Texas Standard

As the legislative session reaches the halfway mark, the pace to pass bills is picking up. A look at which ones could move to a vote.
We’re also tracking the politics of vaccines: As a measles outbreak in West Texas grows, some lawmakers want to make it easier to opt out of getting a shot.
Why police failed to investigate the deaths of 25 people behind bars in Tarrant County.
As Texas copes with a looming water shortage, could treating the wastewater created by fracking help?
Plus: A look at Texas Standard’s top 10 musical moments from the past 10 years.

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How hot is it in Texas prisons? After many questions about deadly heat, a new discovery: the facts as presented may have been fake. Investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy of The Texas Newsroom with the discovery of falsified records in an ongoing scandal about heat-related deaths behind bars.

A Houston inmate jailed for 18 years who never got his day in court: How did that happen, and could there be more?

What do you get when you cross a mouse with a woolly mammoth? It’s no joke: A Texas company says it’s just the beginning.

Also, who owns Texas? The results of an investigation of land ownership.
And this week in Texas music history.

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President Trump signs an order effectively dismantling the education department. What does it add up to for education in Texas?

The Las Vegas Sands Corp. folds, for now, on its push for a resort casino in Irving. We’ll hear why and what it says about the industry’s attempts to cash in on Texas.

Also, the week in politics with the Texas Tribune.

Plus, a new cookbook challenges the notion that you’ve got to have meat for traditional Mexican dishes.

And after our series on the Texas Farm Workers Union, a listener comes forward with photos – adding faces to an almost forgotten story.

The post Rediscovering Texas farm worker history through photos appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

A U.S. Navy destroyer armed with tomahawk missiles enroute to the gulf waters off the coast of Texas. What’s this all about?

Investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy of The Texas Newsroom with word that the Texas government appears to be maintaining a list of people asking for information about changing the sex on their driver’s licenses. Who’s compiling this list and what is it being used for?

Five years after the declaration of a pandemic, what’s happened with vaccination rates?

And an AI service used by millions for free is about to go behind a paywall.
Plus, why Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor is busy making his list and checking it twice.

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Did the Trump administration defy a court order by sending planeloads of alleged gang members to El Salvador?
As wildfire anxiety grows, Austin plans to designate half the city as at risk of fire damage.
A bill headed to the Texas House would establish a specialized task force to combat petroleum theft, aiming to curb millions of dollars in losses.
Supporters are betting state lawmakers are ready to approve legalized gambling when it comes to sports betting.
And: Why the WNBA’s top draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is likely to play for a Texas team.

The post Lawmakers renew push for legalized sports gambling appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

A Houston-area midwife and two others have been arrested for allegedly performing illegal abortions, marking the first instance of criminal charges under Texas’ restrictive abortion law.
In West Odessa, the demand for water has outpaced the infrastructure. Now, a grassroots effort is underway to secure a more reliable water supply.
Dallas is working to make it easier and safer to ride a bicycle. Are there lessons for other urban areas?
And: the story behind the success of the faith-based indie studio that calls Austin home. We talk to the head of the Wonder Project.

The post West Odessa residents take water crisis into their own hands appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Weekend winds toppled trucks and fueled wildfires, one of the worst of which is still burning north of Fredricksburg. We’ll get the latest on the Crabapple Fire, which has burned almost 10,000 acres.
A hunters’s day out in West Texas leads to an unexpected archaeological trophy: the discovery of a mammoth tusk in a dry creek bed.
And: The brackets are set for the race to the college basketball championships, and several men’s and women’s teams from Texas are part of the madness.

The post West Texas hunter stumbles upon rare mammoth tusk fossil appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Emergency officials warn of extreme wildfire dangers across much of the Lone Star State as residents of the Panhandle mark one year since the largest wildfire in state history. The Texas Newsroom’s Rachel Osier Lindley reports on the long road back to normal.
From basketball to soccer and more, women’s sports is having a major moment. Now the state’s first women’s sports bar is about to open in Austin. The Standard’s Sarah Asch tells us more.
And: Bernard Harris Jr. made history as the first Black astronaut to walk in space. He shares his journey and discusses his new book, “Embracing Infinite Possibilities.”

The post Fans are overjoyed for Texas’ first women’s sports bar appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The Legislature is considering bills that would lift restrictions on how Texas’ maternal mortality committee can investigate maternal deaths, including by reviewing abortion-related deaths.
Looking for a Tesla? Or trying to sell one? How politics appears to be reshaping the market for the Texas-based company long considered the leader in the electric vehicle space.
Also: Seismic activity in West Texas prompts regulators to put the brakes on the subsurface injection of wastewater. But one company appears to be flaunting the directive.

The post What are current struggles signaling for Texas-based Tesla? appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The fight against the measles outbreak in West Texas is being hampered in part by poor infrastructure.
Two days before a death row inmate was set for execution, it’s been delayed for the second time. The back-and-forth over evidence – and how victims families are feeling.
Another day of high wildfire danger across Texas. How one county is looking to help some people who may struggle to better prepare.
Going a cruise? Many Texans don’t have to leave the state to start that journey. How Galveston has become a key player in the industry.

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