Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022:
Dallas County announces new tool to combat election misinformation
With election season fast approaching, the Dallas County Elections Department recently announced a new tool to help voters combat political misinformation. The agency’s website will soon have a section dedicated to debunking false rumors. Bret Jaspers with KERA News has more.
Late last month the Standard brought you the story of the Cutoff, a body of water where families have camped, fished and hunted for generations, until someone purchased property around much of the Cutoff and fenced off its entrance. Since then, locals have lobbied for the fence’s removal. The Standard’s Michael Marks joins us with an update.
Students in Katy ISD have encountered obstacles when they try to access resources for LGBTQ+ youth. Recently, a group of community members won what they consider a partial victory, when the district decided to unblock some websites, including suicide prevention support from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization founded in 1998. But as Houston Public Media’s Dominic Anthony Walsh reports, advocates say the changes don’t go far enough – and that the district, in some ways, is getting worse.
Biden administration announces changes to visa application process for people from Afghanistan
The Biden administration this month is changing how it processes visa applications for people from Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of Afghans – many who assisted American troops during the war – are trying to get permanent residence in the U.S. Some have been waiting years for the State Department to approve their applications. Desiree D’Iorio for the American Homefront Project reports.
Apple at the EU’s move to uniform charging standards
In a bid to promote uniform charging standards, the European parliament voted this week to require tech companies to use USB-C in phones by 2024. Our tech expert Omar Gallaga says Apple’s continued use of the Lightning charger, while the industry moved to USB-C, has been a sore point for many iPhone users – but Apple clearly would rather not change just yet.
The fight to preserve a historic Black cemetery
It is a place of eternal rest, like several in Texas, but forgotten by many and tucked away between new high-rises and homes. Now a Dallas group is determined not to let the White Rock Cemetery Garden of Memories – a historic cemetery for one of Texas’ Freedmen’s Settlements – become overrun by development and lost forever. Remembering Black Dallas researcher Sheniqua Cummings joins us to discuss their efforts.
Commentary: Tejano identity and the brutal history of the Texas Rangers
Gabriel Daniel Solis describes his dad, who restores historic buildings, as “Tejano to the bone.” That’s why, in early 2020, the younger Solis was surprised to hear his dad had accepted a job to rebuild a Texas Ranger station from 1825 in Seguin. Solis wrote about grappling with the Rangers’ history of atrocity against minorities in Texas Monthly and shares the story with us today.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
