Iraq Veterans against the War, San José, CA; Rosalío Muñoz, coordinator, Latinos for Peace, Los Angeles.
ALSO, BUSH RELEASES DISASTER AID. President Bush declared California a major disaster area, authorizing federal unemployment and food relief for freeze victims. This is a conversation with Justo Hernández, coordinator of freeze relief distribution for FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
Friday, March 16th
PROGRAM # 5078 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts this edition of the Voz Pública series from Mexico City. This is an interview with Mexican Congressman Ector Jaime Ramirez Barba, former state secretary of health for Guanajuato.
Monday, March 19th
PROGRAM # 5079 - 12:00 PDT
CAREGIVING. Mass deportation raids conducted by federal ICE agents are leaving behind a trail of families torn apart and children separated from their parents. This program focuses on three cities that were left in turmoil: New Bedford, MA; Mendota, CA; and San Rafael, CA. Immigrants impacted by the raids provide heart-wrenching testimony and caregivers tell their story on how they stepped in to provide paid or unpaid care for the children who were left behind. This program is in collaboration with KQED, San Francisco’s public radio.Guests: Olga Roche, Regional director, Department of Social Services, State of Massachussets, Boston MA; Aurelia Crator, college student and activist, Los Baños, CA; Hugo Morel, coordinator, Parent Services, San Rafael, CA; "Lourdes", a mother of four who was deported and made it back crossing the border desert, California; "Feliciana", an immigrant mother of three who was left without income after the deportation of her husband in Mendota, California.
Tuesday, March 20th
PROGRAM # 5080 - 12:00 PDT
FESTIVAL HONORS MARIACHI PIONEER. Radio Bilingüe’s ¡Viva el Mariachi! Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend. The festival is preparing a tribute for mariachi legend Miguel Martínez, a trumpet virtuoso who spearheaded the “Golden Age” of mariachi music in the 1940s as a trumpet player for the best mariachis and ranchera singers of the time. Martínez is credited with creating the two-trumpet style of the modern mariachi sound.Guests: Hugo Morales, executive director of Radio Bilingüe, Festival founder, Fresno, CA; Miguel Martínez, mariachi pioneer, San Francisco, CA; Dr. Jonathan Clark, ethnomusicologist, mariachi historian, professor at San José University, San Francisco, CA.
Wednesday, March 21st
PROGRAM # 5081 - 11:00 PDT
TEXAS EDITION – - Mental Illness in Prisons. Analysis on the provision of psychiatric care to the prison population in Texas and the risks of mental disorders while incarcerated.Guest: Dr. Cristina Cruz, Pediatric/Adolescent Psychiatrist, Psychiatrist, El Paso, TX
Thursday, March 22nd
PROGRAM # 5082- 12:00 PDT
MASTERS OF MEXICAN SON. Three of the world’s best known mariachi groups return to Fresno to celebrate the silver anniversary of Radio Bilingüe’s ¡Viva el Mariachi! Festival this weekend. Veterans Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, Los Camperos de Nati Cano and Mariachi México de Pepe Villa headline the celebration and are joined by José Gutiérrez, a son jarocho master from Veracruz, and Arpex, a Central California ensemble that plays traditional harp sones from the hotlands of Michoacán.Guests: Nati Cano, founding director, Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Los Angeles; Pepe Villa Jr., director, Mariachi México de Pepe Villa, Mexico City; José Gutiérrez, maestro, harp and jarana player, Veracruz, MX.
ALSO, IMPOUNDMENTS CHALLENGED. A class action suit in Los Angeles challenges the constitutionality of the impoundment of vehicles driven by unlicensed immigrants.
Guest: Cynthia Anderson Barker, attorney, Los Angeles.
Friday, March 23rd
PROGRAM # 5083 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts this edition of the Voz Pública series from Mexico City. The civic journalist brings news and analysis on Mexican developments.PROGRAM # 5084 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. In this pre-taped edition from San Juan, PR, WRTU’s Wanda Colón Cortés, brings news and analysis on major developments in the Caribbean basin.
