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If you do much highway driving in Texas, it's a familiar sight: old, rusted trucks packed to the gills with toys, motor oil, textiles, and building materials traveling down the interstate. Sometimes, they're hauling an additional truck -- "IN TOW" spelled out in painter's tape on the rear window. Where do the trucks come from, and where are they headed? Are the drivers scrapping them, selling them or something else? That's what a listener from Alpine asked West Texas Wonders recently. Conveniently, former Marfa Public Radio reporter Lorne Matalon looked into this very question back in 2015, after he met a group of Guatemalan men on a stop along their journey back to Central Amer... Hosted by for KRTS
Students around New England participated in a national school walkout this past Wednesday, calling on Congress to pass stricter gun control laws. We look at efforts to keep students safe, through state models for gun control reforms, and Connecticut’s efforts to increase school security. Plus, we visit New Englanders touched by immigration: one New Hampshire man who is being deported, and a Rhode Island man who is in training to become a Customs and Border Protection officer. Student Safety A month after 17 people were killed in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Flordia students across the country walked out of classrooms to protest gun laws. While these groups are calling for stricter gun control regulations nationally, some states are taking action into their own hands. WBUR's Anthony Brooks reports that states should use Connecticut's gun control success as a model for future reforms. Students in Hartford join the national walkout over gun violence. (Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public Radio) While the effort has prioritized student safety, Connecticut has spent over $50 million on school security since 2013. But WNPR’s David DesRoches reports that private schools may be getting preferential treatment. Immigration in New England Top row (L) Ageth Okeny (R) Haitham Bol; Bottom row L-R: Sagda Bol, Magda Bol and Atka Bol. (Courtesy the Okeny Family.) One New Hampshire woman, Ageth Okeny, is trying to get her son help as he faces deportation. She brought her four kids, including her son, Haitham Bol, to America after fleeing war in Sudan eighteen years ago. Now Haitham has been told by ICE officers that he will be sent to South Sudan, a war-torn country that he has never visited. NHPR’s Robert Garrova tells the story of Ageth and Haitham. Meanwhile, WBUR’s Shannon Dooling traveled Brunswick, Georgia to a facility that trains U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers (CBP), including a 26-year-old from Rhode Island. Maple Syrup Industry Sees Rise in Investors Maple sugar collection. (CC/USDA). Around the world, demand for one of New England’s most famous commodities, maple syrup, is growing. But due to the increase in demand, investors are traveling to Vermont to get into the syrup business, creating tension between price and production. VPR’s Lorne Matalon reports on how outside investors are affecting Vermont’s maple syrup industry. New England’s “New” Culture The last three issues of Take Magazine. Take Magazine‘s tagline is “New England’s New Culture”. Instead of focusing on traditional New England images, like lighthouses, lobsters, and Plymouth Rock, the magazine cataloged New England’s art scene. Despite their unique mission, the magazine has just released its final issue (archived issues are still available online). We revisit a conversation with the magazine’s publisher, Michael Kusek, on where New England has been, and what direction it is moving towards. About NEXT NEXT is produced at WNPR. Host: John Dankosky Producer: Andrea Muraskin, with help this week from Lily Tyson Executive Producer: Catie Talarski Contributors to this episode: Anthony Brooks, David DesRoches, Robert Garrova, Shannon Dooling, Lorne Matalon Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon, “Unsquare Dance” by Dave Brubeck Get all the NEXT episodes. We appreciate your feedback! Send critiques, suggestions, questions, and ideas to next@wnpr.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, we get an update the flow of migrants leaving the US to go to Quebec, and meet Puerto Ricans deciding whether to stay on the island or come back to New England. We’ll talk about housing for a rapidly aging population in Vermont, and learn how a the settlement dollars from a Volkswagen lawsuit could help spur electric vehicle use in Maine. Finally, we get a taste of what’s new about New England food. Flight Fearing the Trump administration’s stricter immigration policies, thousands have been fleeing the United States for Canada. One policy change is the end of a temporary residency program for 59,000 Haitians allowed to legally enter the United States following an earthquake in 2010. The Haitians will have to leave the country by July 2019, or face deportation. That program has also ended for two thousand Nicaraguans. It's unclear if other groups including 300,000 Salvadorans will be allowed to remain. A man from Congo speaks with Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers after illegally entering Canada. The man from Congo was then frisked before being processed in the white trailer. Photo by Lorne Matalon for VPR The net result is a continued flow of people crossing the border into Canada by foot. They take advantage of a Canadian law that says those who cross by foot won’t be turned back until their case is heard. Reporter Lorne Matalon takes us back to the site of earlier reporting: the illegal boarder crossing at Roxham Road north of Champlain, New York. Puerto Ricans have been facing similar questions about whether to relocate following the devastation of Hurricane Maria. Of course, Puerto Ricans who choose to leave the island to come to New England aren't immigrants, they're US citizens. WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports on the lack of power and water across much of the island is causing a growing number of people to make hard choices. A Few Years Down the Road… Jan Belville decided to sell her large house in Brandon, Vt. to move into a senior affordable apartment. Bellville was on a a waiting list for almost five years. Photo by Howard Weiss-Tisman for VPR In the 18 years after World War II, birth rates across America hit unprecedented levels. Demographers named that sizable generation the Baby Boom. Today’s baby boomers make up about 25 percent of the United States population. As boomers head into retirement they’re rewriting the expectations we have about where and how senior citizens want to live. As we've reported previously, New England's population is older than most of the country. Given that Vermont is expected to have the oldest population in the nation by 2030, many baby boomers there are facing tough decisions about housing. Vermont Public Radio’s Howard Weiss-Tisman reports. For more, check out “Aging Well,” a special VPR series exploring how the Baby Boom generation is viewing retirement and changing the future makeup of Vermont. ReVision Energy’s Barry Woods charges up his company car in Brunswick, Maine. Photo by Fred Bever for Maine Public Electric vehicles make up a fraction of the cars sold in New England. But new state policies – and a cash infusion from the settlement of Volkswagen’s pollution scandal – could speed the build-out of electric vehicle charging stations, and jump-start the region’s EV market. Maine Public Radio's Fred Bever reports. The Best Food in New England “Local” has become the most important word in the world of New England food. “Local” grass-fed beef, locally-made sheep's milk cheese, or restaurants that proudly list the names of local farmers that grow their food are all a growing part of this movement. Amy Traverso is senior food editor for Yankee Magazine and NewEngland.com, and she's been watching these trends. She's an expert in New England food, and an advocate for it. She says chefs and food producers are challenging the notion that New England's traditional foods are stodgy and boring. Think dishes like lobster on black rice with brown butter aioli, or baked beans with pomegranate molasses. Traverso is also in charge of giving out Yankee Magazine's annual Editor's Choice Food Awards – now five years in the running. About NEXT NEXT is produced at WNPR. Host: John Dankosky Producer: Andrea Muraskin Executive Producer: Catie Talarski Contributors to this episode: Lorne Matalon, Jeff Cohen, Patrick Skahill, Howard Weiss-Tisman, Fred Bever Music: Todd Merrell, “New England” by Goodnight Blue Moon Get all the NEXT episodes. We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and artisanal chocolate bars to next@wnpr.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The massive fall in the price of crude oil means hundreds of thousands of people are no longer working in the business...and many smaller energy companies are in a footrace against bankruptcy. Yet, up until now, oil production has NOT dropped in places like the Permian Basin of west Texas the nation's highest-producing oilfield. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon reports.
In every downturn, there are survivors who position themselves for recovery. The price of crude oil is down by more than 70 percent since the summer of 2014. And oil and gas companies once flush with cash have cut exploration...and decommissioned up to two thirds (2/3rds) of their rigs. are out of job. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon of Marfa Public Radio reports on strategies for recovery from the Permian Basin of Texas, the nation's largest-producing oilfield.
Nearly a dozen west Texas cities, counties, hospitals and school districts are facing a possible bond downgrade in coming months by Moody's Investor Services, one of the country's "Big Three" ratings firms. That because those local institutions rely on energy-related tax revenue, which has gone way down. And a bond downgrade is a threat facing other oil and gas states as well. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon of Marfa Public radio reports.
Since the 1970s, US oil producers have been banned from exporting crude oil - the ban was originally put in place in the name of national energy security. Now, with oil prices WAY down, Congress is debating ending that ban. It’s an issue that divides Congress AND the oil industry itself. For Inside Energy, Marfa Public Radio’s Lorne Matalon in west Texas lays out the pros and cons of the debate.
The drop in the price of crude oil means thousands of people are losing their jobs in oil fields nationwide. There’s renewed focus on an ongoing problem in the oilfields---the theft of oil, tools, piping and copper wire by laid off or disgruntled workers. The issue is so severe in Texas that the FBI has a team working full-time to stem the flow of stolen oilfield equipment. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon of Marfa Public Radio reports.
New EPA rules aimed at cutting carbon emissions are expected to be unveiled June 2nd. It’s a big deal. Coal generates nearly half of this country’s electricity and is the largest source of air pollution. The new rules are expected to spur the use of clean coal technology. At least that’s the hope of both the coal industry and some environmental groups. Marfa Public Radio’s Lorne Matalon has this report for ‘Inside Energy’ on a clean coal project in west Texas---one of two in the country.
As 2012 begins, Zach Messitte, Joshua Landis, Suzette Grillot, and Monica Sharp offer their predictions for what global news stories wiill shape the coming year. And journalist Lorne Matalon joins the program for a conversation with Zach and Alan McPherson about the escalating drug violence in Latin America. He began covering the region for Public Radio International's "The World" in November 2007.