kpft news (july 23, 2003)

this newscast originally aired at 6pm CST on july 23, 2003 on kpft. listen in houston at 90.1fm, or stream it live at www.kpftx.org. read transcripts of previous newscasts at www.kpft.org/news. (30 minutes)

stories include...

- Residents and activists are looking for a new ally in their fight against a proposed container port in Bayport, citing loss of important wildlife habitat and wetlands loss

- A measure passed in the state senate Monday would roll back laws that require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to consider companies environmental track record when considering new permits and handing out fines

- Green Party delegates from over 40 states gathered for their national convention this past weekend in Washington DC. The party sees itself as the electoral wing of the progressive movement in this country. Members of the Green Party of Texas - founded in 1999 - were at the convention in large numbers… some of them in key decision making positions.

- Mexico may fulfill a 1944 water treaty's terms to share water with U.S. counties in the Rio Grande Basin

- Mayoral candidates recently held a panel discussion before the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with a special emphasis on voter registration

- Houston-based Halliburton reached agreement with plaintiff lawyers Monday and is now asking a Federal judge for more time to resolve more than $200,000 in damage claims from asbestos victims... and must file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protect plans for its DII Industries and its global engineering unit, Kellog Brown & Root

- A recently released UT School of Social Work study on sexual assault in Texas, the first of its kind, concluded 1.9 million Texans have been sexually assualted in their lifetimes, and reported 77% of victims knew their assailants, and 33% of victims were related to their assailants

- After a decade of public outrage, the federal govenment of Mexico began an opperation yesterday in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso. The operation involves some 2,000 federal state and local law enforcement officers, but is viewed by some as little more than a damage control gesture - doing too little, too late

- 29 year old Cedric Ransome was executed tonight in the Texas Death Chamber as death penalty opponents from as far away as the Netherlands protested outside the Walls Unit