Sidebar: Wolf wars, a border emergency and the trial of Elizabeth Holmes

We kick off the penultimate episode of our first season of Sidebar in the American West, where a dispute has been brewing for decades between ranchers, the government and environmentalists over wolves. This long-standing debate over the extent to which these carnivorous mammals should be protected or hunted down and killed isn't going anywhere soon.

Then we take a deep dive into a border emergency not often discussed: human waste flowing in the Tijuana River Basin. What will it take for the U.S. and Mexico to tackle the sewage crisis, expected to worsen as Tijuana's population increases?

Last, we hear from our own Matthew Renda on the Elizabeth Holmes trial. Holmes and her company, Theranos, promoted a portable blood testing device that promised to revolutionize the medical testing industry. The federal government says it was all a lie to bilk investors of millions.

Special guests:

• Jeremy Heft, biologist at the Wolf Education & Research Center

• Bonnie Brown, executive director of the Colorado Wool Growers Association

• Brian Wakeling, game management bureau chief for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

• Karin Vardaman, founder-director of Working Circle

• Bethany Case, co-chair of Surfrider San Diego’s Clean Border Water Now campaign

• Joseph Palmer, supervising environmental health specialist for San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health and Quality

Sidebar tackles the top stories you need to know from the legal world. Join reporters Bianca Bruno, Nicholas Iovino, Amanda Pampuro and Nina Pullano as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond and break down developments to help you understand how they affect your day-to-day life.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Music by The Dead Pens, Norma Rockwell and Johann Strauss II. A transcript of this episode is available.

Editorial staff is Bill Dotinga, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross. Big thanks to Matthew Renda.

For more on the battle to protect wolves:

-- Judge asked to restore endangered species protections for gray wolves

-- Judge temporarily halts upcoming Wisconsin wolf hunt

-- Judge finds poaching remedies vague in Mexican gray wolf recovery plan

Get up to speed on the Tijuana River sewage woes:

-- EPA selects Tijuana sewage pollution projects for environmental review

-- CA Lands Commission Wants Federal Action on Tijuana Sewage Pollution

-- So Cal Cities Sue Over Tijuana Sewage Polluting US Beaches

To read Matthew's coverage of the Holmes trial:

-- Villain? Do-gooder who failed? A jury will decide as fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes kicks off

-- Employee says Theranos bled money while Elizabeth Holmes raved to investors

-- Investors peeved at Theranos founder for misleading them

Follow Sidebar and Courthouse News on Twitter.

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