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It’s legal again for Texas businesses to sell smokable forms of hemp. New state rules that went into effect in March had effectively outlawed these sales, while raising fees on the businesses who carry them. We’ll delve into the state of the Texas hemp market.
The state board of education gave preliminary approval to a mandatory list of books that all Texas public schools will teach starting in 2030. Critics of the list say it lacks diversity and emphasizes Christianity.
Plus, what’s the story behind the freaky sculpture hanging in the Barton Creek Greenbelt? That’s the exact question someone asked us for our ATXplained project.
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] It is legal again for Texas businesses to sell smokable forms of hemp. New state rules that went into effect in March had effectively outlawed these sales while raising fees on the businesses who carry them. The state of the Texas hemp market and the State Board of Education gave preliminary approval to a mandatory list of books that all Texas public schools will teach starting in 2030. Critics of the list say it lacks diversity and emphasizes Christianity. More about both of those stories coming up in today’s show. The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Kehanel. Plus, what’s the story behind the freaky sculpture hanging in the Barton Creek greenbelt? Well, that’s the exact question someone asked us for our AT Explain project. Now we’ve got the answer and we’ve gotten it for you up next on Austin Signal. Howdy out there, you are listening to Austin Signal. Thank you for making us part of your Monday. It’s April 13th. I’m your host, Jerry Kiechanow. Hopefully, wherever you’re tuning in from today saw a little bit of rain over the weekend. The National Weather Service says we’ve still got a small rain chance for this afternoon with the possibility of showers forecasted for about half of the days this week. We’ll keep you up to date with the latest right here on Community Powered Public Radio. Smokable forms of hemp can, once again, be legally sold here in the state of Texas. That’s after a Travis County judge granted on Friday afternoon a temporary restraining order against Department of State Health Services rules that went into effect at the end of March. For more about that, we are talking with KUT’s Nathan Bernier. Nathan, thanks for joining us on the show.
Nathan Bernier [00:01:58] Glad to be with you, Chair.
Jerry Quijano [00:01:59] So can you please refresh us on the basics quickly, what were these new regulations that took effect last month?
Nathan Bernier [00:02:04] Right. They took effect March 31st from the state’s health regulators. They did not change the laws around possessing smokeable hemp products, but they changed what can be sold. So the biggest shift is how THC is calculated. The state now counts something called THCA as Delta 9 THC. Really quick. It’s just, I always have to explain this because it gets so confusing, even for people who think they’re familiar with this. I’m surprised how many don’t know this. Delta 9 THC is the main ingredient in cannabis that gets people high, and the amount of that determines whether cannabis in Texas is legal hemp or illegal marijuana. But there are many other compounds in cannabis that can get people high. One of them is THCA. When that’s heated or smoked, it turns into Delta 9. So what the state basically decided to do, among many other things, but this is the most contentious, is say THCA is now being counted as Delta 9, or 88% Delta 9 And that is effectively what made. Most of these products unlawful for sale. The state also increased fees exponentially on businesses, in some cases 40 times what they were, these annual fees, and they added stricter testing, packaging rules, and a permanent restriction on selling to miners.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:17] Who filed this lawsuit and why did they want to…
Nathan Bernier [00:03:19] Filed by the Texas Hemp Business Council and hemp companies and another industry group, and they’re suing state health agencies and the attorney general. And their core argument is that regulators really went beyond the law that lawmakers passed. State law says, this is what hemp is, this is, what’s legal. And they’re saying, actually, you’re redefining what hemp is by using a broader formula. They also argue the fees are too high and serve as an unconstitutional tax. And they claim these state agencies did not follow their own proper rulemaking steps in adopting these rules. So their goal was to block the rules and stop enforcement and they got a partial win on Friday.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:55] Yeah, so tell us about that partial win and which part were they successful with?
