Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022:
Republicans retain statewide control – but the ‘red wave’ washes out
Election Day showed that Texas voters are as Republican as they’ve ever been. Still, the GOP didn’t make all the gains they wanted to in the state. As the Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports, that’s due in part to Democrats holding the line and preventing an expected “red wave.”
Pot decriminalization rolls on in Texas cities
Cannabis decriminalization gained ground this election, as five Texas cities – San Marcos, Denton, Elgin, Killeen and Harker Heights – passed measures to reduce or eliminate penalties for low-level pot possession. Katharine Neill Harris, fellow in drug policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, joins with more.
Behind long voting lines in Houston on Election Day
While most people in Harris County had no problems casting their votes Tuesday, some waited for hours. Houston Public Media’s Lucio Vasquez investigates what went wrong:
Democratic Harris County Judge Lina Hildalgo wins second term after a close, expensive race
With a lead of nearly 16,000 votes out of over 1 million cast, Lina Hidalgo has won a second term as Harris County judge. Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider looks at how the race played out and what comes next.
Fresh findings shed new light on an infamous Texas massacre
The borderlands of South Texas and northern Mexico could be a violent place during the Mexican Revolution, and regular people suffered amid the chaos. In January 1918, there was a massacre at a small village along the border called Porvenir when Texas Rangers and U.S. Army members, searching for outlaws, executed 15 men between the ages of 16 and 72. Now, a recent archaeological discovery shows there’s more to the story. David Keller, project archaeologist for the Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross State University, has more.
Life as a gay man in the Army under ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’
Brandon Anderson spent nearly five years in the Army, deploying twice to Iraq between 2003 and 2008. But as a gay service member during the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” era, he had to live a double life, hiding his relationship with the man he’d loved for more than a decade. Learn more in this “American Veteran” excerpt, recorded by Insignia Films for GBH Boston, and produced by the American Homefront Project.
Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover keeps ruffling feathers
Since Elon Musk took the reins at Twitter last week, things have been chaotic. Musk fired half the 7,000 member workforce, teased unpopular new fees and continues to tweet provocative political views. Now, many Twitter users are looking for an alternative, with some settling on a platform called Mastodon. Our tech expert Omar Gallaga has the story.
No, Republicans weren’t turned away from the polls
A video suggests GOP voters in Texas were being denied in the general election. Nusaiba Mizan, reporter with the Austin American-Statesman and PolitiFact, joins us with a debunking.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
