Johnson on retirement from Congress
Eddie Bernice Johnson has spent more than 40 years in public office. Nearly 30 of those years were spent representing Texas’ 30th Congressional District, which covers much of the city of Dallas and Dallas County. She was the first Black woman elected to state public office from Dallas, plus the first African American and woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Her announcement to retire at the end of her term next year is the talk of Texas politics, and she joins us today.
Fort Worth Episcopal Church split continues
Some North Texas Episcopalians had to move out of their church buildings earlier this year. That was because of a legal battle that stretched for more than a decade following a contentious religious split. As KERA’s Miranda Suarez reports, both sides are figuring out what belongs to who.
A federal commission is carrying out a congressional mandate to rename or remove Confederate monuments from military installations. It faces a unique question at West Point: what should happen to a portrait of the young Robert E. Lee, who was superintendent of the military academy? Is remembering Lee before he left the U.S. military to lead the Confederate army somehow different? Desiree Diorio reports for the American Homefront Project.
Small-town affordability in Texas
For years, the small towns and suburbs surrounding Austin have been more affordable options for people priced out of the city. But the sharp jump in Austin housing prices during the pandemic may be threatening affordability in surrounding areas too. As the Texas Standard’s Jill Ament reports, leaders of these towns are facing challenges when it comes to preserving their current populations, while also welcoming newcomers with higher incomes.
A look at new Texas-based documentary ‘Cusp’
Some changes are underway at Spotify. You may have heard this week the streaming service removed the shuffle option from album pages, reportedly at the request of singer Adele. But the company is also continuing to make moves in the podcasting realm, and dipping its toes into audio hardware too. Our tech expert Omar Gallaga joins us with an overview.
The Presidio City Council has cast a historic vote to return an eighteenth century cemetery to the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. The decision came after nearly two years of debate between the city and county of Presidio over who should care for the ancestral site. Returning the grounds to the Lipan Apache is a victory for the Land Back movement, which seeks to repatriate land to Indigenous people. Oscar Rodriguez witnessed the legal dispute over the cemetery firsthand, as tribal administrator for the tribe. We’ll hear from him today.
All this plus the Texas News Roundup and Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
