The killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week sparked protests around the nation this weekend. We’ll look at what happened here in Texas.
The state of Texas has handed over voter registration rolls to the Trump administration Justice Department. Why Texas Democrats and some experts fear that could have violated federal law and exposed confidential information about Texas voters.
For some women behind bars in Nueces County, a financial education effort is underway that proponents hope will be life changing.
Also, why one commentator says the Houston Texans – not the Dallas Cowboys – are now America’s team.
Voter
Voters flagged as noncitizens may have been eligible all along
Some new Texas laws are going into effect this week, including a modified bathroom bill. Other new laws include yet another one affecting abortion access, and one changing the tests kids take in Texas schools.
Texas flagged hundreds of voters as potential noncitizens earlier this year, but county officials have already determined many were mis-flagged.
The latest AP Top 25 college football rankings are out, but the handwringing continues over which teams will make the playoffs.
And we’ll talk with Terese Svoboda, author of the book “Hitler & My Mother-in-Law.”
A Mexican government program is filling in US adult education gaps
You’ve heard about the ruling striking down Texas’ new congressional maps, but what does that mean as a practical matter for the upcoming primaries? The new ruling on Texas’ redistricting plan, and an expected appeal throws a lot into limbo.
Space shuttles once routinely orbited the earth many times over, but a plan to bring one to Texas is having trouble getting off the ground.
Plus, the Standard’s Sarah Asch looks at how the Mexican government is filling in the gaps for some adult education programs in the U.S.
Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.
You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org
What Texas voters should know before Election Day
With 17 constitutional amendments on the ballot next week, state officials are reminding Texans what to expect at the polls. We’ll talk with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office about dos and don’ts while voting.
Both Austin and Houston are facing financial strain, but their solutions couldn’t be more different: One wants to raise taxes, while the other wants to hold the line.
Austin DJ Laurie Gallardo, host of the podcast “SPF 1000: Vampire Sunscreen,” discusses Latinx goth culture, its roots in border life and the darker side of music and identity.
Will beef from Argentina bring down US prices?
It’s the biggest drop in voter registration in Texas in a decade. What’s behind it and what does it mean for the future of Texas politics? Jeremy Wallace of the Houston Chronicle joins us with more.
When it comes to beef, Texas is number one. But President Trump wants push costs down with a plan to buy more beef from Argentina. Would that work? And what about the stakes for Texas? Some serious questions that we’ll put to an industry expert.
Car loan defaults reach levels not seen since the COVID era.
Also, who’s Texas’ Sausage Sensei? Where There’s Smoke, there’s Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn.
Rodney Crowell talks new album, career
A deadly shooting this morning at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas. We’ll share the latest details.
Workplaces across the state trying to calculate the implications of a new $100,000 fee for H-1B applications. We’ll hear more on the questions raised by the new policy and the possible fallout.
How college football in Texas and beyond is being reshaped by new NIL rules allowing for direct athlete pay by advertisers and sponsors.
And the return of Rodney Crowell: Music and conversation with a Texas songwriting legend.
Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.
You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org
Texas lawmakers begin special session focused on floods, maps
Lawmakers recently ended a regular session of the Texas Legislature, but on this Monday, they’re back. They call it a special session: 30 days to complete a long list of action items including a response to the Hill Country flooding, the regulation of THC consumables, and a rare mid-decade push for redistricting that has some Democrats complaining the fix is in for next year’s midterms.
A hold on billions of education dollars sends Texas public school administrators scrambling.
Also, European sanctions against Russia’s oil industry – will there be ripple effects in Texas?
And this week in Texas music history.
Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.
You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org
Battleship Texas still in search of a new home after Galveston deal falls through
With early voting underway, reporters in Ted Cruz’s homebase of Houston and Colin Allred’s congressional seat in Dallas asked voters what they think of the candidates and what issues matter to them the most.
More than six months after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed avian flu cases in dairy cows in Texas, experts are still trying to determine the full scope of the outbreak.
Also: The only battleship to have been used in both world wars is looking for a new home. What’s to come of the U.S.S. Texas?
Presidential campaigns make high-profile stops in Texas
With less than two weeks until Election Day, presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both making high-profile stops in Texas today.
A nonprofit is helping Black farmers in Texas build a home-grown community.
Filmmakers share the story behind “Subtopia,” a new Texas-based mockumentary about HOA drama.
And: Remembering Sister Angela Murdaugh, a Franciscan Sister of Mary and certified nurse midwife who was named to the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame.
Marijuana is on the ballot in two more Texas cities
Areas around Austin, San Antonio and North Texas set records for the first day of early voting this week. But the story was different in El Paso.
A Democrat won a state House seat in Collin County last election cycle – but Republicans think they can flip it back.
What it means that decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana possession is on the ballot in more Texas cities.
A look at the impact of the ongoing IV fluid shortage on Texas hospitals.
And: We’ll ask whether it matters than an elected official in Harris County hasn’t clocked into work in about four years.
What Texas Democrats can look forward to as the DNC kicks off
Texas has the third-largest delegation at the Democratic National Convention. We’ll hear more about the four-day political spectacle getting underway in Chicago and what it could mean for the Lone Star State and the presidential race.
Conservative activists, led by the Houston-based group True the Vote, are submitting lists of names to county election officials all over Texas, claiming the listed people are illegally registered to vote.
More and more school districts in Texas taking cellphone bans seriously as students return to class.
Also: Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a special type of self-watering soil that can actually pull water from the air and slowly release nutrients to plants.
Students could soon be taught Bible stories in public schools
You check in with your ID, find an empty booth and cast your ballot in secret. But have Texas voter transparency laws challenged that privacy?
Depending on where you live in Texas you might pay taxes to a local hospital system. Understanding how that works.
Storm chasers have enormous followings on social media, many copycats and, increasingly, even people riding along. It’s a growing industry of sorts, but is it a good idea?
A new docuseries coming to HBO, “Ren Faire,” follows what happens when the man who has presided over the Texas Renaissance Festival for 50 years retires.
And: A push for classical studies in Texas classrooms could also include more conversations about the Bible.
What’s next for Ken Paxton?
After reaching a deal to dismiss securities fraud charges, Ken Paxton’s political fortunes appear on the rise. What’s next for the attorney general?
One day after a US abstention in a UN Gaza cease-fire vote, how some Arab Americans in North Texas are planning to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
The San Antonio Police Department is getting pushback over the its participation in an international competition alongside police forces the U.S. State Department says have violated human and civil rights.
And with a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse on the horizon, a UTSA astronomy professor talks us through what to watch for in the hours and minutes before and after the main event.
Challenged on the right, progressive Corpus Christi DA seeks higher office
Gov. Greg Abbott has been ordered to remove a controversial buoy barrier from the middle of the Rio Grande.
Among the new laws now taking effect in Texas are new penalties aimed at cracking down on illegal voting. But just how much of a departure from the past is it? The Standard’s Sean Saldana has more.
Facing a trial to force his removal, Mark Gonzalez, a progressive DA in Nueces County, has resigned and announced a challenge to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
And we’ll hear from Pedro Martín, the author and illustrator of “Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir,” a graphic novel about a road trip to Mexico already being called an instant classic.
Could Texas connect to other electric grids?
A Texas redistricting challenge is being described as an important test of the Voting Rights Act.
Federal regulators are considering a rule that would force Texas to connect to other electric grids.
With Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial set to begin in the state Senate soon, attorneys for the suspended attorney general have asked for the case to be dismissed, citing the “prior-term doctrine.”
Understanding the new “right to farm” protections going into effect next month – and why they should matter to city dwellers, too.
Also, remembering Texas saxophonist Arnett Cobb.
The bipartisan appeal of psychedelic research into treating veteran PTSD
With a big election season looming, Texas withdraws from a national tool designed to prevent voter fraud.
Texas wants to regulate carbon storage on its own. Now two Texas congressmen are pushing to prevent that.
Inflation cooling, good news for many Texas workers but potentially a double edged sword.
With many teachers leaving the profession, a small Texas district sets up its own pipeline for getting new teachers into classrooms.
And a Texas Republican part of a bipartisan attempt to loosen drug restrictions?
Musician Amanda Shires on her collaboration with Bobbie Nelson
Hundreds of nurses are on a one-day strike in Austin, in what’s expected to be the largest nurses’ strike in Texas history.
Texans know summer heat, but these temperatures can be dangerous. A doctor shares important information on protecting yourself and others.
Residents living in colonias on the border who lack clean, safe drinking water say they’re the target of predatory practices.
And musician Amanda Shires on her new album “Loving You,” a collaboration with the the late great Bobbie Nelson.
Documentary highlights competitive high school mariachi
There’s a push in the Texas Senate to raise the penalty for illegal voting despite a widely reported absence of evidence that it’s a major problem. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of the Texas Newsroom shares his weekly lookahead at what’s happening at the Legislature.
A bill filed last week would abolish the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and close down the state’s youth prisons.
There was chaos Sunday on the pedestrian bridge connecting El Paso with Juárez, Mexico. Lauren Villagran of the El Paso Times joins us to discuss what happened.
By many measures Texas is at the top of the pack for renewable energy, yet gas and oil likely remain big in the state for some time to come.
Plus we’ll hear from the directors and a student star of a new documentary that had its Texas debut at South by Southwest, “Going Varsity in Mariachi.”
Texas Standard: November 09, 2022
On the day after midterms question marks loom over Washington, but in Texas, some big surprises for both sides of the aisle. Though Democrats didn’t manage to pull off victories in key statewide offices, they did manage to hold off a widely expected red wave in South Texas. Nonetheless, a GOP victory in one Texas district marks an historic turn in that region. We’ll have reaction from both sides as well as a closer look at the signals sent by Texas voters in the midterms. And what might results in Texas legislative races spell for the upcoming session? These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 8, 2022
From the Governor’s office to the Attorney Generals race and other statewide contests plus 38 congressional seats, it’s decision day in Texas. With early voter turnout reported low across the Lone Star State, turnout at the polls today could be make of break in several key races. We’ll be checking in with reporters to see how it’s looking at ballot locations across Texas. Other stories we’re tracking: concerns about voting observers and fears among election workers over voter intimidation. Also, an F.A.Q. for those voting today. Plus world series victory celebrations in Houston and much more today on the Texas Standard: