Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, Dec. 2, 2022:
Congress heads off a railroad strike. What’s next?
A bill that would prevent a strike by the nation’s railway workers is on its way to the president’s desk, after the Senate approved it Thursday. The law prevents unions from striking, a prospect that had officials worried because of the potentially severe impact on the economy. Raymond Robertson with Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service joins us with more.
Almost 1 in 10 Texas hospitals at risk of closing
A new report shows that about 1 in 10 hospitals across the state are in danger of closure – about twice as many as before the pandemic. For more on these numbers and what they mean is Nicole Cobler, a reporter for Axios.
City of Uvalde sues county district attorney for access to Robb Elementary records
The city at the center of a school shooting is suing its own county district attorney to access records: Uvalde wants access to investigative materials that may shed light on the local police response to the elementary school shooting that claimed 21 lives in May.
What 1 million job openings mean for Texas
Job openings in Texas reached an all-time high this past September, with over 1 million open positions – about 10% of all job openings nationwide. And with an unemployment rate of about 4%, the state is also seeing hundreds of thousands of people quit their jobs each month. Here to help us make sense of the data is Lee College professor Mick Normington.
After a century of darkness, Port Isabel Lighthouse shines again
The Port Isabel Lighthouse is a white brick tower that sits on a berm near the southernmost tip of Texas. For the second half of the 19th century, it helped guide commercial vessels in the Gulf of Mexico safely back to shore. Now a historic site, its light hasn’t shone for over 100 years. But Dec. 9, it shines again. Valerie Bates, marketing director for the City of Port Isabel, shares more.
We’ll hear from poet and journalist mónica teresa ortiz, one of Texas Folklife’s 2022 Community Folklife fellows.
Expanding Early College High School may not be that easy
In Texas, 65,000 students take Early College High School (ECHS) classes. They’re designed to help those least likely to attend college gain an associate degree, or up to two years’ worth of college credits, while still in high school. Now a foundation in Texas is spending millions to help some of those students complete a bachelor’s degree. But as KERA’s Bill Zeeble reports, getting one is tough:
The gang delivers another custom poem.
Texas Tribune political reporter James Barragán stops by with a recap of the week that was.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
