July 22, 2002
WorldCom Declares Bankruptcy (4:15)
In December, Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection, setting the record for the biggest bankruptcy in US history. Now, as the recent wave of corporate scandals continues, WorldCom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, setting a new all time high of $107 billion dollars in assets sunk into bankruptcy. While the company issues hopeful statements and says it will be back on its feet in a year, as Nell Geiser reports, laid off workers and disenchanted shareholders are not so trusting.
Soldiers on the Streets? (4:29)
The White House is already backing off a proposal to bring the military into a stronger domestic policing role. General Ralph Eberhart of the Northern Command said this weekend he’d favor changes to a hundred and twenty four-year-old law forbidding the military from patrolling the streets of the United States. Joshua Chaffin reports from Washington.
Impacts of Plan Colombia (5:15)
The US Environmental Protection Agency is set to release a report that could significantly narrow the funds available for US-sponsored fumigations in Colombia. If the EPA finds the pesticides sprayed by the government are toxic to farmers and the environment, Congress has said it will cut all funding for the controversial spraying. In the Cimitiara River Valley, located in mid-northern Colombia, an organized campesino association of more than 10,000 subsistence farmers from 124 communities are struggling to defend their lives. Members tell how Plan Colombia effects life and death in their region. Reporter Nicole Karsin traveled to the Cimitara River Valley. She files this report.
SUV Drivers Protest Lower Admissions in CA (4:04)
California becomes the first state to require auto manufacturers to build cars that emit the least amount of greenhouse gasses possible. California has the largest auto market in the nation and environmentalists are hopeful the state’s new law will set a trend for how cars are built throughout the nation. The measure to curb greenhouse gasses overcame a multimillion dollar campaign by the auto industry against it. Opponents of the measure say it is an attack on SUV’s, minivans, and soccer moms. Mitch Jeserich reports.
Green Party Mid-Term Convention (2:31)
The Green Party of the United States held their first national, mid-term convention over the weekend in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This convention was not only the first mid-term convention ever by the Greens, but it was the first convention held by the party since it registered with the Federal Election Commission as a national party. From Radio Volta in Philadelphia, Jaime Graham reports.
