An assault. Evidence gathered and then nothing. Now a grassroots effort to get a backlog of thousands rape kits analyzed, we’ll explore. Also whose info is it anyway? What’s behind a spike in the number of denials for open record requests in Texas. And machines that do the work of humans, and sometimes look like us too. As high tech talk in Texas turns to robots, a danger the conversation’s on autopilot. Plus help wanted: thousands of border and immigration officials. But if the idea’s to boost security, why are there plans to cut vetting of new recruits? Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 13, 2017
Did Texas Republicans draw up districts intentionally to dilute minority voting strength? A federal court says yes: now what? It used to be known as the spinach capitol of the world. These days, it’s famous as the city where nearly every top official was charged with corruption. Crystal City: one year later. Also: it’s part of the lure of Texas: affordable homes. Maybe not so much anymore? A new warning from the Dallas Fed. Plus the top ten places for bibliophiles? A Texas road map for readers…all that and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 9, 2017
Illegal crossings on the southwest border down 40 percent in one month! The trump administration says, “You’re welcome” but can they take the credit? Also the tax man calculating the value of homes across Texas right now. We’ll tell you about a political effort to cap how much your property taxes can be raised and why its freaking out some cities and counties. Plus everyone loves to trash the Texas foster care system, but what about the good apples? Foster parents making big sacrifices to help someone else’s children.Also, refugees in public schools and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 8, 2017
Obamacare, but for how much longer? How does what’s been called repeal and replace stand to affect Texans? Answers and more questions today. Also as many servicemen and women once stationed in Afghanistan return to Texas, new boots on the ground over there: Chinese boots. We’ll explore. And give me your tired, your very poor, your huddled masses yearning to be able to afford a grocery trip. What new numbers tell us about why Texas has become a beacon for California migrants. And the latest weather forecast. Same as it ever was? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 7, 2017
The bathroom line gets long outside the senate chambers as lawmakers hunker down to take care of business, we’ll have the latest on a controversial move just ahead. Also is there something Texas democrats and republicans can agree on? Quite possibly. We’ll hear about rumblings over criminal justice reform. Plus 11 professors for how much? Why the governor’s plan bring the best and the brightest to Texas may be on the chopping block. And Aggies making school a safe place for former soldiers…how and why? Plus the white shaman of the lower Pecos arrives in the big city: could this be a sign? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 6, 2017
Mr. Obama told his successor it would be the most urgent problem he would confront. Hint: it doesn’t involve wiretaps. Should the Trump administration take out North Korea’s weapons capability, and if so how? In the wake of a new wave of rocket launches, UT’s Jeremy Suri joins us to consider the options. Also winter wildfires in the panhandle…what west Texans need to do now to stay on top of a critical situation. Plus remember the Alamo? Remember what they were planning to do with it? As the bottom line for a massive restoration project grows, so does a question: how to pay for it. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 3, 2017
Put aside who’s gonna pay for it, who’s gonna build it? As companies start lining up, a hidden price for doing business? We’ll explore. Also, farmers and ranchers may have turned out for Trump back in November, but with new numbers and NAFTA on the line, what you might call ‘growing’ concerns…We’ll have the story. Plus in a time for belt tightening in Texas, one state agency comes up with a plan: ask for more of it. We’ll hear why they think it’s a winning strategy. And that’s the way it is: a pioneer of public radio, Cokie Roberts, on the state of the media in an era of fake news. And Waco get’s its wings, with the help of a flying W. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 2, 2017
It’s been called unconstitutionally dangerous to Texas kids. Finally a fix for a failed child welfare system? That’s our top story today. Plus, thousands of Texans without voter ID went to polls anyway, signed affidavits and cast their ballots. Why 4 months later, some may face criminal charges. And the farm to table movement and a fresh push to change the tax menu. Also nature or nurture: new research in the Alamo city could prompt a rethink in how best to get newborns out of intensive care. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 1, 2017
In politics, style doesn’t normally trump substance. Does a change in tone portend a change in policy and if so how? We’ll explore. Also two Texas congressmen, one a democrat, the other a republican, tell us what they heard and what they didn’t in the president’s maiden address to Congress. Plus, the re-making of a president the old fashioned way: we’ll chat with the man who made a reconsideration of LBJ his personal mission. Also: look: up in the sky. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 28, 2017
A sudden reversal from the department of justice: Texas didn’t intended to discriminate with Voter ID. Why the 180 and why does it matter? We’ll explore. Also: as immigration detention centers in Texas fill with new arrivals, a lawsuit against a private company running many of those centers: the allegation? Forced labor. The case could involve tens of thousands of current and former detainees. Also, a new technique to eradicate invasive species being tested for the first time on mammals: the effect, daughterless offspring. What could go wrong? We’re just getting started, it’s Texas Standard time:
Texas Standard: February 27, 2017
Feeling the pinch? Texas lawmakers blame lower oil and gas revenue. But for the real explanation, you may have to drill deeper, we’ll explore. Plus homeschoolers and public school advocates form an unlikely partnership: the target? Stopping the latest effort on school choice. We’ll hear why. And sweat dirt and drilling equipment: the stuff fortunes have been built on since spindle top. But new wildcatters are getting their hands dirty without getting their hands dirty. We’ll explain. And as states ease up on marijuana, a new directive from the feds to crack down on recreational use of pot. What happens next? All that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 24, 2017
What does the Trump administration really have in store for the next 4 years? Don’t say nobody warned ya. The story today on the Texas Standard.
