Robert Siegel talks to professor Ilija Casule of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. His research shows that a language spoken by about 90,000 people in a remote area of Pakistan is Indo-European in origin. He explains how 20 years of research has tied this isolated group of people to a migration that started in the Balkans and moved East 3,000 years ago.
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted today to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. He's accused of refusing to turn over certain documents related to the controversial gun-trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious.
What do the Latino officials want to hear? Well, we're joined by Arturo Vargas, who is the executive director of NALEO. Hi, welcome to the program.
ARTURO VARGAS: Hello.
SIEGEL: And first, is the policy that President Obama announced last week about deportations, does that effectively counter concerns in your group about his policy of deportations of people said to be criminals?
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
The Senate has narrowly rejected an effort to scrap tough limits on mercury emitted from power plants. The Obama administration has trumpeted the rules affecting coal-burning power plants as an environmental triumph. But to industry groups, and many Republicans, these rules are the latest salvo in a war against coal. NPR's Tamara Keith reports.
Brad Beadell (right) takes his 11-year-old son, William, on his first backpacking trip through Henry W. Coe State Park in Morgan Hill, Calif.
Credit Melissa Block / NPR
Coe Park is California's second-largest state park, spanning more than 87,000 acres.
Credit Ron Fischler / Courtesy of Coe Park Preservation Fund
Dan McCranie (left) hands over a check for $279,000 to Ruth Coleman, director of California State Parks, at a ceremony at Coe Park in May. The amount is the first installment of about $900,000 from the Coe Park Preservation Fund that will keep the park open for three years.
On July 1, 15 California state parks are slated to be closed permanently to the public — the first such closures in the state's history. They're the victim of budget cuts in a state with a $16 billion shortfall.
Over the past year, park enthusiasts have scrambled to save dozens of parks from closure, including Henry W. Coe State Park, California's second-biggest state park, located about 30 miles south of San Jose.