Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, June 3, 2022. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.
Who exactly was in charge of the response in Uvalde?
Confusion and retractions continue to mar information surrounding what exactly happened during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and how law enforcement responded. Questions persist as to why the Uvalde CISD police chief was in charge of such a massive active shooter situation, especially after more equipped and experienced law enforcement arrived. St. John Barned-Smith has been writing about this for the Houston Chronicle and joins us with more in an extended Q&A.
In Uvalde, the community continues to mourn the 21 people killed during last week’s elementary school shooting, and many residents say something needs to change. Some are turning their attention to Texas’ gun laws – specifically how the state allows 18-year-olds to buy semiautomatic rifles. The Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán is in Uvalde, and talked to people about what they’re thinking.
The census undercount has cost Texas billions of dollars
The Texas population was undercounted in the 2020 census – and that’s going to cost us. The raw number might not seem like much: the population was undercounted by just under 2 percent. But a scholar at Texas A&M says that adds up to over $19 billion in federal funding and one U.S. House seat. Dudley Poston, TexasA&M emeritus professor of sociology, worked on the numbers and joins us today.
New focus on postpartum care as courts come for Roe v. Wade
Postpartum care is getting renewed attention since the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Texas expanded Medicaid last session from two to six months postpartum; now there’s a push to extend that insurance coverage up to a full year after birth. Angela Ott, policy fellow at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at UT-Austin, shares more.
The new book delving into Austin’s untold gangster past
The 1970s in Austin was a wild time for many reasons: music, politics and more. But the mafia? Maybe not so much. Yet the fast-growing capital city had a serious, if less openly discussed, organized crime problem. Author Jesse Sublett tells the story of how hired guns, corrupt authorities and a cameo from Willie Nelson all come together in “Last Gangster In Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, And The End Of A Junkyard Mafia.”
The gang delivers another poem inspired by events both current and timeless.
The week in Texas politics
