Month: October 2022

As a US territory, Puerto Rico is perpetually stuck in limbo. The people there are subject to federal laws but don’t have a vote for president or Congress. Which is a major problem when it comes to responding to disasters like Hurricane Fiona, which hit the Island last month.

Many Puerto Ricans are deeply frustrated by what they claim has been a slow and inefficient response from a federal government that they have no say in.

Some want statehood, some want more autonomy. A small but growing group of people want independence.

That group incudes Jaquira Diaz. The author, who recently wrote the essay, “Let Puerto Rico Be Free”, for The Atlantic, spoke to NPR’s Ailsa Chang.

After a prescribed burn became the largest wildfire in New Mexico history earlier this year, the U.S. Forest Service put a ninety day ban on controlled burns.

But while these kinds of burns do carry risk, very few escape, and they are a crucial tool in reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Forest ecologists are worried the ban added to the wildfire risk in areas that desperately need maintenance.

An investigation by CapRadio and the California Newsroom found that proper fire mitigation could have protected the Northern California town of Grizzly Flats from the Caldor Fire last year. CapRadio’s Scott Rodd reports on how the U.S. Forest Service failed to execute its own mitigation plan in time, despite recognizing the danger decades ago.

KCRW’s Caleigh Wells looked into all of the obstacles that stand in the way of prescribed burns and fire preparation in California’s Big Bear Valley, which could be the next disaster.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The past twelve months have been the deadliest on record for the migrants crossing the Southern US Border from Mexico. More than 800 have died in the last fiscal year.

This past year also saw a shift in migration. More and more are coming from Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela. Past entry points have given way to more remote locations on the border, like Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Texas.

These were sleepy border towns, now they some of the busiest junctions on the border. Who is arriving and what happens when they get there? NPR’s Marisa Peñaloza and Joel Rose report.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Higher mortgage rates are putting a damper on the U.S. housing market. Home prices are down and sales of existing homes have now fallen for seven months in a row.

The ripples in the housing market are being felt as the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates to fight inflation. And those higher borrowing costs mean that monthly mortgage payments have shot up.

We hear from would-be buyers who say that soaring mortgage rates are pushing them out of the market. And we talk to NPR’s Chris Arnold about how the Fed’s moves are affecting buyers and sellers.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The Electoral Count Reform Act is a bipartisan response to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol where rioters and the former president attempted to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence into subverting the election count.

But some critics think it doesn’t go far enough and argue that real reform would mean making significant changes to the Electoral College and to the winner take all allotment of electoral votes.

Host Michel Martin talks to Stanford Historian Jonathan Gienapp about the origins of the Electoral College, and Elie Mystal, justice correspondent at The Nation.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the formal annexation of four territories in Ukraine on Friday, after the conclusion of what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called “sham” referendums and “a complete farce.”

NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf talked with Ukrainians near the frontline about how the turmoil is affecting them.

Dara Massicot, a Russian military analyst with the RAND corporation, says, with this move, Putin has “burned bridges behind him,” leaving him with few options to force a closure to the war. She says that makes this the beginning of a dangerous new phase.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.