Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Thursday, March 11, 2021.
CARES Act Money and Texas
Close to 4 million Texans are living in poverty. How would they benefit from President Biden’s proposed COVID-19 relief bill? That’s the question Benjamin Wermund has been asking. He’s a Washington Correspondent for the Houston Chronicle.
ERCOT Withholding Documents
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, is holding on tight to records related to last month’s blackouts. The company says it doesn’t have to comply with requests from journalists to release them. Christopher Collins has been following this. He’s associate editor at the Texas Observer.
“Eyes of Texas” Report
The University of Texas at Austin delivered a verdict on “The Eyes of Texas” song this week, finding that the intent was “not overtly racist.” Members of a committee said that while the song itself isn’t racist, it was created during a time of a racist cultural environment in Texas and at the University of Texas. KUT Austin’s Jimmy Maas reports the committee members hope a comprehensive look at the song’s past will propel the university into a more inclusive future.
Death, Sex & Money
For the better part of seven years, the podcast “Death, Sex & Money” has lead conversations revolving around, well, death, sex and money. Its latest episode takes listeners to the Red Parrot in El Paso, Texas. The Red Parrot is a topless bar that, like so many other businesses, has been hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anna Sale hosts “Death, Sex & Money,” and joins us on the Standard today.
Twitter Comes of Age
Twitter was born in California 15 years ago. And in 2007, during the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Twitter truly took off – and the world was never the same. We’re hosting a roundtable talk about tweets, including the Standard’s Shelly Brisbin, technology and culture reporter Omar Gallaga, and tech futurists Ari Popper and Lori Schwartz.
Changes on Immigration
Last week Gov. Greg Abbott blamed the undocumented community for spreading COVID-19 – the latest actions of a social conservative who views immigration reform negatively. But Abbott’s National Guard border surges and anti-sanctuary city laws stand in dramatic contrast to his work two decades ago as attorney general. Texas Public Radio’s Paul Flahive shows us how Gov. Greg Abbott would have been sparring with Attorney General Greg Abbott
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.
