texas

Standards

The Texas Legislature is considering changes to school standards. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Reading, writing, and a rush to judgement? Some Texas lawmakers seem somewhat unsettled by a school finance bill racing to the floor of the Senate, we’ll have details. Also, the white puts in a multi billion dollar request for emergency border funds. This time, it’s not about a wall but humanitarian relief. Some in congress are unconvinced. Also the future of ugly food, why your next pet might be virtual, and actor and filmmaker Edward James Olmos is in the studio. All of that and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: May 1, 2019

Lowering property taxes, but giving up what? We’ll take a look at the latest movement at the Texas capitol. Also, asylum seekers would have to pay to apply under new orders from President Trump. We’ll break down the proposals. And you throw the bottle in the blue bin, viola! You’ve recycled. But it’s not so simple, and in fact it could be getting harder. We’ll explain. And one of the most important figures in Texas’ religious history never set foot here, or did she? Exploring the legend of the Lady in Blue. Those stories plus a fact check and more today on the Texas Standard:

The Lady In Blue

One of the most important figures in Texas’ religious history never set foot in Texas at all. She never in her life traveled beyond her tiny village in Spain, yet she stirred religious fervor from the Concho River to the headwaters of the Rio Grande.

Our story begins in 1602 when Maria was born in the pueblito de Ágreda. She was a lovely child born to Catholic parents of noble rank. Barely beyond her toddler years, Maria showed an unusual devotion to a life of prayer and piety.

When she was ten, she already wanted to join a convent. When she was 12, her parents finally blessed her wish to join the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Tarazona. Before that could be arranged, though, Maria’s mother had a vision in which God instructed her to convert their mansion into a convent. She and her daughter would both become nuns. Her father would join a local monastery, following in the footsteps of his sons who were already friars. In four years, this all came to pass.

At 18, Maria took her vows and became Maria de Jesus – Mary of Jesus de Ágreda. The habit of her order was a dark cobalt blue. Now a nun, she spent more time than ever alone in prayer. Maria’s religious devotions intensified. Her sisters worried about her frequent fasting, frail health, and life of extreme deprivation. Yet for her it was a glorious time: she said God had given her a divine gift. It was the gift of bilocation. She could be in two places at once. Through meditation she could appear to God’s children in faraway lands and teach them about Jesus. She said she first appeared to the Jumano tribes of present day Texas in the 1620s. She did this for about ten years, from the time she was 18, to 29. And according to legend, the Jumano Indians of the time confirmed that the Woman in Blue, as they called her, had come among them.

The first proof is offered in the story of 50 Jumano Indians appearing on their own at the San Antonio de la Isleta Mission near present-day Albuquerque, asking the Franciscan priests to teach them about Jesus. When asked how they knew of him, the men said that the Lady in Blue had come to them and taught them the gospel. She had instructed them to go west to find holy men who could teach them more about the faith and baptize them. They, as the legend goes, pointed to a painting of a nun in the mission and said, “She is like her, but younger.”

The priests were stunned because they had no missions or missionaries in that part of what is today West Texas. They certainly knew of no nuns who had attempted missionary work there. How could this be? The head cleric in New Mexico, Esteban de Perea, asked two priests to go home with the Jumanos to verify these claims about the Lady in Blue. They traveled to the region that is today San Angelo and found that many of the Jumano said she had indeed come to them many times over the years. The priests immediately baptized 2,000 Jumanos, they say, because of Maria de Ágredas.

Historians Donald Chipman and Denise Joseph wrote that the Jumanos said Maria came to them “like light at sunset… she was a kind and gentle person who spoke ‘sweet’ words to them that they could understand…”

The respected religious historian Carlos E. Castaneda – not to be confused with the one who wrote about the Teachings of Don Juan – said that Maria preached in Spanish but the Jumanos understood her in their tongue, and when they spoke in their tongue, she understood them in Spanish.

