Central Texas top stories for May 16, 2023. New Austin homeless shelter. School enrollment woes. Remote work policy for Austin
education
KUT Morning Newscast for May 10, 2023
Central Texas top stories for May 10, 2023. Daniel Perry’s sentencing. New energy bill in state Senate. Bonuses for Texas teachers.
KUT Morning Newscast for May 9, 2023
Central Texas top stories for May 09, 2023. Rents fall in Austin. Tenure bill up for debate. Pet safety heads to the legislature.
What it’s like in a self-defense class for LGBTQ Texans
The latest on a massive manhunt following the shooting deaths of five people in San Jacinto County.
As the Texas Legislature enters the final month of its biennial session, there’s a push to get more money for public schools.
There’s more turbulence ahead for Texas-based American Airlines as pilots say they’re ready to strike.
The border with Mexico is experiencing what many see as a surprising rise of Chinese migrants.
And fighting for the right to be free from fear: the Standard goes inside martial arts sessions for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
What’s in San Antonio’s ‘justice charter’?
Yes and no signs proliferate in San Antonio over Prop A. What’s behind the city’s so-called justice charter?
In Kyle, a corrections officer indicted in the shooting death of a person awaiting trial, and a family’s struggle to find answers.
Taking the STAAR tests online. Should there still be a paper option?
A push for more transitional housing for Muslim’s recently released from incarceration.
The story of a world premiere in Dallas for one of the most downloaded poets in the U.S.
And the week in politics with the Texas Tribune.
Texas county may shutter its library before it returns banned books to the stacks
Attorneys for a man convicted of fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin in 2020 are asking for a retrial – a request that comes after Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to review the conviction.
The debate over school vouchers, or a variation called education savings accounts, has just passed by the Texas Senate. Are there parallels with a decades-old debate over charter schools in Texas?
In Llano County, after a federal order to return books with LGBTQ -and race-related content to library shelves, commissioners today take up whether to close down the library system altogether.
Also: What could be a new tipping point in offshoring jobs.
Feral hogs are a big problem in Houston
It’s spring in Texas, and that means tornadoes. We’ll find out what’s expected this season.
A federal judge has ordered banned books be put back on the shelves in Llano County.
The CBP One App is a lifeline for migrants stuck on the border seeking an appointment to apply for asylum. But many simply cannot connect.
A new hybrid school in Dallas teaches kids remotely part of the week and in person the rest.
And feral hogs are a growing problem across the state – one place they’ve caused trouble recently is Harris County.
Taylor Swift fans in Texas are ready for the Eras Tour
For the first time in three years, Medicaid recipients have had to re-apply for the benefit as a major safety net installed during the pandemic disappears – and millions of Texans may lose health coverage.
Taylor Swift is coming to town, and the excitement is off the charts for the superstar’s Texas swing, starting this weekend in Arlington.
Also take a deep dive into deep fakes.
The future of TikTok hinges on ‘Project Texas’
Another tragedy in Uvalde, this one involving human smuggling. We’ll have the details on events there and in Eagle Pass that left three dead over the weekend.
Crowds are expected at the state Capitol this week as lawmakers take up several bills involving the treatment of transgender Texans.
What does it mean for Texas to blacklist a bank, especially at a time when the industry is so volatile?
“Project Texas” could be central to preventing a U.S. TikTok ban. But what is it exactly?
And why is a Texas school district considering leaving a statewide organization of school boards that until now has had 100% participation from public districts in the state?
‘The Long Game’ highlights the drive behind Mexican American golf trailblazers
Senate Bill 8 would provide education savings accounts of $8,000 that some Texas students could access to switch from public to private school. We’ll have the latest on the bill moving through the Legislature.
Also at the Legislature: Lawmakers might be messing with Austin once again, this time on a particularly touchy subject in the capital city – its land code.
Plus, the new film “The Long Game” highlights the 1950s story of four Mexican American teens in Del Rio who fought discrimination to become state golf champions.
Breaking down the saga at the Dallas Zoo
School vouchers, now styled as school choice, are back before state lawmakers. They have been rejected in the past, but will this year be different? Senate Bill 8 would provide Texas parents with an education account, taxpayer money that could be used to send students to private school. And the bill has special features designed to win over traditionally reluctant rural Republicans.
The Houston Independent School district braces for the implications of a state takeover.
Jamie Landers of the Dallas Morning News has put together a fuller picture of what happened with a string of crimes at the Dallas Zoo.
And seven Texas teams are spicing up March Madness on the men’s side.
