The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
If you thought picking the next president was polarizing, consider this question: Do you like candy corn?
A whole lot of people on Twitter took issue with a survey from the website Influenster, which said the orange sugar pellets were Texas’s favorite’s Halloween candy.
The third and final presidential debate is tonight, and just as the candidates head into round three – a new poll shows that the race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is getting tighter and tighter in Texas.
Richard Murray, a political scientist for the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs, says it’s the first time in many years an election has been so close.
“Our survey of a thousand Texas registered voters, who said they were certain or very likely to vote was Trump at 41 percent and Clinton at 38 percent with Gary Johnson at 4 percent and Jill Stein at 1 [percent],” Murray says.
Just because things are close between the two of them doesn’t mean Clinton is expecting to win Texas – but she wants as many votes as she can get.
“I think she wants to win the popular vote by as large a margin as possible and if she can cut the Republican margin from the expected 1 million to maybe 200,000 – that almost certainly means she would win the national popular vote,” Murray says. “But, as Al Gore can attest, that doesn’t get you the presidency but it strengthens your hand if you win by a larger margin.”
For a little perspective on these polling numbers: the Republican presidential nominee won Texas by 16 percent in 2012 and 12 percent in 2008.
If you’re filled with political fatigue, here’s a story about something very cool that has nothing to do with the presidential election – a mural festival in Texas. Amy Bishop with Houston Public Media has more:
Depending on which way the wind is blowing at the corner of Leeland Street and St. Emanuel Street in Houston’s East End, you may catch a whiff of spray paint. That’s because nearly 100 artists are taking to the streets with spray cans for the HUE Mural Festival.
“I just love the opportunity to be able to paint outdoors,” says Houston artist Alex Arzu, who is taking part in the festival for the first time. “The thing is, there are a lot of very talented artists and you’ll never get to know that they are talented if their work is not seen.”
Local graffiti artist Mario Enrique Figueroa, Jr., better known as Gonzo 247, founded the weeklong event last year and says they’ve worked to make it more of an actual festival for 2016.
“Last year, we managed to paint wall space and that was great,” Figueroa says. “But I think what was missing was that extra element that made it more robust. So this year, we have vendors, we’re blocking off a street and making it a full block party.”
The HUE Mural Festival runs through Sunday, October 23, at various spots around Houston.
