Protests planned and hearing scheduled at the Capitol this week. The issue? Taxpayer money for private schooling. Blaise Gainey of the Texas Newsroom with the latest on what to expect this week at the Legislature.
Millions in federal funds to help legal immigrants is now being held up in D.C. How is this affecting services in Texas?
Prices at the pump – how are on again/off again tariffs having an impact on what we’re paying?
A new documentary debuts centering on the woman dubbed by the media as the “Uvalde Mom.”
Also, dismay among many Texans who work with fabric and crafts as a mainstay retailer unravels.
Healthcare
Big Bend seeks artists to capture park’s rugged beauty
Last night’s chill has many Texans asking how the state’s power grid is looking for the winter. How much has changed since the freeze and blackouts of February 2021? Mose Buchele of KUT News has been keeping tabs.
The Texas legislative session hasn’t even started, yet more than one representative claims to be the de facto speaker-elect of the House. The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey joins us with the latest.
Calling all creatives: Big Bend National Park is accepting applications for its artist-in-residence program.
And: What’s in your mug? Mando Rayo, host of the Tacos of Texas podcast, has winter tips for cozy sips.
What exactly does the Texas House speaker do?
Dade Phelan is out, and a bruising battle for speaker of the Texas House is set to begin – unless it’s already over? Over the weekend, GOP members backed David Cook, but Dustin Burrows claimed he had enough votes to override the caucus. What does a House speaker do, anyway?
In a stunning turn of events, a coalition of Syrian rebels has overthrown Bashar al-Assad’s regime, ending decades of dictatorship. A top Texas-based expert weighs in.
Has Texas oil toppled Saudi control of the markets?
And: Medical treatments for trans minors are banned under state law; why some trans adults say they’re affected, too.
Uranium mining poised for a comeback in South Texas
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about restrictions on gender-affirming care for young people. What a ruling could mean.
Texas elected officials will soon have to start disclosing more information about the properties they own – changes that could reveal more about Attorney General Ken Paxton’s recent real estate transactions.
Houston-based Enron went very publicly kaput more than 20 years ago. Now, it’s back? We’ll take a closer look.
Uranium mining is ramping up again in South Texas, raising questions about the environmental and economic implications.
Plus: ChatGPT is known to have its limitations. What one of its blindspots tells us about artificial intelligence.
Texas’ ghost towns spotlight rural population shifts
Martial law has now been lifted in South Korea – Texas’ fourth-largest trading partner – but the effects may not be as short-lived. A top Texas expert tells us why.
Ongoing casualties in what was long touted as the war on drugs: Kevin Krause of The Dallas Morning News analyzed a decade of meth sentencing data in North Texas.
Texas is known for its ghost towns, spotlighting shifting population dynamics.
With nearly half of Texas counties lacking maternity care services, rural mothers face daunting hurdles.
And: China has announced a ban on exporting certain rare minerals to the U.S., a move likely to disrupt tech manufacturing and deepen tensions.
Is new fertilizer behind Texas cattle deaths?
A climate-friendly fertilizer turned out to be tainted with so-called “forever chemicals” that are killing cattle and other ranch animals.
Education Savings Accounts are on the legislative agenda and likely to pass. What they are and why they’re controversial.
Historic horse-drawn carriages will become a thing of the past in San Antonio as the city phases them out.
Public health experts in Texas say vaccine hesitancy in the state could grow under the new Trump administration.
And: the call for research on mountain lions, the state’s last big cat.
Will Elon Musk have a role to play in the Trump administration?
With the presidency and a majority now in the U.S. Senate, Republicans are eyeing a trifecta of power by capturing the seats needed for a slim majority in the House. But several races still need to be called. What’s taking so long?
Elon Musk spent a great deal of his time and money helping Donald Trump win another term this fall. Will Texas’ wealthiest man have a role to play in the Trump administration?
And: More than half a million undocumented immigrants protected from deportation under the DACA program are now worried what the future holds come January. Stella Chávez of The Texas Newsroom has the story.
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.
KUT Morning Newscast for July 18, 2024
Central Texas top stories for July 18, 2024. Home prices in Austin are down compared to last year. A federal court in Texas dismissed a lawsuit challenging the admissions process at U-T Austin. A new national study ranks Texas 50th for women’s health outcomes. Austin area school districts are heading into the next school year with a budget deficit. Austin FC lost its chance to win the Copa Tejas for the third time in a row.
Texas’ Jamestown Revival talk Tony-nominated score
The U.S. Supreme Court makes a key decision on abortion access, but is it the final word on the matter? The highest court in the land makes a unanimous decision on the abortion drug mifepristone, in a case that was originally filed in Amarillo.
The producers of the hit Broadway musical “The Outsiders” wanted someone outside the theatre world to score their play. Magnolia’s own Jamestown Revival stop by to talk about their Tony-nominated songs.
We’ve also got the latest intelligence on Apple bringing AI to its phones.
