The Texas Standard is taking a look at some of the biggest stories of 2022:
Recapping the biggest Texas political news of the year
From November midterms to the Uvalde school shooting and the response to the Roe v. Wade ruling, it’s been a busy year in Texas politics. As 2022 draws to a close, we’re reviewing some of the top political stories – and looking ahead to what we can expect from state leaders in 2023 – with James Barragán, political reporter for The Texas Tribune, and Niki Griswold, state politics reporter at the Austin American-Statesman.
Looking back on a year of Operation Lone Star
When it came to this year’s news from the Texas-Mexico border, Operation Lone Star – the border security operation by the Texas National Guard launched in September 2021 – was front and center. For the entirety of 2022, thousands of troops were stationed along the border with the goal of stemming the flow of people and drugs coming in from Mexico. But the mission has not been without its hurdles. For more on the trajectory of Operation Lone Star, we’re joined by Davis Winkie, a reporter for the Military Times.
Bobbie Nelson – pianist, vocalist and sister to Willie Nelson – began playing piano at age 5, performed for decades in the Willie Nelson Family Band, and had been inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. Following her death in March at age 91, Jody Denberg, host at our sister station KUTX, spoke with us about “Sister Bobbie” and her legacy and impact on Texas music.
Freed slaves walked this path from Galveston to Houston. It could soon be a historic trail.
Texans are familiar with Juneteenth, the day commemorating slaves’ freedom in Texas two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Less well known is the journey that followed: the migration of freed slaves from Galveston to Houston on what came to be known as the Emancipation Trail. The National Parks Service may designate it as a National Historic Trail – an honor that would be based in large part on the research of Naomi Mitchell Carrier, founder of the Texas Center for African American Living History in Houston. She shared more with the Standard earlier this year.
Is the start of a New Year a clean slate? Or does it come with unreasonable expectations? This Typewriter Rodeo poem invites us to not overthink it – and just jump in.
Inside NASA’s asteroid-smashing DART Mission
NASA’s successful DART experiment in September was the first demonstration of planetary defense – launching a spacecraft at an (in this instance, harmless) asteroid to change its heading. The Southwest Research Institute’s James Walker, one of the scientists on the DART team, told the Standard that what NASA learns from the data will provide a roadmap for future planetary defense efforts.
