The business of border security. Who’s making millions, and who’s paying the price tag? An investigation by the Houston Chronicle takes a closer look. Also, new commercial checkpoints at the border set up by Governor Abbott now opening back up for business? We’ll have the latest. Plus presidential debates and their impartiality. How debatable? The GOP says Republicans running for president will have to sign a pledge not to participate with the Commission on Presidential Debates. Ricard Pineda of the University of Texas at El Paso talks about the implications. And Kristen Cabrera cracks open the story of an Easter tradition especially widespread in south Texas and northern Mexico. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Border
Texas Standard: April 14, 2022
A crack in the governor’s crackdown on inspections of commercial border traffic. But the supply chain likely to remain tangled. We’ll have details. Also three top staffers for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo indicted in a contract award scandal. Why and what it might mean for a politician considered to be a rising star among Texas democrats. And a Texas university told it cannot charge out of state students more for tuition than undocumented students. What the decision could mean for colleges and universities statewide. Plus a case 75 years ago that shook the separate but equal status quo in Texas and beyond. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: April 13, 2022
We’re still a ways off from November but already issues cropping up including a shortage of workers at the polls for a special election, we’ll have details. Other stories we’re tracking: governor Abbott’s new inspection protocols for commercial trucks at the border drawing accusations of political theatre from the left and the right. This as democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke lobs a broadside at president Biden over his plans to change policies at the border. We’ll hear all about it. Also the story of a Texas librarian fired after taking a stand on library censorship. And concerns among farmers in the panhandle that the drought could leave them high and dry. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: April 12, 2022
As evidence mounts of atrocities by Russian forces in Ukraine, the conversation shifts beyond war crimes to allegations of genocide. Ukraine says civilian killings constitute genocide. We’ll have a Texas expert on how and why that term is contentious, and what it could mean for the future. Also closer to home, with population growth in Texas, demand for concrete grows and Black and Hispanic communities in Houston disproportionately affected by concrete batch plants. We’ll have more on analysis by the Houston Chronicle. And federal dollars flowed to Texas landlords who pledged not to evict tenants during the pandemic. But many were evicted anyway. So what happens next? Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: April 8, 2022
New reports of a surge at the border but the story’s more complicated than what you may be thinking. Seven weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a new chapter in the story unfolding at the border north of Tijuana is raising questions about who’s allowed into the US, who isn’t, and why. We’ll hear more. Also, federal funds to help COVID-19 patients cover hospital costs run out. So what happens now? And micro plastics called little poison pills polluting Texas waterways, but a Texas researcher has a recipe for cleanup… just add okra? Plus the week in politics with the Texas Tribune and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: April 7, 2022
Governor Abbott announces a plan to send busloads of migrants to Washington D.C. in protest of the Biden administrations immigration policies. We’ll have more on an increasingly pitched battle over immigration between the Biden Administration and Texas’ Governor. Also, the passage of a near total ban on abortion in neighboring Oklahoma, and the implications for Texas. And the first outbreak of avian flu in Texas reported at a commercial pheasant farm, and how experts are hoping to avoid a worst case scenario. Plus is feral hog hunting having the opposite of the intended effect? Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: April 4, 2022
The Biden administration is set to end a Trump era policy aimed at keeping migrants out of the US due to pandemic concerns. Also, what’s the difference between Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke? According to a new survey of potential Texas voters: about 2 points; the research director of the Texas Lyceum Poll on the Governor Abbott’s slim lead. And Richard Linklater on his new film celebrating growing up in Texas during the space age. These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 25, 2022
More sanctions, more troops to Europe, but how adequate is the US response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Congressman Colin Allred of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is recently back from Ukraine; he’ll weigh in on the US response. Also, the ripple effects on oil and commodities. Plus, the week in politics, and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 14, 2022
Romancing the voters on this valentines day, Texas politicians in local and statewide races try to win over early voters in the nation’s first primaries. We’ll hear from the elections official of the state’s most populous county on a recent court decision in a fight against new voting regulations. Also, a Texas-based expert weighs in with the latest on what the US says is a rapidly advancing danger of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 2, 2022
With a winter storm warning set for much of the state, and the memories of last February still fresh, Texans brace for what’s coming. Also, vaccinations for the very young? A Texas-based expert on vaccine trials underway and what parents and caretakers should know. Plus, across Texas, a record number of books being banned from Public school libraries; why the push right now and who’s pushing back. These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: December 31, 2021