Nathan Bernier [00:03:59] They were successful, the judge in Travis County blocked enforcement of that THC standard. So that means businesses could immediately start selling smokeable hemp again temporarily. This temporary restraining order remains in effect for two weeks until another hearing on April 23rd that will, where lawyers will argue whether there should be a longer term hold or pause of these rules while the case plays out in court. But the higher fees, those are still in place. So the long-term outcome of this is uncertain. What reaction have you heard since Friday’s news? Well, I spoke to some hemp businesses, you know, cannabis shops in Austin, asking, hey, are you selling smokeable products again? Some of them say, yes, everything’s back on the shelves. Some of the have a very limited stock, limited supply until later in the week where they’re trying to basically order more. I also spoke with the executive director of the Hemp Business Council, Mark Bordas. And he said that they are very happy with what played out in court. But they’re also really looking forward to April 23 because they want to have these fees put on hold. They feel like they didn’t really have enough time to make the case during the hearing on Friday. And so that’s what they are looking forward too. What’s interesting though, Jerry, is that not all companies immediately need to pay these fees, which amount to $5,000 per retail location per year and $10,000 per manufacturing facility per year. It’s really based on. When the renewal period is when you first received your permit or registration. This is how Mark Bordas explained it to me. So it’s a rolling requirement here. So there are many businesses that don’t have to pay these fees yet. They’re like fingers crossed for April 23rd and there are some where those fees may come due within the next couple weeks.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:43] Okay, now we have reached the stage where there is a temporary halt. What happens next in this case?
Nathan Bernier [00:05:49] So again, this ruling is a temporary restraining order, lasts about two weeks. The next step is a hearing on whether to have a temporary injunction to extend that pause. And that’s April 23rd. And at that point, the judge could keep the rules blocked or allow them to take effect again or change which rules are blocked. So right now, smokeable hemp is back, but whether it stays that way, it depends on what happens in court on April 23. And I’ve just been parsing some data here and I’m looking at the number of retail businesses and Texas has just really. Boomed in the last few months. In Austin alone, it’s gone up from 648 businesses registered to sell hemp products to 951 since August. That’s actually August to March. So an almost 50% increase in Austin in the number of businesses registered to sell these products. So it’s, you know, critics will say, look, these, these businesses are flourishing. It’s out of control. And supporters will say this is a going to be a huge hit to the state’s economy.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:44] We have been speaking with KUT’s Nathan Bernier. We’re gonna have a link to his latest. In today’s show notes, Nathan, thanks for talking with us on Austin Signal.
Nathan Bernier [00:06:51] Thanks for having me, Jerry.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:59] The Texas State Board of Education gave preliminary approval on Friday to a list of required K through 12 reading materials for public schools. The list will still need to be revised until a final vote in June, but some educators say they have concerns with it. For more about that, we are speaking with KUT’s education reporter Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez. Greta, thanks for being with us.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:07:20] Hi, Jerry.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:21] So why did the save board want to create this required reading list in the first place?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:07:25] That’s a good question. This is part of a bill passed during the 2023 legislature. So HB 1605 says the State Board of Education should specify a list of at least one literary work to be taught in each grade level. But the initial list that was proposed had over 300 readings, so way much more than one book per grade. And that list was proposed by the Access Education Agency or TEA. After revising a list from other states and also through a survey with teachers.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:57] Okay, so it is a big list, 300 or so titles. What do we know about the list so far?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:08:03] Yeah, so members of the State Board of Education discussed the proposed list and then two members had their own proposals that were amendments to the initial one, to that 300 words list. So one of the members who had their list was Kevin Ellis, who was one of Republican members of their board, and his list cut around 100 titles from the initial list, but in essence, it remains pretty similar. And so Ellis list was the one that was pre-approved last Friday with a nine to five vote. I have to say all Democrats, five Democrats on the board voted no to this list. And during the meeting last week, there was space for public testimony. More than 120 people spoke there on Tuesday, some in favor, but most of them against the list. There were teachers, parents, religious leaders and students as well. Teachers mainly said they worried that there were too many readings in this list to cover in one school year that they wouldn’t have the time. Others raised concerns about the lack of diversity of authors. And some others, including multiple religious leaders, said that they had concerns about the risks of, quote, turning public schools into Sunday school. I have to say the current reading list includes multiple passages from the Bible, but does not include other religions. And so. I talked to Reverend Mara Bim outside of the meeting and she’s a pastor at a church in North Texas and this is what she had to say.
