Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, November 15, 2021.
O’Rourke Running for Texas Governor
After months of speculation, Beto O’Rourke has made it official: he’s running for governor. In a prerecorded video message released Monday morning, the former El Paso congressman focused on the failure of the Texas electrical grid during last February’s winter storm. We’re talking to O’Rourke about the campaign and his vision for Texas at the top of today’s sho
Progressives Hopeful after Lucio Retires
After three decades in office, Texas State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. is retiring. The Brownsville Democrat is known for voting with Republicans on key issues over the years. Texas Public Radio’s Gaige Davila reports that progressives in the Rio Grande Valley see Lucio’s retirement as an opportunity to usher in a new era of politics.
Market Frenzy Cooling
It’s been a wild ride for home buyers in Texas over the past year, with high demand and low supply in many cities hiking prices and creating serious affordability issues in cities like Austin. But the white-hot market might be cooling down, say researchers at Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Research Center. Luis Torres, research economist for the center, joins with more.
Mushroom Hunters in North Texas
It’s mushroom season across much of Texas. The cool, wet autumn weather is perfect for mycophiles looking for wild fungi to eat, or just to admire. KERA’s Miguel Perez recently took up the hobby. He needed help finding a rare species, so he called up members of a brand-new mycological association.
Teaching Black History to White People
He’s been called one of the nation’s finest historians on Black history, with many of his 25 years teaching the subject spent at the University of Texas at Austin. Now, Leonard Moore is sharing his insights with everyone in a new book. It’s called “Teaching Black History to White People.” He’ll join us for an extended Q&A today.
Houston Infrastructure Spending
Today, President Biden signs the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which Congress passed earlier this month. More than $35 billion will go to Texas. But as Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider explains, it’s unclear how much of that funding will wind up in and around the state’s largest city.
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.
