Facing a challenge from fellow Republicans, Dade Phelan says he’s dropping his bid for re-election as Texas House speaker.
Texas has some of the most expensive insurance in the nation, forcing homeowners to pay more for less coverage.
Desert bighorn sheep return to the Franklin Mountains of El Paso, a major milestone in restoring the species.
While the area around the UT Austin Tower buzzes with activity, a quieter sanctuary to the north – the Turtle Pond – offers a break from the hustle. The Texas Standard’s Laura Rice takes us to this peaceful pocket and explores how it’s evolving amid campus changes.
El Paso
Marijuana is on the ballot in two more Texas cities
Areas around Austin, San Antonio and North Texas set records for the first day of early voting this week. But the story was different in El Paso.
A Democrat won a state House seat in Collin County last election cycle – but Republicans think they can flip it back.
What it means that decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana possession is on the ballot in more Texas cities.
A look at the impact of the ongoing IV fluid shortage on Texas hospitals.
And: We’ll ask whether it matters than an elected official in Harris County hasn’t clocked into work in about four years.
Are Chico’s Tacos actually tacos?
This might be controversial but those drowned tacos are actually flautas or are they? We’ll dig into this highly debated issue in Chucotown. Guest is Ivan Enriquez, owner of El Perrito Austin.
Texas Extra: Remembering DJ Steve Crosno
The El Paso radio and TV disc jockey made a lasting impact on the city’s music scene and contributed to the mixing of cultures that still makes far west Texas so special. This is an extended interview about an effort to document Crosno’s impact before his death in 2006.
Palestine fights Union Pacific’s move to leave town despite 1872 contract
Defense attorneys for the Walmart mass shooter, who’s already sentenced to life in prison, are asking for the court to take the death penalty off the table or drop the charges altogether due to alleged prosecutorial misconduct.
As we move closer to Election Day, The Texas Newsroom is exploring the role of religion in politics.
And: The city of Palestine, once a booming railroad town, is in a legal battle with Union Pacific to enforce an 1872 contract that promised the railroad company would stay “forever.”
Tropical Storm Francine bringing rain to the Texas Coast before it hits Louisiana
Tropical storm Francine is expected to become a hurricane. Texas will avoid a direct hit but Gulf Coast residents should still prepare.
Tonight’s presidential debate… the last debate changed the course of history. Could this one give one of the candidates the edge needed to win a tight race?
Plus, who will pay for El Paso’s climate action plan?
New immersive technology gives sports fans a next level experience in Texas.
And the search for an elusive creature AND the truth in Austin waterways.
Texas Extra: Paralympian Ryan Medrano extended interview
Medrano earned a silver medal in a 100-meter race after this interview with Texas Standard. The “Survivor” alum is competing in two more events.
What’s ahead for U.S. gymnastics at the Olympics
A faculty committee at UT Austin found that university leaders violated their own rules when calling police to respond to protests over the war in Gaza at the end of the spring semester. Audrey McGlinchy of KUT News shares the latest.
Five years after the mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, a new memorial is unveiled to honor the 23 people killed.
Serious questions have been raised over a private contractor providing healthcare services to prison inmates in many states, including Texas.
And: Texas was well-represented at the men and women’s gymnastics team and all-around events at the Paris Olympics. A look at what’s ahead for the athletes.
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.
What VP Kamala Harris said at her Houston stop
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee comes to Houston talking teachers, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Andrew Schneider of Houston Public Media was at Kamala Harris’s speech to the American Federation of Teachers. We’ll hear what she had to say in her sprint toward the convention and Election Day.
How El Paso could teach the rest of Texas a thing or two about the future of managing water.
In the Panhandle, a federal plan to expand a wildlife refuge tenfold. Not everyone’s happy about it, either.
Corn or flour? Taco journalist Mando Rayo on some choices we Texans must face.
Plus, the week in politics with the Texas Tribune and poetry from Typewriter Rodeo.
The buzz around the Bumble ad controversy
The border buoys case in court: Why the arguments surrounding Texas’ river barrier were not about immigration.
El Paso County residents are concerned a proposed highway expansion project could imperil the Rio Bosque – a marshy area along the Rio Grande that has been “re-wilded” to support native plants and wildlife.
