As the Texas Senate votes to force power generators to better prepare for weather extremes, new insights on what Texans actually want. A new University of Houston hobby school survey on the impact of the February freeze and power outages, and how Texans want the system to change. Also more on an 8 billion dollar plan being pitched to Texas lawmakers that promises a 7 day power backup in the event of future emergencies. And as vaccines are rolled out in Texas prisons, a new report card on how well lockups and juvenile facilities in Texas have tracked the spread of COVID-19. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
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Texas Standard: March 26, 2021
After mass shooting incidents in Georgia and Colorado, Texas lawmakers considering several measures to expand gun rights. A review of gun legislation moving through the Texas legislature. Also, redrawing the political maps of the state, almost certain to be delayed. And what does this mean for the future of Texas elections? And calls for Texas to rework the power grid to adapt to climate change, the latest in our listener vaccine tracker, the week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 24, 2021
Everyone over 16 in Texas will be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine come Monday, but will there be enough doses to go around? Also, a new chapter begins in the fight against COVID-19 in Texas. We’ll have the latest on the push to get everyone over 16 vaccinated in Texas as soon as possible, and what if anything is being done to protect vulnerable populations. Plus a bill in the Texas legislature that could shut down an iconic Texas swimming hole sparks protests in the Texas capitol city. And branding Madness. Why is the march madness label reserved for men, but off limits to women as the college basketball playoffs move forward? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
High Security and Low Security Texas
By W. F. Strong
Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of neighborhood cultures in Texas: high security and low security.
My wife is high security and I’m low security, by tradition. She was raised in Mexico, in a compound surrounded by the classic 12 foot walls with shards of glass embedded on top. I was raised in rural Texas, in a house, with an acre of yard and no walls or fences. We locked our doors at night, if we remembered.
These childhood influences carry over. My wife loves these new, inexpensive security cameras. She has six that cover the outer perimeter and four pointing inward. I told her it feels strange having four cameras watching me in the house. She said, with a smile, “Four that you know of.” She says, “It’s not about watching you or the kids; it’s about knowing where everybody is. It’s a mama thing.”
This is an interesting contrast to my life as a boy in small town Texas. There, nobody I knew locked their doors, except maybe at night. My mom’s idea of locking up for the night was to latch the screen door. You know, put the metal hook through the eyelet. She liked leaving the heavy inner door open so the night breeze could flow through the house. “Air vitamins,” she called it.
Everybody in my neighborhood would lock all their doors when they went on vacation. Yet we all knew that the key to the front door was under the doormat. And any number of neighbors would use that key to put the gathered newspapers or mail into their foyer so passing strangers wouldn’t know they weren’t home. One neighbor down the block, Mr. Jones, kept his key near the back door, third pot to the right, pushed into the dirt. You’d have to dig a bit to find it. Some around there thought that was excessive, said, “Mr. Jones was a bit paranoid.”
People also kept their car keys conveniently stored above the driver’s visor or in the unused ash tray or glove compartment. I remember a farmer, who lived nearby, calling me once and asking if I’d go over to house and drive his 3500 GMC out to the farm for him. He needed some tools that were in it. I asked if the keys were in the truck and he said, “Of course. Right there above the visor. Where else would they be? That’s how come I never lose ‘em.”
That was true. People never much lost their keys then. They were always where they ought to be, under the mat, above the visor. I can remember my mom saying, “One of you boys didn’t put the key back under the mat. Find it and put it back.” It did seem odd to go to the trouble to have a lock on a door and leave the key in such an accessible place. Might as well tape it on the door.
After all these years, I’ve drifted into a more high-security life, myself. Everything is locked and double-locked. Even if I go outside during the day for more than five minutes, I’ll find my wife has locked me out and I’ll have to knock to get back in. Wouldn’t be surprised if she soon asks for the password-of-the-day for re-entry.