Such claims resulted in the custodian of the Franciscans in New Mexico, Father Alonso de Benavides, traveling all the way to Ágreda in Spain to interview Maria to verify her authenticity. According to him, she told him of things in Texas and about the world of the Jumanos that only one who had been there could have known. Her bilocation claims were considered credible then, and even now, the Vatican seems to agree and is considering her for canonization.

Chapman and Joseph tell us that, according to Jumano legend, “when she last appeared, she blessed [the Jumanos] and slowly went away into the hills. The next morning the area was covered with a blanket of strange flowers that were a deep blue” – blue like her habit. These were, they said, the first bluebonnets. And perhaps the Jumanos found comfort when these flowers returned each year, adorned in their blue habits, assuring them that the Lady in Blue was always with them.

For a more complete history of the Lady in Blue, see “Notable Men and Women of Spanish Texas” by Donald E. Chipman and Harriett Denise Joseph, published by UT-Press, 1999.

Texas Standard: April 22, 2019

T-minus 35 days and counting as the Texas Legislature approaches the end of the regular session. Will we be going into overtime? A closer look today on the Standard.

From property tax and school finance reform to child welfare and the environment -a whole lot of unfinished business and just five weeks to get it all done. We’ll have an update.

New numbers on Texas agriculture. What do they add up to? A shifting landscape in rural Texas, for starters–we’ll have more.

Also, the brand that planted the Texas flag in high tech history is breaking new ground and adding hundreds of jobs. All those stories and more as the Texas Standard gets started.

Texas Standard: April 17, 2019

Just Where do you draw the line? Gerrymandering may be legal in Texas, but now there’s a pushback in the Texas legislature, we’ll have the latest. Also, we’ve been hearing about brick and mortar stores shuttering and big box retailers leaving old spaces, so who’s filling those vacancies? To an increasing extent, it’s immigrant entrepreneurs. We’ll hear more. And did Texas once resemble East Central Africa? New images emerge from the study of bones discovered and locked away some 80 years ago. Plus is there a spending limit set by the Texas constitution? A Politifact check and more today on the Texas Standard:

What Siri Can’t Tell You

The navigation apps so accessible in our cars and on our phones are to me, magical. Siri, Google Maps and the like save us collectively from hundreds of thousands of lost hours each day by saving us from, well, being lost. Siri also may have saved a few relationships by sparing couples from arguing about whether or not to ask for directions. In simpler times, the all-perceptive woman might say, “Just admit it, David, you’re lost – been lost for an hour. Driving faster won’t get you unlost. Stop, please, ask for directions.” Then the man would say, “Just hold on and let me concentrate, Martha. Two more miles up here and I believe I’ll know where we are.”

Yet for all that Siri offers in real time efficiency and guidance, there are things she can’t do for you. She is not infallible. All of us have had the experience of being told “we have arrived” at our restaurant or hotel only to be welcomed by curious cows staring at us from a vast empty pasture.

The other thing we have lost with these apps is the splendid, colorful conversations we used to have with random strangers we’d ask for directions, such as the gas station attendant, the woman walking her chihuahuas down the street, or the slightly drunk guy mowing his lawn. Siri and company are economical communicators, giving you the minimum information you need for maximum clarity. Most of your random direction givers over-communicate. They give you far more information than you need.

For instance, I once asked a Deputy Sheriff, who happened to be giving me a ticket for alleged speeding, how to get to Highway 71 to Austin. He said, “Oh you don’t want to go to 71 from here. Go back two miles and take that FM road west and it’ll take you to Austin eventually. The best thing is it’ll take you by Peggy’s Cafe – just a ramshackle hut at a wide spot in the road – best peach cobbler you ever had in your life. Bucket list cobbler for sure. Take a bit of the sting out of this here ticket.”

See? Siri doesn’t have that kind of empathy, or, passion for cobbler.

Another example is when years ago, I stopped to ask a farmer on some country road near Abilene how to get to Highway 277 to San Angelo. He said, “Oh, just go down to that green house on the corner there and turn left. Go straight 3 miles, you’ll hit it.” I replied, “That house you just pointed to is actually yellow, not green.” He said, “Yeah, well it was green for 30 years. They painted it recently. We ain’t got used to it, yet. Most of us don’t care for the yellow.”