What will soon be one of Texas’ biggest gas pipelines is raising both environmental and safety concerns from the residents along the path.
The new book “They Came for the Schools” takes us further into the story of the Carroll Independent School District’s battle over what’s on library shelves and in classrooms.
And: Austin-based dating app Bumble apologized this week for an ad campaign that some believed mocked the choice not to date, or to remain celibate. Tech expert Omar Gallaga shares more.
What you need to know about upcoming spring elections
Get ready to cast your ballots. Local elections are scheduled in Texas for May 4, with early voting beginning on Monday. Katya Ehresman, voting rights coordinator at Common Cause Texas, gives us the lowdown.
What a trial run of a four-day workweek in the UK tells us about how well such a shift might work.
Don Louis, a Texan who once hoped to score big in the NFL, has moved the goalposts – now aiming for the country music charts.
Plus: The week in politics with the Texas Tribune.
Judge overseeing struggling foster system fines the state $100,000 a day
A federal judge says Texas’ foster care system is still broken – and has fined the state $100,00 per day.
The new book “City Limits” examines the effort to rethink urban highways in Texas and traces a history of racism and inequality in three of the state’s’ largest cities. We’ll hear from author and journalist Megan Kimble.
Over the past two decades, developers in Austin have built hundreds of windowless bedrooms. But now some elected officials want them banned.
And: The next generation of mechanics is getting ready to work on the next generation of cars.
How big events like the pandemic lockdowns can warp our sense of time
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to get business records from Annunciation House, a group that helps migrants, is blocked by an El Paso judge.
As firefighters move closer to containing the blazes that have consumed large parts of the Panhandle in recent weeks, many locals are looking more closely at the causes and asking hard questions about why more wasn’t done to prevent those fires.
As politicians bicker over federal funding, members of the military and their families struggle with worries and fears amid a near-constant threat of a government shutdown.
And: Anyone else feeling a post-COVID time warp? What the science says about perceptions of time.
Is the industry ready for Beyoncé’s country music album?
As Texans prepare to cast their first ballots in 2024, a conversation with Colin Allred, one of the top Democratic challengers for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Ted Cruz.
Lubbock throws the switch to join Texas’ open electricity marketplace – for better, and some fear, for worse.
A new ‘queen’ of country music? Houston-born Beyoncé generates buzz with a stylistic shift.
Also: Commentator WF Strong on a notorious Texas partnership in crime, and a love story at the heart of it.
Why El Paso Mexican food hits different
There’s a six-way race in Houston for the Democratic bid to represent part of the city in the Texas Senate. We’ll look at how it’s shaping up.
A case involving a Navy SEAL is testing a Pentagon policy designed to keep extremists out of the military.
Change is coming to a corridor in the Texas Hill Country known for its wineries. Why it could just be the beginning of more development.
Megan Thee Stallion’s new single, “Hiss,” is her first solo track to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s also being received as a “diss” track.
And: El Paso, with its proximity to New Mexico, does Mexican food a bit different. We’ll hear about some of the people contributing to its unique flavors.
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.
Bonus Episode: Regional Taco Flavors of Texas
From border to border, El Paso to Brownsville and a little in between, we’re gonna talk tacos regionales and just like the musica itself, there’s many elements and things that go into them. Our guests include Miguel Cobos from Vaquero Taquero and Paola Gabriela from Visit El Paso.
The Texas discovery of a new, dog-sized dinosaur
After months of stalemate, are the Texas House and Senate finally making progress on school spending?
For millions of years, the bones of a tiny dinosaur lay undisturbed in what are now the shores of Lake Grapevine. We’ll learn about a new species.
El Paso residents are concerned about the growing number of high-speed chases in their city.
And: Are city parks set to decline? A new law could make it tougher for urban areas to procure parkland.
Children’s Grief
Children often have it the hardest in terms of personal loss, and kid gloves can only go so far. In this penultimate episode, Ike interviews Laura Olague and Kathy Revtyak of the Children’s Grief Center of El Paso to discuss ambiguous grief, secondary loss, bereavement, coping processes and more.