MEAT PROCESSOR CLOSES DOORS – The meat processing company John Morrell will close its doors this April 20, leaving 1,500 workers without jobs. For 50 years the company has been the main source of jobs and fiscal income for Sioux City, in the central state of Iowa. Many workers will be able to access unemployment insurance and other benefits. But many will end up in limbo, as Marco Vinicio González reports.

FEDERAL FOCUS ON TOXIC DUMP – In an unexpected turn, this week the regional director of the federal Environmental Protection Agency visited Kettleman City, the small town in Central California where, in little more than a year, five babies were born with cleft palate and other birth defects. The official met with the mothers of the babies, and he also visited the controversial toxic waste landfill, located a few miles from town. Our reporter Zaidee Stavely also visited the landfill recently and brings us this report.