Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023:
Judge orders Abbott administration to remove buoy barrier from Rio Grande
It’s been almost two months since the state of Texas installed a line of buoys in the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass in an effort to prevent migrants from crossing the water into the U.S. The Biden administration sued the state in late July, citing humanitarian and environmental concerns. On Wednesday, a federal judge in West Texas sided with the Justice Department and ordered the buoys be removed by Sept. 15.
Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies joins Texas Standard with the latest:
The penalty for intentional illegal voting could mean decades in prison
Intentional illegal voting in Texas is now a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. That new law went into effect on Sept. 1, along with more than 770 other state laws. While that may seem like a big change, it’s a return to rules Texas had on the books for decades. But as Texas Standard’s Sean Saldana reports, that doesn’t make it any less controversial.
Struggling to get your landlord to fix your AC? Here’s what to do.
Air-conditioning is critical to get through a Texas summer. While that may be common sense, some renters in Austin have gone without AC during this record-breaking heat.
Now the city is moving to give protections to renters going without air-conditioning. KUT’s Andrew Weber has more.
After spending a billion dollars, Spotify rethinks its podcast strategy
The streaming service Spotify set out years ago to conquer podcasting, buying two podcast production studios and signing deals with celebrities like Barack Obama, Prince Harry and Joe Rogan. But the Sweden-based company has had trouble turning its high-profile acquisitions into cash cows.
The Standard’s tech expert Omar Gallaga is here to tell us how Spotify is retrenching its podcast offerings.
Challenged on the right, progressive Corpus Christi DA seeks higher office
On Tuesday, the district attorney for Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi, resigned and announced a challenge to Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate. Democrat Mark Gonzalez had been facing potential removal from office, after a petition drive from a conservative activist.
Since he was first elected in 2016, the DA’s profile had risen as part of a wave of progressive DAs taking office around the country. New York Times Houston Bureau chief David Goodman joins the Standard with more.
New graphic novel ‘Mexikid’ recounts childhood adventure through Mexico
Many coming-of-age stories are memorialized in literary memoirs. Author Pedro Martín took a road less traveled when he decided to write and illustrate his childhood trip cross-country through Mexico in a cramped motorhome.
The result is “Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir.” Martín joins the Standard today to talk about his acclaimed new book.
For students in 85 Houston ISD schools, the first week of classes was different than previous years. That’s because a third of the district is undergoing reforms at the direction of state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles.
As Houston Public Media’s Dominic Anthony Walsh reports, some students like the changes.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