Monday, March 26th
PROGRAM # 5086 - 12:00 PDT
HEALTH CARE REFORM PLANS. Four proposals in Sacramento offer to fix the broken health care system in California. All announce a major overhaul to cover everyone. Gov. Schwarzenegger proposes to mandate individual purchase of health coverage. Another bill demands a “single payer” plan. This is a roundtable discussion on the issue.Guests: Fernando Lozara, California Nurses Association, Los Angeles; Sarah Mercer, Senior program manager, Latino Issues Forum, San Francisco, CA; Manuel Cosme, Legislative director,California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Santa Rosa, CA.
Tuesday, March 27th
PROGRAM # 5087 - 12:00 PDT
IMMIGRATION EDITION – THE STRIVE ACT. Congressmen Luis Gutiérrez and Jeff Flake announced an immigration reform bill called the STRIVE Act. Host
Rosalba Piña is joined by Carlina Tapia-Ruano, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, for an analysis on the first details of the bill. The program includes a brief interview with Rep. Gutiérrez, from Chicago. Listeners call in to comment on the issue or to receive advice on immigration law.
Wednesday, March 28th
PROGRAM # 5088 - 11:00 PDT
GUADALAJARA SIMULCAST – LETTERS FROM THE OTHER SIDE. The three-station network of Sistema Jalisciense de Radio y Televisión and Satélite Radio Bilingüe join signals to air this edition Without Borders. For this program, Heather Courtney, a filmmaker based in Austin, TX, talks about her film ‘Letters from the Other Side.’ Premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival, the documentary uses cross-boder video letters to tell the story of the women left behind in Mexico when the workers migrate north. Eugenia González, a grower of cactus groves in Guanajuato profiled in this film, also joins the conversation. Two additional guests in Jalisco comment on state programs to help low-income entrepreneurs to launch a small or micro business. They are María Ulloa, Deputy director for marketing, Fondo Nacional de Apoyo para las Empresas de Solidaridad, Guadalajara; and Rosa María Muñoz, recipient of a grant, Lagos de Moreno. MX.
Thursday, March 29nd
PROGRAM # 5089- 12:00 PDT
RENEWED FIGHT OVER TOXIC WASTE. The Environmental Protection Agency has not found evidence of environmental racism in Kettleman City, home to a major landfill owned by Chemical Waste Management and plans to reissue this hazardous-waste giant a new permit to continue storing PCB waste at the landfill. This proposal has many in this agricultural community up in arms. A recent public hearing was surrounded by protests in town.Guests: Maricela Mares Alatorre, organizer, El Pueblo por Aire y Agua Limpio, Kettleman City, CA; Enrique Manzanilla, Director, Division of Communities and Ecosystems, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, San Francisco, CA.
ALSO, SMOG WITHOUT BORDERS. Renowned scientists are have been warning that air pollution in the Mexicali basin could be responsible for an increased number of heart attacks. Older-model cars, traffic jams at the international border crossing, and the ever-present dust in this arid city are blamed for the air pollution crisis in this border city. A Baja California state official comments on bi-national efforts to clean the air.
Guest: Israel Flores, Director, Department of Sustainable Development, Secretaría de Protección al Ambiente, Mexicali, BC.
Friday, March 30rd
PROGRAM # 5090 - 12:00 PDT
MEXICO EDITION. Martha Elena Ramírez hosts this edition of the Voz Pública series from Mexico City. The civic journalist brings news and analysis on Mexican developments.PROGRAM # 5091 - 12:00 PDT
PUERTO RICO EDITION. In this pre-taped edition from San Juan, PR, WRTU’s Wanda Colón Cortés, brings news and analysis on major developments in the Caribbean basin.
Funds for Línea Abierta are provided in part by The California Endowment, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Community Technology Foundation of California, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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