Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
What to make of intensifying US actions around Venezuela
Scrutiny is intensifying in the wake of U.S. military attacks on more than 20 small boats that have killed more than 80 people off the Venezuelan coast. One missile strike, in particular, is raising questions and has some Democratic senators asking whether it resulted in a “war crime.”
President Trump says the attacks are a strategy to stop drug trafficking from Venezuela. Over the weekend he posted on social media that Venezuelan airspace should be considered “CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
So what’s happening in Venezuela? And is U.S. military action in the region lawful?
Jeremi Suri, professor of public affairs and history at UT-Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, joins us to discuss.
Amid map uncertainty, Houston special congressional election set for January
The runoff for the special election in Houston’s 18th Congressional District has been scheduled for the end of January. But the race comes amid uncertainty over which congressional map Texas will use for the primaries in March – a little over a month after the runoff.
Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider profiles the two finalists, both Democrats, in the special election contest: former Houston City Councilmember Amanda Edwards and acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee.
Texas bill targeting out-of-state abortion care to take effect
On Thursday, a new anti-abortion law takes effect in Texas. House Bill 7 targets out-of-state physicians who use telehealth to prescribe or mail abortion medication to Texas patients. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies has more.
Report alleges East Texas is being used as oil waste dumping ground
Oil is the lifeblood that keeps Texas’ economic heart pumping, but with that comes massive amounts of oil waste. The Texas Railroad Commission has been looking to build more disposal sites in East Texas for years, but those sites tend to pop up in inconvenient places – and sometimes the waste isn’t even from Texas.
A new report alleges that an oil waste company has been using Texas as an interstate dumping ground.
Martha Pskowski has been following it as part of a collaboration between Texas Observer and Inside Climate New. She joins us as we drill deeper into this story.
North Texas nonprofit draws on founder’s experience with poverty
Edna Jackson grew up in poverty in the Lake Como area of Fort Worth. As an adult, she founded Edna’s Creative Learning Center – a nonprofit devoted to helping children and families in the same situation she was once in.
Jackson shared her story with Camilo Diaz as part of NPR’s Next Generation Radio Project.
Tarrant County residents decry cutting of some public meetings
People go to their local city halls and commissioners courts to talk directly to their elected officials. Things can get contentious when they bring up the biggest issues in their communities – like redistricting, elections, or a new neighborhood development project.
Both the Tarrant County Commissioners Court and the Fort Worth City Council recently decided to cut some public meetings – in the name of efficiency.
As KERA’s Miranda Suarez reports, some politically active residents say the cuts mean their elected officials just don’t want to hear from them.
New San Antonio museum chronicle’s city’s historic West Side
San Antonio’s new Museo del Westside honors the unique heritage, culture, and people of the city’s historic West Side. It’s housed in a former icehouse that served as a grocery and gathering place for the community for decades.
Texas Public Radio’s Jackie Velez tells us more.
‘Antivirus for libraries’ looks to help flag books targeted by new law
School districts are working to comply with a new state law that bans what the law calls “indecent and profane” books from libraries on campus – and a North Texas startup is offering a solution. A company called Bookmarked has pitched itself as an “antivirus for libraries,” offering to flag potentially problematic material from thousands of titles.
Bayliss Wagner, who covers politics for the San Antonio Express News and the Hearst newspapers, joins us to discuss.