As I was about to thank him, he leaned his arms on my passenger door and said, “That house there is the Miller house. Three generations of the same family lived there and farmed that acreage. Jimbo and Carolyn after 30 years farming sold out last year, moved to Alpine and opened a bed and breakfast out there. Young couple, McGees I think, bought that house and painted it yellow. Bad decisions all around in my opinion. But not my business. Irregardless, I’ll wager right now that ten years from now that’ll still be known as the Miller house. Well, you best get goin’ ‘fore the sun sets on you.”

You see? Siri can’t give you that kind of local, social history with such authentic flare.

Finally, Siri doesn’t offer you the “gone too far” landmarks. She’ll tell you to turn around for sure, but she won’t say, “If you come to a rise in the road and see a Texas Flag gate on your left, you’ve gone too far.” Or, “If you pass over a creek, you’ve gone too far.” Or, “If the pavement turns to dirt, you’ve gone too far, but don’t try to turn around down there – with all the rain we’ve had you’ll just slide off into the bar ditch and you’ll need a wrecker to pull you out. No, just keep going till you get to the frontage road and circle back and try again.”

Siri doesn’t offer those kinds of extra, nuanced details.

Texas Standard: April 15, 2019

Texas is now flaring off enough natural gas to power all of households in the Lone Star State. Can anything be done to harness the energy? We’ll take a look. Also, the Texas legislature is stuck: once again stalled on some key issues. Time to prepare for a special session, Ross Ramsey doesn’t seem too worried. We’ll ask with the co-founder of the Texas Tribune why not. And after several decades, the University of North Texas solves the case of the missing Hobbit… first edition, that is. Plus the battle of San Jacinto that wasn’t, at least not this year. That and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: April 12, 2019

A push for teacher pay raises, but what about other state workers? State employees take to the streets in protest, we’ll have the latest. Also, the student government at Texas State university votes to ban a conservative student group. What the president of Texas State has to say about allegations of an attempt to curb conservative speech at the university. And there’s Lollapalooza, there’s ACL fest, and a new music festival for west Texas? Many locals say not so fast. Plus the week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune and a whole lot more today on the Friday edition of the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: April 8, 2019

A surprise resignation by the head of Homeland Security and the impact amid rising numbers of people crossing the southern border. Also a top immigration official temporarily takes over the post of a department founded to fight terrorism after 9/11, we’ll have more. And as the president postpones a promised border shutdown, anxiety persists at the border. And the Lone Star State may be famous for its Friday night lights, but maybe we should be celebrating prowess in another sport right now. Plus the story of the woman behind a political dynasty and more today on the Texas Standard:

What’s In A Name – The Rio Grande Valley

When some people first arrive in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas they often ask, “Where are the mountains?” It’s natural. Generally a valley is between mountains or at least hills. But the Rio Grande Valley is most accurately a delta region, as level as Lubbock. The highest roadway point is the 80-foot summit of the causeway bridge that goes to South Padre Island.

So how did a delta become the Valley? Marketing. Back in the early 1900s when developers were selling beautiful orchard acreage to northerners in New York and Chicago, they found that naming the area the Rio Grande Valley was a powerful selling strategy. It was also marketed as “the Magic Valley” – and I have no problem with the magic part. After all, there are dozens of varieties of exotic birds and butterflies that migrate through here each year. Some species winter here, too. The vibrantly colored birds and butterflies do make it a magical. And there are the crops, too. Early on, visitors saw that sugar cane and cotton and citrus orchards, irrigated with plentiful Rio Grande water, grew like magic in the Magic Valley.

The strategy worked. Hundreds of thousands of people came to the RGV from northern states last century for the subtropical climate and relaxed living. Some came just for the mild winters they were called “Winter Texans” (and still are). “Winter Texan” was another successful PR term that seemed much more warm and personable than the slightly pejorative, “Snowbird.” From the point of view of a Texan, there could be no greater compliment than to crown visitors a “Texan” for the time they are here.

