Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, July 19, 2023:
500,000 Texans have lost Medicaid coverage since April
In the past three months, around half a million Texans have lost their Medicaid coverage. The sharp drop has raised concerns about Texas’ efforts to reassess Medicaid eligibility after the COVID-19 outbreak three years ago. Eleanor Klibanoff covered this story for the Texas Tribune and joins us with more.
‘Zombie wells’ are coming for the Texas environment
Old, plugged oil and gas wells don’t always stay plugged – they can leak, spewing toxic liquids and sediment into the environment. A new, three-part Houston Chronicle series looks at the environmental threat posed by these undead, underground chasms. Reporter Amanda Drane joins us with more.
Texas has set aside $200M of incentives towards media production. How did we get here?
In the new Texas state budget, the Legislature increased the film incentives program to an unprecedented $200 million. KERA’s Jerome Weeks reports that was enough to spark talk of a new day for Texas media productions.
The forecast shows decreasing chances of meteorologists. Why?
Broadcasters trained in the highly specialized field of meteorology seem to be disappearing. Where are all those weather forecasters going, and why? Gary Brown wrote about the phenomenon for the Radio Television Digital News Association, and he joins us today.
The future of air conditioning in Texas
There’s a contradiction inherent in air conditioning: The more we use it, the more we help heat the planet. Some climate watchers say what we really need is to wean ourselves off AC, or at least reduce our reliance on it. Author and climate activist Stan Cox joins us with his perspective.
Austinite Christabell Nuñez was crowned Mrs. Texas Plus America 2023 earlier this year.
Do you misspell these Texas-centric words?
Are there words that just trip you up every time you try to spell them? You know it’s bad when Microsoft Word or Google can’t even make a guess. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong explores the most oft-misspelled words in Texas.
As workers weather oppressive heat, local laws protecting them could evaporate
Texas construction workers are weathering record-breaking heat and humidity this summer. But as we’ve reported, next year workers in some Texas cities may not have the protections they do now requiring water breaks. KUT’s Andrew Weber has more.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
