Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022:
What a ‘windfall profits’ tax on oil companies could mean for Texas
Accusing oil companies of war profiteering by using the conflict in Ukraine to boost prices, President Joe Biden is proposing a windfall profits tax. What would that mean for Texas? James Osborne covers energy and politics for the Houston Chronicle’s D.C.’s bureau, and joins us with more.
Just months after Uvalde, why have guns faded as an election issue?
After the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, calls for gun reform were prominent across Texas, and the issue appeared to be a top priority for voters. But with Election Day next Tuesday, the Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports that gun control no longer seems to be a big motivating factor for many headed to cast ballots.
Housing is expensive. So these city bonds would pay for teachers’ homes
A lot of attention gets paid to the big-budget races at the top of the ticket during election season. But Texans are voting on a lot more than just who gets to live in the governor’s mansion. So as Election Day gets closer, we’re going to take a quick look at some of the local propositions appearing on ballots across the state. Today, the Texas Standard’s Michael Marks tells us about a couple of communities weighing whether to spend more on housing for teachers.
This Corpus Christi neighborhood fights industrial development on civil rights grounds
Boxed in by refineries, a ship channel, a highway and an under-construction bridge, residents of the Hillcrest neighborhood on Corpus Christi’s north side have long endured the impacts of the city’s industrialization. They haven’t endured quietly, though – neighbors have taken the city to court on civil rights before and are now leveling a civil rights complaint at proposed construction of a desalination plant near the neighborhood. Dylan Baddour, who has been following the story for Inside Climate News, joins us today.
How Día de los Muertos came to be celebrated around the world
It’s Día de los Muertos, which is celebrated every year Nov. 1 and 2. These days Día de los Muertos has transcended national and cultural boundaries, especially here in Texas. For more we turn to Servando Hinojosa, professor of anthropology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
An executive at a foster placement nonprofit headquartered in San Antonio was accused in 2020 of sexually assaulting a child. The nonprofit says it didn’t know about the allegation until the man was arrested. But state records and former colleagues dispute that and ask why he remained the highest-paid employee on staff months after the allegation. Texas Public Radio’s Paul Flahive reports.
Democrats have been waiting for Texas to turn blue – and they’ll probably keep waiting
Texas is a conservative state that hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 1990. Some Dems console themselves by thinking of Texas as not a red state, but a nonvoting state. But is that the entire story? Ben Rowen, senior editor at Texas Monthly, says “Sorry, Democrats: Texas Isn’t a Secretly Blue State.” He shares more with us today.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
