Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, July 10, 2023:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s floating wall arrives at the border
On Friday, something unusual began to appear on the banks of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass: a long line of buoys that Gov. Greg Abbott intends to deploy in the river to deter migrants from crossing. It was quickly met with a lawsuit claiming the governor doesn’t have the authority to set up the barrier. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies has more.
‘Missing’ Houston man found last week had been home almost the whole time
Rudy Farias, 17, took his dogs for a walk in Houston in March 2015 – and, according to relatives at the time, never came home. Last week, it was widely reported that Farias was found. But police shared that Farias was never actually missing for very long in the first place, and that his mother had lied for eight years. We’ll get the latest from Matt deGrood, who has been following this story for the Houston Chronicle.
A newspaper war, then a news drought: How Arlington had, then lost its daily news coverage
Arlington is one of the largest U.S. cities without a daily newspaper. But for a few years, it had two – during what some call the last great American newspaper war. KERA’s Kailey Broussard revisits the battle to understand how the city went from that to a news desert.
New law establishes state advisory committee on artificial intelligence
A new Texas law establishes a state Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council – made up from folks from academia, law enforcement and information technology – to oversee that state agencies are responsibly developing and using AI. It’s a technology with a lot of potential that also poses many concerns about risk to things like privacy and civil liberties. We’ll hear more from the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione.
Is Paycheck Protection Program fraud partly behind the home price spike?
Housing prices in the U.S. have exploded since the pandemic first began. There are a number of reasons economists point to for that, but a new a study from UT-Austin suggests another culprit may be at least partially behind the rise in housing prices: Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud. John Griffin, James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Finance at UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business, joins us to discuss.
Wembanyama debuts, Popovich signs new contract in big weekend for Spurs’ future
French sensation Victor Wembanyama made his NBA Summer League debut this weekend. The No. 1 draft pick for the Spurs scored a modest 9 points on Friday and 27 on Sunday. Meanwhile, we learned Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will coach the team for five more years. Texas Public Radio’s Jerry Clayton has more:
Behind the curtain at San Antonio’s Mariachi Extravaganza
The songs and gritos of mariachi recently filled San Antonio’s Tobin Center. 44 young people attended the Mariachi Extravaganza Summer Recital to elevate their techniques. Texas Public Radio’s Jack Morgan takes us behind the curtain to look at who these young people were and what drives them to get better.
How Abbott is turning his policy lightweight reputation around
A Texas Monthly headline recently caught our attention: “How to Lose Friends and Alienate the Legislature.” It’s about Gov. Greg Abbott and his effort to – as the article puts it – turn around his reputation of policy lightweight. Texas Monthly contributor Christopher Hooks wrote the article, and he joins us with more.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Michael Marks with the Talk of Texas.
