Texas educators are preparing for the start of a new school year as billions of dollars in federal support expires.
Houston ISD is preparing to go to taxpayers with a bond proposal – but the idea is not without controversy.
Wastewater from fracking is spewing out of abandoned wells. What we’ve learned from a new study that confirms what many living around the oil patch have long expected.
Plus: The new movie “Sing Sing” is a very different take on the prison film. A conversation with Texas-based producer Monique Walton and director Greg Kwedar.
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.
‘Good Night, Irene’ follows a courageous woman’s story in the WWII Red Cross
It was the second hottest summer on record for Texas, but is it safe to ask if it’s over? What to expect as a cold front pushes into Texas. Matt Lanza of Space City Weather with a look at whether today marks a turning point.
Gun violence numbers are changing how many feel about safety in a North Texas suburb. KERA’s Caroline Love with more from Allen.
Google launches an effort to combat spam, but will it work? Tech expert Omar Gallaga with more.
A border bottleneck raises red flags as Texas ramps up truck inspections.
And a Texas Book Festival preview with the author of ‘Good Night, Irene’.
What happened in the dramatic Day 7 of Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial?
House prosecutors rested their case in the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton, but that appears to have been a mistake. A surprising twist at the Paxton impeachment trial, one that could have brought proceedings to an early conclusion. We’ll hear what happened and what it means for the trial going forward.
An investigation by Houston Public Media finds bus shelters in the city, built to protect riders from the elements, offer inconsistent protection from the searing Texas heat – and in some cases, make things worse.
And Texas leads the nation in AMBER Alerts, but how well do they work?
Big Bend National Park to add thousands of acres of parkland
Tridemic? One of the world leading virologists says its more like a Septademic. Dr. Peter Hotez joins us and talks about staying healthy during the holidays. Also as the humanitarian crisis on the border grows Governor Abbott is calling for an investigation of some of the non-profits helping migrants. We’ll explain. Plus, Google is making some changes that affect the results that show up in your searches including those shopping ads. Our go to tech expert Omar Gallaga takes us behind the curtains. And Big Bend National Park is about to get a little bigger with new areas to explore. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 13, 2022
The Biden Administration announces a plan to offer thousands of Venezuelans a legal path into the United States. Policy and politics factor into the Biden Administration’s announcement for a humanitarian parole program for Venezuelan migrants, we’ll hear more. Also, Texas parks close in on a tipping point with record numbers of visitors. So whats next? Our conversation with the person picked to take over as head of Texas Parks and Wildlife. And country singer Margo Price and her memoir on creative challenges, motherhood, and making it in a male dominated industry. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: May 12, 2022
Public or private? Tho Texas lawmakers have rejected vouchers, Governor Abbott puts the school choice debate into play this election season. With complaints from conservatives over what’s being taught in Texas public school classrooms, Governor Abbott says he wants to give parents a choice for private school. We’ll take a closer look. Also, how ‘where you live’ may be hazardous to your health. And Ukraine’s military partnering with state national guard forces. Plus, why a rise in gun theft from autos. And Tech expert Omar Gallaga on what to do if you’re locked out of Google. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 03, 2022
A state judge tells Texas it must stop its investigation of a family suspected of providing gender affirming medical care for their transgender teenager. President Biden’s weighing in on the matter too. Plus, legally mandated efforts to get Texas public school students back up to speed after pandemic disruptions; schools say they simply don’t have the tutors to do it. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 25, 2022
As the U.S. places troops on high alert, Texans continue to track developments in Ukraine and whether there are yet ways to stop a war. Texas-based geopolitical scholar Jeremi Suri joins us to talk about whether there’s still a diplomatic option as tensions rise over Ukraine. Meanwhile, The standard’s Jill Ament reports how Ukrainian Americans here in Texas are congregating in solidarity. Also, Texas among the top states for eviction filings, even as unspent dollars or pandemic rent relief go back to Washington unspent. Plus when you turn off location tracking, is Google still following you? Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 6, 2022
Texans reflect on the anniversary of an event that many fear has called into question the future of American democracy itself. On the one year anniversary of the capitol insurrection, President Biden warns of the ongoing dangers to our democracy. Today, a conversation with representative Collin Allred of Dallas who was on the floor of the House that day and says the threat, rather than fading into history, remains. Also a reckoning for the role of Texans in that attack of January 6th 2021. Plus the Texas primaries as an acid test for Trump and the Republicans. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Derrick L. Miles (Ep. 46, 2021)
On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Derrick L. Miles, founder and CEO of CourMed, an enterprise software company that facilitates the innovative concierge delivery of healthcare products and services, backed by Microsoft and Google.
Texas Standard: October 21, 2020
As Texas’s Governor takes steps to lift pandemic restrictions on businesses, worries grow for a Texas hotspot nearing critical levels, we’ll have details. Plus, 2020 has left tens of thousands in the oil and gas industry unemployed. Now many in the energy capitol of the world looking to Thursday nights debate and what the candidate will have to say about changes in policies. Also, reports of involuntary sterilizations among women in immigration detention. We’ll have a talk with the Texas representative calling for a congressional investigation. And as voters try to limit contact with others due to COVID-19, a method of casting a ballot less talked about than the mail in option. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Selena Sage (Ep. 24, 2020)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with Selena Sage, inspirational speaker, owner of ZenTao Books publishing, and author of Get Free: 7 Simple Steps to Free Your Mind and Live Your Dreams.