The Rio Grande Valley is comprised of many small and medium-sized cities. Many have interesting name origins. South Padre Island translates to “Father Island.” It was named for a catholic priest – Padre José Nicolás Ballí. He inherited the island from his grandfather who received it as a land grant from King Charles III of Spain in 1759.

Brownsville could have been called Texasville if the original fort built there had kept its first name, which was Fort Texas. The makeshift fort was quickly constructed in 1846 to lay claim to the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas. The Mexican army bombarded the fort and Major Jacob Brown, originally of Boston, was killed. He was the first casualty of the Mexican-American war. So the fort was renamed Fort Brown in his honor and the town that grew up around the fort was named Brownsville.

Harlingen was named for the town of Harlingen in the Netherlands. Its founder, Lon C. Hill, thought the town’s river, the Arroyo Colorado, could be a commercial waterway to the sea, and Harlingen a city of canals, similar to its namesake in Holland. It’s pronounced differently. The Harlingen in Holland has a different “g” – Harlingen.

Weslaco is almost an acronym. It was founded by W.E. Stewart, owner of the W.E. Stewart Land Company, which was a real estate development company. So you take Stewart’s initials and the first letters of “land” and “company” and you get “Weslaco.”

Edinburg was named for Edinburgh, Scotland. Well, technically named in honor of John Young, a businessman from Edinburgh, Scotland. Both are university towns, but are spelled differently and pronounced differently, too. The Edinburgh in Scotland has somewhat of a silent g and h at the end. The one in Texas has no ‘h” but does pronounce the “g.” Edinburg. Don’t know the reason for spelling and saying it differently, but this is Texas – it’s what we do. We take the names and make them our own.

Trailer: Held Back

In most urban school districts across the country, black and Latino students don’t perform as well on standardized tests as their white and Asian peers. KUT’s Claire McInerny explores the reasons for this gap and looks at one teacher’s possible solution.

Texas Standard: March 29, 2019

A surprise stay of execution for a condemned man on Texas’ death row, and the possible ripple effects for religious liberties nationwide. We’ll have the latest. And do you remember the case of the Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay couple? Now Texas lawmakers are taking steps to protect licensed professionals from charges of discrimination against the LGBT community. A move shaping up to be a broader culture war at the capitol. Also, Amazon betting big on Texas: minus incentives. Plus a conversation with Steve Earle about Texas music legend Guy Clark and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: March 28, 2019

A tipping point at the border and pessimistic projections about the possibility of tragedy amid record numbers of asylum seekers. We’ll have the latest from El Paso where migrant families are being fenced into a makeshift shelter under a highway bridge. Also, a Texas mother files a federal lawsuit seeking 125 million from the Weather Channel after a tragedy involving storm chasers. Plus, Apple: the latest to enter the streaming wars, but are we already in over our heads when it comes to movies on demand? Also Hamilton comes to Texas and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: March 26, 2019

Many highway checkpoints inland from the border are closed as border officials try to deal with a new surge of migrants from Central America, we’ll have the latest. Also, rural electrification transformed the lives of millions of Texas. Is it time for something similar for broadband? We’ll talk with the Texas lawmaker pushing to get the rest of Texas wired. Plus for the first time since 1940 there’s a new dental school for Texas. But how’s Texas Tech planning on keeping its newly minted dentists where they’re most needed? And fighting words: the Mueller report and how we’re talking about it. All those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: March 25, 2019

No collusion, no exoneration. The Mueller report promised to get us closer to the truth, what’s the reaction in an increasingly polarized Texas? We’ll discuss the implications of the Mueller report and reaction here in the Lone star State, a place increasingly seen as turning to a purplish hue. Also, gas prices on the rise: a seasonal blip, or a long term price hike? And pushback against the woman picked as sole finalist to become the next president of UTEP. And Marfa, the city that never sleeps? Why locals are on edge and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

KUT Weekend – March 22, 2019

Beto O’Rourke navigating being a white man in a diverse field of candidates. Plus, a rise of migrants apprehended in El Paso strains local charities. And what ever happened to the Austin festival Spamarama? Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

Delicious Irritant

Something got you itching? Could be a bug, an allergy — or perhaps it’s just that person over there. That was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

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:

The Mystery Of The Osage Murders

One of the best books I’ve read this year is “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.” I was late to this literary party. This nonfiction work has been a super-bestseller for well over a year now. It has been on the Paperback Nonfiction bestseller list for 49 weeks. Dave Eggers writes in his New York Times Book Review that author “[David] Grann has proved himself a master of spinning delicious, many-layered mysteries that also happen to be true. … It will sear your soul.”

