Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, March 7, 2022.
Here’s what the March 1 primary taught us about Texas’ new voting law
Last week’s primaries were the first test of new voting rules and restrictions in Texas. Ashley Lopez of KUT Austin has been looking into what we learned about the new law and its application when people headed to the polls.
Texas is leading a push against the Indian Child Welfare Act
A challenge to a federal law that prevents the removal of indigenous children from their parents – keeping them with their families and tribes – is coming before the U.S. Supreme Court this fall. Texas is one of three states leading the challenge questioning the constitutionality of parts of the law. Kate Fort, director of the Indian Law Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law, joins us with more.
A stranger leaves gifts at Sam Houston’s grave every year. We actually caught up with him.
There were two big Texas anniversaries last week. March 2 not only marks Texas Independence Day, but the birthday of Sam Houston. As the top-ranking general of the Texas Revolutionary Army and the republic’s first president, Houston’s one of the state’s founding fathers. In Huntsville, where Houston is buried, his birthday is marked by a mysterious tradition. The Texas Standard’s Michael Marks has more.
Parties continue settlement talks in Rio Grande SCOTUS case
For years, a legal dispute has simmered between Texas, Colorado and New Mexico over water rights. At the center of the case: the Rio Grande and how its waters are allocated to the State. The lawsuit was filed by Texas in the U.S. Supreme Court some nine years ago. Now it may drag on even longer, as parties involved are asking to extend settlement talks. Danielle Prokop has followed the story for El Paso Matters and joins us today.
Why do families keep returning to flooded neighborhoods?
Hurricane Harvey dropped record amounts of rain over southeast Texas in 2017, a catastrophe that affected millions of people. But for some families, it wasn’t the first time they’d been affected by flooding – or even the second or third. Neighborhoods in places like Beaumont, Liberty and Houston flood repeatedly – and people come back to them. One such place is the subject of “In Too Deep: Class and Mothering in a Flooded Community.” Author Rachel Tolbert, dean of the School of Social Sciences at Rice University, joins us today.
The latest on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine and is now specifically targeting Ukrainian civilians, despite continued sanctions from the U.S. and NATO. To assess the conflict, we’re speaking with Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an associate professor at UT Austin and a distinguished scholar with the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.
