Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, June 11, 2024:
Texas leads the US in children’s car heat deaths. Here’s a researcher’s advice on stopping it.
Texas’ extreme summer temperatures can be deadly, especially for kids left in cars. Texas leads the nation in hot car deaths, with 150 fatalities since 1990.
David Diamond, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, joins the Standard to discuss what’s been dubbed “forgotten child syndrome.”
The heat dome is back over Texas
If it feels like Texas is having hotter and hotter summers, well, that’s not far off. South Texas is under what scientists call a heat dome, and it looks like the rest of Texas might not be far behind.
What is a heat dome, and what are we to expect the rest of the summer? KUT’s Andrew Weber joins the Standard with an explanation.
Are Texas plans for an offshore oil terminal too ecologically dangerous?
The plan: Build an oil export terminal 30 miles off the Texas Gulf Coast that would allow supertankers to load up with crude — two at a time.
Offshore oil terminals aren’t new; several exist worldwide, including one off Louisiana. However, Texas’ terminal would have a distinctive design element that some engineers fear could be a disaster in the making. Houston Chronicle reporter James Osborne joins the show with the details.
What did the five fingers say to the face? Slap fights could be coming to Texas.
In combat sports like boxing or mixed martial arts, defense is crucial. However, a newer form of fighting entertainment removes defense entirely: slap fighting, in which two people stand across a table and slap each other in the face as hard as they can.
While it has the spectacle of a big-time boxing match, some argue it lacks the sporting finesse of traditional combat sports. Now, Texas regulators will decide if slap fighting should come to the Lone Star State. The Houston Chronicle’s Eric Dexheimer joins the Standard with more.
Inside a Central Texas leather shop
Dewey Pentecost opened his leather shop in 1999. It started as a hobby and has become a big outlet for his creativity. He tells the Texas Standard about the most unique items he’s made and about some amusing misconceptions of his business.
Natural Bridge goes big in its ‘new’ cavern
If you grew up in San Antonio, it’s likely that you took an elementary school field trip to Natural Bridge Caverns in the Hill Country outside of Garden Ridge. It’s been a popular attraction for decades, but right next door to it, a cavern first discovered way back in the 1960s finally opened last year.
Known as Hidden Wonders, the new cave tour is unlike any other in Texas. Texas Public Radio’s Jack Morgan reports.
Texas droughts are more than hot – they’re also economically devastating
The financial costs of drought in Texas have risen rapidly over recent decades, according to a new analysis of federal crop insurance data.
And Texas draws more crop insurance payouts than any other state. Inside Climate News’ Dylan Baddour joins the Standard with the implications.
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
