Gas

Why Texans can’t vote on abortion or marijuana anytime soon

The fourth largest earthquake on record in Texas struck Wednesday out west, renewing concerns about fracking and seismic activity. Erin Douglas of the Texas Tribune with more on yesterday’s temblor and what researchers and regulators are saying about it.

The latest on a runoff for mayor in Texas’ biggest city.
In San Antonio, plans to close several public schools getting pushback from communities targeted for closure.

The economics of electric vehicles: Is the race to EVs losing power?

And voters in Ohio approve ballot measures on abortion and marijuana this week. Why such measures aren’t likely to land on Texas ballots anytime soon.

What’s next after Cruise suspends self-driving cars in Texas?

Several of the biggest cases before the Supreme Court this term originated in Texas, including United States v. Rahimi, which centers around the constitutionality of prohibiting people under domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns.

There are growing concerns about near misses at airports – and the Austin airport in particular is drawing a lot of attention.

The driverless taxi company Cruise suspended its service in Texas and elsewhere, pending a review of accidents. What’s next in the driverless car space?

Plus a conversation with a musician many consider the original queen of outlaw country: Jessi Colter discusses her 13th studio album, “Edge of Forever.”

Why bird watchers are flocking to Texas cemeteries

Early voting is now underway in Texas – but what’s on the ballot? We’ll get caught up on the 14 constitutional amendments Texans are being asked to weigh in on, ranging from property taxes to education, infrastructure and more.

First it’s Exxon mobil scooping up Pioneer, now Chevron acquiring Hess. Is it a new era of mergers and acquisitions in the oil field – and if so, why?

Final resting places are also surprisingly active sites for a certain group of hobbyists. The Standard’s Raul Alonzo has more with “Cemetery Birding” author Jennifer Bristol.

And the Texas Rangers are off to the World Series after defeating the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS.

Biden administration bets big on hydrogen energy – and Texas is the winner

Up for a vote statewide: an amendment to the constitution to lower property taxes for Texans.

We continue to monitor events in the mideast, where President Biden is trying to tamp down tensions as a prominent congressman from Texas tries to turn up the heat on Hezbollah, calling to give the president the authority to use military force against Iranian proxies. we’ll hear more.

With the danger of a disruption to energy prices, a renewed focus on the US strategic oil reserves. Was it a mistake to draw them down with the outbreak of war in Ukraine?

Plus the effort to make Texas a hydrogen hub.

How a UT professor is helping the CDC plan for the next pandemic

The Texas Education Agency is moving forward with plans to monitor problems with Austin ISD’s special education services.

What did we learn from COVID-19? We’ll talk to UT’s Lauren Ancel Meyers, who has been tapped to help the U.S. develop a plan to better tackle the next pandemic.

Texas tops the nation in oil industry deaths – but there’s more to the story once you get into the numbers.

Also: Remembering a pioneer of Tejano music, Lydia Mendoza, who earned the title of “Meadowlark of the Border.”

What Texans need to know about the impending government shutdown

In six days, the federal government runs out of money. Can a shutdown be averted? What’s at stake if lawmakers can’t come up with a plan for short-term spending by Oct. 1.

In Fort Worth and Tarrant County, families are falling into homelessness as pandemic relief funding is running out.

Five things to know before federally guaranteed student loan payments resume next month.

A plan to close nearly 20% of San Antonio ISD’s schools is being pushed in the name of equity. Camille Phillips of Texas Public Radio takes a closer look.

Plus, a crisis for Texas Gulf Coast shrimpers.

Suburban school districts revolt against ‘recapture’ funding

What does Ron DeSantis really want from Texas? Jeremy Wallace of the Houston Chronicle weighs in on the GOP presidential candidate’s curious Texas tour.

Two North Texas school districts, Keller and Carroll, take steps to challenge one of the lynchpins of state education funding: revenue recapture.

What the auto strike means for the evolution to electric vehicles.

Fantastic Fest, a terrifying film festival that’s the biggest of its kind in the world, is back for its 18th year in Austin.

And we’ll meet the youngest reporter to cover Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial.

A budding pipeline fight highlights activists’ changing tactics

What does the first day of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s historic impeachment trial tell us about what remains ahead? The Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán joins us from the Capitol with a recap.

We’ll hear the latest on a new fight over a natural gas pipeline in West Texas – and how new strategies by opponents of such development are getting traction.

Among the new laws now in effect in Texas is a requirement for those who want to run for county sheriff.

The sister of Botham Jean, who was killed in Dallas five years ago, has written a new memoir, “After Botham: Healing from my Brother’s Murder by a Police Officer.”

Plus an update on wildfire dangers statewide.

Remembering Paul Reubens and Pee-wee’s ties to Texas

Triple-digit temperatures are having a cooling effect on the the Texas economy, with a projected $9 billion in losses this summer due to the heat alone, according to economist Ray Perryman.

Gasoline prices at the pump rise an average 30 cents in one month. What’s behind those increases?

A tribute to Paul Reubens, the Pee-wee Herman actor who forgot everything … but remembered the Alamo and won his way into the hearts of many a San Antonian.

And we’ve got the smokers, we’ve got the pit masters – so why is Texas pulled pork so wrong? Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn weighs in.

What’s the future of air conditioning in Texas?

You’ve heard of abandoned, so-called orphan oil wells? Now there’s a growing concern about zombie wells.

After the pandemic, Texas Medicaid rolls are shrinking – but many are losing coverage for procedural reasons, and they may not even realize it.

