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KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

Transportation

San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick could be a game-changer

A bill would provide $10 billion in low-interest loans that would benefit the oil and gas industry, in the name of beefing up the power grid; there are a lot of questions over the push for those loans, aimed at preventing statewide blackouts.

Almost one year after the worst school shooting in Texas history, state lawmakers are running out of time in this legislative session to make changes to gun laws.

In San Antonio, the silver and black are back as Spurs fans get lit up over a No. 1 draft pick.

Also, actress Christina Vidal on a new streaming series, “Primo” about coming of age in the Alamo City.

Pumped: Food, fuel and the future of Texas – A Texas Standard special

We don’t think of gas stations much, yet they are fixtures across Texas, and tell us a lot about who we are and where we’re going. There are more than 11,000 of them scattered across the state – along major highways and tiny backroads alike, they fuel up long haul trucks, hungry commuters and sometimes whole communities.

In some ways, the gas station is the backbone of our economy and the center of conversation and community. In other ways, they’re a blight on the landscape and, many feel, a soon-to-be anachronism. “Pumped: Food, fuel and the future of Texas” is an exploration of an often-overlooked staple of our life.

KUT Morning Newscast for March 1, 2023

Central Texas top stories for March 1, 2023. Austin Energy rates. Federal funding for mobility infrastructure. Joshua Wright prayer vigil. Campus polling ban pushback. Rockdale ISD 4 day school week.

KUT Morning Newscast for January 19, 2023

Central Texas top stories for January 19, 2023. Austin Water audit. City of Taylor homeless camping ordinance. ACC chancellor Richard Rhodes retiring. Texas energy grid proposed overhaul. Transportation legislation for bikers and pedestrians.

KUT Afternoon Newscast for December 21, 2022

Central Texas top stories for December 21, 2022. Lack of early weather shelter notifications is frustrating advocates. Arctic blast not expected to adversely affect ABIA. Protecting pipes and your home ahead of the cold snap. The City of Austin is not planning to treat roads ahead of cold weather. Barriers dividing parts of I-35 to pop-up along more roadways in Austin. Trail of Lights reopens tonight. 

Texas Standard: September 14, 2022

Texas’ border security mission has cost more than four billion dollars and counting. Where’s all that money coming from? Operation Lone Star put 10,000 Texas National Guard troops along the state’s border with Mexico. Today we’ll help you make sense of how the state’s paying for it. Also a looming railroad strike could mean pain for people in the checkout line and Democrats at the polls. What’s the Biden administration doing to keep the trains running on time? And do people with low incomes get audited more than others? We’ll see how that claim holds up under scrutiny from Politifact. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: July 13, 2022

At the hearings on the January 6th insurrection, the spotlight turns to the some potentially key figures from Texas. We’ll have the latest. Other stories we’re tracking: an 85 billion dollar ten year transportation plan for Texas. What it includes and what it leaves out as the state tries to deal with a growing population. And with that growing population, a boom in new home construction. But why so many delays in finishing projects? Plus water levels low on many Texas rivers and questions about whether businesses catering to river recreation will sink or swim. And the Mexican activists fielding calls from Texans seeking abortions. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

How much should it cost to ride Austin’s light rail?

Austin’s light-rail system is still years away from becoming a reality. The first trains won’t start running until 2029 at the earliest.

But already some people are worried about how much it could cost to ride light rail. They don’t want Capital Metro to up-charge customers like the agency does for those who ride the MetroRail commuter train.

Texas Standard: July 12, 2022

Demands for transparency in the investigation of the mass shooting in Uvalde. The focus: hallway surveillance footage. We’ll have the latest. Also why a big fight may be brewing between Austin and Washington over new air pollution regulations in West Texas. And military annual fitness checks getting swapped out for Fitbits? Plus an immigration lawyer on the front lines to keep families together at the border, reflects on his own migrant past and others directly affected by immigration policy. And new images of events millions of years in the past, the excitement over the space telescope and what the pictures tell us. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: May 3, 2022

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled” – that’s a quote from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in an opinion leaked last night. We’ll talk about what happens next on today’s show. Plus the cost increases for Operation Lone Star. As the border security mission drags on, it’s being funded by money meant for state agencies. And an intercontinental railway that will now bypass Texas. We’ll tell you why. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: April 12, 2022

As evidence mounts of atrocities by Russian forces in Ukraine, the conversation shifts beyond war crimes to allegations of genocide. Ukraine says civilian killings constitute genocide. We’ll have a Texas expert on how and why that term is contentious, and what it could mean for the future. Also closer to home, with population growth in Texas, demand for concrete grows and Black and Hispanic communities in Houston disproportionately affected by concrete batch plants. We’ll have more on analysis by the Houston Chronicle. And federal dollars flowed to Texas landlords who pledged not to evict tenants during the pandemic. But many were evicted anyway. So what happens next? Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Trailer: The Austin Transportation Podcast

The Austin Transportation Podcast examines the issues around mobility in the ATX with a focus on how people’s everyday lives are shaped by the decisions of government. Whether you’re sitting on I-35 or MOPAC every day, using alternatives like Capital Metro and scooters, or plodding along a trail, we look at the challenges of getting from here to there in one of the fastest-growing regions of the country. The podcast features produced radio stories, interviews and audio recordings.

Riding A Bike

This Typewriter Rodeo poem came by request from Texas Standard listener Pete Ramirez. His request was for a poem dedicated to “the love and joy of riding a bike.”

Texas Standard: April 8, 2021

As federal officials add new detention centers for young migrants, the states of Texas and Louisiana sue over changes to immigration policy. We’ll have details. Also, the nation’s top homeland security official returns to Texas today as the numbers of migrants swell along the southern border. Richard Pineda of UT El Paso on how the politics of immigration may be blurring the picture of what’s really happening. And those boots are made for talking, the fashion editor of Vogue magazine on a Texas accent in haute couture. And what’s the real capitol of Texas? You sure? A Houston Chronicle writer makes the case it’s not Austin. Those stories and so much more coming up today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: October 10, 2019

A stern warning from the federal judge overseeing reform of Texas’ foster care system: further resistance will be worse than futile. We’ll have the story. Also, the president makes it clear he won’t be cooperating with the house impeachment process. What’s less clear: what this means for what many have predicted to be a transitional election season in Texas politics. We’ll explore. And skyrocketing heat-related injuries in the military. Now there’s an attempt at a radical ‘about face’. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

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