Central Texas top stories for October 11, 2024. Five new parks will be added to parts of Austin with less access to green space. The city department that oversees new construction in Austin will begin using artificial intelligence. Austin’s 32nd annual Art from the Streets event returns this weekend. ACL’s second weekend kicks off today.
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KUT Afternoon Newscast for September 3, 2024
Central Texas top stories for September 3, 2024. Texas sent the third-largest U.S. contingent to the 2024 Paralympic Games. A judge’s ruling could mean a dramatic shift in how Austin releases information related to police misconduct. Barton Springs Pool is now expected to be closed for several weeks. Austin Energy is now using Artificial Intelligence to help detect and respond to wildfires. Travis County is looking to hire over 100 people at a job fair tomorrow. A streak of cooler than normal weather continues in the Austin area.
On Labor Day, a look at the ways our work is changing
Millions of Texans are marking Labor Day across the Lone Star State. This hour, we’re looking at some of the ways our work is changing:
– Artificial intelligence leading to a rethink of so-called busy work.
– How high tech is affecting labor unionization.
– The gig economy, and the hidden dangers of breaking out on your own.
– There’s one job on a few cattle farms – and many sheep farms – that is increasingly being done by dogs: herding.
Plus much more on a special Labor Day edition of the Texas Standard.
The state is facing a middle-class housing crunch
Housing availability is too low across Texas – and the cost to buy a home is just too high. We’ll have the details of a new report that shows the middle class feeling the brunt of the housing crunch.
Seniors were some of the hardest hit during the power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl. What’s being done to protect them before the next storm?
FEMA applications for damage caused by Beryl have far outpaced any other recent storm in Harris County, even Hurricane Harvey.
What we know about how CEOs are using artificial intelligence to make high-level executive decisions – and when humans should step in and override AI’s choices.
And: UT and Oklahoma are now in the SEC. If you don’t really get why that matters, we’ll have the cliff’s notes as college football season kicks off.
How Texas is likely undercounting heat-related deaths
Just how dangerous is triple-digit heat in Texas? They say the numbers don’t lie. Last year was the deadliest on record in Texas, but there’s reason to think we don’t know just how bad it really was – or is.
As schools begin welcoming students back to class, data shows nearly 1 in 5 will be chronically absent.
Are you a mosquito magnet, or does it just seem that way? What the science says, and what you can do about it.
Plus, the week in politics with the Texas Tribune and poetry from the Typewriter Rodeo.
Bighorn sheep being released in Franklin Mountains outside El Paso
The Santa Fe community is seeking answers and accountability for the 2018 school shooting as the accused shooter’s parents appear in court this week.
Houston police admit systemic failure in the processes that led to 264,000 cases being dismissed over eight years.
On the anniversary of the 1966 UT Tower shooting, a man who helped a fellow student that day shares a letter he’s kept for decades.
Bighorn sheep are returning to the El Paso area. A look at the challenges of re-establishing the herds.
And: What is a museum? We’re diving into the answer as we kick off a new series exploring the state.
Director Jeff Nichols returns to the big screen with ‘The Bikeriders’
Tropical Storm Alberto bears down on Mexico, bringing rain wind and stormy weather to South Texas. We’ll have an update on the latest.
Texas has the second largest population of Indian Americans in the U.S., many of them closely following the shifting political picture in New Delhi. We’ll hear reactions to a rare third term for India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.
How the government’s trying to help veterans transition into entrepreneurs.
You might have heard of AI hallucinations, but there’s a new buzzword in town – understanding AI “slop.”
And: Austin-based writer-director Jeff Nichols joins the Standard with a look at his new movie, “The Bikeriders,” a time capsule of late 1960s Chicago and the rise of motorcycle clubs.
Meet Emma, the AI assistant answering the phones at Amarillo City Hall
Just in time for high summer, a surge in COVID cases? What officials are saying about a new subvariant.
It could be a very wet 72 hours of so for much of Southeast Texas and beyond as meteorologists focus on what could be the first big storm of hurricane season coming together in the Gulf of Mexico.
In Amarillo, phones at City Hall are answered by Emma – a first-of-its-kind virtual assistant powered by AI, built specifically for the city.
Why some analysts are pumping the brakes on predictions of a looming oil glut thanks to electric vehicles.
And: why some Texas Democrats say schools could be key to their success in November.
Texas’ Jamestown Revival talk Tony-nominated score
The U.S. Supreme Court makes a key decision on abortion access, but is it the final word on the matter? The highest court in the land makes a unanimous decision on the abortion drug mifepristone, in a case that was originally filed in Amarillo.
The producers of the hit Broadway musical “The Outsiders” wanted someone outside the theatre world to score their play. Magnolia’s own Jamestown Revival stop by to talk about their Tony-nominated songs.
We’ve also got the latest intelligence on Apple bringing AI to its phones.
What’s behind an anti-birth control push on social media?
After an apparent tornado strike in Temple last night, it’s looking to be another day of severe weather across large parts of the Lone Star State.
A ransomware attack on the Ascension hospital network is still having a big impact on staff and patients almost two weeks later.
After online reports and videos of women giving up the birth control pill, The New York Times finds that prescriptions are not actually declining – in fact, the opposite.
