Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, April 26, 2022.
The two Texas constitutional amendments targeting property taxes
It may feel like you just voted in the midterms, but another round of Texas elections is underway. Early voting has begun on two statewide constitutional amendments, with election day set for May 7. And with (largely higher) property values newly released across Texas, voters may be interested that both amendments address property taxes for Texans. Texas Newsroom reporters Julian Aguilar and Sergio Martínez-Beltrán have been covering the proposals and join us today.
Is a four-day school week the solution to COVID burnout?
School has changed since the pandemic. The logistics required to educate amid COVID-19 has taken a toll on students, staff, and parents alike. In some school districts, officials believe that the solution might be to scale back the number of days students go to school. In East Texas, a group of districts recently decided to go to a four-day-a-week schedule. Chris Galloway, superintendent of the Dekalb Independent School District, joins the program to tell us more.
Located along the border in rural south Texas, Starr County has one of the highest rates of Alzheimer’s cases in the country. It’s a mystery doctors are trying to solve. The Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation recently opened a center there called El Faro Health and Therapeutics, which focuses on Alzheimer’s treatment and research. Dr. James Falcon, doctor of emergency medicine and the chief investigator at El Faro, joins us with an overview.
A deep dive into the highs and lows of JFK’s brief presidency
The short-lived presidency of John F. Kennedy was marred by setbacks, including the botched Bay of Pigs invasion and a disastrous summit with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The shadow of the cold war over JFK’s presidency, plus his complicated history with the civil rights movement, are examined in a new book from Mark K. Updegrove. He joins us today to discuss “Incomparable Grace: JFK and the Presidency.”
How Houston’s Crime Stoppers went from a tip line to targeting Democratic judges
Crime Stoppers of Houston has a message: so-called “activist” judges are a threat to public safety. Though the crime-reporting tipline has traditionally been nonpartisan, the organization has been criticizing elected Democratic judges in Harris County. Now a New York Times and Marshall Project investigation finds their shift in messaging aligned with millions of dollars in grants from Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. Marshall Project reporter Keri Blakinger joins us with the story.
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.
