Texas Standard for April 11, 2022

A woman charged with murder in Texas after an alleged self induced abortion has been released, but that’s far from the end of the story. Many fear the arrest and murder charge in Starr County could be a harbinger of what’s to come amid a rise in abortion restrictions and an expected ruling from the United States Supreme Court. We’ll hear more. And: The hype over hemp: what new data says about the legalization of the hemp industry in Texas and whether it has turned out to be as big an economic boon as advocates had hoped. Also: The race to save the stories behind a musical movement: reclaiming and preserving San Antonio’s West Side Sound. All of that and more today on the Texas Standard:

By Texas StandardApril 11, 2022 9:35 am,

Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, April 11, 2022.

Lizelle Herrera arrest

Prosecutors dropped the case against Lizelle Herrera, a South Texas woman who was arrested and charged with murder over a self-induced abortion. Eleanor Klibanoff, women’s health reporter for the Texas Tribune, has the latest details on the story from Starr County.

Texas hemp update

There was a lot of hype surrounding hemp when it first became legal to cultivate in 2019. Now, armed with a couple years’ worth of data, what does the future of hemp in Texas look like? We hear from Calvin Trostle, state hemp specialist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Pemex reforms 

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico survived a recall election on Sunday. That means he’ll be able to pursue policies that give the country’s state-owned oil and gas company, Pemex, even more control of domestic production. Andrew Schneider of Houston Public Media reports.

Regenerative agriculture in West Texas

The South Plains is known for its agriculture, but the elements make it a tough place to raise crops. And it’s not getting any easier, as resources like water dwindle. From Texas Tech Public Media, Jayme Lozano reports that some area producers are looking to past farming methods for solutions.

Rural water projects 

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 95 percent of Texas is experiencing at least “abnormally dry” conditions. Water conservation projects are crucial in times of drought – but according to reporting from the Texas Tribune, only a fraction of funding earmarked for water projects in rural communities is actually being utilized. Erin Douglas, environment reporter for the Texas Tribune, has been looking into it.

West Side Sound oral history project

During the 1950s and ’60s, San Antonio’s West Side was the site of a unique musical phenomenon. Teens from the mostly Latino neighborhoods started forming bands that played with some of the soul of Detroit’s Motown acts, but with distinctly Texan accents. The West Side Sound, as it came to be known, developed organically. Now, more than a half-century after the scene reached its summit, cultural historians in San Antonio are compiling an oral history archive to preserve memories of the music and the people who made it. We’ll hear from two of the people behind the project: Gloria Vásquez Gonzáles, lecturer and co-director of the Mexican American Studies Teacher’s Academy at the University of Texas – San Antonio, and Geremy Lanndin, master’s candidate in public history at St. Mary’s University.

New Mexico marijuana sales

Officials in New Mexico have released sales data for the first week of April when recreational marijuana became legal. Dispensaries in small towns near the state line are among those seeing a lot of business. It may not surprise you to learn that many of the new customers are from Texas, where it’s not legal. KTEP’s Angela Kocherga reports from Anthony, New Mexico, a community that straddles the state line.

All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Michael Marks with the talk of Texas.

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