Here are the stories on Texas Standard for July 16, 2026.
Flash flood emergencies and shelter-in-place alerts follow heavy rainfall in Kerr County
Heavy rainfall has prompted a flash flood emergency for Kerr County and a shelter-in-place alert for Kerrville, just a little over a year since the deadly July 4 floods rattled the region. Uvalde County is also under the emergency order as storms pass through the region.
Mary Wasson, a meteorologist with the San Antonio Express-News, joins Texas Standard with the latest.
Houston’s East End residents rally after fatal ICE shooting
Last week in Houston, ICE agents shot and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. The Department of Homeland Security says agents stopped his white work van because someone inside resembled the target of an immigration operation, and that the agent fired in self-defense. Family members and witnesses dispute that account, and the DHS inspector general has opened an investigation.
The shooting has rattled Houston’s historic East End and galvanized many in the city’s Latino community. Houston Public Media’s Michael Adkison spoke with residents and historians about how the neighborhood’s history is shaping its response.
Death of former Cowboys player puts focus on CTE disease
CTE, known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a disease linked to constant head impacts, which are commonly seen in contact sports like football, ice hockey and soccer.
After their deaths, it was announced that former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland had Stage 1 CTE, and former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez had Stage 3 CTE. Researchers have been actively working on understanding the disease.
Among them is Dr. Kevin Bieniek, director of the Comparative Anatomy and Neuropathology Laboratory at the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio, who joins Texas Standard for a discussion.
What Sony ending production of PlayStation physical discs means for gamers
An announcement by Sony that it will end production of games on physical discs has sent shockwaves through the PlayStation community. Even in a gaming world that’s dominated by digital distribution, fans and industry-watchers took note. Some call the change inevitable; others lament the loss of a medium where users have more control of what they own.
Tech expert Omar Gallaga has been following it all, and he joins the Standard with the scoop.
New book traces history of religion in Texas
Over 70 percent of Texans have some religious affiliation. Go to any major city and you can find mosques, churches and synagogues. Millions across the state tell pollsters that religion is “very important in their lives.”
It wasn’t always this way. “One State Under God” is an upcoming book by Joseph L. Locke that traces the religious history of Texas — from the Indigenous cosmologies to Spanish Catholics; freethinking frontiersmen to Muslim immigrants.
Locke joins the Standard for a discussion.
Why Bexar County’s needle exchange program hasn’t been replicated statewide
Texas has some of the nation’s most restrictive policies on syringe exchange programs. But for nearly two decades, Bexar County has been the lone exception, operating the state’s only legislatively authorized needle exchange program. Its goal is to help prevent the spread of HIV, hepatitis and other infections among people who inject drugs.
Lawmakers have repeatedly considered bills that would allow other Texas counties to operate similar programs, but none have become law. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports.
