Here’s what’s on Texas Standard for Thursday, July 1, 2021.
Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds two Arizona voting guidelines – something challengers said were discriminatory towards minority voters. What this 6-3 decision means and more, with Steve Vladeck, Charles Alan Wright chair in federal courts at the University of Texas School of Law.
Houston Senior Housing Rebuild
Back in 2017, Hurricane Harvey displaced thousands of Texans. In one case, dozens of senior citizens from Houston were forced out of their affordable housing facility because of damage from the storm. Now, the local housing authority is finally set to rebuild the apartments, but that construction project is expected to take years. Houston Public Media’s Florian Martin reports the long wait continues for those elderly residents who simply want to go home.
As of today, you should receive fewer of those annoying – and illegal – robocalls. Phone companies in the United States are now required to block those automated scam calls before they ever get to you. To tell us all about how this law is supposed to work, we’re joined by tech expert Omar Gallaga.
Many everyday Texans have been careful to turn off lights and unplug large appliances that are not in use to comply with calls to conserve and protect Texas’ energy grid. The grid’s failure in February resulted in deadly power outages. But even while the stability of the grid remains uncertain, there are efforts to lure an enormously energy-hungry industry to the state: Bitcoin mining. Jake Dean wrote about this for Slate.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Program Specialist Wizzie Brown is Texas Standard’s go-to insect expert. She says the dowdy, clumsy June bug is actually made up of dozens of different species. They aren’t anything to worry about – with a couple of exceptions that will affect fruit trees, and perhaps your lawn.
Fort Hood Tackles Toxic Leadership
At Fort Hood, the Army is trying to grow a new generation of leaders who are more open and compassionate. After Vanessa Guillen was killed on the base last year by a fellow soldier, her family said their daughter was afraid to report to her superiors that she was being sexually harassed. Texas Public Radio’s Carson Frame has this report for the American Homefront Project.
Uninsured Renter After Winter Storm
As we trudge through the summer heat, those cold, cold days in February when the winter storm plunged millions into darkness seem pretty far away. But many Texans are still living with the storm’s consequences. From KERA North Texas, Christopher Connelly explains how the natural disaster intensified one family’s financial burden.
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Shelly Brisbin with the Talk of Texas.