Texas Standard: March 24, 2021
The number of foster kids sleeping in state offices reaches an all time high. A long running crisis in the foster care system, now worse than ever? We’ll explore. Other stories we’re following: a surprise move in south Texas by a democratic congressman, one some see foreshadowing a national fight for control of the U.S. House. Abby Livingston of the Texas Tribune with details. And a Covid variant found in a dog and a cat in Texas. Why this news has researchers watching closely. Plus addressing racial inequity in vaccine distribution. And what an author and scholar describes as a Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 17, 2021
Large numbers of migrant children unaccompanied and undocumented being housed in shelters. So what happens next? Coming up democratic congressman Henry Cuellar on how the Biden Administration is facing pressure from both sides of the aisle over what to do about large numbers of minors crossing the border and being held in detention in overcrowded facilities. Also as violent crime rates go up in Texas’ biggest city, questions loom over the causes. And who’s in charge? The governor demands and gets the resignation of the last remaining public utilities commissioner in the wake of the winter outages. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 15, 2021
Texans 50 or over, get in line. New rules take effect opening up vaccine eligibility, the trouble? Finding enough doses. Coming up disputes between the feds and state officials over whether Texas is getting enough vaccine doses in its fight against COVID-19. Also, efforts by the republican legislature in Texas to curb the powers of the governor during a pandemic. Now a priority item in the house. We’ll hear why. Also more listener questions about COVID-19 and the vaccine , plus our conversation with Austin mayor Steve Adler, the power of the Black church in Texas politics and so much more today on the Texas Standard :
What’s In A Name? For These Famous Texans, Everything.
By W. F. Strong
Could there be a better name for the world’s faster runner than Usain Bolt? It’s a dead solid perfect aptronym, which is the formal word for a name that appropriately fits one’s occupation, sometimes humorously. A neurological scholar in England was knighted and became, I kid you not, Lord Brain. The president of Barclays Bank used to be Rich Ricci. What else could he have done but become a banker? The same may be said for George Francis Train, a major player in building the eastern portion of the transcontinental railroad across the United States. Barbara Boxer didn’t go into boxing literally, but as the long-serving former California senator, she was in the full contact sport of politics.
I thought I’d look at aptronyms of Texas – people from Texas who have names that are, or were, particularly apt for them. My friend Judge Ken Wise has an ideal name for a judge. He uses his name, too, aptronomously, for his podcast, “Wise about Texas.” In East Texas we used to have a federal judge whose name was William Wayne Justice. He really was all about justice, too. He forced East Texas to integrate their schools and ordered that children of undocumented parents could go to public schools.
There are those who study, seriously, the connection between names and destiny. Researchers Brett Pelham and Carvallo Mauricio found that men named Cal and Tex, born outside of Texas and California, had better than 50/50 odds that they’d move to their namesake states in their lifetime. Cals would go to California and those named Tex would mosey on over to the Lone Star State. They also found that the name Dennis is disproportionately represented in the field of Dentistry. Dennis the Dentist.
There are also inaptronyms. They are ironic rather than descriptive names. For instance, we used to have a state treasurer in Texas named Jesse James. We put a famous train robber in charge of the money. John Tower was not physically towering, but he was a towering force in politics, both influential and powerful in the U.S. Senate. So his name works both ways.
Here’s a few more fun Texas aptronyms:
Barbara Staff was great at building staffs for Republican political campaigns.
John Sharp, the politically astute former comptroller, is now Texas A&M University chancellor.
The last name of Tito of Tito’s Vodka fame is Beveridge.
Richard King built a ranch empire that was, and remains, one of the biggest ranches in the world. Great name for the man and the ranch.
Ken Starr has certainly seemed to be a star in many political events of the last few decades, with the Clinton impeachment being his biggest starring role.
Finally, I have to go back a long way to tell you about Robert Neighbors, a man who was the primary Indian agent in Texas back in the 1850s. It was his impossible task of attempting to forge peace between the white settlers and the Comanche. He was one of the few people, at the time, other than Sam Houston, who spoke a Native American language fluently. He used that skill to talk with Comanches in their lodges and teepees and build trust for the treaties he negotiated with the settlers.
Sadly, Neighbors was shot in the back and killed by Edward Cornett because he thought Neighbors was too friendly with the Comanche. Despite the fact that there were three eyewitnesses to the crime, Edward was never tried for the murder. It helps to have your brother-in-law on the grand jury.