Reverend Mara Bim [00:09:25] Children should be taught religion at home. Again, as a pastor, I value religion. I believe in scripture. But I want to be the one to teach my child that. And I don’t want my faith pushed on other people, especially impressionable young children.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:09:44] So the list that was pre-approved Friday, once again, it’s shorter, but people have the same concerns.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:50] So you mentioned the things that people were saying prior to the vote, now that the vote has actually been cast, what have you heard from people?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:09:56] Yeah, so I’ve talked again to people who were at the meeting and teacher organizations and some have told me that they worry that it’s still too long, even though they cut around 100 readings. Some grades have over 20 titles and that’s on top what teachers have to teach or to cover from the curriculum. Yeah, the regular curriculum. So the school year has 36 weeks and teachers have take into account, I don’t know, picture day, field trips and many other factors, you know, people getting sick. Life happening. Yeah, life happening. And then they have to incorporate all those readings. And so to have an idea, English One, this is taught in high school, has 14 readings and that includes the Odyssey. If you know this book, it’s a book that has over 500 pages. And then it has Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird. Those are only three books out of 14 for English One. And so people are also worried about representation in the list. They said that there’s not enough women or people of color, authors, women and people of color, teachers, parents, and advocates, when kids sit. In Texas to see themselves reflected in what they’re reading and they say, this new list does not represent everyone. And then finally, there’s still religious readings and passages from the Bible in this list.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:05] Ok, just about 15 or 20 seconds left. What happens next?
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:11:10] Yeah, so the list will be discussed once more in June before a final vote when the board meets again. And between then and now, the Texas Education Agency has to open a 30-day period for public feedback.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:22] All right, we have been speaking with Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez. She is KUT’s education reporter. Thanks for coming on the show, Greta.
Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez [00:11:29] Thank you, Jerry.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:31] And thank you out there for spending part of your Monday afternoon here with Community Powered Public Radio. This is KUT News and this is Austin Signal. You can find more from us at kut.org slash signal. We’re going to have more after this break. You’re tuned in to Austin Signal. Welcome back to the show. It’s getting to be perfect hiking weather here in Austin, at least when it’s not raining. The blue bonnets are blooming. It’s not too hot yet. And if you go to the right trail, you just might see something a little unusual. We got a question about it for our ATXplain project. KUT’s Katie McAfee got to the bottom of it.
Katy McAfee [00:12:21] Zach Dallas first saw it in high school. He was hiking with some friends in the Barton Creek Greenbelt. It was late and dark. They hiked for about a mile from the Gusfrew entrance when everyone suddenly stopped.
Zach Dallas [00:12:34] You know, we’re worried about raccoons or whatever and then we look up and we see that thing.
Katy McAfee [00:12:38] High in the trees, Zach saw something. It wasn’t quite human, but not an animal either. A supernatural being was mysteriously suspended in midair. A few years after he saw it, Zach met Anna Javed. The two seriously hit it off, and Zach wanted to treat Anna to a memorable experience. So we took her to the Greenbelt to see it. And then we come across this little area and it was quiet, there was no one else here. And then we see it and we’re just like of freaked out. Okay, here’s what it is. It’s a life-size sculpture made of green fabric. It’s got long arms stretching outward, a big muscular butt, strangely prominent nipples, and a tiny little head. It looks like it’s been there for a long time. It is covered in moss. It is not appealing to the eye at first. It just does not put me at ease. Zach and Anna have walked past the sculpture in the Greenbelt dozens, maybe hundreds of times in the past decade. And after so many years, Anna wanted to know just the story and the history behind this figurine, why it was put up, and then also what are we as hikers supposed to take away from it when looking at it. I asked Zach and Ana if they had any theories to get me started.
Zach Dallas [00:13:58] Oh yeah, absolutely. So people saying that it’s it’s here to scare tech bros back to California, that hadn’t worked.
Katy McAfee [00:14:06] Anna had a more reasonable theory. She thought an artist got permission from the parks department to install it. Because obviously they have to be on board with that too, right, for it to be kind of permanently there. A couple of good theories, but still not a lot to go on. I started sleuthing online for clues. Theories piled on Reddit. Someone thought it was Slender Man. Another said they heard it was a totem made to stave the real thing off. But then an unlikely hero emerged from the comments section. Someone shared an article published a few years ago about an artist named Magdalena Yarkopietz who makes giant mutant dolls. Dolls very similar to the ones suspended from the trees and the green belt.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:14:49] We got a really nice day, huh? Yeah. Oh, this is beautiful.
Katy McAfee [00:14:54] I met up with Magda in front of the sculpture last summer. She told me, yes, she was the artist behind this thing. She’s a sculpture artist and a dancer. She’s been doing ballet since she was a kid and she still choreographs dances. I found one on YouTube. Magda and two other dancers are wearing these huge shoulder pads. Their biceps look like puffy clouds. They’re jumping around in a line. I’m not really sure what’s going on. It was looking as though Anna’s theory was right. This was an art installation, but there was one key thing she got wrong. Anna said whoever put the sculpture up in the green felt must have gotten permission. Not exactly.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:15:42] We hung the doll in the middle of the night. I think because I’m a rule follower, so I would never just go out there. I mean, I guess I’m not entirely a rule-follower.
Katy McAfee [00:15:51] Magda wanted people to see her work, but she didn’t know how to get into galleries. The next best thing was putting it in the green belt. Her husband, Shane, was her accomplice.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:16:01] Had it wrapped in a sheet. Like we parked at Gus Fru and we’re like carrying a body in a sheep into the green velvet.
Katy McAfee [00:16:09] Then they had to get it up into the trees. Luckily, Shane’s a skilled rock climber.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:16:14] Yeah, I just stood here and Shane climbed up the tree and I was like, no further.
Katy McAfee [00:16:19] Higher and higher, until he got the sculpture to where it’s lived for the last decade. But what does it mean? I’m not gonna lie, I was really intimidated to talk to Magda about this, because sometimes art stresses me out. I get worried that I won’t get it, or I won’t come to the same conclusion everyone else does. And to be honest, the first time I saw this sculpture in the Greenbelt, I wasn’t thinking about it like it was art. I just thought it was weird. I suddenly felt like I was working on a story completely out of my wheelhouse. I put these feelings aside and focused on the basics. I asked Magda how this all got started.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:16:59] My grandma sewed us clothes when we were little. She’s Polish. I was born in Poland. She’s the reason I wanted to sew because she had this like, you know, magical power.
Katy McAfee [00:17:09] Magda taught herself how to sew in high school. She started with clothes, and the more she did it, the more realized she also had that magical power. When she got to college, she started using her craft to make sculptures. Her first one was just as creepy as the sculpture in the green belt, and had a long neck, no face, one arm, and a leg that starts out normal at the hip and then fizzles out like a ribbon on a Christmas present. Magda named her Bella. After that, she got the bug. Magda started making a bunch of sculptures. She keeps a lot of them in her studio, each one more bizarre than the last. This is that.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:17:45] Guy with the little head. Oh yeah and she has uni, like I called them uni fingers. Her fingers are connected.
