Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.
Last year was the hottest on record for Texas, with official data showing 365 deaths directly attributed to heat. However, when heat is considered a contributing cause, the number rises to 562.
These figures may still be undercounts, as the role of heat in deaths is often overlooked – and this lack of information complicates efforts to address what experts now see as a public health crisis. Martha Pskowski from Inside Climate News joins the Standard with more.
Chronic absenteeism on the rise as Texas students return to school
20% of Texas students were chronically absent during the last school year, which means they missed at least 10% of class days. This is a nationwide trend – after the pandemic, school districts across the U.S. saw record rates of chronic absenteeism, according to data from the Associated Press and a Stanford University economist.
Talia Richman, education lab reporter with the Dallas Morning News, joins the Standard to discuss.
Methodist Mansfield Hospital uses AI tools for brain mapping
Artificial intelligence may be coming to a medical facility near you – if it’s not there already. A North Texas hospital says it’s using AI to benefit its patients.
KERA News’ Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela paid a visit to Methodist Mansfield Hospital to learn more.
Our listeners are putting these places on the Texas Museum Map
Our Texas Museum Map has inspired dozens of listener submissions. Today, we’ll hear directly from three Standard listeners about their favorite museums and historic sites: Robyn Richter on the Museum of the Falls on the Colorado River in Marble Falls; Jennifer Bennett on the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth; and Julie Gossell on the Kuhlmann King Historic House in Boerne.
Why some people are mosquito magnets – and what to do about it
No backyard barbecue in Texas is complete without grilled burgers, juicy watermelon, and, unfortunately, some itchy red mosquito bites. If you find yourself covered in welts more often than others, you might be relieved to know it’s not all in your head – some people really are more attractive to mosquitoes.
Sonja Swiger, a professor of entomology at Texas A&M University, has studied why mosquitoes love some of us so much and offers tips on what to do about it.
Eddie Bernice Johnson autobiography reflects on her trailblazing career in Texas politics
Former U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson spent her life breaking barriers, making history as the first Black woman elected to office in Dallas, the first nurse and Black Dallasite to serve in Congress, and only the third Texas woman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
From 1993 to 2023, she championed minority rights, women’s rights, and STEM education, earning bipartisan respect. Cheryl Brown Wattley, professor of law at UNT Dallas College of Law, joins us to discuss Johnson’s legacy and her newly published autobiography, “Desire to Serve.”
The gang delivers another custom poem. Reach out to Texas Standard with your topic suggestions!
Texas Tribune political reporter James Barragán joins the Standard with a recap of the week that was in Texas politics.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
