Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, August 1, 2022:
Mexico’s water shortage could impact Texas’ border towns
Ninety-nine percent of Texas is in some stage of drought – and that fact doesn’t stop at the border. Mexico’s Falcon Lake, just southeast of Laredo, sits at about 12% capacity – so low that the pipes that ordinarily draw water are instead just sucking air. Texas Public Radio’s Pablo De La Rosa joins us with more on how the water shortage in Mexico could affect Texas border communities.
How Texas’ groundwater is doing amid statewide drought
With heightened concern over dwindling water supplies in communities across Texas, many towns and cities have implemented strict water conservation ordinances. Robert Mace, executive director of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, joins us to discuss water supply conditions across the state.
How the overturn of Roe v. Wade impacts the military
Service women and OB-GYNs testified before the House Armed Services Committee on Friday about the challenges of getting an abortion while in the military. They say it was never easy, but the overturn of Roe v. Wade has introduced additional expense, travel time, and danger for troops who need that care. Texas Public Radio’s Carson Frame has more:
South Texas natural gas project ramps up
Plans to build a liquified natural gas facility in Brownsville are underway. A NextDecade Corporation plant would pipe in natural gas from West Texas and liquify it for export overseas. The project’s been in the works for years, although its future hasn’t always been certain. But it recently took a big step forward when ExxonMobil agreed to buy one million metric tons of liquified natural gas from NextDecade over the next 20 years. Sergio Chapa, a Houston-based energy reporter for Bloomberg, joins us with more.
Eklektikos host John Aielli, who flew by the seat of his pants, dies at 76
Austin radio icon John Aielli, whose fearless and improvisational approach delighted and polarized listeners for over 50 years, died Sunday at 76. Aielli’s passing silences one of the truly unique voices in American broadcasting. We’ll hear from Taylor Wallace, Aielli’s on-air colleague and DJ at our sister station KUTX today.
Americans with Disabilities Act marks its 32nd anniversary
Thirty-two years ago, on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, effectively prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life. The historic win for disability rights came after the “Capitol Crawl,” a 1990 protest where people with disabilities crawled up the Capitol steps demanding passage of the law. Maria Palacios, an author and disability rights activist who was at the protest, says despite progress, there’s still a long way to go.
Fort Worth considers lifting ban on short-term rentals
Fort Worth has a ban on short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods, but it isn’t widely enforced. The city is now thinking about lifting that short-term rental ban. And as KERA’s Miranda Suarez reports, renters and Airbnb hosts are wondering what that might mean for them.
Uvalde families suffering financially struggle to access state funds
In the aftermath of the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, thousands of people donated millions of dollars to help families and survivors. Families in mourning say they need those funds. But as The Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports, navigating the system to get that money can be extremely bureaucratic and confusing.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
