Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024:
The Smokehouse Creek Fire has burnt 500,000 acres in the Panhandle
A state of emergency has been declared in 60 Texas counties due to risk from wildfires. The situation is particularly dire in the Panhandle, where the Smokehouse Creek Fire has burnt half a million acres, making it the second largest wildfire in Texas recorded history.
Texas A&M Forest Service public information officer Erin O’Connor and Canadian resident Wendie Cook join the Standard with the latest.
How to conserve water without killing your lawn
A milder February may have you dreaming of spring. But that means, if you have a yard, it’s time to start work on flower beds and other landscaping.
With increasingly unpredictable rainfall and extended droughts, you may be thinking about what to plant to survive our new weather reality. The Texas Standard’s Alexandra Hart chimes in about ways you can cut water use without letting your lawn die.
We’ve all heard the proverb about one man’s trash being another’s treasure. Well, for generations of a family now living in Texas, the treasure in question was an old box found discarded many years earlier.
Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong has the story.
How are Texas campuses responding to slashed DEI programs?
Last year, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 17, a measure that bans diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and training in Texas public universities.
At the University of Texas at Austin, feelings have been fraught as students and advocates say the school is going above and beyond what’s required by the law. Texas Tribune higher education reporter Kate McGee joins the Standard with more.
‘God Save Texas’ leaps from the page to screen
Lawrence Wright’s acclaimed book “God Save Texas” is a clear-eyed look at the Lone Star State of today. It’s also the basis for a new three-part docu-series on HBO.
Wright served as executive producer of the series alongside Austin director Richard Linklater, who also directed its first episode. Linklater and fellow series director Alex Stapleton join the Standard with a preview ahead of its premiere.
What new documents say about Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial
Newly unearthed records paint a tense picture of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Texas Senate impeachment trial last year: Witnesses ordered to testify accused Paxton of bullying and protested answering questions under oath, according to documents obtained by The Texas Newsroom.
What are the biggest takeaways from the hundreds of pages on the trial proceedings? Texas Newsroom editor and investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy joins the show with a look.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
