Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024:
Rapid population growth is changing the voter map in Texas
Counties that have been Republican strongholds for decades are becoming more purple with the influx of new people. But Republicans are making gains of their own, especially among Latino voters.
As KERA’s Pablo Arauz Peña reports, analysts say the state has grown a lot since the last presidential election and it’s changing how people vote.
Justice Department sues RealPage for alleged rent price-fixing conspiracy
The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a real estate software company, accusing it of enabling landlords to collude and raise rents across the U.S. The complaint claims that RealPage’s software facilitated a price-fixing conspiracy, artificially inflating rents beyond market levels for millions of tenants.
New York Times reporter Danielle Kaye joins the Standard with the latest:
Texas teachers demand better pay, working conditions in ‘Educator’s Bill of Rights’
A Texas teachers union on Tuesday unveiled what it’s calling an Educator’s Bill of Rights.
As KERA’s Bill Zeeble reports, it demands lawmakers add more funding for schools and teacher pay, and calls for an end to censorship and book bans:
NASA to bring stranded astronauts home in February
NASA recently announced that two astronauts who have been stranded at the International Space Station for months will finally return to Earth in February via SpaceX. Their extended stay comes after NASA deemed a Boeing Starliner spacecraft unsafe for their return, leading to an unplanned mission extension for Suni “Sunny” Williams and Butch Wilmore.
To discuss what this extended stay might mean for the astronauts, we’re joined by Col. Michael Fossum, a former astronaut and current vice president at Texas A&M.
Texans prepare for fall/winter gardening season
Veteran Texas gardeners are familiar with the sometimes tricky fall/winter planting schedules due to the state’s unpredictable weather. For those new to planting veggies, advice is always welcome.
Callie Works-Leary, a certified Texas Master Gardener and founder of the Dallas Garden School, joins us with tips.
Steve Crosno: The DJ who shaped El Paso’s music scene
El Paso is a vibrant, diverse music city. Steve Crosno helped make it that way. He was a DJ starting in the 1960s – but also a trailblazer who bridged cultural divides and shaped the musical landscape for generations.
From his early days on the radio to his groundbreaking TV dance show, Crosno’s influence resonated far beyond the airwaves – and it continues to, even decades after his death. Texas Standard intern Adam Regalado dug through never-before-aired interviews and archival footage to bring us this story.
Allen police raid vape shops over alleged illegal THC levels
Last week in Allen, local police, supported by the DEA and the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, raided nine vape shops and made several arrests. Authorities claim the shops were selling products with THC levels exceeding the legal limit.
THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, is what gives the plant its mind-altering effects. But an attorney representing the shops asserts they were selling legal cannabis products. Jacob Vaughn, staff writer for the Dallas Observer who covers cannabis, joins the Standard with more.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
