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Sundays at 5pmRebroadcast Mondays at 8pm Host: Susan B. Wilson Producer & Co-Host: Sylvia Maria Gross Assistant Producer: Alex Smith Contact: kccurrents@kcur.org or 816.235.6696Follow our Tweets: www.twitter.com/kccurrents For a weekly reminder of what's coming up on KC Currents, send an email to kccurrents@kcur.orgThe Latest From KC CurrentsPlanting New Grocery Stores In Rural Food Deserts Rural America is losing its grocery stores. Fewer people are living in the countryside, and mom-and-pop markets can't compete with big chains. But as KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross reports, some small towns are finding creative ways to buck the trend. K-State Program Supports Rural Groceries With grocery stores in rural Kansas closing at record speed, having access to healthy food is a growing issue. Sylvia Maria Gross interviews K-State Professor David Proctor about what options are available for small town groceries.

Topeka Honors All-Female Mariachi Estrella

KCUR | By Sylvia Maria Gross

Published July 17, 2006 at 2:10 AM CDT

By Sylvia Maria Gross

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-698783.mp3

Kansas City, MO – This morning (Monday, July 17), Topeka unveils a new bronze statue in front of its performing arts center, just down the street from the Kansas Statehouse. The statue commemorates seven Topeka women who formed Mariachi Estrella, one of the country's first all-female groups in 1980. A year later, four members of that group died when the two skywalks collapsed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. Today (Monday, July 17) marks the 25-year anniversary of that disaster. On Thursday, the three surviving women played Mariachi together at Topeka's Fiesta Mexicana, for the first time in 20 years. KCUR's Sylvia Maria Gross reports.

Band members Dolores Galvan, Connie "Chae" Alcala, Dolores Carmona and Linda Rokey Scurlock lost their lives in the accident.

1981 recordings of Mariachi Estrella are courtesy of KTWU, Topeka's public TV station.

At left, Rachel Sangalang, Teresa Cuevas and Isabel Gonzalez. And Rachel Sangalang sings Amor Eterno at Topeka's Fiesta Mexicana.