SHUTTLE LANDING; MORTGAGES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS; THE ENERGY BILL; NORTH AMERICA’S STONEHENGE
SHUTTLE LANDING
Discovery and its crew of seven landed safely back to Earth on Tuesday, ending a 14-day test of space shuttle safety that was shadowed by the disaster two and a half years ago of the shuttle Columbia. Discovery swooped through the predawn darkness and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert at 5:11 a.m. PDT, concluding the first shuttle re-entry since Columbia's tragic return. The detour to California came because thunderstorms prevented the shuttle from returning to its home base at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Larry Mantle talks with NASA’s Jim Rostohar and LA Times staff writer John Johnson, Jr. about the significance the successful shuttle landing.
MORTGAGES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Seeing an untapped revenue stream coming from the nation’s millions of undocumented immigrants, an increasing number of banks are making mortgage loans available to illegal immigrants by allowing them to use in individual tax payer identification numbers instead of social security numbers to obtain a mortgage. The banks content that providing undocumented residents with home loans stimulates local communities, while critics claim the practice institutionalizes illegality. Larry Mantle talks about the banking industry’s controversial new practice with Glen Hayes of the Neighborhood Housing Services Orange County, Jack Kyser of the LAEDC, Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform and Gary Acosta of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.
THE ENERGY BILL
On Monday, President Bush signed a 10-year, $12.3 billion energy bill that will give billions in tax breaks intended to encourage homegrown energy production but would not, according to the President, solve America's energy problems right away. Environmental groups and other opponents say the bill amounts to a gift to energy companies that does nothing new to promote renewable energy. Among other provisions, the bill will extend daylight-saving time, give tax breaks to fuel-efficient car buyers and promote new nuclear power plants. It does not include a plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Larry Mantle hears a variety of opinions about the the bill and how its addresses nation’s energy needs. Guests include NRDC legislative director Karen Wayland, American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Phillip Swagel, congresswoman Hilda Solis and New Republic senior senior Gregg Easterbrook.
NORTH AMERICA’S STONEHENGE
The pueblo and adobe buildings built between the 10th and 12th centuries in Chaco Canyon have come to be known as the “Stonehenge” of North America. The Native Americans inhabiting the area, located in the heart of the New Mexico’s San Juan Basin, were remarkably sophisticated, yet their society declined quickly and mysteriously. Larry Mantle talks with anthropologist Brian Fagan about this little-known and fascinating chapter in American history.