The week's top stories from Fronteras: The Changing America Desk:
What will the sequestration fallout look like across the Southwest?
Three quick points:
- The largest state in nation, California, stands to lose $87.6 million in primary and secondary education funding — jeopardizing 1,210 teacher and aide jobs.
- New Mexico has twice the national average of federal employees in the state. It stands to possibly lose 20,000 jobs in the next two years.
- In Texas, 52,000 civilian Department of Defense employees will be furloughed.
Tijuanans throw birthday party for a pothole
San Diegans frustrated by languishing potholes have been known to take repairs into their own hands. That spirit is alive and well south of the border, too.
The goal seems to be to bring public awareness to the city's infrastructure. The end of the video shows a city worker showing up to fill the pothole with gravel, and telling party-goers his boss had sent him out to repair it.
Late last week, ICE released certain detainees who weren’t a priority for detention. The 300 released in Arizona accounted for about 12 percent of the detained population in the state.
Many immigrants detained in Arizona don’t have ties to the state, and are trying to get to other parts of the country. One man paid $1,400 for a cab ride from Phoenix to Fresno, Calif.
Mexican Union Boss Accused of Embezzlement
The head of Mexico’s most powerful teacher’s union was arrested near Mexico City. She's accused of embezzling millions in union funds to pay for, among other things, homes in San Diego.
One of the more outrageous claims was the money she spent at the San Diego Nieman Marcus department store. In time she spent more than $2 million.
Is Tijuana the new tech mecca?
At a tech expo, two of our reporters spoke to a 20-year-old engineer about an interesting app he built.
