Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.
Flooding risks trigger disaster declarations for parts of state
A heavy rainfall forecast lasting through Thursday has raised concerns for potential flooding in parts of Texas.
Lucio Vasquez, who covers breaking news for the Texas Newsroom, joins Texas Standard with the latest.
Lawmakers eye state’s fragmented response to homelessness
For decades, homelessness in Texas has largely been treated as a local problem: cities operate shelters, counties run jails and public hospitals, nonprofits provide housing and services and police respond to complaints and emergencies.
But at the Texas Capitol, state lawmakers are beginning to ask whether that fragmented approach is part of the problem. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies has more.
Texas-based organizations distributing aid to Venezuela earthquake relief efforts
Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes last month have killed over 3,000 people with another 30,000 still missing. The number of fatalities is expected to soar in the coming months.
Houstonians and Venezuelan natives have spent weeks organizing humanitarian aid throughout the region, but worried family members want to know where the supplies are going and how they will get there.
Houston Public Media’s Melissa Enaje takes us to one of the organizations distributing aid.
Organizers of Muslim religious celebration say state targeted them
An annual Muslim religious celebration at a city-owned water park in Grand Prairie turned political when Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to pull state funding.
KERA’s Priscilla Rice reports the organizers and other local leaders say the incident is one example of how Muslims in Texas are being targeted.
Caldwell Zoo welcomes endangered ocelot kittens
Ocelots used to roam across Texas. Now, there are fewer than 100 left in the state. They’ve been classified as federally endangered since the 1980s.There’s some good news, though: Four weeks ago, Tyler’s Caldwell Zoo announced the birth of two ocelot kittens.
Caldwell Zoo Mammals Curator Hayley Bragg joins the Standard with the details.
New book delves into story of a false testimony that landed a man on death row
For more than three decades, Paul Skalnik roamed the Gulf Coast lying about who he was. He also had a habit of lying to law enforcement. When Skalnik would get caught and locked up with other men awaiting trial, he claimed they confessed their crimes to him. Then he peddled those stories to prosecutors.
In the 1980s, his testimony landed Jim Dailey, a down-on-his-luck Vietnam veteran, on death row for a murder he did not commit.
This is the subject of Pamela Colloff’s new book, “Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast.” Pamela joins the Standard to share the story.
Camp Lejeune contaminated water case still hasn’t made it to trial
It’s been three years since the first hearing for people who filed claims in the massive Camp Lejeune contaminated water settlement, but there still hasn’t been a single trial. Thousands of veterans and family members who lived on the North Carolina Marine Corps base can sue the government under a law Congress passed in 2022.
As Jay Price reports for the American Homefront Project, both the plaintiffs and judges are growing frustrated.
