Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Jan. 15, 2024:
Amid grid concerns, how long will this bitter cold last?
Many Texans woke up to frigid temperatures this morning – with some even seeing a bit of snow and ice. And yesterday afternoon, ERCOT, the state’s power grid manager, issued an electricity conservation appeal for Texans to conserve electricity if they could safely do so.
Matt Lanza, a forecast meteorologist and managing editor of Space City Weather in Houston, joins us to discuss where we stand now with the forecast.
Familiar territory: Lawmakers in D.C. working to avoid a shutdown
Can Congress reach a deal to hold off a government shutdown? That’s the question on everyone’s mind this week, as lawmakers prepare to vote on a temporary measure that will extend funding for key departments through March.
Joining the Standard to tell us more is Sean Theriault, a professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin.
Blame leveled at state following deaths of migrants
The state of Texas says it’s not responsible for the deaths of a migrant woman and two children who drowned in the Rio Grande on Friday night.
This follows accusations from the U.S. Border Patrol that officers were blocked by Texas agents from deploying a lifesaving rescue operation:
As COVID pauses end, how Texans are feeling the pinch
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, many aspects of daily life were paused to give people a break as they transitioned to a pandemic world. Student loan payments were halted, eviction moratoriums were issued, and peoples’ home mortgage payments were temporarily suspended.
Now, nearly all of those COVID-era protections are gone – and Texans are feeling the effects.
Dallas Morning News Real Estate Editor Steve Brown joins Texas Standard to discuss.
Abandoned ‘orphan’ oil wells backlog keeps growing
Across the state, thousands of abandoned oil wells remain unplugged despite being out of service. Those wells, over time, have the potential to leak oil and toxic byproducts of the drilling process, threatening water supplies.
The state has received millions in federal funding to close up these so-called ‘orphaned wells’, yet the backlog keeps growing.
James Osborn, Washington bureau reporter for the Houston Chronicle, dug deep into this issue and joined Texas Standard to share his findings.
Celebrated African American art and history exhibit arrives in Texas
When they were married in 1967, Bernard and Shirley Kinsey set an ambitious goal: visit 100 countries together. The couple began collecting objects to remember their travels, amassing a critically celebrated collection of art and artifacts now considered to be one of the most comprehensive surveys of African American history and culture outside of the Smithsonian.
The two joined the Standard as the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection makes its latest stop in the Lone Star State, at the Holocaust Museum Houston.
Measure would allow Medicaid users to seek treatment at mental health facilities
In the 1960s, Congress passed a law that prevented mental hospitals from taking public insurance like Medicaid and Medicare. The idea was to reform a broken system. At the time, mental hospitals were seen as ghastly places where the mentally ill were being essentially warehoused. Now, lawmakers look ready to reverse course.
Carmen Paun, global health reporter for Politico, joins us with more.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Raul Alonzo with the Talk of Texas.