Texas Standard: April 16, 2020
As many jobs lost in the past month as all those created since the great recession, now Texas hospitals struggling to make ends meet, we’ll have the latest. Other stories were tracking: the oil and gas industry asking for more state regulation? More on an historic hearing aimed at trying to stop a downward spiral. Also, one place where business is good? Check in with some factories on the Texas Mexico border. And the Texas governor set to talk about plans aimed at getting back to business. A top pandemic expert at Texas A&M has a warning. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
The Distance In Smoots
By W. F. Strong
Shakespeare told us that “some have greatness thrust upon them.” Such was the case for Oliver Smoot. He was born in Bexar County, Texas, and there was nothing in his formative years to predict the events that would push him into international prominence.
Oliver was a fine student and his academic strengths got him into MIT in Boston. It was there that he was pledging a fraternity and his pledge class was given the ridiculous task of measuring Harvard Bridge, which connects Boston to Cambridge, in some new way. The bridge was half a mile long.
His group of pledges decided fairly quickly that since Oliver was the shortest among them, five-foot-seven, they would use him as their “ruler.” Late one night, they laid him down on the sidewalk of the bridge and moved him slowly, one body length at a time, making a mark on the sidewalk at his head every time they moved him. Took five hours because the police dispersed them and they had to sneak back later.
Once completed, they totaled all the times they had moved him and it came to 364.4 times – plus an ear. They decided to immortalize this new unit of measure as a smoot, after Oliver’s last name. Thus the bridge was 364.4 smoots (and an ear) long. You can even see the smoot measurements on the bridge today, no doubt pleasing MIT that Harvard Bridge is eternally branded by the university and pleasing to me that a Texan was used to do it.
Even when the Continental Construction Company reconcreted the sidewalk in 1987, they made the slabs in smoot lengths to commemorate local lore. It’s wonderful to see Work that into a conversation that everyone can work in harmony for a common cause when they want to.
In the category of truth is stranger than fiction, Oliver Smoot eventually became the Chairman of the American National Standards Institute and President of the International Organization for Standardization. He was in charge of weights and measures. How’s that for a perfect fit?
The crowning compliment to the glory of the smoot as a measurement was when the fun-loving geeks at Google, no doubt many from MIT, decided to include the unit of measure in Google conversions. It’s true – try it. In the Google search window you can get any distance converted to smoots.
Distance from Cut n’ Shoot to Dime Box: 112,913 smoots
It’s 5,640,000,000 smoots from Texas to the Moon.
You can even determine how far you boot scooted to George Strait at the dance hall last night. Convert your steps into smoots.
I think it is also fitting to have this relatively new unit of measure – now legitimized in many dictionaries, including the American Heritage Dictionary and the Urban Dictionary – brought to us by a native Texan. After all, Texas itself, as I’ve noted before, has long been a unit of measure. For instance, you could fit 25 Massachusetts into Texas. And, in case you were wondering, Texas has a total area of over 240 trillion square smoots. today.
Texas Standard: October 17, 2019
A Texas republican takes his stand against president Trump in what may be the biggest bipartisan rebuke of the president yet from Capitol Hill, we’ll have the latest. Also, the longest summer on record in Texas? Certainly the hottest September. A new investigation by the Austin American Statesman suggests Texas heat more and more is becoming a matter of life or death. And holding off on a glass of water with dinner? You’re consuming more water there than you may realize. Plus tech expert Omar Gallaga gets us up to speed on the latest hardware releases. Tis the season already? Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: September 9, 2019
How do you get the attention of state leaders? A federal judge proposes locking up Texas prison officials in their own overheated prisons. We’ll have more on the latest twist in a 5-year battle over Texas prisons where a judge says the heat constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Also, the Texas Attorney General is leading a multi-state charge against Google to investigate, are they violating antitrust laws? Plus, they say everything’s bigger in Texas. Now, so are the supercomputers. And a prescription for cutting the cost of a hospital visit in the Lone Star State. All that and then some on today’s Texas Standard.
Selena Sage (Ep. 32, 2019)
On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Selena Sage, inspirational speaker, owner of Zen Tao Books and author of Get Free: Seven Simple Steps to Free Your Mind and Live Your Dreams.
Texas Standard: April 25, 2019
A 3 year old found alone at the border, his name and a phone number written on his shoes. An anomaly? Hardly. This instance turning a spotlight on a tragedy more common than many might imagine. So reports Manny Fernandez of the New York Times, and we’ll talk with him. Also, the Texas based Boy Scouts of America facing growing allegations of sexual abuse, we’ll have the latest. Plus, Texas leads the nation in traffic deaths, so what do lawmakers plan to do about it? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 21, 2019
With oil and gas revenues rolling in and the state’s savings account hitting record highs, Texas lawmakers get set to make a record withdrawal. Though the formal name for the fund makes no mention of rainy days, several days of rain back in 2017 will finally hit the Rainy Day Fund rather hard. We’ll hear where the money’s going. Also, If Joaquin Castro moves forward with plans to challenge John Cornyn for his senate seat, who’s in line to try to fill Castro’s shoes? We’ll play musical chairs. Plus why Google wants to play with you, and why it could be a real game changer. All those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard: