Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, Nov. 17, 2023:
The Texas House will vote on school vouchers today. Here’s what to expect.
For the first time this year, legislators in the Texas House of Representatives will vote on a measure that would create education savings accounts. The voucher-like program would divert public funds into private schools.
With more, the Standard is joined by Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, who covers the Capitol for the Texas Newsroom.
Is this the end of efforts to keep Fairfield Lake State Park public?
In a last-ditch effort to preserve Fairfield Lake State Park as public property, Texas Parks and Wildlife claimed the land via eminent domain in September. Now a fair-price valuation has come back for the North Texas parkland – and it’s a doozy.
Is this the end of the Fairfield Lake saga? Freestone County Times reporter Mary McDonald joins with the latest.
SpaceX to make its first Starship launch since last disastrous blast
SpaceX has pushed its second Starship launch from today to Saturday. CEO Elon Musk confirmed the rescheduling Thursday afternoon.
Texas Public Radio’s Gaige Davila has more on the delay.
Could this be the reason behind the Chinese economy’s slowdown?
The notion that China’s economy is slowing down isn’t new, but new research posits the slowdown could be part of a broader transition: from a middle-income country to a high-income country.
Dallas Federal Reserve research economist Sewon Hur joins the show with more.
A Ukrainian sculptor’s ties to Texas
After Ukrainian-born sculptor Louise Nevelson made the first of several trips to Amarillo in 1960, she began painting her signature wall sculptures in gold – said to be inspired by the old fixtures in ranch houses there.
Now, Nevelson’s work is being showcased in an exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth. Curator Shirley Reece-Hughes joins the Standard with more.
New children’s book ‘Big’ takes an outsize approach to self-love
The new children’s book “Big” illustrates how words have the ability to both injure and heal while following a child’s path to self-love. Creator Vashti Harrison shares the story with the Standard.
El Niño’s coming – everybody look busy!
For the first time in five years, we’re on the verge of an El Niño winter – and the National Weather Service warns this year’s system could be historically strong.
What does this mean for Texas? San Antonio Express-News newsroom meteorologist Anthony Franze joins the Standard with more.
The gang delivers another custom poem. Reach out to Texas Standard with your topic suggestions!
Texas Tribune managing editor Matthew Watkins stops by with a recap of the week that was in Texas politics.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
