Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, May 6, 2025:
Lawmakers strike deal on property tax relief
Texas lawmakers have reached a deal to distribute more than $3 billion in new property tax cuts. The plan raises the homestead exemption to from $100,000 to $140,000, and to $200,000 for seniors and people with disabilities. Businesses would also get a boost, with their exemption jumping from $2,500 to $125,000.
Megan Kimble of the Hearst Texas Bureau joins us with the latest.
Over the weekend, residents near the SpaceX launch site in South Texas voted to incorporate a new city – and its name is Starbase. Just over 200 people voted in favor of the measure, most of them SpaceX employees.
The Texas Newsroom’s Lauren McGaughy was on the ground in Cameron County for the vote, and she joins the Standard with more.
Once considered a budget-friendly backup, in-house brands are now becoming a major draw – from Trader Joe’s to H-E-B. Private-label items are gaining loyal followings, and some are now key to a store’s identity.
Ellen Cushing, a staff writer at The Atlantic who wrote about the trend, joins us with more.
Gregg Popovich steps away from the Spurs
After 29 seasons, five championships and 1,422 wins, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is stepping aside. In his first public appearance since a November stroke, Popovich cited his health and the team’s future.
What’s next for the Spurs legend and his team? We’re joined by Carolina Teague, who runs the Spurfect Blog.
A forgotten plan for a Jewish homeland – in Texas
In the early 1900s, 10,000 Jews fleeing Russia were sent to Galveston – part of a lesser-known chapter in Jewish migration history. Rachel Cockerell’s new family memoir, “Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land,” traces the story of her great-grandfather, David Jochelmann, and his plan to create a Jewish homeland in Texas.
She joins us to discuss this largely untold chapter of Texas and Jewish history.
Fixing Dallas’ troubled permitting office
The City of Dallas’ building department has long been a target of criticism, from project delays to last year’s infamous misstep when it couldn’t occupy its own new HQ because it didn’t meet code.
But there’s evidence things are improving. Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster joins us to explain what’s changed and why the city’s design community is paying close attention.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
