Texas Standard For November 16, 2020

Texas’ top law enforcement official, Ken Paxton, faces more legal hot water, this time from some of his own former top aides. We’ll have the latest. And: A city’s convention center transformed into a field hospital as COVID-19 cases soar in El Paso. We’ll have more. Also: Lessons for the lockdown era: a book to help kids cope with the Coronavirus. Plus: The twists and turns of Texas elections without straight ticket voting. And we’ll take a closer look at what drove so many young Latinos and Latinas to the polls. And the rerelease of a mid-century classic offers a critical reexamination of Texas small town life. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

By Texas StandardNovember 16, 2020 9:30 am

Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Monday, November 16, 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.

El Paso COVID Surge 

Last week, Texas became the first state in the United States to report more than 1 million COVID-19 cases. While numbers are climbing throughout the state, nowhere has been hit quite as hard as El Paso, which is averaging more than 1,000 new cases per day. So many people are sick, the city’s convention center has been converted into a field hospital. KERA’s Mallory Falk has more.

Latest: Paxton Whistleblower Lawsuit

Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton now faces a lawsuit from several former employees who say he retaliated against them after they accused him of using his office to help a campaign donor and friend. The lawsuit was filed under the Texas Whistleblower Act in a Travis County district court late last week. Austin American-Statesman investigative reporter Tony Plohetski talks to the Standard about this latest development. 

Latino Youth Vote

During this election, Texas saw a million young adults voting before Election Day. With a young Latino or Latina turning 18 in the United States every 30 seconds, they were a critical part of turnout. The Texas Standard’s Joy Diaz talked to several young Texas Latinos about their reasons for voting.  

Biofuels and Restaurant Slowdown

The Sounds of Texas. Keila Rodriguez on COVID Children’s Book

Sherry Kafka Wagner

In 1966, as the United States experienced sweeping social change, Sherry Kafka Wagner’s only novel, “Hannah Jackson,” was published. It turned a spotlight on the oppression of social conventions in a fictional Texas town. Its rerelease this year reveals an enduring relevance—perhaps, especially now. Texas Public Radio’s Jack Morgan spoke with the author, Sherry Kafka Wagner.

No Straight Ticket Voting

The election in Texas looked a bit different this year because of COVID-19: more early voting, drive-through locations in some places and lots of masks and gloves. But one big change had been in the works for a few years: the removal of a straight ticket option. Texas Public Radio’s Dominic Anthony Walsh reports on what may have been ripple effects.

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

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