Texas Standard For October 2, 2020

Gov. Greg Abbott orders no more than one drop-off point for absentee ballots per county. The official in charge of elections for Travis County is pushing back against the governor saying all options are open. We’ll have the latest. And: How the president’s positive test for Coronavirus has the potential to move the needle in a big way for Texas come election day. Also: Texas doctors are concerned about chronic coronavirus. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

By Texas StandardOctober 2, 2020 9:30 am

Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Friday, October 2, 2020. Listen on your Texas public radio station, or ask your smart speaker to play Texas Standard. We’ll have full posts for each story, including audio, a little later today.

Abbott Proclamation on Mail-In Ballot Dropoff Location

Harris and Travis counties are fighting Gov. Greg Abbott’s order limiting drop-off sites for mail-in ballots to just one per county. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir talks to the Standard about why more are needed this year.

Trump and COVID in D.C.

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter early Friday morning that both he and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19. Todd Gillman, Washington bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News talks to the Standard about the latest news coming out of the White House.

UT Austin COVID Response

College students are back on campus, even as most of their classes are online. And school leaders are struggling to send a unified message about how to handle COVID-19. Texas Public Radio’s Dominic Anthony Walsh reports from the University of Texas at Austin, where the administration’s communication to students is at odds with the school’s own actions.

Melamed on Chronic Coronavirus

Doctors are getting a better idea of how COVID-19 affects some people in the months after they’ve gotten sick. For thousands of people, it’s become a chronic condition known as “post-COVID syndrome.” Dr. Esther Melamed, an assistant neurology professor at UT-Austin’s Dell Medical School talks to the Standard about the condition. 

Sounds of Texas: Shahd Salhab on No School COVID

Pecan Production and Market

We are in the thick of harvest time for Texas pecans. Those pecan growers who haven’t already started shaking the trees will begin to do so shortly. It  looks like a pretty good year for pecans, from a yield standpoint, anyway. Whether this year’s nuts will get bought up is a different question. Catherine Clark, managing editor of Pecan South magazine joins the Standard.

Typewriter Rodeo 

The Week in Texas Politics with The Texas Tribune

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

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.