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Texas Matters is co-hosted by David Martin Davies and Yvette Benavides. The husband and wife team talk directly with policymakers and newsmakers in a lively discussion designed to shed light on issues too often overlooked by other media. About the Hosts David Martin Davies, Texas Public Radio’s news director, is a veteran journalist with over 20 years experience covering Texas, the border and Mexico. In 2008, he won three regional Murrow Awards for stories that aired on Texas Matters. He was named the 2007 Radio Journalist of the Year by the Houston Press Club and was awarded a 2007 Lone Star Award for his feature reporting. Davies was also recognized by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters for his coverage of the U.S.-Mexico border. Davies has filed radio reports for NPR's Morning Edition, APM's Marketplace and BBC's The World. He is also a weekly columnist for the San Antonio Express-News. Yvette Benavides is co-host and co-producer of Texas Matters. She is also an English professor at Our Lady of the Lake University, where she teaches creative writing and Mexican-American literature. Yvette has had her poetry published in journals such as The Americas Review, Texas Observer and Mothering magazine, among others. Her articles have appeared in the San Antonio Express-News and Latina magazine. She is also a regular book critic for the San Antonio Express-News. Benavides has been a frequent contributor for NPR's Latino USA. Comments about the program or inquiries may be directed by e-mail to . Program Archive: Program #582, October 21, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: John Anderson is a professor of oceanography at Rice University. He wrote a report about the impact of rising sea levels on Galveston Bay; the report attributes climate change. The Texas Commission on Environmental Commission, however, is now declining to publish the report. In a statement to Texas Matters, the TCEQ denies accusations of censorship but says they were exercising appropriate editorial control. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: How has economic inequality has led to the current market meltdown? James Galbraith is a noted economist and teaches at the LBJ School. He directs the University of Texas Inequality Project. Galbraith’s latest book is "The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should, Too." Galbraith was in San Antonio to speak at the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics, and he gave the Frank Bryant Jr. MD Memorial Lecture. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #581, October 14, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Lauren Cook is a spokesperson for the Austin-based Equity Center. They have formed a coalition of more than 150 Texas school districts which filed a lawsuit against the state over a school funding system that it says is unconstitutional. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Taylor Lincoln is a research director for Public Citizen. He authored "A Failed Experiment," a report which says the state's 2003 medical tort reform has hurt healthcare in Texas and failed to produce the promised reduction in healthcare costs. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Lauren Welker is the spokesperson for Occupy Austin. They are planning on maintaining a round-the clock-protest at Austin City Hall against corporate greed. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #580, October 7, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Marjorie Farabee is the founder of the Wild Burro Protection League. She’s collected 5,000 signatures on a petition asking the Texas Parks and Wildlife to stop killing the burros. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: To find out why Texas is trying to kill the remaining wild burros we contacted Brent Leisure, Director of State Parks at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: On November 8, Texans will go to the polls to decide on 10 constitutional amendments. Proposition 3, Texas Education Loans Finance Amendment, would allow the state to float $1.86 billion in loans for low-interest college loans. To explain Prop 3, we reached out to Dominic Chavez of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The Tea Party of Texas is coming out against Prop 3 because illegal immigrants are not prevented from qualifying for the program. George Rodriguez is the president of the San Antonio Tea Party. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Tucked away in a remote border region, the Mexican city of Piedras Negras seems a rarity these days. It has steered clear of drug-related violence that plagues other border cities in the region like Nuevo Laredo. That’s how the business community likes it here. Foreign-owned manufacturing plants are surviving competition from Asia and the U.S. recession and are now even adding jobs. Fronteras reporter Hernán Rozemberg visited Piedras Negras and filed this report. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #579, September 30, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: This week Texas Agriculture Commission Todd Staples released a report about security on the Southern Texas border which says the Mexican drug cartels are a serious threat to the public safety of Texans. The report is titled “Texas Border Security: A Strategic Military Assessment." Staples calls for enhancing the defense of Texas along the Rio Grande from drug cartels. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Angela Clark is the Director of Operations for the Texas Virtual Schools Network. The program is seeing a major drop off in student enrollment after its funding was cut in the recent legislative session. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Dan Hardin is the director of water resources for the Texas Water Development Board. The new Texas Draft Water Plan predicts that the state will not have enough water to meet future needs. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #578, September 23, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Governor Rick Perry remains the front runner in the contest for the GOP nomination for president, and his fellow candidates would like to change that. Perry came out on the offensive in Thursday night's GOP debate in Orlando — an attempted to rebound from his pervious shaky debate performance. As KUT's Ben Philpott reports, Perry seemed more prepared for the criticism. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: This weekend the Texas Right to Life organization is celebrating. The Houston-based anti-abortion non-profit is holding a gala to honor the state lawmakers who made the recent legislative session one of the most successful for their cause in memory. According to Texas Right to Life, Republican lawmakers were able to take $64.2 million away from the “abortion industry.” Now across Texas, Planned Parenthood clinics are seeing the impact of that budget cut. A number of the clinics are shutting down. Sarah Wheat of the Austin-based Planned Parenthood of Texas says the closed clinics have a far reaching impact on women’s health beyond abortion. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: The best way to manage illegal Immigration is a divisive issue in America. Nearly all sides agree reform is desperately needed and that reform is stuck. One area of illegal immigration reform that’s getting some traction is the Dream Act. It’s a pathway to citizenship for those who were smuggled into the country as children and then pursued a college education or served in the military. To encourage a public dialog on the issue, Texas Public Radio held a Fronteras Town Hall meeting last night on the Dream Act. David Martin Davies reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is giving underage drinkers a lifeline. The 82nd Texas Legislature passed a law that encourages young people to call 911 when a buddy may be dying from alcohol poisoning. The caller would be granted limited immunity from criminal prosecution if they follow the rules. Caroline Beck is Director of Communications for the TABC. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: For today’s teens growing up in small town Texas, winning the future can have so many challenges that it might seem hopeless. It’s no secret that getting into a good college is a must if one is to find a high-paying job. A big university can seem like a universe away for those growing up under the poverty line in rural Texas. A new film called “All She Can” that was screened at Sundance explores these problems. Amy Wendel wrote and directed “All She Can.” Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #577, September 16, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Reporter Ben Philpot of KUT Austin and the Texas Tribune is following Perry across the nation and covering his political evolution. On Thursday, Ben was in Jefferson, Iowa where Perry was in full campaign mode. Ben tells us Perry was looking to bounce back from a poor Tea Party debate performance in Tampa. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: The Texas Forest Service and volunteer firefighters are battling blazes in every region of the state, and their resources are maxed out. As the forest service fights fires, they are also dealing with funding cuts. The legislature cut the agency's funding this year from $117 million to $83 million. Critics say the lawmakers ignored warnings about the drought and were penny-wise but pound-foolish in their funding of the agency. Robby DeWitt is the Texas Forest Service's Associate Finance Director. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: This week, the Texas energy company Luminant announced it would lay off 500 workers and close two coal burning power plants because it couldn’t afford to comply with new EPA air pollution regulations. Lance Brown is the Executive Director of Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy. He faults the EPA for the Luminant layoffs. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Jim Marston is with the Environmental Defense Fund. He is the Texas Regional Office and Energy Program Director. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #576, September 9, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Governor Rick Perry and the Texas wildfire — the state is seeing it’s worst wildfire season ever, and it continues to grow worse. Perry temporarily left his presidential campaign trail to deal with the fires and at a press conference he urged Texans to work together to prevent the fires from breaking out. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Wednesday night, Perry joined his fellow republican candidates at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. And as expected, frontrunner Perry and his record in Texas were the focus of the debate in California. But, in what may become the running theme of the republican battle, East very quickly faced off against West. For KUT News and the Texas Tribune, Ben Philpott reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Longtime observers of Rick Perry believe he turned in a pretty good performance during his first Presidential debate. But Perry opened the door for the public and opponents to further challenge his rhetoric and policy positions. From Dallas KERA’s Shelley Kofler has more on how Perry measured up on the national scene. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: For fans of literature, the 16th Texas Book Festival is a big event. This year it will be taking place October 22 and 23 in Austin. The 16th annual festival includes 250 authors, many of them are the year’s hottest writers. Heidi Marquez Smith is the Texas Book Festival’s executive director. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: David Rice hails from the Rio Grande Valley town of Ed Couch and places many of his stories there. His latest book is called “Heart Shaped Cookies.” When he isn’t writing, he’s visiting schools across Texas challenging students to raise their expectations. Texas Public Radio’s Yvette Benavides spoke to Rice about how he constructed this book with the intent to motivate students to read. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #575, September 2, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Every two years the legislature meets and they pass laws. Just over 700 were made in the last legislative session and many of them went into effect on September 1. Tom Vinger of the Texas Department of Public Safety explains some of the new major criminal laws. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: When examined as a whole, the new state laws say something about us as a society. These laws are a lot of small things that add up to something big according to Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: One of the controversial new state laws has been partially thrown out. The abortion sonogram law is one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the nation and two days before it was set to go into effect, a federal judge ruled it was unconstitutional. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the federal lawsuit that led to that decision. Julie Rikelman is their leading attorney for the case. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Stephen Casey is an attorney for The Texas Center for Defense of Life and supports the abortion sonogram bill. He predicts the appeal will be successful and the law will be reinstated. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: It wasn’t just state laws that went into effect on September 1. It was also the day that the new state budget kicked in. The Texas State Teachers Association says the state government is now actively starving public education. Clay Robison is a spokesperson for the TSTA. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: One of the more colorful new state laws is noodling, which is also called Hillbilly Hand Fishing. So if you’re itching to try your hand at it, we spoke to an expert noodler, Steven Gann who lives in Oklahoma where’s it’s been legal for years. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #574, August 26, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: The conservative Christian voting block will be important to Governor Rick Perry if he wants to win the Republican Presidential nomination. Yet, Perry’s campaign has been slow to answer questions about his specific religious beliefs. From North Texas Public Radio in Dallas, KERA’s Shelley Kofler takes a look at some of the questions so-called Evangelical voters will be asking. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Governor Perry isn’t just attracting the attention of possible voters; he’s also caught the eye of political check writers. The money will be especially important for Perry, as success in fundraising could cement him as the candidate to beat in the 2012 GOP primaries. From KUT News in Austin and the Texas Tribune, Ben Philpott reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: This week Governor Perry set Tuesday, November 8, 2011, as the date that Texans will vote on 10 constitutional propositions. The 10 propositions submitted by the recent legislature seem like pretty dry business for the state except for Prop 2, which backers hope will help keep the state wet. It’s a constitutional amendment that would allow the Texas Water Development Board to issue general obligation bonds for $6 billion. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State climatologist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University tells us that there are signs that this drought is likely to continue through the winter and into next summer. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Children across Texas are heading back to school, and many don’t have to worry about taking that TAKS test anymore. That doesn’t mean they can write off state-mandated standardized testing. There’s a new test, and it’s called the STARR, which stands for State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. As TPR’s Michelle Koidin Jaffee reports, the STARR is more rigorous than the old TAKS. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: Texas A&M announced on Thursday it has notified the Big 12 that it is exploring options to withdraw from the league. A&M requested that the Big 12 outline the process to be followed should the Aggies elect to withdraw from the conference. To discuss what this means for college football, we spoke to Spencer Hall a writer for the college football website everydayshouldbeSaturday.com and SBnation.com. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #573, August 19, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Now that Governor Rick Perry could be considered the front-runner in the GOP field, he’s able to bask in the national lime light, and his record in Texas is being combed through. Texas based reporters, like Forrest Wilder of the "Texas Observer," are now being asked to sit in on national political talk shows to dish on Perry. Forrest Wilder is an award winning reporter for the "Texas Observer." Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Groups like the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas is calling out Perry for what they call a "tax and spend record," and the national Libertarian Party is vocal in its anti-Perry opinion, saying he is “a pretender and not a defender of free markets.” Wes Benedict is the Executive Director of the Libertarian Party. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: As Perry runs for the White House, he likes to point to his track record in Texas for creating jobs, but some are pointing to Perry’s other record: the one about the rate of poverty, hunger and health insurance for children. The recent Texas Kids Count report shows that children in Texas are living in a deteriorating state. Scott McCown is the Executive Director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #572, August 12, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: In parts of Texas, the electricity market is private and deregulated, and there is some financial assistance for the poor. It’s called the System Benefit Fund, a $650 million dollar account. Yet, State Representative Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) says the money isn’t all being used to help the poor. Instead, it’s being held by the state government as an accounting tactic to improve the state’s budget position. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: To learn more about the controversy with the System Benefit Fund, we called the Public Utility Commission which oversees the fund. Terry Hadley is the spokesperson for the PUC. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: The Texas Education Agency has issued what some call the death penalty to a school district. The Premont Independent School District was given the rare order to shut down after years of financial problems and low standardized tests scores. Premont ISD is in Jim Wells County in the upper Rio Grande Valley, and unless it wins an appeal, it will be annexed by a neighboring school district in July 2012. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: High School football is the center of many Texas towns. It’s more than a game. That’s the title of a new exhibit at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. "Texas High School Football: More than a Game" is curated by author Joe Nick Patoski. It runs thru January 22. There’s information at thestoryoftexas.com. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: There is also a dark side to high school football; kids get injured. Sometimes, the injuries are severe and lifelong. This year a new law aims to protect high school football players and other student athletes from concussions. Mark Cousins is the policy director for the Texas-based University Interscholastic League, which exists to provide extracurricular academic, athletic, and music contests for schools. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #571, August 5, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: The town of Llano north of Austin in the Highland Lakes area is in stage 4 of water restrictions and is dealing with the possibility of running out of water. Finley deGaffenreid is the Llano city manager. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Steve Smart a meteorologist with the national weather service says La Niña appears to be re-occurring and the dry weather pattern is likely to stay in place for a while longer. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: How are the wild animals of Texas dealing with extreme heat and drought? Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist John Davis says they are feeling the stress, but they will endure. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: This is the time of year that Texas State Parks see big numbers of visitors and parks officials say the drought is not impacting their operations. How are the state parks doing with the drought and heat? Kevin Goode is the special assistant to the director of Texas state parks in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: While some in Texas hope that this drought is just an extreme of normal Texas weather others are considering that this is the result of climate change and that Texas and other southwestern states will continue to record hotter and dryer weather. One group with that analysis is the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The group said the Western United States experienced more days of extreme heat and a high rate of drought from 2000 through 2009. And they project climate change will worsen the increase in heat and dry conditions and associated health problems.They've unveiled a new web tool that lets users read just how badly Texas and other states might be impacted by climate change. You can see the tool online at nrdc.org. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #570, July 29, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: There’s no doubt that the Tea Party is the faction that turned the debt ceiling vote into an issue that could rob the government of its AAA credit rating, freeze lending, cost jobs and make some wonder if the United States has become an ungovernable nation. George Rodriguez is the president of the San Antonio Tea Party. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Texas liberals are also watching the developments in Washington D.C. over the Debt Ceiling debate. They say conservatives are playing a dangerous game with economy when they should be working on ways to create jobs. Matt Glazer is the executive director of Progress Texas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: While Washington debates, many senior citizens in Texas wonder if the political stand-off is going to hold their Social Security checks hostage. This week, the Texas AARP delivered petitions to members of Congress telling them to keep their hands off their government checks and health care. Tim Simmons is the manager for state operations for AARP Texas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The political logjam in Washington D.C. is already costing Texas jobs. There’s been a shutdown of sorts at the Federal Aviation Administration, which has put on hold, in Texas, $46 million in aviation projects. Veda Shook is the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants Communications Workers of America. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #569, July 22, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Recently, the EPA announced a new rule called the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, and it will require Texas and states in the eastern half of the nation to clean up older coal burning power plants. The EPA says there will be health benefits from the rule and would prevent up to 1,700 premature deaths a year in Texas. Some Texas power providers say the rule is too tough and could cause energy shortages. Lisa Singleton is Vice President for Corporate Communications for Energy Future Holdings. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Pro-environment groups are celebrating the new EPA rule. They say the objections of the energy providers are overblown. Tom “Smitty” Smith heads the Texas office of the environmental group Public Citizen. He says this EPA rule is long overdue. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst says he’s taken the first step in his campaign for the U.S. Senate. He has signed a Tea Party backed pledge for limiting the national debt. KERA’s Shelley Kofler has more on the effect of Dewhurst entering the race. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: When David Dewhurst made it official that he’s running for U.S. Senate, it started a round of Austin political musical chairs. Quorum Report editor Harvey Kronberg says the Dewhurst Campaign is off. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #568, July 15, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Texas Governor Rick Perry appears to be prepping for a run for the White House. But how is the prospect of a Perry presidency playing in Washington D.C.? From KERA North Texas Public Radio Matt Laslo reports from Washington D.C. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Texas is suffering its third worst drought on record. Some say it’s already worse than any dry spell in history. From KUT Austin, Mose Buchele reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: A new environmental study finds that the Border Fence is having a negative impact on wildlife along the Texas Mexico border. From the Fronteras Desk, Hernán Rozemberg has the story. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The negotiations remained stalled over lifting the nation’s debt ceiling. On Thursday, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) are pushing for a bill that will make sure military men and women get their checks when there’s a government shut down. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Bill Israel is the author of “A Nation Seized: How Karl Rove and the Political Right Stole Reality Beginning with the News.” It’s published by Marquette Books. Israel is a professor of journalism and political communication and Director of Graduate Communication Studies at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. He also has worked as a reporter and editor for major national news outlets. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #567, July 8, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Ted Cruz is running for the republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is retiring from. Lt. Governor David Dewhurst is expected to also run in the primary. The democrats are offering Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez in the general election. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: A little known provision of U.S. immigration law has been quietly expanded in the last year to provide legal residency to spouses of active-duty military members. Known as “parole in place,” it gives spouses who had been in the country illegally a temporary pardon while their green-card applications are processed. But as Hernán Rozemberg of our Fronteras Desk reports, the program has its critics. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Robert Zubrin is the author of “The Case for Mars: The Plan To Settle The Red Planet And Why We Must.” The book was recently updated, and there will be an international gathering of the Mars Society in Dallas, August 4 through the 7. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #566, July 1, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: An investigation by NPR, PBS's "Frontline" and the online investigative journalism project ProPublica found that in nearly two dozen cases in the United States and Canada people have been accused of killing children based on flawed or biased work by forensic pathologists, and then later cleared. A.C. Thompson is a reporter for PBS Frontline and ProPublica. Related Links: Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: As the nation celebrates America’s birthday, we also remember and celebrate the accomplishments of our military heroes. Author Jay Stout says the U.S. Air Force deserves a special salute for defeating the Luftwaffe – Germany’s air force during WWII. Stout wrote the book “The Men who Killed the Luftwaffe," and he says Texas played a significant role in the victory. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Texas lawmakers are back home after the regular legislative session which was immediately followed by the special session. It was a long slog for many of the state reps and senators. We find out what actually happened under the capitol dome from Harvey Kornberg, editor of the Quorum Report. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #565, June 24, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: One of the basic powers the governor exercises over the legislative process is the veto. On June 17, Perry issued his sessions vetoes. He rejected 24 bills, most noticeably a statewide ban on texting while driving. In a statement, Perry said he vetoed the bill because it was "a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults." Among the other 23 bills that were passed by the Texas House and Senate, but didn’t get past Perry, is House Bill 2403 also called the Amazon Tax bill. It would have allowed the state to start collecting sales taxes from online retailers selling their products in Texas. Eric Bearse is the spokesperson for StandWithMainStreet.com, a coalition of retailers working to pass an internet sales tax in Texas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: One bill that Perry did not veto and has become law is a measure that makes a major change to the Alamo. For the first time in more than a century, management at the iconic Alamo mission is set to change under a new law that Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed. Reporter Hernán Rozemberg explains. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Having passed the other 41 steps to become law, House Bill 1768 failed to pass the 42nd, as Gov. Rick Perry vetoed the bill which could have prevented the roadside sale of animals. It was a bill that groups dedicated to protect animals from cruelty supported. Maura Davies is the Senior Director of Communications at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Budget cuts were the reasons that Perry blocked two urban farming bills from becoming laws. The bills involve the creation and funding of the urban farming pilot program and the creation of the Select Committee on Urban Farming. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Program #564, June 17, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Fred MacFarlane is the spokesperson for the city of Vernon, California. They are trying to keep their jobs from going to Texas while also trying to stop the California state assembly from disincorporating the city. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Nate Blakeslee is a reporter for "Texas Monthly." Along with Paul Burka they have written a list of the best and worst lawmakers in the last legislative session. You can see the entire list on their website texasmonthly.com Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Nancy Northup is the director of the National Center for Reproductive Rights. The organization is taking Texas to court to try to block the sonogram abortion law. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Darron Shaw is a professor of Governemtn at UT in Austin and he helped conduct the latest Lyceum Poll which is trying to measure Texans’ attitudes and concerns about policies. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #563, June 10, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Texas is now officially in the third worst drought the state has ever seen. This week Texas A&M researchers revealed that only the droughts of 1918 and 1956 were more severe than this long dry spell. In some parts of Texas, lakes are drying up and water restrictions are being imposed. With the long-range forecast calling for continued harsh dry conditions, some West Texas water utilities are looking for the risk of running out of water while scrambling to find new sources of the precious fluid. John Grant is Director of the Colorado River Municipal Water District. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: While most of the nation is dealing with a lack of new jobs, South Texas is seeing a boom. There is a rush to tap and frack the Eagle Ford Shale for natural gas and oil. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Carol Burnett is an American entertainment living legend, and she’s a native Texan. Burnett was born in San Antonio in 1933 and moved to California in her early years. Her childhood home in San Antonio was recently saved from demolition and is being turned into a Head Start Center operated by American Sunrise, a non-profit organization established by former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros. We spoke to Burnett about her San Antonio roots and her life in entertainment. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #562, June 3, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: The legislative session is over, and there is still some critical unfinished business that lawmakers have to settle. Governor Rick Perry had no choice but to call the special session which is already underway. We get more from Harvey Konberg of the Quorum Report, an online newsletter that covers every maneuver in Texas politics. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: KERA's Shelley Kofler is in Austin and looks at whether Perry's presidential aspirations affected legislative decisions during the regular session. She reports Perry began setting the stage for a national campaign at least two years ago. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: During the legislative session many San Antonio power brokers and activists paid close attention to a bill that threatened the remaining trees outside of the city’s limits. The bill came close to becoming law, but local state representatives kept up the fight. Richard Alles, founder of the Citizens Tree Coalition, speaks on the issue. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #561, May 27, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: There are many ways to recognize and honor the sacrifice of our warriors. The Texas Veteran Commission is hoping people will do it with a contribution to the Fund for Veterans Assistance. Ret. Col. Thomas Palladino is the Executive Director of the Texas Veterans Commission. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: In Wichita Falls, they are taking an extra step in honoring local service members. The Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce started a new program called "Troops First" and it encourages civilians to give up their place in line for uniformed service men and women. Carla Bolin is with the Chamber. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Looking for some fun summer time reading during your vacation? Texas author's Justin Cronin's hit vampire thriller "The Passage" is now in paperback. He tells us the sequels are in the works. "The Passage" is a horror novel about the end of civilization brought about by a virus that turns people into vampires. Cronin lives in Houston. The city is featured prominently in the book. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #560, May 19, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Talk about a Perry presidential run has been whispered about for weeks, but it was an article on Real Clear Politics that really got tongues wagging. Erin McPike is the author of the article “Perry's Actions Suggest a Serious Look at 2012.” Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Bill Owen is a San Antonio attorney who is working to change the way that Texas draws its political maps during redistricting. He’d like to see maps that favor the representation of voters over that of politicians. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: The countdown is on for the end of the legislative session. Texas awmakers must be done by May 30, Memorial Day. With the way things are looking, now it’s going to be a squeaker making that deadline, or else, there will be a special session. As the deadline approaches, education supporters are looking to hold another major rally on the capital steps to ask that education spending levels be restored. Jason Sabo is a spokesperson for Save Texas Schools. