Texas Standard For October 21, 2020

As Texas’ governor takes steps to lift pandemic restrictions on businesses, worries grow for a Texas hotspot nearing critical levels, we’ll have details. And: 2020 has left tens of thousands in the oil and gas industry unemployed. Now many in the energy capitol of the world looking to Thursday night’s debate and what the candidate will have to say about changes in policies. Also: Reports of involuntary sterilizations among women in immigration detention. We’ll have a talk with the Texas representative calling for a congressional investigation. Plus: As voters try to limit contact with others due to COVID-19, a method of casting a ballot less talked about than the mail-in option. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

By Texas StandardOctober 21, 2020 9:48 amWhole Shows

Graphic by Wells Dunbar

Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Wednesday, October 21, 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.

COVID in Lubbock

The number of COVID-19 cases has soared in Lubbock and health officials there say more businesses could be shut down by the governor’s office. Dr. Craig Rhyne, The chief medical officer of Covenant Health in Lubbock Texas talks to the Standard.

Latino Voters: Race and Hate Crimes

Energy Policy as an Election Issue

Energy policy and climate change may be big topics for discussion in Houston but in the race for president, not so much until this election. Both are on the agenda for this Thursday’s presidential debate. In Houston, the nation’s energy capital, many want to know how candidates will help an industry badly hurt by the coronavirus downturn. Houston Public Media energy reporter Kyra Buckley tells us more about energy policy in the 2020 election.

The Asylum Trap, part 2

Thousands of people who have applied for asylum in the United States are forced by the Trump administration to wait for their hearing in Mexico. Then came the coronavirus which has delayed those cases. KERA’s Mallory Falk talk to those waiting as part of her series “The Asylum Trap.”

Rep. Sylvia Garcia on Medical Procedures in ICE Facilities

This fall, Georgia nurse Dawn Wooten filed a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that details how a doctor at the Irwin County Detention Center performed unnecessary hysterectomies on immigrant women being held there. U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston is among a group of representatives demanding an investigation into the matter. Congresswoman Garcia joins the Standard.

Curbside Voting

Voters are seeking as little human contact as possible for this election in the middle of a pandemic. As part of our statewide series “Texas Decides,” KERA’s Bill Zeeble looks into a low-contact method that’s getting less publicity than mail-in ballots. It’s known as curbside voting.

W.F Strong: The Queen’s Royal Welcome to Texas

PolitiFact on Vicente Gonzalez Speech

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

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