Texas Standard: March 8, 2021
Let’s set the table: we got a lot of food on the show today. From restaurants to citrus to food for thought. In the food for thought category we start with some little known side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. We also imagine what if would be like to be homeless from the book “You Are My Brother”. And we imagine the political cost of the pandemic and freeze. Then we visit restaurants still open and remember those that have closed during the pandemic. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
KUT Weekend – February 26, 2021
State lawmakers considering how to stop last week’s power outages from happening again. Plus, some Austin apartment dwellers still have no water. And how those sad mounds of dead cactus across Central Texas may be reborn. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!
Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org
Texas Standard: February 26, 2021
The deregulated electric market was set up to save money for Texas consumers. So why did Texans end up paying $28 billion more? That story coming up on the Texas Standard.
A Wall Street Journal analysis shows the Texas electrical grid not only failed during the storm, but failed consumers for decades by leading to higher bills. We’ll hear what happened and why. Plus the latest on hearings by Texas lawmakers.
With a disaster declaration in Texas, what comes next? The nuts and bolts of accessing federal aid.
The University of Texas RGV in hot water for turning away eligible people seeking vaccines.
Plus the week in Texas politics and much more.
Texas Standard: February 25, 2021
After days of finger pointing and demands for accountability, hearings get underway at the Texas Capitol to get the the bottom of last weeks outages. We’ll have the latest. Also, details from the governor’s statewide address last night on what comes next as Texans demand answers in the wake of last week, and solutions to prevent such failures in the future. And what Texas can learn from Australia when it comes to massive power outages and the politics of renewable energy. Plus a federal judge puts an indefinite hold on President Biden’s attempts to freeze deportations at the border. The implications plus much today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 24, 2021
As Governor Abbott prepares for a statewide televised address on the blackouts, many wonder why they haven’t heard more from him before now. Rapid fallout from the blackout of 2021 already happening, as 5 ERCOT board members say they’ll tender their resignations. We’ll have the latest. Also more on the implications of last weeks blackout in the fight against COVID-19. And could last weeks disaster actually lead to changes in labor laws? A labor historian on what history tells us about past patterns. Plus commentator W.F. Strong rethinks his list of Texas-themed tunes, a Politifact check of Beto O’Rourke and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 23, 2021
After a death from hypothermia, a Conroe family among the many filing suit against Texas electric grid manager. But can ERCOT be sued? Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, a governmental entity cannot be sued without its consent. But ERCOT, a private non-profit corporation, claims it is protected too. What’s behind the claims and counterclaims mounting across the Lone Star State? Also, could technology embraced during the pandemic lead to and end to snow days for schools across Texas?Plus another lingering effect of the storm, the rise of so-called Buy Nothing groups. All those stories and a whole lot more coming up today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 22, 2021
Stop right there: an order from the public utility commission to put the brakes on outrageous power bills after the winter storm. As lawmakers step in to get answers to ongoing questions about who and what’s to blame for the meltdown in utilities statewide, another long term ripple effect looms: the impact to Texas’s reputation. We’ll hear more. Also hurricanes, pandemic, then a winter storm… what compounding natural disasters can do to mental health in Texas, and what to look out for, yourself. Plus with the power back on for most, many Texans still dealing with water issues. We’ll have expert advice on tap and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Winter 2021
Texans have been suffering this week in the prolonged bitter cold, without power and without water. This Typewriter Rodeo poem is recognition of that suffering combined with the hope we continue to help each other through it.
