Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024:
Political upheaval in South Korea rattles Texas’ Korean community
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise press conference late Tuesday unleashed political chaos in South Korea. Declaring the National Assembly’s opposition a threat to democracy, Yoon ordered sweeping restrictions, including military control of media and a ban on protests. Overnight, lawmakers voted to rescind the measures. The conflict has shocked South Korea’s global observers, including the Texas Korean community – the largest in the Southeast.
Sheena Greitens, director of the Asia Policy Program at UT’s LBJ School, joins Texas Standard with the latest:
North Texas judges issue harsh sentences for meth
The “War on Drugs,” declared by President Nixon in 1971, led to increased federal funding and strict sentencing laws in the 1980s. Decades later, the effects are still felt. Kevin Krause of the Dallas Morning News analyzed a decade of meth sentencing data in North Texas, uncovering stark trends that highlight the ongoing impact of these policies.
Krause joins the Standard to break down his findings and what they mean for the region.
Dallas gears up for delivery robots downtown
Downtown Dallas may soon see a futuristic addition to its streetscape: automated delivery robots. Austin-based tech company AVride is preparing to roll out its devices in the city center early next year. The project promises to bring innovation to urban logistics, but it also raises questions about safety and regulation.
KERA’s Pablo Arauz Peña reports on what Dallas residents can expect:
Texas’ ghost towns spotlight rural population shifts
While most Texans cluster in the state’s growing metros, rural areas tell a starkly different story. Texas has over 500 ghost towns, a testament to shifting population dynamics, according to recent reporting by The Texas Tribune.
Jayme Lozano Carver, who covers the South Plains and Panhandle for the Tribune, examines what these ghost towns reveal about the changing Lone Star State.
Commentator W.F. Strong shares a tale of a stolen town.
Saving maternal care in rural Texas
With nearly half of Texas counties lacking maternity care services, rural mothers face daunting hurdles. Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune explores new efforts to tackle this growing crisis.
She joins Texas Standard to discuss how the state can restore critical health care access for rural women.
China’s rare mineral ban escalates U.S.-China tech tensions
China has announced a ban on exporting certain rare minerals to the United States, a move likely to disrupt tech manufacturing and deepen tensions between the two nations. The announcement follows the Biden administration’s newly imposed export restrictions on advanced semiconductor chips to China, signaling an escalation in the tech trade war.
Gabe Collins, Baker Botts Fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, joins the Standard to unpack the implications for U.S. industries and global supply chains.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
