No democrat has been elected to statewide office since 1994. But the state’s first openly Gay Hispanic Sheriff says she’s ready to be Governor. It had been rumored that Dallas county sheriff Lupe Valdez was mulling a bid to challenge Governor Greg Abbott, but now that the shoe has dropped. Do Democrats have a serious contender? We’ll explore. Also, a Texas police department takes aim at the Grinch offering an alternative to leaving holiday parcels on the front porch. And it started in Chicago, got revived in Austin, and has gone global: the story of the real life roller derby queens. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Hurricane
Texas Standard: December 5, 2017
Lawmakers thought they’d fixed the voter ID question in Texas. Today, the state defends the new law in federal court, we’ll have the latest. Also, when hurricane Harvey made landfall, Rockport took it on the chin. As people talk about rebuilding in other parts of Texas, the question for Rockport is far more stark: can it survive? With its tax base disappearing, the mayor’s literally counting the days until coffers hit zero. Plus: four juvenile justice groups call for the state to close its youth lockups. The response from the top? You might be surprised. And a surprising study on racism south of the border. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 30, 2017
A one way ticket back to Texas for Rex Tillerson? A new report details plans for a major cabinet shakeup by year’s end, we’ll have the latest. Also, she was a 25 year old school teacher, a former beauty queen, found dead in April of 1960. Her case: never solved. More than a half century later, a media circus descends on McAllen as opening arguments get underway in the murder trial against a former priest, the last person to see her alive. Also, a case of failure to launch? Why’s progress been so slow at the much ballyhooed SpaceX Texas launch site? And what’s in a name? A whole lot more than most, if the name is maverick. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 29, 2017
Midterms aren’t usually the most exciting elections, but there’s a whole lotta shakin goin on: political turnover our top story today. Also, more than 30 quakes this year in and around Pecos, more than all recorded there in the past ten years put together. We’ll ask why. Plus, the university of Texas, landing soon in New Mexico? Or maybe Texas A&M? Details of the forthcoming battle for Los Alamos and whether there’s a Rick Perry factor. And as the hurricane season draws to a close, voices from a storm more than a hundred years ago that forever changed the Lone Star State. That and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 27, 2017
2018: the year of the underdog? With two weeks left for filing in next years elections, why it may turn into the year of the under card. Also- the emergency within an emergency. As Harvey’s rains hammered Houston, a chemical plant fire created the potential for an explosive catastrophe. What a new report says about disaster preparation in one of the world’s petrochemical capitals. Also the keystone pipeline once again takes center stage after an oil spill. And pushing back against the bullies. A north Texas mosque trying to help young muslims. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 22, 2017
Hundreds of thousands of Texas homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. But getting a total cost estimate of all that? It’s complicated, we’ll have the latest. It perhaps comes as no surprise. But new details reveal just how tied Texas is to Mexican drug cartels and corrupt officials. Plus- many a doorstep will be flooded with Amazon packages this holiday season. A closer look at how those boxes got there. And fighting traffic this holiday weekend? The “rude” maneuver that’s actually helping to move things along faster. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 8, 2017
A Texas senator pushing a gun control bill? After Southerland Springs, closing some of the loopholes in buying firearms, we’ll have the latest. We’ve been hearing about the 26 killed, 20 hurt at the church in Southerland Springs, now we’re getting to know their names and their stories. Also the air force admits it didn’t red flag the FBI with information that should have stopped the shooter from buying his weapons, we’ll explore. And new allegations of Sexual abuse at a Texas lockup for juveniles: what lawmakers are saying. And a Texan reconsiders his vote for Trump one year later. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Higher Ed: Learning From A Disrupted School Year
Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coast on Aug. 25, 2017. Schools along the coast and in Houston were closed for weeks. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, it was the strongest storm to make landfall there in over 80 years. Natural disasters cause devastating physical damage and disrupt life’s normal routines. In this episode of KUT’s podcast Higher Ed, KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger discuss how students, teachers, and schools can rebound when their school year is disrupted. Sometimes that disruption happens on a wide scale, such as a natural disaster. Sometimes a student’s or teacher’s school year is shaken by an illness or death in the family. Ed and Jennifer discuss how disruptions large and small can impact a school year; how the people who are impacted can cope; and what everyone involved can learn from the experience. You’ll also get the solution to last episode’s puzzler about moving across a checkerboard.
This episode was recorded Sept. 22, 2017
Texas Standard: November 1, 2017
Governor Abbott goes hat in hand to capitol hill asking for billions in Harvey relief. What’s he brining back? We’ll have the latest. Also, you’ve heard about players not standing for the anthem at football games? Two high school students in Houston, both 17, refuse to participate in the pledge of allegiance. They say they’re being harassed at school because of it and now, there’s a federal case, we’ll hear about it. And why the selection of a Texan to the EPA science board has lots of environmentalists alarmed. Plus, a start up for startups, and the Japanese American soldiers who became Texas heroes. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 31, 2017
You know about the looting as Harvey struck Texas? You sure about that? We’ll explore why the numbers and the narrative don’t match. Also, With Joe Straus not returning as house speaker, social conservatives in the Texas GOP are cheering, but some politics watchers out west wonder if that’s not premature. Why some think a race in the panhandle could reverberate across Texas. And veterans from the fighting in Afghanistan blame military open burn pits for health care issues, but their options for seeking relief are closing. Also, a fix for hackable voting systems developed in Texas and why it may never be deployed. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 16, 2017
Once the bete noire of Texas Republicans, the EPA is in regulatory rollback mode. What does this mean for Texans? We’ll explore. Also, sometimes what regulations won’t do, economics will: as folks living near two coal fired power plants are discovering. The small town of Rockdale reckons with its future. And while another, in far west Texas, continues to transform into something few locals would have ever expected: Marfa, reconsidered. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 13, 2017
After repeated demands by democrats, a Texas lawmaker unveils articles of impeachment against President Trump. Now what? We’ll have the latest. Also, an army task force returns to Texas from Puerto Rico. We’ll hear what they encountered, and why the need for help isn’t likely to end any time soon. Plus, once it was hailed as a super principal for helping save a troubled school now she’s on suspension. A controversy that’s stunned the Houston community. And after a long fight to win UNESCO recognition for the Alamo, the president announces plans to pull out of the UN’s cultural wing, we’ll have the implications. Plus the week in politics with the Texas tribune and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 12, 2017
As Congress gets ready to approve hurricane aid money, governor Abbot sends a message to the Texas delegation: get a spine! We’ll hear why the governors so angry over the hurricane relief package set to a vote in the house. Plus, why lots of folks in hard hit Victoria are feeling left high and dry by relief efforts so far. And a win for opponents of solitary confinement in Texas and why some say it doesn’t go far enough. Plus outside a rural Texas town perhaps best known for kolaches: the first legal cannabis dispensary in the Lone Star state… not quite like those in California. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 11, 2017
Published reports say the US set to decertify the nuclear agreement with Iran. Deal or no deal? And what’s the big deal for Texans? We’ll explore. Also, the question a lot of folks in lubbock and way beyond are asking right now: how could a student get a gun into a Texas Tech police facility? A specialist in law enforcement says that may be the wrong question. Plus despite Republican efforts, it lives: But sign up less than a month away, what should Texans expect? And will the Houston Rockets ever be the sort of team that’ll be talked about like the Lakers or the Celtics? The new owner says that’s the plan. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 10, 2017
Federal law enforcement created a new term that’s stirring up controversy: “Black Identity Extremists”. We’ll explore what’s really behind the FBI’s latest report. Plus, one crop in the Texas hit hard by rain: pumpkins. Some patches lost up to half the harvest, but this farmer still hopes you get your pick. And south of the panhandle pumpkin patch, lithium ion batteries in Lubbock. Elon Musk says he can rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid using a technique tested in Texas. We’ll find out how. And, could tech speed up the commute across the South Texas border? Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 9, 2017
The Trump Administration released a wish list, or perhaps a demand sheet, for any deal to protect young undocumented immigrants. We’ll have the latest. Also at the top of the list in Trump’s seven page memo? The Border Wall. Plus, we invited the former US Surgeon General on to talk about an American epidemic…the affliction? Loneliness. And another, largely invisible dilemma…up to half the people killed by police in the U.S. have a disability. We look at the growing demand for police training in Texas. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 6, 2017
They are the best numbers in more than 15 years but the worst in 20. The new job reports take a hit from hurricanes, we’ll have the latest. Plus, more legal concerns for Ken Paxton? A Texas prosecutor says she’s investigating whether bribery charges are warranted. We’ll have details plus reaction from the attorney general. And Denton couldn’t keep it’s fracking ban in place, but Scotland’s giving it a go. Lessons from the fracking conversation they’re having across the pond. Also: Galveston oh Galveston, the man who immortalized the Texas island city in song returns to where it all began, a lifelong partnership with Glen Campbell. Plus the week in politics and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 5, 2017
It oversees tens of thousands of state employees, many with side jobs to make ends meet. But at the top: a different story. Health and Human Services has 11 administrations now making over 200 thousand dollars a year. 10 years ago, there were none. The agency says that’s not a fair comparison, we’ll talk with the Dallas News reporter who’s been doing the numbers. Also, several Houston schools on the do or die list this year: improve performance or get shut down, then along came Hurricane Harvey. The challenge faced by both schools and kids aiming for better grades. And you’ve heard about underground workers.. Why so little about the consumers? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 3, 2017
As the search continues for an explanation, a motive, some reason, we turn to San Angelo to hear a survivor’s story. Plus what makes one mass shooting incident an act of terrorism and another seemingly similar incident not? And do such labels matter? We’ll explore what’s behind the debate. And a grapefruit grabbed off a tree by the side of a south Texas road: is that really stealing? Texas growers getting serious about citrus theft. And first Whole Foods sells to Amazon, now this? Why one of the biggest brands in the beverage biz is betting big on Mexican fizz. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 2, 2017
Trying to make sense of a massacre, as medical crews and police work the worst mass shooting in history, offers of support from Texas, we’ll have the latest. Also, the hired hands helping to rebuild Houston: why some say those workers most at risk, are also the most vulnerable. And with a new movie named for the city set for release and the sunset of a major HGTV show, Waco wonders about its future, we’ll stop in. And who was born in 1959 and is celebrating her 15th at long last? We’ll look at whether quinceañera Barbie has what it takes to break out in a demanding marketplace. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard: