Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, April 15, 2025:
How a London gambler took down the Texas Lottery
In 2023, a London banker and bookie put out feelers out for a big job: swindling the Texas Lottery. He made it to the U.S., set up shop and started printing upwards of 100 lotto tickets a second, making it mathematically impossible not to win. How did his plan go undetected, and what – if any – changes did it spark with the lottery commission?
Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Wallace has the story and joins the Standard today.
Bill would prevent Panhandle property owners from giving land to wildlife refuge
Last week in Washington, a congressional committee held a hearing on a Texas wildlife refuge in the Panhandle – specifically, whether a plan to potentially expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge should be shut down. The Texas Standard’s Michael Marks has the story.
Texas left more children in dangerous homes while cutting services. Tragedy followed.
In Texas 1,200 children died of abuse and neglect between 2018 and 2023. Texas Public Radio found a child welfare system so intent on reducing its contact with troubled families that children have routinely been left with violent, unstable, drug-abusing parents.
Texas Public Radio’s Accountability Reporter Paul Flahive reports. (A warning for listeners, this report does include reporting about the deaths of children.)
nVidia announces U.S. chipmaking plants amid tariff tussle
A chipmaker known for building the processors behind some of the world’s most powerful AI computers says it will make some of its products in Texas and Arizona. nVidia is a U.S. company, but it relies on Taiwan-based TSMC for manufacturing.
It’s believed that nVidia’s announcement is a response to the Trump administration’s tariff threats. Reporter/producer Shelly Brisbin covers technology for the Standard, and joins the show with an update.
Book club is deadly serious in YA novel ‘Pride or Die’
When the members of an LGBTQ+ club find themselves accidentally framed for attempted murder, it’s up to them to clear their names before it’s too late. That’s the premise of “Pride or Die,” a new YA novel from CL Montblanc, who we’ll hear from today.
This new Dallas theater has a ‘Big Heart.’ And all its stars are adults with disabilities
Around half a million Texans live with an intellectual or developmental disability like Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or autism. Special education programs offer enrichment opportunities for students – but those services are much harder to find for adults.
KERA’s Marcheta Fornoff reports on a theater that features actors with disabilities.
White House starts to track remittances from US to Mexico
A new order from the Trump administration took effect yesterday requiring documentation of cash transactions along the U.S.-Mexico border. Anyone who visits a money transfer station in the area will have to present identification to send or collect funds ranging from $200 to $10,000. Stella Chávez is an investigative reporter for The Texas Newsroom and joins the Standard with more.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
