Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Jan. 29, 2024:
Drilling down on the state takeover of Houston schools
Today, the Standard debuts “The Drill Down,” a new segment with Texas Newsroom investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy highlighting enterprise journalism from our partners across Texas.
First up: It’s been over half a year since the Texas Education Agency took over the Houston Independent School District, appointing a new superintendent and management board.
Houston Public Media’s reporter Dominic Anthony Walsh has been following it all, and he joins the Standard with his findings.
Standoff continues as Texas denies feds access to parkland along border
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says the state will continue to deny Border Patrol access to a 47-acre public park along the Rio Grande.
A former Border Patrol agent calls the state’s actions political theater that could have dangerous consequences. Texas Public Radio’s Dan Katz reports:
Texas’ blind enterprise program faces struggles post-pandemic
A nearly 90-year-old program that gives blind merchants opportunities to run cafes and stock vending machines in government buildings is providing far less income for many participants than before.
The pandemic and work-from-home is partially to blame, but some participants say those factors exposed larger problems in the program. Texas Tribune disability reporting fellow Neelam Bohra joins the Standard with the story.
Some counties will struggle to get elections covered after a 2023 law
After a 2023 law required some counties to revert from countywide vote centers to precinct-based polling, election officials are scrambling to find polling places, equipment and poll workers for the March primaries.
Natalia Contreras reports on voting for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune, and she joins the Standard with the story.
Texan reconnects with family and finds home in historic adobe house
A small adobe home in Marfa has been essential to how Miguel Mendías identifies himself – so when he learned it was being sold, he did everything he could to become its new owner.
He shared his story with Sarah Vasquez as part of NPR’s Next Generation Radio Project.
Transgender veterans sue VA over gender-affirming surgery
A group of transgender veterans has sued the VA over its unfulfilled promise to provide and pay for gender-affirming surgery.
Officials announced the procedure would be available through the VA two years ago. But the government still hasn’t followed through, and veterans say they’re tired of waiting. Desiree D’Iorio reports for the American Homefront Project.
What went down at the Democratic U.S. Senate primary debate
Three candidates for the 2024 Texas Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate shared a debate stage for the first time on Sunday: U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio, and state Rep. Carl Sherman of DeSoto sparred over their differences in the hopes of winning over voters.
The Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán joins the Standard with a recap.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
