Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023:
What Texans can expect this winter, weather-wise
The Texas Hill Country got its first freeze warning going into this week, with temperatures dipping into the low 30s. With the state’s coldest months yet to come, it won’t be the last time Texans experience chillier days in the near future.
How can people best prepare for winter? Space City Weather meteorologist Matt Lanza joins the show with a forecast.
Who doesn’t get abuse training in Texas schools? Sometimes, it’s kids needing protection the most
Advocates say children need to learn about domestic violence and other forms of abuse to protect themselves. One of the best places to teach them? The classroom.
But KERA’s Caroline Love reports there’s a law in the way that’s putting the most vulnerable kids at risk.
Why federal rail funding is bypassing Austin
The White House is touting a $66 billion expansion of passenger rail service nationwide.
It’s the most money spent on passenger rail since Amtrak was created half a century ago. But as KUT’s Nathan Bernier reports, the Texas capital was left off the map:
Texas environmental regulators’ decisions keep getting overturned. Are they a rubber stamp?
A judge in Travis County has reversed a permit from Texas’ environmental regulation agency for a Gulf Coast oil facility. It’s the second time in a month that a court has ruled that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must revisit previously issued permits, leaving some environmental advocates wondering if the TCEQ is doing its job.
Inside Climate News reporter Dylan Baddour joins the Standard with the latest.
How Waco plans to become a hub for rowing
Think about the sport of rowing, and you probably think of Ivy League campuses in the Northeast. But now a Texas college town is positioning itself to be a hub for competitive rowing across the country – and perhaps internationally.
KWBU’s Autumn Jones reports on the Waco Rowing Center.
New book remembers one of Charles Whitman’s first victims: his wife, Kathy
The link between domestic violence and mass shootings is increasingly apparent, though it reaches far past current headlines. In 1966, Kathy Leissner Whitman was killed by her husband Charlies Whitman before his shooting rampage atop the University of Texas tower that killed 15 people and wounded many more.
“Unheard Witness: The Life and Death of Kathy Leissner Whitman” tells her story. Author Jo Scott-Coe joins the Standard today.
Texas Monthly serves up a steaming-hot crop of Bum Steer Awards
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard of the Bum Steer Awards: Texas Monthly’s annual naming-and-shaming of questionable Texans.
Texas Monthly deputy editor Ross McCammon joins the Standard to discuss this year’s bumper crop.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
