Central Texas top stories for March 24, 2025. An Austinite is suing the U.S. Department of Education for removing access to income-driven repayment plans. Employees at the Travis County Public Defender’s Office will go before Commissioners this week to ask for higher pay, better benefits and more staffing. Voting rights advocates are celebrating a federal judge’s ruling to strike down Texas’ ID requirements for mail ballot voting. Austin FC jumped to second place in the Western Conference standings after beating San Diego FC 2-1. The Texas Women’s basketball team plays Illinois today at 1:00 p.m. for the chance to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament
voting rights
Sean Wilson (Ep. 42, 2024)
This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Sean Wilson, Senior Director of Organizing and Partnerships at Dream.Org., building one of the most transformational training programs in the nation, focusing on youth justice, voting rights, police reform and criminal justice.
Plans to dredge Matagorda Bay Superfund site proceed, over environmental worries
A Supreme Court ruling on redistricting in Alabama surprises critics – and raises hopes for Texans challenging political maps closer to home.
Why a plan to expand shipping in Matagorda Bay has many in the community sounding alarms.
An effort to lift the borrowing cap for graduate student loans raised hopes – and costs – but not the sort of opportunities expected, according to a new report using Texas data.
Also, a bit of sweetness in Uvalde as a favorite hometown festival makes a return.
Texas Standard: July 6, 2021
Today is the day when you will learn what SB7 stands for. In short it’s the voting bill that was killed but could come back, we’ll have the latest. Also, Immigration courts are re-opening today after being out for a year, we’ll have details. Plus, are you one of the 3.4 million Texans who are caring for an adult family member? It’s pricey and it’s uncomfortable to put a price tag on their care, but there may be some help on the way. And do you know your history? What about your Asian American history? And speaking of history and historic moments – the story of the first astronaut to do an untethered space walk. All of that and more today on the Texas Standard:
The Summit on Race in America, pt. 1 (Ep. 29, 2019)
On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents a conversation with James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Shemekiah Copeland, and Wyclef Jean at The Summit on Race in America: Liberty and Justice for All, held this Spring at the LBJ Presidential Library, on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.
Daddy King w/ Isaac Newton Farris, Jr., pt. 2 (Ep. 21, 2017)
In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes a discussion of the King family history and its role in the Civil Rights Movement as chronicled in Daddy King: An Autobiography by Martin Luther King, Sr., with the author’s grandson, Isaac Newton Farris, Jr.