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December 4, 2024

Texas’ ghost towns spotlight rural population shifts

By: David Brown

Martial law has now been lifted in South Korea – Texas’ fourth-largest trading partner – but the effects may not be as short-lived. A top Texas expert tells us why.
Ongoing casualties in what was long touted as the war on drugs: Kevin Krause of The Dallas Morning News analyzed a decade of meth sentencing data in North Texas.
Texas is known for its ghost towns, spotlighting shifting population dynamics.
With nearly half of Texas counties lacking maternity care services, rural mothers face daunting hurdles.
And: China has announced a ban on exporting certain rare minerals to the U.S., a move likely to disrupt tech manufacturing and deepen tensions.


Episodes

April 5, 2025

Texas Extra: My KUTX

March was all about music for Texas Standard. We debuted our latest Texas Standard special – “Rap to the Ranch: The Ballad of Mason ‘Bric’ LaDue.” And we celebrated ten years of the show with a top 10 list of our favorite music interviews and stories from the past decade. The first weekend in March, […]

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April 4, 2025

There’s no online registry for ranchers’ brands – but that could change

As China announces retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., the possible toll on Texas ranchers is generating lots of anxiety. A Texas A&M trade expert who’s worked on previous trade deals takes a closer look as the implications of extended trade wars loom large.Fatalities related to child abuse in Texas fall dramatically – but the numbers […]

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April 3, 2025

Trump’s new tariffs could hit Texas businesses hard

One of Texas’ top economists weighs in on the impact of Trump’s tariffs, what looks like the end of a U.S.-led free trade era, and what it could add up to for Texas.It looks like John Cornyn may have a serious challenger for his seat in the Senate: Attorney General Ken Paxton.The latest AI trend […]

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April 2, 2025

‘Mistaco’ teaches kids how tacos can make everything better

Houston’s affordable housing project has winners and losers – and the winners are not the renters. Digging into a new investigation from the Houston Chronicle.Changes in funding for refugee resettlement programs have nonprofits scrambling to figure out how to continue to help.Matthew McConaughey and industry reps push for Texas lawmakers to beef up the state’s […]

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April 1, 2025

Deadly floods swamp South Texas, shatter records

Torrential rain in South Texas leads to dangerous flooding, trapping people in their homes. How the Rio Grande Valley is recovering.A new DEI directive led the Pentagon to purge certain historical figures from web pages. Why that decision has now been reversed.Some churches are looking to re-purpose buildings and land to help residents who need […]

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March 31, 2025

30 years after her death, Selena’s legacy only grows in Corpus Christi

A Texas House committee is set to debate school choice legislation this week, reviving a contentious issue that’s repeatedly stalled in the lower chamber.Since San Antonio’s annual César E. Chávez March for Justice began in 1997, musicians Los Inocentes have composed ballads telling his story.An investigation into child abuse deaths in Texas reveals a system […]

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March 28, 2025

Remembering Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a trailblazing Texas leader

Major cuts in federal funding for infectious diseases as West Texas struggles with a growing measles outbreak. We’re checking in with Brad Burt at KTTZ in Lubbock.Remembering Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the trailblazing Texas politician who famously called herself “one tough grandma.”Muslim women are speaking out about the stigma surrounding menstruation during Ramadan, when they are […]

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March 27, 2025

Long-awaited historical marker will recognize Sherman Riot of 1930

The Justice Department announces the arrest of a Salvadoran gang member as questions grow about deportations and presidential power. NPR’s Sergio Martinez-Beltran gets us up to speed on the Trump administration’s deportation push, and the pushback.Five years after COVID, why some health officials in Texas are worried about whether we’re ready for future pandemics.Why the […]

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