I won’t spoil this book for you by revealing any part of the whodunit. I’m more interested in the who pursued ‘em.

You have three levels of tension here. First, there is the Osage tribe – the richest people per capita on Earth at the time, around 1920. They were the only tribe that owned mineral rights to the worthless land they got from the federal government as their very own reservation in Oklahoma. Why not? It was worthless scrub-brush land that was mostly sandy and rocky with random clumps of grass. When oil was discovered, though, they became, collectively, unfathomably rich. J. Paul Getty, for instance, was in a bidding war Harry Sinclair for Osage oil leases. Soon after the money started piling up, the Osage started dying, mysteriously, and in large numbers.

The second level of tension is that they were being murdered, seemingly randomly. “Serial killer” was not yet a term in the crime lexicon, but as a reader, you arrive at that conclusion quickly. You feel it must be a serial killer. But not one singular method was used. Some Osage were shot, some poisoned, some blown up in their homes with dynamite. Sixty had died by the time that J. Edgar Hoover took the case for the feds. It was up to him to find the killer or killers.

Here’s the third level of tension. Hoover was just acting director of what was called the Bureau of Investigation at the time. He was only 29 years old. The case was a blessing and a curse. If Hoover could solve it he could elevate the this new agency to a formidable and powerful national police bureau. If he failed, he would be pushed out; his career hung in the balance. Hoover was wanting to create an FBI that was modern, full of smart college graduates skilled in the use of the latest scientific techniques like fingerprinting, but the last agents sent to solve the mystery either made no headway, or were themselves killed. To solve this case, Hoover needed to send to Oklahoma the kind of agent he wanted the agency to shed.

Now, at this point you might be saying, as my dear sister-in-law said to me when I told her this story, “Why are you, Mr. Texas, talking about Oklahoma?” I’ll answer you as I did her: “Hold your horses, I’m fixin’ to get there.”

Hoover had to bite the bullet and bring in the cowboys. He sent for Tom White, his bureau chief in Houston, who was an ex-Texas Ranger, to take charge of the case. As Hoover said, “He needed a man who could handle men.”

It wasn’t exactly a “one riot, one ranger” situation, but it had elements of it.

Grann describes him this way: “Tom White was an old-style lawman. He had served in the Texas Rangers near the turn of the century, and he had spent much of his life wandering on horseback across the Southwestern frontier, a Winchester rifle or a pearl-handled six-shooter in hand. He was 6 feet, 4 inches and had the sinewy arms and eerie composure of a gunslinger.

Years later, a bureau agent wrote that he was as “God-fearing as the mighty defenders of the Alamo. He was an impressive sight in his large, suede Stetson. … He commanded the utmost in respect and scared the daylights out of Easterners like me.”

Of course, it was a white Stetson he wore.

Hoover explained to White that he needed him to direct the investigation without a hint of scandal, and as quietly as possible. He told him there could be “no excuse for failure.” Hoover told him to call in as many agents as he needed, and so White called in those men that Hoover considered the cowboys (two were ex-Texas Rangers) – men who were good at “infiltrating wild country, dealing with outlawry, shadowy suspects, going days without sleep, maintaining cover under duress, and handling deadly weapons if necessary.”

So there you go. The plot is set. The characters are in place. A great Texas story awaits, even though it’s set in Oklahoma. If you don’t care to read the book just now, you can wait for the movie, which, rumor has it, will be directed by Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio. De Niro is said to be in talks for a role as well.

I’m W.F. Strong. These are Stories from Texas, by way of Oklahoma. Some of them are true.