Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, June 23, 2025:
Greg Abbott vetoes THC ban, breaking with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
Gov. Greg Abbott has rejected a major priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick: a bill banning all forms of THC and intoxicating hemp-derived products. The ban has divided many on the right and raised questions about public health.
The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey and Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider join with the Standard with more on the ban and Abbott’s announcement of a special session for next month.
This week in Texas music history
On June 22, 1901, authorities captured the fugitive Gregorio Cortez along the Rio Grande north of Laredo. He inspired folk songs in his own lifetime and the launch of an entire field of study after he was gone.
Jason Mellard with the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University has the story:
Houston-area homes for people with disabilities to shut down
Texana Center, which operates 14 homes for intellectually disabled Texans, will close all of its facilities due to staffing shortages, displacing dozens of residents. Families are scrambling to find safe and stable housing alternatives.
Hearst Newspapers’ Taylor Goldenstein has the story.
What’s next after the US struck Iran?
The U.S joined Israel’s war against Iran over the weekend, striking three sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program.
For more on what it means for the Middle East and here at home, the Standard is joined by Michael Mosser, director of the Center for European Studies at the University of Texas at Austin:
Adrian Quesada’s back with more ‘Boleros Psicodélicos’
Black Pumas co-founder Adrian Quesada is never one to rest on his laurels. His latest project, a follow-up to “Boleros Psicodélicos,” builds on his mission to elevate Latin alternative music.
The Laredo native talks about his evolution from Austin underground icon to Grammy winner and his latest collaborative LP.
Republicans might redraw House maps in Texas to protect majority from the midterm curse
A political power play is quietly unfolding in Texas that could redraw the congressional map for the state and decide which party rules in congress. The goal is to squeeze more Republican seats out of Texas.
But Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports the plan could backfire.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
