Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, Oct. 4, 2024:
Texas dockworkers end strike with tentative wage agreement
Earlier this week, tens of thousands of dockworkers along the East and Gulf coasts, including in Texas, went on strike, threatening serious economic consequences. The strike lasted three days and ended after the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance reached a tentative wage agreement.
To break down the situation and its impact on supply chains, the Standard’s joined by Margaret Kidd, program director of supply chain and logistics at the University of Houston:
Presidio County seeks ownership of international bridge
The Presidio International Bridge connects Ojinaga, Mexico, with Presidio, Texas, offering a single lane in each direction. The state of Texas currently controls the U.S. side of the crossing, but the Presidio County Commissioners’ Court recently voted to request ownership of the bridge. That process might be more complex than it seems, however.
Sam Karas, a reporter for The Big Bend Sentinel, joins the Standard with more.
KERA investigates the decline of homelessness in Dallas
While homelessness is rising in most large U.S. cities, it’s declining in Dallas. In a new series of stories, KERA reporters spent months investigating this trend, beginning with a homeless encampment in East Dallas.
Christopher Connelly kicks off the series with a deep dive into what they discovered and how Dallas is bucking the national trend.
Fortlandia returns to Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is coming alive with its annual Fortlandia exhibit, featuring eight unique forts designed to engage kids and adults with the natural environment through playful, interactive art. The forts are open to the public starting today and will remain until early February.
Texas Standard’s Patrick M. Davis was part of the team behind one of this year’s forts, the Honeycomb Hideout, and takes us behind the scenes of its construction.
New documentary examines aftermath of Texas Panhandle wildfires
In late February and early March, the Smokehouse Creek fire scorched millions of acres in the Texas Panhandle, becoming the largest wildfire in state history. The fire claimed two lives, tens of thousands of cattle, and caused millions in property damage. Shortly after the fires were contained, a film crew arrived to document the stories of those affected.
The resulting documentary, “We’re Here,” has been screened in theaters across the Panhandle in recent weeks. Joining us to discuss the film is its director, Lee Wells.
The gang delivers another custom poem. Reach out to Texas Standard with your topic suggestions!
The Texas Tribune’s James Barragán joins the Standard with a recap of the week that was in Texas politics.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
