Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.
As arctic front looms, how is the Texas grid looking to hold up?
With the winter weather comes worries and flashbacks to 2021’s Winter Storm Uri and energy blackouts throughout the state. And as temperatures are looking to drop below freezing this weekend, questions on the reliability of the Texas electric grid are on the forefront of most of the state.
Mose Buchele, environmental reporter for KUT, joins Texas Standard with the latest on what to expect.
Texas school districts receiving less special education funding that expected
Texas school districts will be getting $300 million less than expected in federal special education funding this year.
Texas Public Radio’s Camille Phillips reports the Texas Health and Human Services Commission notified districts of the change in December.
One LNG plant in South Texas awaits buildout as another seeks a tax abatement
The City of Port Isabel voted against offering tax abatements to a liquefied natural gas plant that plans to build outside the city. Now Cameron County is holding a vote on whether to grant an abatement to Texas LNG.
Texas Public Radio’s Gaige Davila has more:
AI, EVs and robots: Consumer Electronics Show highlights the latest in tech
Robots, giant TVs, phones that bend or fold – they’re just a few of the new products you can expect to come out of each year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
In 2024, add you can AI-powered gadgets, new concepts in electric vehicles, and tech that can help you look … more beautiful? Tech expert Omar Gallaga joins us with his take on what he saw from the show.
As Texas lags in medically insured, many Medicaid-eligible aren’t signed up
Texas leads the nation in medically uninsured residents – by a lot. And state legislators have famously refused to expand Medicaid eligibility, even though it would be federally funded. Not doing so means nearly 1 million Texans today don’t have access to free health insurance that they could have.
However, plenty of Texans who are eligible for Medicaid aren’t signed up. Will Bostwick, who covered this issue for Texas Monthly, joins us to discuss.
This week in Texas music history
Anarchy from the UK careened across the Atlantic and into Texas 46 years ago this week, as punk godfathers the Sex Pistols played San Antonio.
Jason Mellard with the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State shares the story.
Meet musician Coleman Jennings
Long ago, Austin dubbed itself the Live Music Capital of the World, and you don’t have to look very hard there to find a musician trying to make it big.
The Texas Standard’s Edly Termilien introduces us to one young musician with big dreams – balancing college courses with gigs.
Why was Houston’s Central Library closed as a cooling center?
During the historic heat of last summer, the City of Houston opened cooling centers around town where people could go inside to get a break in the AC. Houston’s Central Library was designated as the cooling center for downtown. But on June 30, the city removed the library from its list of cooling centers, without an explanation or replacement.
The Houston Chronicle recently obtained emails that shed more light on what happened, however. R.A. Schuetz, housing reporter for the Chronicle, joined Texas Standard to discuss the findings.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Raul Alonzo with the Talk of Texas.