In a year that started out with redistricting as a top priority, Texans and the news from Texas in 2021 made national headlines as seldom, if ever, before. What happened? What didn’t? And why? Moreover, what do the events of the past year tell us about what may be to come in the Lone Star State in 2022? It’s a closeup look at the big stories and the forces behind major changes in Texas over the past 12 months on today’s year end edition of the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: December 14, 2021
All politics is local, the saying goes…but hyperpartisan, too? How the TX landscape is changing for local and school board races. Republicans in Potter County, home to Amarillo say they’ll conduct their own primary without the help of election officials and they’re urging other Texas counties to do the same. We’ll have the latest. Plus Texans sparked a lithium battery revolution, now another Texas breakthrough that could lead to something more sustainable and stable. And a critically acclaimed Texas trio hits it big, inspired by the sounds of Houston. Our conversation with the members of Khruangbin and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: December 13, 2021
The Texas secretary of state asks for detailed information on the 2020 presidential election from 4 Texas counties. Why? We’ll have more on whats described as phase two of a controversial audit of voting in Texas in the November 2020 elections. Also the national guard’s involvement in an ongoing border mission, and new concerns about soldier deaths, car crashes and other issues. And Texas grapefruit growers grow concerned over the future of their industry with a lifting of rules on imports. Plus an artist committing the tastes of her Texas community to canvas. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: December 8, 2021
As Texans gather for the holidays, pandemic trends not moving in a positive direction in the Lone Star State, as concerns mount over a new COVID-19 variant. We’ll talk with a member of the Texas Medical Association’s COVID-19 Task Force on increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and the Omicron variant. Also, a Politifact check of women in the workforce and changes since the start of the pandemic. And the woman heading up a return of the Buffalo to tribal bands in Texas. Plus the filmmaker famous for the first feature shot entirely on an iPhone turns his camera to the Texas Gulf Coast. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: December 3, 2021
The Trump era policy for asylum seekers to resume after talks between the Biden administration and officials in Mexico. The so-called remain in Mexico program is coming back, despite promises of change. We’ll hear why. Also the push to preserve the history of a formally segregated school in West Texas. And El Paso’s ban on planting Mulberry trees. Now that the existing ones are dying off, what will take their place? Plus the week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune, and remembering the Texan getting tons of attention right now for his role in keeping the fab four together. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 30, 2021
Where do we stand with Texas’ new abortion restrictions on the eve of oral arguments in one of the biggest challenges to Roe vs. Wade? Two Texas legal scholars specializing in abortion rights talk about the challenge to Texas abortion law now being considered by the high court, and the intersection with a major case set to be heard by the Supreme Court tomorrow. Also, the governor’s silence on issuing a pardon to George Floyd two months after an unanimous recommendation to do so by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Plus Mexico’s unprecedented lawsuit against U.S. gun makers. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 8, 2021
The Biden Administration vaccine mandates put on hold by the 5th circuit. What comes next in the fight against COVID-19? Steven Vladeck of UT Law breaks apart the significance and impact of the decision blocking federal vaccine mandates and what comes next. Also SPR, OPEC, COP26 and RBOB… decoding efforts to deal with climate change and the effect on energy markets. And an historic reopening today at the border. Plus an investigative report reveals poison in the air in parts of Texas at dangerous levels…levels not usually captured by official data. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 25, 2021
Two cases challenging Texas’ near total ban on abortions get put on the fast track by the U.S. Supreme Court. What happens next? Not since Bush v Gore has the U.S. Supreme Court moved with such speed as has in two challenges to Texas’s new abortion law, known as SB8. But for now, it remains in force in Texas. We’ll hear what the SCOTUS move means for the future of abortion in Texas and the rest of the nation. Also a plan to link Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio by Amtrak. One with friends in very high places, including 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And the art of ladders and border barriers. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 13, 2021
Was election day in South Texas 2020 an omen for Democrats in 2022 and beyond? A prediction and a prescription getting a lot of attention. Coming up, a warning for democrats hoping to pick up swing states, and what it could mean for Texas. Also the Biden Administration’s plans for a border reopening. Angela Kocherga has more from El Paso. And the image of the firefighter: iconic, and often male. An effort to give teenage girls hands on experience that could lead to careers fighting wildfires. Plus Texas bracing for the effects of hurricane Pamela. We’ll have the latest on that front and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 7, 2021
A federal judge blocks Texas’ near total abortion ban, for now. The state has appealed, leaving abortion providers and patients in limbo. We’ll have the latest. Other stories we’re tracking: Governor Greg Abbott is joined at the border by 9 other republican governors, backed by an array of military vehicles and accusing the President of causing what Abbott called a humanitarian crisis at the border. We’ll talk with USA Today’s John Moritz, who was there. Also remembering a Latino civil rights champion who fought segregation in Texas schools. And how Texas music is transforming a remote ghost town. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard: