Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Monday, November 9, 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.
A What a Biden Presidency Means for Texas
President-elect Joe Biden’s transition web site is already up at buildbackbetter.com. And on that site, his team has highlighted four main priorities for his administration to tackle the first day of his presidency: COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change. Carlos Huerta, a political science professor at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi talks to the Standard about what those first days will entail.
Ken Paxton Update
Texas’ top lawman is no stranger to legal troubles of his own. Five years ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges just months after being elected. But fallout from a new scandal involving purported favors for a political donor, whistleblower retaliation, and now, an alleged affair, have more people asking if Paxton can continue to perform his job. Laura McGaughy, investigative reporter for The Dallas Morning News talks to the Standard.
Trans Telehealth
Telehealth has exploded this year, as the coronavirus pandemic created a need for healthcare at home. One group who’s benefited from this expanded technology is transgender folks, who often have difficulties finding competent and affirming providers. Houston Public Media’s Sara Willa Ernst explains how telemedicine has begun to improve access to transgender healthcare in Texas.
Renewable Diesels
The ongoing economic slowdown has seen some oil companies shift operations, placing a stronger emphasis on renewables and other more environmentally friendly technology. Matt Smith, director of Commodity Research at ClipperData talks to the Standard about renewable diesel.
Latina Voter Turnout in Key Battleground States
Preliminary data out after the election shows Latina voter turnout in key battleground states soared. But who they voted for depended on the states they were in. Chabeli Carrazana, who covers the economy for The 19th, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy, talks to the Standard.
Bug Bites: Murder Wasps
Bodycam Policies
By year’s end just over 2,000 people will die during interactions with police, according to a “Fatal Encounters,” a database considered to be one of the best records of deadly police incidents maintained by former journalist D. Brian Burghart. Some cities are implementing new policies requiring police departments to release body camera footage when an officer shoots a person or is accused of using excessive force. From KERA in North Texas, Guns & America’s Hady Mawajdeh has this report.
Texas Drug Policy & Public Opinion
One big winner from election night 2020 was called rather early on: drugs. Voters in four more states approved recreational marijuana. In Oregon, a statewide proposition to decriminalize small amounts of drugs including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine also passed. Offenders will now be issued a ticket for possession of those harder drugs, or have the option of receiving treatment, funded by taxes from marijuana sales. Professor Katharine Neill Harris, a drug policy fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for public policy, talks to the Standard.
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.