Katy McAfee [00:17:52] Another doll has ginormous hips, saggy boobs, and arms so long they graze the floor. Her work evolved. She added faces to the dolls. And then, genitalia.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:18:04] I think in general, genitalia and nipples, when I realized I can make them pretty anatomically accurate with fabric, I don’t know. That just really excited me. I was like, this, it felt hilarious, like it felt unlikely. It really bothers my husband, I think. He’s like, This is so weird.
Katy McAfee [00:18:25] Some of her work is just genitalia. A while back, she made a bunch of cloth vulvas and installed them in some trees outside the anthropology on North Lamar.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:18:34] But it got taken down in like 24 hours.
Katy McAfee [00:18:36] The way Magda describes this time in her life, it’s like she was just struck with inspiration at every turn. She said she needed to make art like she needed eat. But what inspired her to make dolls specifically? And not just any dolls, but dolls that are sort of the antithesis to Barbies, with arms and legs and boobs that spill out all over the place. She says growing up practicing ballet had something to do with it.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:19:02] I mean I think when you’re a dancer you’re obsessed with your body in all kinds of ways. The experience of your body but also like what it looks like because you’re trying to like package it into a really really particular form.
Katy McAfee [00:19:16] Ballet dancers grow up hyper aware of their bodies. They wear tiny leotards in front of giant mirrors. Many dancers report being body shamed or told they need to lose weight way before they even hit puberty.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:19:29] So I think that’s why I started making figures, from that, like, dancer-ly, just like, how do I solve this problem of being a body and it being wrong all the time?
Katy McAfee [00:19:39] It’s not just dancers who feel this way. We’re all subtly being told we look wrong all the time by Instagram ads, by Westlake dermatology billboards. The message that we should do something to change ourselves is everywhere.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:19:53] I think it’s such a universal struggle, like how to deal with being, like it’s an existential problem, like, how to be a body. You know what I mean? It’s just weird. Like you’re like a person, you’re conscious, but you’re also just like stuck.
Katy McAfee [00:20:09] Get all this. It’s like when you’re a kid and you’re not really thinking about your body. You don’t need to have social awareness if your hair is messy or if you have chocolate on your face because in a sense you’re just busy with bigger things. Making friends, doing cartwheels, growing up. And then at some point someone says something to you about your weight or your skin and suddenly your body is no longer just a vessel to do fun things. But when I as art. I see creatures that skipped all that social conditioning, especially the doll in the green belt. It’s not being held back by feelings of self-consciousness. It’s confidently and perpetually leaping from the trees with feral whimsy. And now when I look at the sculpture, it gives me a glimpse of that childhood innocence back. Maybe I do understand art. So that’s my take. But Magda says if you look at her art and still think it’s weird or creepy, that’s okay too.
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:21:10] I hate when people feel like they have to then revise their version of what they think something’s about because of what someone intended or maybe didn’t even intend but said after the fact.
Katy McAfee [00:21:24] So to Ana’s question, what are hikers supposed to take away from the sculpture? I guess the answer is, you’re not supposed to take away anything. It might mean something totally different to you than it does to me. And that’s what makes art cool, that it’s contested. There was one more thing that was nagging me. Magda used to hang her sculptures in Austin Parks all the time. And every single one of them, except for this one in the Barton Creek Greenbelt, got taken down. What made this one so spe-
Magdalena Jarkowiec [00:21:55] I think the main thing is just that it’s not easy to get down.
Katy McAfee [00:22:01] Sometimes it’s just not that deep. I’m Katie McAfee and Austin.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:11] That story was part of our last ATXplained live show. Join us for our next one with brand new stories. It’s happening May 21st at Bass Concert Hall. You can get your tickets at texasperformingarts.org. That is it for today’s show. You can find more about today’s stories in the podcast show notes and at kut.org slash signal. Reyna Sevilla is our technical director and Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer. Rene Chavez is our giant mutant doll. I’m your host Jerry Quijano. We will talk to you tomorrow. This is Austin Signal.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
