Archive - Sep 10, 2008

Earlier this week an audit of an election in Pima County Arizona was taking place.  An audit monitor, John Brakey, was arrested, after he says he was raising questions about record keeping of the ballot results.  Pima County Election Director Brad Nelson called the police.  Brakey was charged with a misdemeanor of criminal trespassing. He says 35 other audit monitors were at the election headquarters. 

Part 2

Now we turn to an election integrity group about Brakey's arrest. Dan Ashby, Director of Election Defense Alliance, says that a with the switch of electronic voting machines, the secrecy behind ballot counting has become commonplace.

• Responding to Haiti's Hurricane Disaster
• In India, Parents Organize Against Child Trafficking
• Residents in Nevada and Utah Oppose Coal Plant
• Getting Left Out of The Transition to Digital Television
• Critics Say Some Bank Policies Discriminate Against the Poor

Click here for Headlines Package
Click here for 13 Meg Version
Click here for Dial-Up Version

• Border Fence $400 Million Over Budget
• Iowa AG Files Charges Against Postville Meatpacking Plant Executives
• Florida Farmworker Group Signs Landmark Agreement with Whole Foods
• Civil Strife in Bolivia's Resource Rich Provinces
• Kucinich Renews Impeachment Effort

Across the country, several national banks require thumbprints from customers before providing services. While some banks claim that this prevents fraud, public-interest advocates criticize the policy as a way of criminalizing the poor. They also suggest that thumb printing is a way of discouraging non-account holders from using the bank. From New York City, Zoe Sullivan takes a look at Chase Bank branch, which requires 2 forms of ID and a thumb print before they'll cash a check.

A 50 city tour kicks off today in Oakland – organized by the Federal Communications Commission on the transition to digital television.  The FCC is conducting a massive outreach effort to tell people that on February 17, as many as 19 million people who do not have cable or satellite, will need a digital converter box for their television to work.  Wilmington, North Carolina was the pilot city, where residents underwent the switch Monday.  FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell spoke with Jonathan Adelstein, Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, about those who are left out of the digital transition.

Residents of Nevada and Utah are waiting for the Bureau of Land Management to release a report for a proposed coal-fired power plant. As Jon Pike reports, the controversy over this plant has highlighted the debate on safe and alternative energy in the Southwest.