Special Series

The Department of Justice held a public hearing in Madison, Wisconsin today to investigate whether America's dairy industry has become so consolidated and so tightly controlled that it requires federal intervention. Today's hearing is the third in a series of five nationwide events. Justice officials are gathering input from the public on if the country's agricultural markets have free and fair competition. WORT's Molly Stenz reports from Madison.

The economic downturn has forced local and state governments all over the country to cut programs. One of those affected is the nation-wide network of Cooperative Extension Services that supporters say provide vital agricultural and natural resource knowledge to local communities. Now, many of the offices are in danger of closing down.

As part of our ongoing series looking at Food and Farming in the US FSRN’s Jes Burns reports from Oregon’s Lane County, where voters will decide Tuesday if the Extension will remain.

Following the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, stories and images of the devastation filled the media. People around the world responded with donations and sympathy. Recovery efforts began quickly, but as FSRN has reported, official efforts continue to fall short of meeting the basic needs of hundreds of thousands of Haitians.

"My job has been to document and to report what's going on here," says FSRN reporter Dolores M. Bernal in this Reporter's Notebook. "It hasn't always been easy. It's been challenging to not be able to do more."

More than a month after the Haitian earthquake communities outside of Port Au Prince are only now receiving aid. And with heavy rains this week, shelter is more urgent than ever. One of those communities is in the Boutilier Mountain, south of Port Au Prince. The first delivery since the earthquake arrived today, and witnesses said an estimated 2,000 people gathered.

One month ago, the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook Haiti in the late afternoon on January 12. The death toll is still unconfirmed, but this week government officials in Haiti said it could be as high as 230,000 and rebuilding the country may take over a decade. But for the survivors that endured such a brutal experience, the horrifying memories could stay with them for a lifetime. Dolores M. Bernal reports.

Four weeks after the earthquake in Haiti, some communities outside Port Au Prince are still struggling with little or no aid. One area is Croix des Bouquets, about ten miles east of the capital. There, local residents are organizing their own informal relief effort. One of the leaders is Haitian artist Carl Telemaque, who divides his time between New York and Haiti. He was in Haiti during the earthquake and, after official relief efforts were slow to reach the community, he stayed on to help organize a grassroots response.

Earlier today, we reached Carl Telemaque in Croix des Bouquets. He began by describing the local situation, where the number of people in need of food, shelter and medical attention, is growing every day.

For more information on Carl Telemaque’s efforts through the organization Sodecca in Brooklyn: http://www.caribbeanbluebook.com/SODECCA-Inc..html

Or contact New York coordinator for relief efforts, Bernardo Rubie: 646.261.5334

Today marks the four-week anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. And food aid still remains a challenge.  The World Food Program is currently operating 16 food and water distribution points throughout Port Au Prince. American troops are in charge of the distribution of that aid with cooperation from UN forces on the ground. But as FSRN'S Dolores M. Bernal reports, many Haitians are having to resort to selling some of the food they are receiving to supplement their diet.