A new state law means that next year, construction workers in some Texas cities may not have the protections they do now requiring water breaks

With climate change, can demand for A/C keep up? We talk to an author who says it might be making things worse.

And at TV stations large and small, something strange: the case of the disappearing meteorologists.

A Texas program pushes drivers to pay old tickets – and over 600,000 have lost their licenses

A federal courtroom was filled with anger and tears as relatives of the victims of the 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart faced the gunman ahead of his sentencing. Julián Aguilar of the Texas Newsroom shares more.

A program aimed at helping Texans pay off old tickets has left hundreds of thousands without driver’s licenses and tangled in red tape.

Amid a stalemate between House and Senate Republicans over property taxes, House Democrats weigh in with a plan.

A new study has found air pollution from U.S. oil and gas production is responsible for $77 billion in health impacts every year, with Texas among the states with the highest proportion of health damages.

Houston is celebrating 50 years of hip-hop with an exhibit and film screenings at the Houston Museum of African American Culture.

And the week in politics with the Texas Tribune.

Pumped: Food, fuel and the future of Texas – A Texas Standard special

We don’t think of gas stations much, yet they are fixtures across Texas, and tell us a lot about who we are and where we’re going. There are more than 11,000 of them scattered across the state – along major highways and tiny backroads alike, they fuel up long haul trucks, hungry commuters and sometimes whole communities.

In some ways, the gas station is the backbone of our economy and the center of conversation and community. In other ways, they’re a blight on the landscape and, many feel, a soon-to-be anachronism. “Pumped: Food, fuel and the future of Texas” is an exploration of an often-overlooked staple of our life.

Texas State’s Operation Identification works to ID migrant remains

An attempted coup in Russia is over – but what does it signify about Vladimir Putin’s grip on power?
What an 8-1 ruling against Texas from the Supreme Court says about future challenges to federal immigration policy.
A year after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, how Texans are seeking abortion access.
A program at Texas State University is playing a big role in identifying the remains of migrants who die along or near the Texas-Mexico border.
And El Paso Chihuahuas broadcaster Tim Hagerty shares stories from the minor leagues in his new book “Tales from the Dugout.”

What are the weirdest laws in Texas?

At the Capitol, an intraparty rivalry between Republicans explodes into the open. The dueling charges between Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dade Phelan are so personal and serious, some longtime Capitol watchers are characterizing the battle as among the most significant in Texas political history. Lauren McGaughey of the Dallas Morning news will have details.

After a scandal at a Bastrop foster care facility, Texas lawmakers pass two new bills to crack down on abuses.

We’ll have more on a vigil last night in Uvalde marking the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary.

The Texas Legislature will finish its session having made lots of new laws. But there are plenty of old laws on the books that seem pretty weird by today’s standards.

And debt collectors get a new high-tech tool.

San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick could be a game-changer

A bill would provide $10 billion in low-interest loans that would benefit the oil and gas industry, in the name of beefing up the power grid; there are a lot of questions over the push for those loans, aimed at preventing statewide blackouts.

Almost one year after the worst school shooting in Texas history, state lawmakers are running out of time in this legislative session to make changes to gun laws.

In San Antonio, the silver and black are back as Spurs fans get lit up over a No. 1 draft pick.

Also, actress Christina Vidal on a new streaming series, “Primo” about coming of age in the Alamo City.

Groups suing over SpaceX’s explosions, environmental impact

Published reports say the Biden administration is set to send 1,500 troops to the border with Mexico ahead of Title 42’s repeal.

As the Texas Legislature enters the home stretch of the 88th session, we’ll hear about the latest on efforts to pre-empt local government regulations.

The South Texas liftoff and explosion of the SpaceX Starship on April 20 has sparked legal action from environmental groups against the Federal Aviation
Administration. We’ll hear from one of the attorneys suing the government.

And a prominent member of Congress asks a judge in northern Texas to change the way the courts there do business.

What’s next after Texas judge rules abortion medication illegal

A ruling in Amarillo that could be the most consequential abortion decision since last year’s case overturning Roe v Wade. The ruling late Friday effectively bans Mifepristone, an abortion drug. But minutes after that ruling, another in Washington state orders the FDA to do nothing to restrict the pill’s availability. What happens next?

Two Democratic state legislators expelled last week in Tennessee. Could something similar happen in Texas?

And fentanyl: why experts are calling it the “social media drug”, and why interdiction efforts may be misplaced.

Dozens of migrants killed in Juárez fire

A deadly fire burned through a migrant processing facility in Ciudad Juárez, just across the border from El Paso – we’ll hear the latest on the catastrophe that claimed the lives of dozens of people.

Green energy firms are scrambling to snap up federal dollars, but first they need to know what “made in America” really means.

And after the pandemic caused a “she-cession,” the Dallas Fed reports that women entrepreneurs are bouncing back.

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?

What’s next as pandemic-era housing assistance winds down

Several bills are aimed at building more homes, but what about Texas renters, many reeling from the end of assistance programs? State lawmakers are being urged to take action on housing affordability, or more precisely, the lack thereof.

What’s an education savings program? Critics say it’s just another spin on school vouchers. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of the Texas Newsroom previews Senate committee hearings on the measure.

Is there really such a thing as “too low” when it comes to unemployment rates? The Standard’s Sean Saldana explains.

And remembering El Rey de la Cumbia, Fito Olivares.