Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, July 17, 2024:
On the second day of the GOP’s presidential nominating convention, speakers focused on the border and crime, blaming President Joe Biden for an increase in unauthorized border crossings and linking them to what Republicans say is rampant urban crime.
The Texas Newsroom’s Julián Aguilar was watching the proceedings, and he joins the Standard with a recap.
Some in Congress want to create a new military branch to specialize in cyber warfare
In 2019, the Space Force became the nation’s first new military branch in nearly 80 years. Now Congress is already thinking about starting another one.
And as Jay Price reports for the American Homefront Project, the new branch’s domain wouldn’t be physical.
This week in Texas music history
On July 20, 1918, songwriter Cindy Walker was born near Mart, Texas, east of Waco. Jason Mellard with The Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University shares the tale.
First ammunition vending machine in the state has been installed in a Central Texas grocery store
Buying rounds of ammunition has never been easier now that a bullet-selling vending machine is operational at a Central Texas grocery store. It is the first of many to come in the state.
Texas Public Radio’s Kayla Padilla reports from Lowe’s Market in Canyon Lake.
Meet the mom-and-son duo championing disability representation
Rosalie and Hunter Mastaler have now written three books together. Rosalie struggled to find stories with disability representation that Hunter could identify with, so they decided to write their own.
How Texas authors rank in the New York Times’ best books of the 21st century
Several years ago, amid a moral panic over the digital age, many wondered if books would become obsolete. Despite changes in publishing, there’s been no shortage of great reads. Today, one can feel almost overwhelmed by the choices.
The New York Times Book Review aims to help with a list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, which includes works by several Texas authors. New York Times Book Review editor Gilbert Cruz joins the Standard with more.
Folks cut off from a public Texas waterway take their case to court
For years, there’s been a fight in Henderson County over access to a beloved fishing spot. The Cutoff, located in this rural area southeast of Dallas, has been a place for fishing, hunting and hanging out for generations – until 2022, when a local landowner put up a fence, blocking access.
Since then, hunters and anglers have been fighting to regain entry, with the battle continuing yesterday in the 173rd District Court in Athens, Texas. The Standard’s Michael Marks offers an update.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