KUT Morning Newscast for March 2, 2023
Central Texas top stories for March 2, 2023. Liberty Hill police shooting lawsuit. New leadership for Austin Transit Partnership. Displacement home applications. Ascension’s new women’s health tower. Education equity. Amplify Austin.
Texas Republican says banning college polling places is about safety. Students don’t buy it.
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in two challenges to student loan forgiveness. With Texas having the second highest number of student loans in the nation, a University of Houston legal scholar offers analysis and what comes next.
There’s a push in the Texas Legislature to ban polling places on college campuses – but some students see it as voter suppression.
Once upon a time in the not-so-distant past there was a planned mega-merger in the publishing biz. Today: the postscript.
Is Houston still affordable?
An orange haze, a vicious wind, in some places visibility cut close to zero – is an exiting dust storm a warning of more? With high winds expected to return later this week, what the layers of dust across Texas may tell us about changes to our climate.
A recent survey from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed roughly four out of five Houstonians are stressed out about recent price increases – raising the question of whether Houston still deserves its long-held reputation as one of the most affordable large cities in the country.
Tens of thousands protest against the president in Mexico amid concerns about threats to elections there.
A bill set to raise the penalties for illegal voting in Texas gets the green light from a Senate committee.
On Rare Disease Day 2023, we’ll hear how advocates for people with such diseases are pushing for change.
And an online hack targeting Asian Texans.
Fans turn out in Frisco as U.S. wins SheBelieves Cup
On the one-year anniversary of Russia’s war with Ukraine, Valerie Hudson, international affairs expert at Texas A&M, shares a Texas perspective on where the conflict stands today.
Author and commentator David Frum on concerns about moves being made by Mexico’s president that could turn back the clock on democratic change there – and the implications for Texas and beyond.
The Texas Standard’s Sarah Asch reports from the SheBelieves Cup soccer tournament in Frisco, where the U.S. Women’s National Team
took home the title.
Plus the week in politics with the Texas Tribune.
Why many Texas cotton farmers are planting less this year
After a disastrous season for cotton production, could Texas lose its crown as top producer? Three Texans on the front lines talk about why some fear 2023 could be a tipping point.
The head of the University of Texas System Board of Regents puts a pause on new diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
With student debt forgiveness plans on hold, what are the implications for those struggling most to get out from under it?
Also tech expert Omar Gallaga on the rising price of social media verification and whether it pays to buy into the changes.
Why a brand-new mental health hospital is sitting empty
There is a critical shortage of mental health care professionals amid surging demand statewide, with almost 99% of Texas designated as a shortage area for mental health professionals.
With heightened demand for mental health treatment, you’d expect the Kerrville State Hospital – a new, $30 million state-owned inpatient mental health facility – to be full. Instead, it’s completely empty.
A professor at Texas Woman’s University says Chat GPT and other AI tools present an opportunity to teach and learn in new ways.
And the story of Herman Barnett, a Black veteran who desegregated a Texas medical school.
What happened during the Southwest Airlines meltdown?
What are the top priorities of Texas’ top officials? Gov. Greg Abbott delivers his State of the State address this week, and in the next few days we’re likely to hear which bills are set to take up priority slots for the Senate and possibly House. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of the Texas Newsroom shares details.
A projected decline in Texas public school enrollment, and what that means for funding existing schools.
U.S.-China tensions are sky-high. How could it hit the home front for Texas?
And remembering Jeff Blackburn, a champion for the wrongfully convicted in Texas.
Soy de Tejas art exhibit highlights Latino artists in the Lone Star State
Black lawmakers in the Texas Legislature are pushing colleagues for changes to key Texas laws. Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds, chair of the Black Caucus, joins us to discuss top priorities in the 88th session on issues ranging from criminal justice reform and environmental justice to voting rights.
The Standard’s Kristen Cabrera on an effort in San Antonio to bridge the gap between public art exhibitions and marginalized communities.
And no Texas teams in the Super Bowl, but there are some big reasons for Texas football fans to get excited for Sunday’s big game.
How are Texas ranchers dealing with a hay shortage?
Two prominent scholars weigh in on what Texans should be listening for in tonight’s State of the Union address.
School vouchers or something quite similar promise to play a big role in the Texas legislative session now underway.
After a drought and ice storms, many Texas ranchers are facing a hay shortage and are fighting rising prices and scrambling for alternatives.
And a case from Texas 20 years ago that had ripple effects nationwide: our conversation with Wesley Phelps, the author of “Before Lawrence v. Texas: The Making of a Queer Social Movement.”