Social media and text messages suspected behind skyrocketing numbers of inappropriate stident teacher relationships in Texas. What to do? The Texas legislature now stepping in.
Also: a rare conversation with the judge who’s likely to be at the center of a forthcoming wave of lawsuits over a southern wall. NPR’s John Burnett joins us with his one on one.
Texas leads the nation in windpower, but it’s been so successful they’re having to give away power…what if they could store it? What could be a breakthrough.
Texas Standard: February 23, 2017
It used to be the wall, now a new nightmare for Mexico city: where to put thousands of deportees and refugees, we’ll explore. Plus not one, not two, but five new bills aimed at countering campus sexual assault including one that could lead to criminal sanctions against college professors and administrators. And cranes and construction projects crown the skylines of Texas cities. Why a white house order might make half-finished projects permanent fixtures. And help! I’ve fallen and I can get tech. How the digital age is coming to the aid of older Texans. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 22, 2017
Picture this: the US orders new deportation camps set up along the Mexico border. Unrealistic? Mexico doesn’t think so, we’ll have the latest. Plus with the Trump administration announcing new deportation orders, where does that leave Mexican nationals in the US previously permitted to stay under deferred action? The view from a place called limbo. Also, why are so many Texans getting hit with surprise medical bills? And what’s being done about em? Plus, going whole hog: the man behind the plan to shoot feral swine from helicopters has a new plan:poison. This can’t be good, can it? All that and much more on the national news show of Texas:
Texas Standard: February 21, 2017
Before the highest court in the land: the case of the killing of a teenager at the border, and the question where do we draw the line? Plus first came the Tea Party, then complaints about RINO’s-republicans in name only. As Trump opponents adopt the tea party strategy, a call for the fall of the Dinos? And new numbers on support for the legalization of cannabis in the lone star state. As attitudes change, why does the resistance refuse to go up in smoke? Plus Texas schools turning down federal food money so they can hang on to aid for academics. But if students are too hungry to work, then what? All that and more on the national news show of Texas:
Texas Standard: February 20, 2017
One month after taking office, historically low approval ratings for the President: but in Texas new numbers tell quite a different story. Also a working vacation for members of congress? Many appear to be busy this week avoiding hometown constituents but who’s gonna pay for that wall? Mexico warns the price for deteriorating relations may be an end to intelligence cooperation. And have you seen the redbuds blooming? Seen the calendar? A new reality taking root in Texas. And the first president of the united states was… John who? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 17, 2017
An undocumented woman seeking protection from domestic violence arrested in an El Paso courtroom–the shape of things to come? That’s today on the Standard.
The pushback on sanctuary cities inspires a throwback strategy: the return of sanctuary churches. We’ll meet a pastor who’s behind an effort in Texas–one that could lead to his own arrest.
Also, an army burn center sees action on the home front: how a San Antonio military team is saving civilians
And what do Neiman Marcus, Radio Shack and Chuck E Cheese have in common? We’ll explore some of the top brands in Texas and count down the 5 most iconic.
Plus the week in politics with the TexasTribune and more…
Texas Standard: February 16, 2017
At campuses across Texas, posters and flyers calling for white people to take their country back. We’ll explore the recruitment campaign and the pushback. As a white supremacist group called the American Vanguard expands its college recruitment effort, demands grow for college leaders to take action. The president of the state’s flagship university joins us. Plus, after a defeat in the high court, Texas lawmakers bounce back with a new round of abortion-related bills. We’ll have the latest. Also, how high tech is getting political close to home. And the forgotten pieces of an underground railroad that ran…south. All that and much more just ahead on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 13, 2017
Texas on ICE: for weeks they were unconfirmed reports, now evidence of immigration sweeps across Texas and 10 other states, we’ll have the latest. Also: mind the gap. Who’s gonna fill the hole between two competing spending plans, for Texas and what does it mean in real terms? And a price bubble in the middle of the Texas desert, set to pop? Plus how do you write about a war when the final chapter is far from over? Veterans of the War on Terror offer a rare insiders view. And a sweeping investigation of the state of human trafficking in the lone star state. All that and much more, today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 9, 2017
It’s as old as the republic itself. Now two Texas lawmakers a republican and a democrat want to end what some call policing for profit. Also deadly fertilizer plant explosion put the tiny Texas town of west on the national map, and chemical safety back in the spotlight. Now some fear a rollback in efforts to prevent another incident like the one in west. And the Big 12 wants answers from Baylor…and millions of dollars now at stake. We’ll tell you why. Plus to many they are the invisibles… but who are the homeless in Texas? One city finds answers by looking to its past. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard: