diane eastabrook, al jazeera, williston, north dakota. >> and north dakota's oil boom is luring hundredsilitary veterans to the state. that's tomorrow. >>> for the first time in decades, the cuban government is allowing the sale of new cars. but it's a luxury many can't afford. adam rainy has the story. >> cubans have had to be resourceful to keep their old cars chugging along. starting this year restrictions on car ownership have been lifted. many were hoping to get a new set of wheels. but prices seen here have shocked cubans. a peugeot 508 is listed as 260,000, roughly ten times what it cost in many countries. every day, visitors is, niece two men were afraid to speak on camera but they said it would take a lifetime for cubans who average $20 a month income, to afford this. >> i think it is enormously disrespectful. we've done numbers and it is so expensive. >> for a foreign he driving a small car like this on the streets of havana is no big deal but for most cubans it's a dream. >> with prices so high most cars will sit unsold on car lots and despite the new freedoms, cubans will lik

. >> diane eastabrook has more in the series, "the new frontier." >> pam has watched a steady parade of new students come into her kinder garter classroom in watford city, most the children of workers seeking jobs in the oil fields. each new addition brings chaos. >> we get to a certain point in learning and we have a backtrack, depending on where they are coming in from, different areas. >> in the past few years enrolment has doubled from about 500 students to 1,000. additions include a modular classloom. the superintendent says it has not helped because more new kids keep coming. >> we moved classes, reconfigured, repurposed areas. both buildings are maxed out. >> the best solution is turning the high school into a middle school. that will cost $50 million. wot ford's population increased. property tax has not. many new residents are renters, not home owners. >> voters overwhelmingly approved a bond referendum to fund the new high school. >> in order for us to continue to grow, we need to get a school system. >> if the town is not growing, it dies. >> you are 23 million short. wher

diane eastabrook reports. >>> every friday, harold travels for a date with the same woman. >> it had been two -- two -- good in a quiet corner the 71-year-old reads sally may brooke a story he wrote. barnes grew up in poverty on a farm, never attending school and never learning to read. >> i want to read my mail. my wife passed away. then i got to go from relative to relative, trying to get them to help me read my pail. i said, this ain't going to work. >> doorgaccording to proliterac0 million can't read beyond a third grade level but only three million are getting tutored. they say literacy often needs to be tied to some sort of a goal, like getting a high school diploma or getting a job. this literacy class for low income adults provides tutoring in reading math and social studies with the goal of preparing students for high school equivalency exams. >> programs like this are mostly funded by federal block grants to states. >> paragraph 10. >> literacy advocate becky raymond says grants pay for the classes only. >> do they need transportation, childcare, addressing some of these ba

diane eastabrook spent time with a man who is learning to read at the age of 72. >> every sunday headso the cultural center for a date with the same woman. >> it had been two -- two -- >> in a quiet corner the 71-year-old reads sally maybrook a story he wrote. she has been his tutor. he grew up on a farm, never attending school and never learning to read. >> i want to be able to read my mail, my wife passed away, then i got to go from relative to relative, trying to get them to help me read my mail. >> according to a nonprofit group, only about 3 million are getting tutored. literacy advocates say getting an adult to learn how to read can be a real challenge. they say literacy often needs to be tied to some sort of a goal like getting a diploma or getting a job. >> you're right. good this literacy class for low income adults provides tutoring in reading path and social studies with the goal for preparing high school students for literacy exams. programs like this are mostly funded by federal block grants to states. >> paragraph 10. >> literacy advocate becky raymond says money pays for

in part one of the series, diane eastabrook looks at the housing crump. >> eric kirby makes the best of a cramped situation. in this mobile home the living room functions as an office. >> there's no room for tools and other household items. they are stashed in a shed. >> it's packed. >> it was the most affordable action. he and his wife and son moved. >> 18 months is a good deal in the town. two bed room apartments are going for over $2,000. >> williston north dakota is not only a boom town, it's the most expensive town in the nation. thousands flock for work. the population has doubled from 15,000 residents to roughly 30,000. but work is plentiful, housing is not. developers are rushing to fill the void. >> it's a typical room. >> danny hogan is one of them. his firm is building 3,000 modular homes. rent here will not be cheap. >> we have corporate contracts coming in. depending on the agreement coming in. we came for 139 a night. north dakota has a major problem on its hand, spending $50 million over the past few years building affordable housing, but mostly here in the oil patch.

diane eastabrook, al jazeera, watford city, north dakota. >> despite the oil discovery in north dakota, it's different in cacalifornia. occidental proposal wants to build new wells there, the ban runs for 45 days but could be extended for up to two years. across the u.s. regulations on fracking are limited and the consequence uncertain. we turn to our science and technology exon correspondent jb ward. >> there's a fair amount of controversy around fracking, fracking is used in plac placese a company wants to pull oil, inside a layer of rock, that's too pressurized to pull it out using conventional methods. fracking involves drilling down through the groundwater layer, like a mile, sometimes three miles below the surface and then the well changes direction and becomes horizontal. so at that point small cracks are broken in the surrounding rock with what's called a perforating gun. and a mixture of water sand and chemicals are pumped at high pressure along the rock, the water is pumped again and then eventually the area around the well is basically forced to become porous and ready to gi

diane eastabrook has more on our series "the new frontier", >> with a quick once over on the truck, randy reeves sets off with a cement delivery. the 53-year-old came to north dakota oil country a few years ago to find a job when work in florida dropped up. he landed a position within strata corporation within a day, crediting his experience as an air force vet rap. >> there's a prompt on the application, and i think that strata looks out for its veterans. >> oil service companies are recruiting workers for thousands of jobs in the oil fields in north dakota, sometimes giving preferential treatment to veterans citing skills, discipline and reliability. this job fair in williston opened an hour earlier to veterans so they could get a leg up. >> 31-year-old air force veteran went from one booth to another looking at a variety of jobs. >> i'm getting a feel, do what i need to do. i'm not worried about anything. >> i can take your resume if you like. >> some companies like continental resources used veterans to recruit other vets. rob bryant says working in air force security helped him as a

the story from diane eastabrook, in part of our series "the new frontier."ric kirby makes the best of a cramped situation in this 1200 square foot mobile home, the living room functioning as an office. >> there's no room for tools and items, so they are stashed in a shed. >> the freezer is here, the gun safe. it's packed. >> while small, the mobile home was the most affordable option for the civil engineer, his wife and son that moved from oregon. >> $18 a month is a good deal in this tune. there's 2-bedroom aparts going for $2,000. >> williston north dakota is not only a boom down, thanks to the oil rush, but is the most expensive housing market as thousands flock to work here. work is plentiful, housing isn't. developers are rushing to fill the void. >> this is one of our typical single studio rooms. >> danny hogan is one. his firm is building 3,000 modular homes for oil service workers. >> we have corporate contracts coming in. depending on the people and any agreement they come to, we came for 139 a night. >> north dakota knows it has a major housing pro

the story from diane eastabrook. in part one of the series, the new frontier. >> eric kirby makes the best of a cramped situation in this 1200 square food mobile home. the living room functions as an office. >> there's no room for tools and other household items, so they are stashed in a shed. >> the gun safe, the freezer is out here. it's packed. >> while small, the mobile home was the most affordable option for the civil engineer, his wife and son who moved to north dakota oil country from oregon. $1800 is a good deal in this down. >> thanks to the oil rush, williston north dakota is not only a boom town, but the most expensive housing rental market. thousands of job seekers flock to work. since the 2010 sensis the population doubled from 15,000 residents to roughly 30,000. work is plentiful. housing is not. developers are rushing to fill the void. >> this is a typical single room. >> danny hogan is one of them. his firm is building 3,000 modular home. >> we have corporate contracts. depending on the people and agr