Since 2008, Wall Street and Washington have fought against the tide of the fiercest financial crisis since the Great Depression. What have they wrought? In a special four-hour investigation, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of the struggles to rescue and repair a shattered economy, exploring key decisions, missed opportunities, and the unprecedented and uneasy partnership between government leaders and titans of finance that affects the fortunes of millions of people around the world.
Watch the two-hour part one FRONTLINE Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 8pm.
THIS WEEK: Friday, April 13th 2012 @ 7:30 pm (Rebroadcast Sunday @ 11 am )
THE RESULTS ARE IN: It did take more than a week, but we finally know who actually is serving on the Kansas City Missouri School Board. After the votes for the write in candidates were tallied up, Airick Leonard West retained his seat and will remain as the board’s president. Duane Kelly lost his seat after 12 years. In all three new board members will be helping shape the future direction of the district.
GIVING MAYOR ROLE IN SCHOOL DISTRICT AFFAIRS: Newly reappointed school board president Airick Leonard West proposes a bold plan to radically reshape the board and give Mayor James a greater say in running the district. The board would shrink in size and elections would shift to August to attract more voters. But what difference would these changes make?
CLEAVER AND THE CAR WASH: What’s the big deal about Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and a car wash he owns in Grandview? Why would taxpayers be on the hook for more than a million dollars to cover a bad loan on the business? How does this impact Cleaver’s political career?
MISSOURI GOVERNOR’S CANDIDATE: How willing is the public to overlook the personal financial problems experienced by political candidates and public officials? In the race for Missouri Governor, Dave Spence, the main Republican candidate trying to unseat Jay Nixon, is running on a simple platform: He’s a businessman, and Missouri is a business. But an examination of tax and finance records shows that his companies have been late paying property, personal property, manufacturers’ and other taxes totaling tens of thousands of dollars dating to 1995, and as recently as 2010. This is the same candidate who claimed on his campaign materials that he had a degree in economics but later acknowledged it was a degree in home economics. How are these latest revelations impacting his campaign?
COURTS ACROSS KANSAS SHUTTERED FRIDAY: This will affect thousands who need marriage licenses, protective orders and other day-to-day necessities of life. The entire court system is being shuttered because of a Kansas legislative impasse. And there are going to be more forced court closing days ahead. State lawmakers recently adjourned their regular session of the legislature in Topeka without approving a budget for the courts. Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss ordered Kansas courts shut down and 1,500 employees furloughed without pay. The Legislature doesn’t return for its wrap up session until April 25th where most of the important issues of the session still have to be resolved. What’s happening in Topeka that’s caused such an extreme measure? As lawmakers have now completed their regular session of the legislature, what has been accomplished? Aren’t most of the major issues of the session still unresolved?
NIXON IN BRAZIL: Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is off to Brazil this weekend. He’s departing with the first lady Saturday on a five-day trade mission to Sao Paulo to expand Missouri exports to the South American country. And we are told the travel costs are being covered by the Hawthorn Foundation, a nonprofit group funded and run by Missouri businesses that often finances gubernatorial trips related to economic development. We talked about what’s been accomplished in Kansas this session. Is there any major significant legislation that has passed in Missouri this year?
From the courtroom to the living room (thanks to the hit television series “CSI”), forensic science is king. Expertise on fingerprints, ballistics and bite mark analysis are routinely called on to solve the most difficult criminal cases — and to put the guilty behind bars. But how reliable is the science behind forensics? A FRONTLINE investigation finds serious flaws in some of the best-known tools of forensic science and wide inconsistencies in how forensic evidence is presented in the courtroom. From the sensational murder trial of Casey Anthony and the FBI’s botched investigation of the Madrid terrorist bombing to capital cases in rural Mississippi, FRONTLINE documents how a field with few uniform standards and unproven science can undermine the search for justice. As part of the investigative series “Post Mortem,” correspondent Lowell Bergman reports in a joint investigation with ProPublica and the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley.
THIS WEEK: Friday, April 6th 2012 @ 7:30 pm (Rebroadcast Sunday @ 11 am )
FROM INTERIM TO PERMANENT: Dr. Stephen Green this week loses the word “interim” from his title. He is officially named the new permanent superintendent of the Kansas City, MO School District
ELECTION DAY: Area voters go to the polls. We dissect the Kansas City School Board elections and why voters in Independence overwhelmingly reject a tax to support more police officers.
SEA LIFE AQUARIUM OPENS: 5,000 sea creatures find a new home in Kansas City including sharks and stingrays, as the new $15 million Sea Life Aquarium finally opens its doors today at Crown Center.
TEVA MOVES TO KANSAS: The business border battle continues as TEVA Pharmaceuticals announces its moving its headquarters and 400 employees from I-435 and Holmes Road to a brand new facility in Overland Park.
OCCUPY KC: Kansas City police and city workers evict members of the Occupy Kansas City movement from Penn Valley Park over the weekend. Occupy KC claims to be the longest continuous public occupation in the country.
HONORING FUNK: It’s been almost a year since Mark Funkhouser left his job as Kansas City’s Mayor. So why are there still no plans by members of the city council to honor his service when every other former Mayor has something named after them?
