Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Thursday, March 13, 2025:
Proposed Texas laws would lift restrictions on maternal mortality review
Members of Texas’ maternal mortality review committee have been increasingly vocal about the ways state law limits their ability to analyze these deaths – and the near misses.
So far, several bills have been filed this legislative session that could change that. One way would be to allow the committee to review abortion-related deaths.
Eleanor Klibanoff, who covers women’s health for The Texas Tribune, joins the Standard to tell use more.
How deadly high-speed police chases impact victims’ loved ones
High-speed police chases can sometimes be a necessary risk in law enforcement. But they have increasingly deadly consequences on the officers and drivers involved – and sometimes even innocent bystanders.
The deadliest and most damaging pursuits have led to discipline, lawsuits and policy changes within police departments in Texas.
But as KERA’s Toluwani Osibamowo reports, there’s also a heavy toll left on the loved ones of those victims.
TikTok-famous North Texas market looks to ease grocery prices for shoppers
These days, looking at your grocery bill feels like a sucker punch.
As KERA’s Elizabeth Myong reports, people are looking for more affordable options at a North Texas produce market that’s gone viral.
What are current struggles signaling for Texas-based Tesla?
It’s already been a rough 2025 for Tesla. Many news outlets report sales of its industry-leading cars are down, the stock price has been plummeting in recent weeks, and activists who don’t like Elon Musk are staging protests at Tesla dealerships around the country. At the same time, other EV makers are seeing their market share rise.
Is this temporary blip for Texas-based Tesla driven by politics, or is the once-dominant EV-maker headed for hard times? Our tech expert Omar Gallaga considered these questions this week for CNET, and he joins us with the breakdown.
One oil company has flouted commission’s rule on wastewater injection
More than a year ago, the Railroad Commission of Texas made a new rule for oil and gas companies in areas of far West Texas: no more injecting wastewater from fracking below the surface.
Wastewater injection has been linked to seismic activity, and the railroad commission, which regulates oil and gas in the state, made the decision after a series of sizable earthquakes in the area. All of the companies affected by the commission’s new rule complied – except for one.
Amanda Drane, investigative energy reporter for the Houston Chronicle, joins us with the story.
Documentary paints portrait of Oilers coach Bum Phillips
Bum Phillips did not necessary look like your stereotypical football coach. He wore a ten-gallon cowboy hat over his crewcut hair. He didn’t act like your stereotypical coach, either. He dared to smile a lot and make friends with his players.
The team behind the new documentary “Luv Ya, Bum!” spoke to generations of football players and coaches and dug through archival tape to paint a picture of the man who turned the Houston Oilers from a losing team into Super Bowl contenders from 1975 to 1980.
Sam Wainwright Douglas, co-director of the film, and Vance Howard, executive producer, join the show to tell us more.
Lieutenant governor’s targeting of Texas’ hemp industry draws pushback
In the wake of Texas’ 2019 hemp legalization measure, a booming industry of consumable hemp products has cropped up. But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said banning the sale of intoxicating cannabis products is one of his top legislative priorities this session.
Members of Texas’ cannabis industry who oppose the bill say a ban on THC products would cripple the state’s booming hemp industry, killing thousands of jobs.
Heather Fazio, director of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center, joins the Standard with her take.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Shelly Brisbin with the Talk of Texas.
