Newscast for Thursday, August 27, 2009

Getting by in America´s Rustbelt:  Cleveland´s Evergreen Laundry
FSRN reporter Daniel Denvir has been on a road trip across the United States Rust Belt.

Denvir is looking at creative projects to revitalize the de-industrialized region, an area that has suffered from economic crisis since long before the current recession. Today, Denvir is reporting from Cleveland, Ohio on the soon-to-be open Evergreen Laundry, a worker-owned enterprise that is part of a larger effort to create jobs by locally channeling spending by the city’s big institutions.

Anti-mining activists and journalists face death threats in El Salvador
After recent elections in El Salvador this past March, political violence is returning to the country. The elections passed control from conservatives to a leftist party, the FMLN, led by former guerrillas. Some violence took place around election day, but now journalists and community activists are reporting an increase in threats, intimidation and even murder and allege the attacks are coming from right-wing extremist groups. FSRN´s Ricardo Martínez has more from Cabañas, El Salvador.

FCC to investigate wireless communications companies
Today the Federal Communications Commission approved an investigation that will look at ways to regulate cell phone operators, wireless internet providers and other sectors of the wireless communications industry. The focus will be on three key areas; innovation, competition and consumer protection. Some consumer protection advocates say it's about time. FSRN´s Karen Miller reports.

Four years after Katrina, Gulf Coast leaders say government has failed to reconstruct
As the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, community groups in New Orleans and around the Gulf Coast are expressing their frustration at the Federal Government. Four years after the hurricane, many local residents say recovery efforts are far from being complete.

This week the Institute for Southern Studies released a survey in which it asked community leaders from the Gulf Coast to grade the Federal Government and Congress on their role in reconstruction.  Participants gave the government a D on most issues related to reconstruction, including categories like helping displaced people return home and revitalizing infrastructure in communities.

To take a deeper look at these problems FSRN spoke to Trupania Bonner, the executive director of Moving Forward Gulf Coast.  Bonner´s organization formed after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to support and empower the community in rebuilding efforts. Moving Forward has been involved in several reconstruction projects and is now leading a campaign to make sure Gulf Coast residents are properly counted in the 2010 census.