No Cleanup Plan Yet For Albuquerque Dry Cleaning Spill
A few weeks ago we told you about a problem with the groundwater in Albuquerque, New Mexico —a big problem. A plume of poisonous dry cleaning chemicals is flowing underneath two neighborhoods, just north of downtown.
The contamination stretches farther and is much closer to the surface than another spill that city is dealing with, a jet fuel spill from Kirtland Air Force Base. But as KUNM’s Ed Williams reports for Fronteras, New Mexico regulators are still waiting for a cleanup plan from the company that spilled the chemicals two decades ago.
U.S. And Mexico Teachers Meet To Support Immigrant Students
Now to Houston where the first bilateral conference between the Mexican Teachers Union and the American Federation of Teachers took place recently. As Laura Isensee of Houston Public Media reports, the goal is to support immigrant students on both sides of the border.
How Dual Language Learning Could Help Curb Education Inequality
More than 17 percent of Texas’ public school students learned a language other than English first. There are a number of approaches to teaching these English language learners – many researchers consider dual language learning to be one of the most effective. They say it allows students to learn English while simultaneously helping them advance literacy in their native language. TPR’s Virginia Alvino explored the benefits and limitations of dual language learning, and why some educators see it as an issue of social justice.
Families More Connected Following Cap On Inmate Phone Rates
Inmates and their relatives pay steep phone bills to keep in touch, and prison phone companies rake in billions of dollars. But the Federal Communications Commission recently capped those rates. As KUNM’s Fronteras reporter Marisa Demarco explains, the move is a huge relief for prisoners and their families because it isn't just the inmate who pays the price of a crime.
Texas Border Town Of Presidio Pins Economic Hopes On Strategic Location
Heading to West Texas now where the area around the present town of Presidio on the Rio Grande, known as La Junta de los Ríos, is believed to be the oldest continuously cultivated farmland in the state. About 1500 B.C., indigenous corn farmers settled here for access to water and the game and vegetation it supported.
As Marfa Public Radio’s Lorne Matalon reports, Presidio’s strategic location is as important in 2015 as it’s been for more than 3000 years, and it’s a key to the town’s hope for economic expansion.