Archive - Jul 30, 2010

• Army study finds officials often overlook causes behind military suicides
• Michigan residents, wildlife struggle with oil spill in Kalamazoo River
• Reporters Notebook: Farm workers in San Joaquin Valley
• Northern California tribe fights to access traditional land for ceremony
• Garment workers in Bangladesh push for labor rights, wage increase

• Congress debates bills regulating oil companies, and oil and gas whistleblowers
• SB 1070 protestors arrested in Phoenix, Sheriff Arpaio continues his sweeps
• US Consulate in Juarez closes/Kidnapped journalist freed in Mexico
• Cluster bomb treaty goes into effect, without key signatories
• Russia’s government passes harsh new security law
• Rocket fired from Gaza into Israel
• American hikers in Iran have been detained for 1 year

This month has been the deadliest on record for US troops in Afghanistan. The deaths of three troops Friday in Kabul bring the total to sixty-three in July.  The Army is also looking into other causes of death among soldiers. In a lengthy report released Thursday, the Army examined the rising rate of suicides among active duty soldiers. The study puts the blame on commanders for ignoring problems until they're too late. Tanya Snyder reports.

We turn now to Michigan, where containment efforts continue after a damaged pipeline leaked hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River. We're joined by Danielle Korpalski, Midwest Regional Outreach Coordinator with the National Wildlife Federation.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill this week that would have given farm workers paid overtime after working more than 40 hours a week. Currently, California law only requires time and a half for farm workers after 10 hours a day, or 60 hours a week. Recently, United Farm Workers launched a campaign called Take Our Jobs, daring American citizens and legal residents to take jobs doing farm work. Our colleague, Delores M Bernal took that challenge and files this Reporters Notebook from the San Joaquin Valley in Central California.

In the Northern California mountains, The Winnemum Wintu tribe has revived an ancient ceremony for young women.  But the federally unrecognized tribe is having difficulties accessing their ancestral lands, which are held in public trust today and have become a popular site for water recreation. FSRN's Christina Aanestad files this report.

In Bangladesh’s capitol Dhaka, thousands of garment workers protested the government’s decision to double wages to $43 a month, saying the rise was inadequate. Events turned violent, and The Guardian reports several injured and scores more detained. The conflict coincides with a rising call for improved conditions in the garment industry, including sandblasting jeans, a practice banned in Turkey after 600 ex-textile workers fell seriously ill from breathing silica dust in the workplace. FSRN's Jacob Resneck visited both Turkey and Bangladesh and files this report.