And: The latest album from singer-songwriter Susan Werner, “Halfway to Houston,” takes on the wide landscape of Texas.
Are unlicensed teachers affecting student performance in Texas?
After the worst-ever wildfire disaster for Texas agriculture, there’s now an effort to help ranchers who lost large numbers of pregnant cows.
A year after the mall shooting in Allen, what the data reveals about gun violence there more broadly.
A new report documents how unlicensed teachers are becoming fixtures in many Texas schools.
Organizers of the Texas Eclipse Festival in Burnet County are now offering partial refunds to attendees because the event ended a day early.
Also, just how smart is artificial intelligence getting? Commentator W.F. Strong tried a little experiment.
A visit to the traditional Mexican rodeo in San Antonio
One year later, a survivor of the Allen mass shooting talks about his long road to recovery.
New water rules take effect in the Rio Grande Valley as some border cities cope with historically low reservoirs.
With the rise of cloud-based services and AI, the demand for power has soared. What it means for the state Texas.
A new book by University of Houston professor Brandon Rottinghaus takes a look at the political life of Rick Perry, Texas’ longest-serving governor.
And we’ll go to a charreada in San Antonio where Mexico’s rodeo skills are on display.
Texas Extra: SXSW 2024 Films with Texas ties (and more!)
The South by Southwest Conference and Festivals is/are underway Austin. It’s a time when some Austinites flock with the crowds to downtown — and others escape the city altogether. If you are not among the hundreds of thousands of attendees, have no fear. The Texas Standard will have some highlights. This is much extended version of an interview with freelance journalist and filmmaker Karen Bernstein. It features more examples of the films at SXSW and clips from the filmmakers themselves.
Is high school football on the decline in Texas?
A conversation with state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a self-described progressive Democrat who’s running to challenge Ted Cruz for his U.S. Senate seat.
Three years after the big freeze that plunged most of Texas into darkness, a new bill aims to connect the state to neighboring electric grids. Mose Buchele of KUT in Austin has more.
A big change for the Texas STAAR tests: student essays graded by computer. How does that work, and how fair is it?
And: Is football still king in Texas? A Washington Post analysis looks at the sport’s rise and fall across the country.
Texas frackers are going electric – but can the grid handle it?
With a push from Texas Republicans, the U.S. House moves a step closer toward a vote to impeach the head of Homeland Security.
Amid a shortage of teachers statewide, a move in Dallas to get more men of color in the classroom.
In the Texas oilfields, how a push for greener drilling has some worried about the effects on the power grid.
A browser update for the ages? Why new features in Google Chrome have one tech writer warning of the end of the human internet.
And Temu takeover? Why U.S. giants like Amazon and Walmart are rethinking their strategies as a China-based retailer turns up the heat.
What’s ahead for space exploration in 2024
The federal government takes legal action to stop Texas from implementing a new state law aimed at arresting migrants who come into the state illegally. Julián Aguilar of The Texas Newsroom has more.
A new plan to use AI to help explore the effect of burn pits on veterans.
Why 2024 could be the launch pad for a new chapter in space exploration.
How the armadillo, a dormant dog-sized mammal considered a pest by many, won the affection of many a Texan.
Plus: The week in politics with The Texas Tribune.
Residents fight proposed Brazoria County primate facility
Is artificial intelligence coming soon to Texas government? A new report says it’s already here.
More than 300,000 immigrants arrived at the southern border in December. Angela Kocherga of KTEP takes a look at one of the busiest border crossing areas year-round: the El Paso sector.
Volunteer pilots are helping abortion-seekers get out of Texas.
A biomedical company wants to build a massive facility for primates in Brazoria County. But locals are fighting back.
And: remembering the music and legacy of Rocky Morales.
KUT Afternoon Newscast for November 8, 2023
Central Texas top stories for November 8, 2023. Hays County election results. Pflugerville ISD new tax rate. Williamson County bond election results. Jurors deliberating in Christopher Taylor trial. Domestic violence rates in Travis County. Pflugerville ISD medical learning lab. Smart Freight Corridor. Longhorns basketball.
The real history behind Goatman’s Bridge is scarier than any ghost story
After almost seven weeks, striking autoworkers reach deals with the Big 3 automakers. Why Texas played a critical role.
Scientists recently got to see a collision of two stars in space – and its aftermath.
The president has released an executive order on artificial intelligence. How far does it go, and will it go far enough?
The tale of Goatman’s Bridge has a history that haunts Texas to its core. The Standard’s Sean Saldana takes us to Denton for the story.
And: What would Texas cryptids look like in real life? We visited an elementary school art class to get some ideas.
64,000 Texans stand to benefit from Biden student loan forgiveness
More people in Texas are set to benefit from student debt forgiveness than in any other state.
The Houston Police Department has released a comprehensive report on its investigation into the 2021 Travis Scott Astroworld festival tragedy.
Texas’ major cities are on track to lose lots of jobs to AI, and soon – San Antonio tops the list; Austin and Dallas are not far behind.
Also, billions of dollars have been announced for rural broadband, but apparently there’s a disconnect when it comes to funding the buildout.