Texas Standard

May 22, 2025

As the clock winds down, Texas lawmakers scramble to pass key bills

A look at the behind-the-scenes dealmaking happening at the Texas Capitol with less than two weeks until lawmakers gavel out on June 2. How proposed cuts to SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, would impact Texans. Apple has a plan to make it possible to use your laptop, phone and even smartwatch with brain control. […]

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May 21, 2025

How one West Texas town built its own broadband lifeline

Texas lawmakers are considering a plan that could help prevent fentanyl overdoses in the state. Why it may not become law. A decade after the deadly biker shootout in Waco that led to nine deaths and more than 100 arrests, some civil cases against the city are still moving forward. Some Texas law enforcement agencies […]

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May 20, 2025

A special broadcast from El Paso

Today we’re broadcasting live from El Paso for a special edition of the Texas Standard. We hear from some prominent El Pasoans – former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and former El Paso Mayor Dee Margo – on the city’s dynamic politics. El Paso has become a leader in innovative water management. How the city is securing […]

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May 19, 2025

10 years later, still no convictions in Twin Peaks biker shootout

A bipartisan bill on abortion has passed the Texas Senate and is making its way through the House. Why lawmakers agree it’s necessary. It’s been a decade now since a deadly shootout involving rival biker gangs at a Twin Peaks in Waco. What an investigation reveals about how the case was handled. Thousands of Brazilians […]

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May 16, 2025

State parks are expanding efforts to improve accessibility

As the school year winds down, Texas lawmakers cramming for their final days at their desks are focused on education – and what some had hoped would be an increase in state spending per student may be shifted to teacher pay raises.Consumer Reports investigates a tip that sale prices at Kroger aren’t showing up at […]

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May 15, 2025

Central Texas art studio centers artists with disabilities

A bill would make it possible for criminal offenders as young as 15 to be sent to state prisons for adults.Why hopes for a big increase in per-student funding for Texas public schools may have slipped away for this legislative session.Also at the Capitol: The loud bang of a wooden mallet is supposed to keep […]

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May 14, 2025

An Austin book club has been reading the same novel for more than a decade

Texas gets a lot of flack for its culture wars – but some note a change at the Capitol this legislative session.More than a year after the state took over Shelby Park in Eagle Pass during the peak of illegal border crossings, it has now reopened to the public – and residents have bittersweet feelings.After […]

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May 13, 2025

Potentially historic heatwave settling in over much of Texas

A record-breaking heat wave will blanket big sections of the state. Is this a preview of summer?The U.S. has suspended imports of cattle from Mexico as a devastating pest, the New World Screwworm, makes its way north, threatening livestock.The Houston City Council kicks off budget hearings this week, weighing steep cuts.The new book “Freedom Season” by Texas […]

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