Good evening, it’s 6:30. Cairo Illinois is a prime example of a town that thrived from industry during an economic boom, but has since declined to a poverty stricken town with a population a fraction of what it was. Cairo is the product of a new documentary film, and we’ll talk to the director coming up on Front Page P.M.
(1.) KENNY COLSTON – Kentucky’s General Assembly session continues in Frankfort, where lawmakers continued talks on regulating Pseudoephedrine, raising the high school dropout age and Medicare’s Managed Care Organizations. Kentucky Public Radio Capitol Bureau Chief Kenny Colston speaks with Rick Howlett about latest developments in Kentucky’s State Capitol this week.
(2.) OCCUPY NASHVILLE -- This past week, the Tennessee House passed a bill that would force Occupy Nashville’s encampment off the plaza outside the capitol. Debate in the state Senate delayed action on the measure for a week, granting protesters a temporary reprieve. Some protesters began taking down tents Wednesday, but they said their movement was not defeated. They instead argued the camp had become a distraction from the inequalities that first galvanized Occupy Wall Street. WPLN’s Daniel Potter brings us this report.
(3.) JOURNEY STORY -- JAN BASILE -- A traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution called “Journey Stories” is at Murray State’s Wrather West Kentucky Museum through March 10th. So, we asked our listeners for their “Journey Stories.” We received this one from Jan Basile of Murray.
(4.) BETWEEN TWO RIVERS – Cairo, Illinois has seen boom and bust. It was a massive hub for river travel in the early 20th century and boasted a population some say up to 20 thousand, now it’s a fraction of that size. Once beautiful buildings and homes that are still standing are now in disrepair, and the poverty level has sky rocketed. An industrial exodus and fall out from the civil rights movement are mostly to blame for the state of Cairo today. Two documentary film makers from England stumbled upon Cairo a little more than four years ago and have now finished the film called “Between Two Rivers.” One of the films two directors Jacob Cartwright joins me from Nottingham to talk about the film.
This has been Front Page PM, our new regional news segment following Marketplace at 6:30 on Fridays. You may have missed Front Page AM today, now a regular feature at 8:35 Friday mornings, so if you’d like to hear any of these or any of our stories, you can find them online anytime at wkms.org. You can also catch us this Sunday morning at nine for our hour-long program, Front Page Sunday. I’m Todd Hatton, thanks for listening.
