Texas Standard for October 6, 2021

Bills to raise criminal penalties for illegal voting and allow for audits of the 2020 election. Who and what’s behind them? Other stories we’re tracking: after mass deportations of mostly Haitian migrants in Del Rio, reports emerge of 11,000 to 12,000 more Haitian migrants hoping to pass thru to the U.S. border, but stuck in southern Mexico. We’ll hear the latest. Also ripple effects of a pandemic: the resurgence of an opioid epidemic. How Texas A&M researchers plan to help doctors and mental health providers deal with the problem. And is Texas really the future of America? Those stories and much more when the TS gets underway, right after this:

By Texas StandardOctober 6, 2021 9:35 am,

Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, October 6, 2021.

Abbott’s Renewed Election Integrity Push

Gov. Greg Abbott’s signing of a highly contentious voting bill last special legislative session wasn’t the end of Republican lawmakers’ push for “election integrity” in the state’s upcoming elections. Former President Donald Trump has since urged Texas to pursue an audit of the 2020 election, prompted by baseless claims election fraud led to his defeat. And Gov. Abbott’s made some legislative moves in the past several days indicating he’s listening to the former president. Here to tell us more is Juan Carlos Huerta, political science professor at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi.

Haitians in Tapachula, Mexico

In recent weeks, thousands of people seeking asylum in the United States, primarily from Haiti, have been stuck in limbo around Del Rio. There, they wait to see whether they’ll be admitted into the U.S., sent back south, or deported. The scene there, at Mexico’s northern border, is a lot like one near the country’s southern tip. Tapachula is a city of more than 300,000 people near Mexico’s border with Guatemala. And just like in Del Rio, tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants are waiting there too. Julian Resendiz, El Paso correspondent for The Border Report and producer for KTSM TV in El Paso, joins us with more.

 Border Health Care Testimony

Health care workers from South Texas gathered at the Texas Capitol to testify before the Public Health Committee on poor healthcare along the Texas-Mexico border. Texas Public Radio’s Carolina Cuellar has more.

New Telehealth Program Tackling Opioid Addiction

While the COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis in its own right, early lockdowns and restrictions caused other, smaller scale health crises – including a revival of the opioid epidemic in America. After years of gains in reducing overdose deaths, numbers are back up again. Particularly hard hit are poor and rural areas that have seen hospital closures and dwindling access to healthcare. Now, an initiative from Texas A&M University aims to better equip doctors and mental health providers to deal with opioid use in their communities. The Standard’s Alexandra Hart has more.

Preventing Teen Relationship Violence

Dating violence victims are more susceptible to both physical and mental health issues, and can find themselves at risk for both future victimization and perpetuating violence. It’s a cycle researchers found can be broken among adolescents with the adoption of “a healthy relationship curriculum.” That study, published today in Pediatrics medical journal was conducted by The University of Texas Medical Branch Center for Violence Prevention. For more here to talk with us is the director of the center and lead researcher on the study Jeff Temple.

North Texas Perfumers

Niche perfumes are different from Chanel No. 5 or Polo Ralph Lauren. They have names like Milk Wasted and Last Exit for the Lost. And with scent notes of Fresh Dirt and motor oil, they aren’t for everybody. But they’re becoming a major player in the fragrance business. KERA’s Elizabeth Kauma met some North Texas perfumers and fans.

The Young Lieutenant Who Crossed the Wild Horse Desert

American history sometimes snuggles up closely with what might be better termed American myth or legend: take that story about a young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree, fort instance. But other bits of history based quite a bit more in fact are less well known, even though they are just as extraordinary. Texas Standard commentator W. F. Strong has one of those stories.

Texas Is the Future of America

“Texas is the Future of America,” reads a recent headline in The New York Times’ Opinion section. Judging from the headline alone, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was boosterism from state leaders; instead, it’s concerned with the widening chasm between Texas’ growing “majority minority” population and the right-wing initiatives Republican leaders tout. Pedigo is with the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and joins us today.

All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.

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