Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, March 24, 2023:
What’s in the Texas House budget
A Texas House committee sent a two-year, $297.2 billion budget and a nearly $14 billion “supplemental” spending bill to the full House floor for a vote yesterday. Bob Garrett, Austin bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News, shares what’s in the bill.
How fentanyl travels from China to the North Texas suburbs
Recent court cases and hearings in North Texas provided new details about the path fentanyl takes into the country. Kevin Krause, federal courts reporter at The Dallas Morning News, joins us with the findings.
The future of TikTok could depend on Texas
Learn more about the latest in the fight over the app in this short explainer.
As Texas seeks to take over Toyah’s water systems, local leaders say the water is fine
The small West Texas town of Toyah has been under a boil water notice for nearly five years. Some locals have blamed rancid tap water for rashes and serious bacterial infections. But if you ask community leaders, they say the water’s fine. In part two of a collaboration between Marfa Public Radio and Inside Climate News, Mitch Borden goes inside the city’s water treatment plant.
The Texas economy is big, y’all
You’ve probably heard Texas has one of the biggest economies in the world – larger than countries like Brazil, Australia, and Mexico. What does that look like in practice, and is it all good news? Alexandra Suich Bass, Dallas-based correspondent for The Economist, recently explored these issues and joins us with her findings.
‘Bard of the Borderlands’ reimagines Shakespeare’s plays on the U.S.-Mexico border
“The Bard of the Borderlands: An Anthology of Shakespeare Appropriations en La Frontera,” retells Shakespeare’s works by way of Latino and Indigenous writers. Learn more in this Q&A with the Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva’s Kathyrn Vomero Santos and Adrianna Santos.
The gang delivers another custom poem. Get in touch with your own topic suggestions!
Texas Tribune political reporter James Barragán stops by with a recap of the week that was.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
