Earth Notes

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ –

By Scott Thybony

Flagstaff, AZ – Host Outro:

Scott Thybony is a writer based in Flagstaff. Funding for this commentary was provided by the Arizona Humanities Council.

By Laurel Druley

Flagstaff, AZ – Diana Gabaldon (GAB-uhl-dohn) says she became a successful novelist by accident. She was just writing a novel for practice. The New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series is sharing some secrets to her success at two talks in Flagstaff. Her time-traveling, historical fiction, adventure, romance novels don't fit in any one genre. And neither does the author. Gabaldon recently talked with Arizona Public Radio's Laurel Druley. And she's anything but predictable.

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – The measure is being pushed by Rep. Bob Stump. He said
the procedure is medically hazardous and that people on
either end of the transaction should not benefit.

(Just as it's unethical and illegal to sell human
organs, so it should be illegal to sell human eggs.
Would we countenance the selling of bone marrow for
transplants? Would we allow scientists to pay
individuals to give up certain internal organs for
research?)

By Howard Fischer

Phoenix, AZ – The legislation was crafted by House Majority Leader
Steve Tully. He said a constituent, a single father,
called him after discovering that his minor daughter
was taking birth control pills -- pills that had been
prescribed for her by a doctor. Tully said the father
just did not understand how his daughter -- legally a
child -- could be prescribed medication without a
parent's consent.

By Daniel Kraker

Flagstaff, AZ – Winona LaDuke is best known as former presidential candidate Ralph Nader's running mate. But for 15 years the Ojibwe woman from northern Minnesota has been at the forefront of the Native American environmental movement. LaDuke has written a new book titled "Recovering the Sacred." She told Arizona Public Radio's Daniel Kraker many of the environmental struggles profiled in the book are over energy development.

By Howard Fischer

By Laurel Druley

By Daniel Kraker

Laughlin, NV – SFX: sneak up ambi of hilltop under track, wind blowing, etc.

Bob Teasdale stands atop a sandy hill in Laughlin. In front of him towers Mohave Generating Station's giant smokestack. Behind him, just beyond the town's tacky casino strip, the Colorado River shimmers a sparkling blue against the stark desert landscape. But Teasdale says before the power plant shut down, the view wouldn't have been worth the climb.

By Daniel Kraker

Flagstaff, AZ – Michael Franti is a protest singer, and proud of it. He mixes searing political lyrics with funk, folk and hip-hop. Franti performs with his band Spearhead in Flagstaff tonight tomorrow he returns to screen his new documentary, I Know I'm Not Alone, a musical diary he filmed in the middle east in 2004. Franti told Arizona Public Radio's Daniel Kraker he traveled to Iraq to hear what everyday people there felt about the war.