Communities begin cleanup following deadly North Texas tornado
Deadly storms, including a tornado, ripped through North Texas over the weekend, killing at least seven people and injuring 100 others. We’ll have an update on the latest recovery efforts.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins this week, will be “extraordinary,” forecasters warn.
Our monthly deep dive into investigative reporting, The Drill Down, takes a closer look at the federal investigation into Ken Paxton. Could Texas’ attorney general still face charges?
After years of expanding, some pharmacies are closing their doors – what that could mean for the corner drug store.
And: The state’s lowrider culture is on display in a new exhibit at the Bullock Texas State History Museum.
Civics 101: What does Central Health do?
What do you think of when I say, “property taxes?” Maybe what you pay for Austin ISD pops up first. Maybe your city or county tax bill. But also on that list is a smaller portion for Central Health. As part of our “Civics 101” series here at KUT, which is bringing you stories about local institutions that keep everyday life running in Austin, KUT’s Olivia Aldridge tells us about Central Health, an organization that gets your tax dollars and might give you or your neighbor medical care.
Why is Ted Cruz proposing a bill to legislate in vitro fertilization?
There’s infighting among Texas Republicans over the next steps in their efforts to stop abortions in the state.
Canada is Texas’s second-biggest international trade partner, behind Mexico. We’re talking to Mary Ng, Canada’s minister of export, trade and economic development, during her visit to the Lone Star State this week.
After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under state law, Democrats raced to pass bills to protect in vitro fertilization. Now, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is pushing a similar bill – but what exactly would it do?
Ahead of Memorial Day on Monday, we’ll hear from a Texas family still working to make sure the legacy of their beloved serviceman is honored.
And: Today marks two years since the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. A survivor’s story.
What’s behind an anti-birth control push on social media?
After an apparent tornado strike in Temple last night, it’s looking to be another day of severe weather across large parts of the Lone Star State.
A ransomware attack on the Ascension hospital network is still having a big impact on staff and patients almost two weeks later.
After online reports and videos of women giving up the birth control pill, The New York Times finds that prescriptions are not actually declining – in fact, the opposite.
And: The latest album from singer-songwriter Susan Werner, “Halfway to Houston,” takes on the wide landscape of Texas.
Texas screening rates for colon cancer are in the toilet. Dell Med experts want to change that.
Colorectal cancers are usually preventable with regular screening. But in Texas, screening rates are dismally low. As KUT’s Olivia Aldridge reports, researchers at UT’s Dell Medical School are trying to fix that.
Remembering renowned ventriloquist Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Estrada
Ready? Or not? As primaries fast approach, an effort to prepare young Texas voters to cast their very first ballots.
A federal complaint filed over Texans being wrongfully kicked off Medicaid rolls.
The latest on a challenge to Texas’ new law prohibiting social media companies from censoring political speech online.
A new TV series on Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X inspired by the groundbreaking work of a Texas professor. We’ll talk with him.
Also, the Standard’s Kristen Cabrera on the death of a beloved entertainer: San Antonio-based ventriloquist Ignacio “Nacho” Estrada.
Exploring SpaceX’s potential land swap with Texas
The Texas Supreme Court hears arguments in a case challenging a law banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans minors.
John Whitmire, Houston’s new mayor, campaigned to be “tough-but-smart on crime.” Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider takes a look at some of Whitmire’s plans for law enforcement.
SpaceX wants to give the state 477 acres of land near a national wildlife refuge in exchange for 43 acres from Boca Chica State Park, near its launch site – but the plan is drawing local pushback.
And: West Texas A&M University plans a new institute to advocate what the school’s president calls “Panhandle values.” Critics fear it’s a push to spread conservative values across the university.
How frontline workers fared during COVID and how best to protect them
A Texas senator wants to reopen impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton – but it’s unlikely to happen.
What have recent heavy rains done for drought conditions in Texas?
A plan to overhaul the way the U.S. Census Bureau counts people with disabilities has received so much pushback that the agency is rethinking the updated questions.
And: lessons learned from the pandemic about the impact on frontline workers.
Children at Risk’s annual ranking of Texas schools is out
Texas officials say they’re reassigning workers to deal with an ongoing problem of providing care for foster kids without placement.
The 2022-2023 school ratings report from Houston-based nonprofit Children at Risk sheds light on progress and problems that districts are facing statewide.
Former Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, who also had a short stint in Houston, will soon take on a new position overseeing Austin’s police department.
And a giraffe in a park in Juárez, who made headlines last year, is getting a new home.
Rare mushroom sparks excitement in Central Texas and beyond
A GOP junket to Eagle Pass was one of the largest congressional visits to the border in recent memory – but what’s the end goal, and what did lawmakers see?
Eleanor Klibanoff of the Texas Tribune has the details on a ruling by the Fifth Circuit over federal authority to require hospitals to provide abortions, and the implications for Texas.
A rare star-shaped fungus found only in Texas and a few other places worldwide is capturing the attention of mushroom enthusiasts.
Also: Understanding a new trend of cold exposure – does it have the health benefits many claim?