Texas Standard: February 17, 2021
It was set up to be an electrical island independent from a national power network. Cold comfort for millions of Texans right now. With a winter storm leading to rolling blackouts leaving more than 4 million Texans in the cold, the nonprofit deigned to manage the state’s power grid finds itself getting sudden national notoriety, as angry Texans demand answers. What is ERCOT, and who’s really at the switch behind this current power crisis? As the Lone Star State anticipates a thaw, things heat up between electricity providers and lawmakers now calling for investigations. The latest on the winter storm and its many ripple effects today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 15, 2021
As the temperatures fall, along with precipitation, millions of Texans stranded or worse by winter weather. Coming up, conversations with reporters from across Texas on how Texans are weathering conditions that have brought large parts of the state to a standstill. Also, missing out on the vaccine but getting something else instead: scammed. A report from Houston. Plus a major disconnect with rural Texas: concerns that a lack of broadband is leaving some Texas towns far behind. And new efforts to reunite families separated by U.S. immigration policies. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 12, 2021
It’s freezing out there. We’ll get a look at weather conditions across the state and what’s to come. We’ll also check in on how the state is weathering extended economic challenges posed by COVID-19. We’ll hear from the state’s top budget official. And the energy industry plays a part in that economic outlook. New proposals aim to tax some polluting practices. Plus a lesson in Texas border history that you might not be familiar with. And we’ll also wrap up the week in Texas politics and more today on the Texas Standard:
Artist Tom Lea’s ‘Sarah In The Summertime’
As Valentine’s Day is approaching, I thought I’d share a romantic story about one of Texas’s greatest artists, Tom Lea. This is a love story, expressed in one painting, titled “Sarah in the Summertime.” I’ll tell you the story of that painting and how it came to be.
Tom Lea was a true renaissance artist in the sense that he was both a gifted painter and writer. He was a muralist and a novelist. His murals are, to this day, in public buildings in Washington, D.C., El Paso, his home town and Odessa. President George W. Bush had one of his paintings hanging in the Oval Office. Lea’s novels, “The Brave Bulls” and “The Wonderful Country” are considered Southwestern classics. His two-volume history of the King Ranch can be found in any home with a good Texas library.
Tom met Sarah in 1938, when he was working on his celebrated “Pass of the North” mural in El Paso. He was invited to a small dinner party where she was also a guest. Sarah was from Monticello, Illinois, and in town visiting friends. He was immediately enchanted by her and decided that evening that he wanted to marry her. Tom had the good sense not to confess to that wish right there. No. He waited until their first date two nights later to pop the question. She didn’t say “yes” until he met her parents. Several months later, they were married. It was a storybook romance that spanned 63 years.
Tom and Sarah were only apart for one extended period of time during their marriage, and that was during World War II, when he was an artist for Life Magazine, embedded with the U.S. Navy. He documented the realities of the war in drawings and paintings, the most famous of which was “The Two Thousand Yard Stare.” Naturally, Tom missed Sarah terribly every day.
Here I will let the famous novelist take over the narration. He wrote:
I had a snapshot of Sarah which I carried in my wallet during the whole war. I looked at it, homesick, all over the world. When the war was over, the first painting I began was a full-length, life-size portrait of Sarah in the same dress, the same pose, the same light as the little snapshot.
I worked a long time making a preliminary drawing in charcoal and chalk, designing the glow of light and the placement of the figure against a clearness of blue sky, the mountains like Mount Franklin, the leafy trees and green grass and summer sunlight, before I transferred the drawing to the canvas. It was a detailed and precisely measured drawing. For instance, Sarah’s height of 5 foot 6 in high heels was drawn on the canvas exactly 5 ft 6. The painting was done with devotion and without haste. First the background, then the figure, and finally her head. I remember that I worked 26 days painting the pattern of all the little flowers on the dress. … 2 years after I began work on it, longer than any other painting ever took me, I signed it framed it and gave it to Sarah. I see it everyday in our living room and I see Sarah [too]. 20 years have passed. “Sarah in the Summertime” means more to me that I could ever put on canvas.
Adair Margo, his agent and decadeslong friend, and founder of the Tom Lea Institute, told me that Tom Lea would never let that painting leave the house, not for any showing or exhibition. Only once was she able to convince him to put it in a local exhibit, but only for a few hours, and it had to be back that night.
Tom and Sarah are buried side by side in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. There’s one headstone with divided inscriptions for each. On Sarah’s side it says, from Tom, “Sarah and I live on the east side of the mountain. It is the sunrise side. It is the side to see the day coming. Not the side to see the day is gone. The best day is the day coming, with work to do, with eyes wide open, with the heart grateful.”