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Drone Testing Starts In Texas

Joey Palacios
/
TPR News
Engineers check over the RS-16 before it’s set for launch. This process can take at least an hour.";

Fronteras: A university research team in Texas was one of six teams selected by the FAA to begin testing drones, but not everyone is keen on the idea. A little-known stretch of desert in southern New Mexico is the site of a proposed national monument but some fear its proximity to the border may invite illegal traffic. And a developer in Arizona embarks on an urban renewal project in a poor Phoenix barrio but how will this impact the area’s rich Latino past?

Drone Testing Starts in Texas

A university research team in Texas was one of six teams selected by the FAA recently to begin testing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- otherwise known as drones. The main focus of the testing is to work out safety and communication issues -- and huge chunks of Texas have been designated as potential testing sites.

But some parts of the state are not keen on the idea. We have a two-part story on Texas drones, beginning with Joey Palacios, who joined other reporters recently for a UAV demonstration near Corpus Christi.

Casa Del Jardin Offers Girls A Life After Prostitution

The San Diego-Tijuana border remains one of the most heavily trafficked international crossings in the world. And that traffic has a dark side: Humans, especially girls, being bought, sold, and forced into labor or sex.

A recent high-profile case in San Diego netted dozens of arrests for sex trafficking. There are few resources for victims on the Mexican side of the border. A resident of San Diego has opened a shelter in Tijuana for victimized girls. Brooke Binkowski reports it’s one of only two in all of Mexico.

Pancho Villa And Modern Mexico: Chihuahua Legislature Convenes In Ojinaga

This month marks the 100th anniversary of Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa’s victory at the Battle of Ojinaga, a battle that changed the course of Mexican history. Iconic images of Villa that resonate even today were taken at that battle.

Villa routed Mexican federal troops there and went on to establish some of the basic constructs of modern Mexico -- such as agrarian reform and compulsory education. Fronteras correspondent Lorne Matalon of Marfa Public Radio reports from Ojinaga, Chihuahua.

Phoenix Development Would Bridge Rich, Poor

There’s a movement afoot to bring new money into urban areas all over the country and surprisingly Phoenix, Arizona, is a part of that movement. The city has long been famous for its suburban sprawl but now plans are moving ahead to link high-rise downtown with a neighboring Latino barrio that wealthy developers have ignored for the better part of a hundred years. From the Fronteras Desk, Peter O’Dowd reports.

New Mexico's Senators Propose A National Monument Near The Border

Southern New Mexicans are caught in a debate over preserving a stretch of borderland as a national monument. The state’s two senators and a congressman are pushing separate bills that set different boundaries for the monument. One of the issues at stake is border security. From our Fronteras Desk, Mónica Ortiz Uribe reports.

Crystal Chavez was Texas Public Radio’s Morning Edition host for three years, until January 2015.