Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.
Trump touts ‘golden age’ in State of the Union speech
President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address last night was one of the longest in recent memory — covering a breadth of familiar topics, like immigration and the economy. The president touted an optimistic view of a “golden age of America,” even as public sentiment sours at some of his priorities.
Lauren Rowlands, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas State University, and Jospeh Morton, politics reporter for the Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau, join Texas Standard for a discussion.
Austin police increasing speeding stops, data shows
Has the Austin Police Department increased its traffic enforcement? Social media is often filled with complaints about speeders being able to do whatever they want on I-35 and MoPac.
But as KUT’s Luz Moreno-Lozano reports, new data shows APD has increased how much it stops and tickets bad drivers.
North Texas musicians respond to immigration crackdown with song
Federal immigration agents are starting to leave Minneapolis, but the raids and the deaths of two citizens are prompting a resurgence of protest music.
KERA’s Marcheta Fornoff talked to North Texas musicians who are responding with song.
Lt. Gov. Patrick aims to block Camp Mystic reopening amid inquiry
A new federal lawsuit has swept up state officials into what promises to be a bitter legal fight over last year’s deadly flash flood at Camp Mystic. Parents of nine campers and counselors who died last July 4 allege that Texas health regulators licensed the camp without ensuring it had a legally required evacuation plan — and that failure cost lives.
But Monday, as the lawsuit was being filed, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was publicly weighing in on the future of the camp and whether it should be allowed to reopen this summer at all.
Emily Foxhall, who has been following this case closely for the Texas Tribune, joins us to discuss.
Venus Williams heads ATX Open lineup
Tennis legend Venus Williams is in Austin this week, playing in the ATX Open. The tennis tournament is now in its third year and drawing its biggest crowds yet.
The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey reports the event is building momentum and bringing star power to Central Texas.
The little-known story of the athlete who broke the color barrier in Texas baseball
Back in April of 1951, John Walker Wingate made Texas history in Lamesa, a city an hour south of Lubbock. It started when a now-defunct minor league team, the Lamesa Lobos, opened their season against a team from Albuquerque.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Wingate was sent in to pinch-hit — and in so doing, he broke the color barrier in Texas baseball.
How he ended up doing that and why his story isn’t better known is the subject of a new story in Texas Monthly by Jeff Miller, who joins us today.
911 calls detail immigrants in medical crisis at detention camp
We’re learning more about the kinds of medical emergencies happening at a detention camp in El Paso. There have been dozens of calls to 911 from the tent facility at Fort Bliss. They include calls after two men died in custody at the facility in January.
As KTEP’s Angela Kocherga reports, the calls provide a look at the people detained at the camp in need of immediate medical attention.
