Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024:
Is new fertilizer behind Texas cattle deaths?
In Grandview, a rancher has lost over 35 Black Angus cattle. Tests linked the deaths to a new fertilizer made with biosolids, part of an effort to find a climate-friendly method to recycle municipal sewage. But the fertilizer also contained synthetic and hazardous man-made “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
Texas Tribune environmental reporter Alejandra Martinez joins the Standard with more.
Education savings accounts dominate upcoming session
Controversial voucher-like “education savings accounts” seem a certainty in the next legislative session. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott helped oust fellow Republicans who opposed them last year. Additional school funding is also expected, after it too failed last session.
But as KERA’s Bill Zeeble reports, educators are wary about how a final plan will look.
This week in Texas music history: Fat Pat is born
On Dec. 4, 1970, rapper Patrick Lamont Hawkins, better known as Fat Pat, was born. Jason Mellard with the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University celebrates the author of Houston’s premier Slab anthem.
The San Antonio City Council is nearing a vote over ending its historic horse-drawn carriage industry. A proposed five-year timeline faces resistance from operators. Texas Public Radio’s Josh Peck reports.
New protections for Texas mountain lions spark research calls
The Texas mountain lion, primarily found in West and South Texas, has also made appearances as far north as Dallas. Previously hunted year-round, new restrictions by Texas Parks and Wildlife aim to enforce more humane practices. Conservationists, however, say more research is needed to better understand and protect the state’s last wild big cat.
Lisanne Petracca, carnivore ecology professor at Texas A&M University-Kingsville’s Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, joins the Standard with the latest.
Remembering the 1937 London School explosion, a tragedy that changed safety forever
The 1937 London School explosion in East Texas remains the deadliest school disaster in U.S. history and is the reason natural gas is now odorized. But many people have never heard of it. The London Museum & Cafe in the small town of New London is dedicated to preserving this tragic story.
As part of our Texas Museum Map project, Texas Standard intern Aislyn Gaddis shares the story of the explosion and the museum’s efforts to keep its memory alive.
Public health fears under RFK Jr.’s HHS leadership
President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Health and Human Services Department has sparked alarm among Texas health experts who worry his history of anti-vaccine rhetoric could exacerbate vaccine hesitancy in a state already grappling with misinformation. KERA’s Kailey Broussard reports.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
