Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Wednesday, March 22, 2023:
Prosecuting librarians: the next front in Texas’ book wars?
Texas is a national leader in book challenges and bans. Now some on the far-right are pushing not just to place some books off limits, but to prosecute librarians for making them available. Eric Dexheimer with the Houston Chronicle joins us with the story.
Moms who lost children to gun violence in North Texas are taking action
A 16-year-old was killed outside Lamar High School in Arlington on Monday. KERA’s Miranda Suarez reports these losses hit communities of color almost exclusively – and some mothers are working to make sure people don’t have to grieve for their children alone.
Texas registry could help veterans with burn pit-related health problems
The U.S. military has used burn pits in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere to dispose of waste. Some of the items burned produced toxic smoke, which many veterans blame for health issues. Texas Public Radio’s Carson Frame reports a bill in the state Legislature would help track the impact of burn pits on Texas veterans:
Founding families gather on the border to celebrate El Polvo’s history
People from across country gathered in the tiny border town of Redford recently, to commemorate its 150th anniversary. But as Marfa Public Radio’s Annie Rosenthal reports, the community’s oldest families were also celebrating a history that goes back much further.
Major League Cricket is coming to this Texas city
Baseball isn’t the only game getting underway this summer. The inaugural season of Major League Cricket begins in July, with six teams participating – including one from Texas. Tom Dunmore, vice president of marketing for Major League Cricket tells us about the action out of Grand Prairie.
Report: Deep Texas ties to Iranian hostage crisis’ October surprise
New reporting from The New York Times sheds fresh light on 1980’s October surprise, with Texas politician Ben Barnes breaking his silence about the role fellow politician John Connally played in delaying the release of U.S. hostages in Iran until Ronald Reagan was elected president. Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the Times, joins us.
Operation Lone Star enlistees could get $500,000 if they die on duty – or nothing at all
This month marked two years of Operation Lone Star, the joint Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard border security mission. Several people involved with the mission have died while on duty, and while law enforcement officers’ families receive $500,000 in death benefits, Guard members do not. The Military Times’ Davis Winkie shares the story with us.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