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #559, May 13, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: On Tuesday, President Barack Obama traveled to El Paso to give a speech about his plan for immigration reform. President Obama argued that now is the time for immigration reform as the border area is now under control and safer than its ever been. He even took a mocking jab at his political opponents who continue to demand more resources for border protection. Governor Rick Perry did not meet with President Obama when he was in Texas. Perry said he didn’t think Obama’s remarks were accurate or in good taste. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: The White House is following up on President’s Obama speech and highlighting their claim the U.S. Southern Border is now secure. Alan Bersin, Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, says the numbers don’t lie. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: When President Obama was in Texas he was invited to tour some of the areas blackened by this terrible season of wild fires. He declined that invitation. Of the many wild fires, it is the Rock House Fire in West Texas that stands as the largest and most stubborn. It began on April 9th just outside of Marfa and raced north into the town of Fort Davis. The Rock House Fire has only in recent days come under containment. It has entered the record books as one of the largest grassland fires in Texas history, with just under 315,000 acres burned. Tom Michael of Marfa Public Radio looks at how it started and what made this fire so fierce. For photographs of the fire and updates about the current West Texas fires, go to Marfa Public Radio. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: NPR’s ombudsman Alicia Shepard is moving on. Shepard was appointed listener’s representative in October 2007. During her tenure, she was sucked into some major controversies that placed an unflattering spotlight on NPR. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina washed over New Orleans, people are still dealing with the aftermath. Texas filmmaker Ya’ke Smith’s short film “Katrina’s Son” looks at the devastating effects of the storm through the eyes of a child searching for his relocated mother. The film will be screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and is eligible for a 2012 Academy Award nomination. Texas Public Radio’s Nathan Cone spoke with Ya’Ke Smith in our studios. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #558, May 6, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: The Texas Senate passed their version of the state budget on Wednesday. It was a vote straight down party lines. While the Senate’s budget isn’t as austere as the House budget, it still makes significant cuts to education and social services, and it leaves the Rainy Day Fund untouched. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: The state budget process now moves behind doors as the state house and senate work to shape a budget that both chambers can agree on. But with such a major multi-billion dollar spending gap between the two budgets, it’s expected that compromise will become capitulation for the state senate. We get more from Harvey Kronberg, editor of the "Quorum Report," an online newsletters that covers Texas politics. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: In the budget fight political sides are looking to capture public opinion in order to have greater influence in the process. And at least two groups are looking to use star power. Including former U.S. Senator Phil and Wendy Gramm and actor Tommy Lee Jones. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: And it’s not just education that’s facing the budget ax.ealth and human services to the state’s elderly are also facing cut. One program targeted for cuts is Medicaid, a state and federal partnership that funds health care services for those in need. TPR’s Terry Gildea takes us inside one nursing home to understand how cuts could affect patients and staff. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Holly Binns is a project manager for the Pew Trusts Environmental Group. They are spreading the word about public hearings next week in Corpus Christi, Port Aransas and Galveston concerning new rules to prevent overfishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: Bob Flournoy of Lufkin wore the same red white and blue patriotic tie for seven years. He vowed to do so after 9/11 until Osama Bin Ladin was brought to justice. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #557, April 29, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Governor Rick Perry expresses his frustration with the lack of federal help for the state’s wildfires. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Is the Texas drought related to global climate change? We hear from State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon. He is a professor at Texas A&M’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and he writes a climate-related blog called Climate Abyss for the "Houston Chronicle." Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: State Comptroller Susan Combs explains what caused a data breach of her office with KUT’s Ben Philpot. The personal information of 3.5 million Texans was exposed online and was possibly downloaded by hackers. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The Texas brand sells everything from cigarettes, beer, trucks and political points of view. While this brand is based on the history and myth of Texas, some elements of Texas history are not included the state’s popularidentity. Award-winning historian Glen Sample Ely considers this a problem. He argues that Texans need to be more familiar with all of the state’s history — the good, the bad and the ugly. Ely wrote "Where the West Begins: Debating Texas Identity;" it’s published by Texas Tech University Press. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #556, April 22, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: The rough and tumble process of political redistricting is underway at the Texas legislature. At stake are no less than four new congressional districts and numerous state boundary line revisions. Given previous history, Hernán Rozemberg of the Fronteras Desk explains that a prolonged and partisan battle is in the making. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Fracking is being used to excavate the oil and natural gas found in the Barnett shale and Eagle Ford Shale areas in Texas. But there's growing concern that fracking is causing environmental damage to the underground water table. The group Earth Justice is working to protect people and the environment from the potentially devastating impacts of oil and gas development. Jessica Ennis is a legislative associate for Earth Justice. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Chris Tucker is a media spokesperson for Energy In Depth, a natural gas and petroleum advocacy agency that promotes the industry and works to prevent new federal regulations on fracking. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Caroline Kennedy is the editor of an anthology of poetry called "She Walks in Beauty." Kennedy will visit San Antonio April 28 and 29 as part of a five-city tour for the book. More information is at geminiink.org. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #555, April 15, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Governor Rick Perry at Merkel Texas explains the state’s efforts to combat the wild fires. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Oscar Mestas of the Texas Forest Service gives an update on the wild fires and how they are battling the blazes. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Fronteras Reporter Al Macias explains reasoning behind Section 5 of the landmark Voting Rights Act. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Marc Simon Rodriguez is Assistant Professor of history and law and a fellow of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He’s written the book “The Tejano Diaspora: Mexican Americanism and Ethnic Politics in Texas and Wisconsin.” It’s published by the University of North Carolina Press. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: This week, two dozen Southern Methodist University students have been living outside in a United Nations type refugee camp. In the village they’ve built, KERA’s Bill Zeeble reports students have constructed affordable shelters for survivors of disasters and poverty. For more information and a slide show on SMU’s global village, go to KERA.org Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #554, April 8, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: The possibility of a federal government shutdown has politicians scurrying for cover. No one wants to take the blame for what could be a blow to the nation's economic recovery. But how badly is it really going to hurt? We sent our Fronteras Desk reporters across the Southwest to find out. We start in Phoenix, with Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: In the East Texas town of Palestine – the battle over how to best remember the men who fought in Civil War is taking place in front of the Anderson County Courthouse. The local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was given permission by the county to fly a confederate flag on the courthouse official flagpole. Mark Robinson was leading the effort to hoist the Confederate flag at the courthouse. He is the Commander of the John H. Reagan Camp – Sons of Confederate Veterans in Palestine, Texas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Rashid Mims is an Anderson County Commissioner. The confederate flag was recently flown at the Anderson County Courthouse and was forced to be taken down. The controversy has divided the community over how to best honor the memory of the local men who served in the Confederate Army while also remembering the horror of slavery which they were fighting to protect. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: A group of Hispanic lawmakers has filed a preemptive lawsuit against the state over redistricting. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus filed the suit Tuesday to prevent the use of 2010 Census numbers they say are flawed. Representative Trey Martinez Fisher (D-San Antonio) is the Chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: How often have you heard someone call something “retarded” or even call someone a “retard.” If it shocks you to hear the words coming from your radio, then imagine what it must be like for someone who has an intellectual disability to hear the word tossed about in popular culture or even by high ranking politicians. There is a bill in the Texas legislature that would send the R-word to the word graveyard. Housebill 1481 fine-tunes the Government Code, which, since 1965, has used the terms "mentally retarded" and "cripple" to describe those with mental and physical disabilities. It replaces the terms with "person first" language supported by disability rights advocates. Under Truitt's bill, "mentally retarded" becomes "person with intellectual disability." "Cripple" becomes "person with disabilities." Danette Castle, CEO of the Texas Council of Community Centers. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Program #553, April 1, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Private Prisons — Texas has more of them than any other state in the county. Up until a few years ago, rural cities and counties were lining up to incarcerate inmates for profit. Then something changed. Today, roughly 30 percent of Texas' County Jail beds sit empty. Empty prisons should sound like good news, but the trend has left many Texas communities with prisons they can't fill and mounting debts. We get more on the story from Austin KUT's Mose Buchele in a special report produced in a partnership with NPR. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Friday in Austin, the Texas House has begun debating the next state budget. There is the $27 billion budget hole that the lawmakers have decided to fill without tax increases. Instead the budget will be balanced by making deep cuts to state services. Families with disabled children is one group that will feel the slash of services. The organization Texas Families Unite is hoping they can convince lawmakers to preserve that state funding. Linda Litzinger is an organizer for Families Unite. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: It can be tough to keep up with all the parliamentarian maneuvers happening in Austin as lawmakers debate the state budget. To help us chart the budget process and what's at stake, we've got Harvey Kronberg of the Quorum Report, the online newsletter that covers Texas politics. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: A New York advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit this week claiming that children in the Texas foster care system are forced to spend years in abusive, poorly supervised facilities and homes. The group Children's Rights filed the suit on behalf of 12,000 children and names Governor Rick Perry, the Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner as defendants. Barry McNeil is a partner with the Dallas law firm Haynes and Boone. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #552, March 26, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
The Waco State Home was established as the State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children by the Thirty-sixth Legislature in 1919. It was in operation until 1979. Anglo children adjudged by district courts to be neglected were declared wards of the state of Texas, and they were admitted to the home for care, education, and training. For many years, what happened inside the walls of the Wace State Home was only whispered about. Frequently, there was harsh treatment of the children — brutal beatings and sexual abuse. The stories of the former residents of the Waco State Home would have all been forgotten except for the efforts of Sherry Matthews. She’s written a book based on state records and the oral histories of the alumni called “We were not Orphans: Stories from the Waco State Home," published by the University of Texas Press. Show #551, March 18, 2010 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Despite the best efforts to cut $27 billion from the state budget there remains the forecast that Texas will be in another $10 billion hole two years from now. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies has more on what’s called the Structural Deficit Problem. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: There are critics who say it was a mistake for the Texas leadership to tap into the Rainy Day Fund. One of those critics is former State Representative Talmadge Heflin. Heflin is the Director of Texas Public Policy foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Last weekend there was a massive rally in support of teachers at the State Capit0l. It’s estimated that 11,000 people participated. They called on the lawmakers to use the Rainy Day Fund and to spare education from the chopping block. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Conservatives in Texas appear to be concerned about a political splashback from the expected teacher cuts. They have gone on the offensive with television ads that blame school administrators for the teacher firings. The group Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has launched a website — protecttheclassroom.com — and have produced political TV ads. This one has an actor portraying an overweight cigar smoking school administrator who randomly fires teachers while picking out a luxury location for the administration retreat. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Texas school administrators say this portrayal is a fantasy. Richard Middleton is the superintendent for Northeast ISD in San Antonio. He says the budget cuts in Austin are going to be felt in public classrooms across Texas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: Nathan Cone spoke to the cast and director of "Natural Selection" at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin. The film won the Grand Jury Prize, and it’s two stars, Rachael Harris and Matt O'Leary, were singled out by the jury for Breakthrough Performances. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #550, March 11, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Texas Lawmakers are in Austin working on the next state budget. And it’s getting ugly as they deal with the $27 billion budget shortfall. But there is still some unfinished business from the last legislative session. The current state budget is coming up short. To finish out this fiscal year the state government must find, cut or use accounting tricks to cover $4.3 billion dollars. On Thursday as the House Appropriations Committee looked for a solution. They kept coming back to using the Rainy Day Fund. Texas Public Radio’s Brian Kirkpatrick reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: What does this mean for the main streets of Texas? There’s no debate on this. It looks grim. According to a county by county assessment by the Austin based Center for Public Policy Priorities, a lot of people are going to lose their jobs and a lot of people who depend on state services won't have those services anymore. Eva DeLuna Castro is the Senior Budget Analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorites. To see how your county is going to be impacted by the current state budget bills go to their website cppp.org. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Legislators trying to close the gigantic state budget hole plan to raid city revenue and increase traffic fees. KERA’s Shelley Kofler reports on how the state budget crisis could threaten budgets for cities including Dallas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The Texas Historical Commission is set for massive cuts to it’s budget. That could mean big job losses for the state. TPR’s David Martin Davies reports Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Texas German is a remnant of a robust German immigrant community that settled in the Texas Hill Country near San Antonio. From the Fronteras: Changing America Desk, Hernán Rozemberg reports that the dialect is dying out. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #549, March 4, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: On Thursday Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon traveled to Washington D.C. to work with President Barack Obama on problems that plague the border the two nations share. In a press conference in the East Room of the White House, Obama praised Calderon for fighting the drug cartels and cracking down on violence at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: The news of the cross border trucking agreement sent shock waves through the U.S. Trucking industry and many of the long haulers didn’t like it. Norita Taylor is the spokesperson for the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Drug violence in Mexico has forced thousands of families to seek refuge in the United States. As a result some Mexican students are coming into Texas classrooms with a kind of severe psychological trauma that schools have never seen before. And because few people are willing to talk about the issue, some students are not getting the help they need. From Fronteras: The Changing America Desk Monica Ortiz Uribe, reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: In Austin, lawmakers are wrestling with one of the legislative items that Governor Rick Perry deemed an emergency issue: Sanctuary Cities. On Wednesday the House Committee on State Affairs heard from the public on the issue. Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies has more. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: When this legislative session wraps up the state of Texas could end up being smoke-free. That’s what that a coalition of anti-smoking organizations are saying. The group is called Smoke Free Texas, and they are pushing for a statewide ban on smoking in the workplace. Joel Romo is with the American Heart Association and a member of Smoke Free Texas. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: On Sunday March 6,it will be the 175 years since the fall of the Alamo. Every year, there are ceremonies and remembrances at the old Spanish mission turned make-shift fort. Alamo spokesperson Tony Caridi said this year there will be extra flourishes in events. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 7: Interview with Bob Benavides of the San Antonio Living History Association – there's more information about the Alamo commemorative events at sanantoniolivinghistory.org. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #548, February 25, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: On Thursday, a bill passed a key House committee requiring women to receive a sonogram before they can have an abortion. A similar bill has already passed the Texas Senate, and it's expected to become law. Representative Sid Miller (R), Stevenville, is the author of House Bill 15. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care provider and advocate. It is opposed to the sonogram bill. Rochelle Tefolla is the spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast located in Houston. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: In the fields of California, Texas and Arizona, more than three million men and women make their living as farm workers. This population is at high risk of HIV infection, and increasingly, they have fewer resources to control it. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: In Austin, the budget ax continues to chop away at Texas education funding. Lawmakers are looking to close a historic $27 billion budget shortfall. Former State Demographer Steve Murdock says the price is too high, and with these cuts in place, the future of Texas looks grim. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: It's been two and a half years since Hurricane Ike hit Texas. Since that time, thousands of people have been living in temporary housing paid for by the federal government. This week, FEMA announced another extension for temporary housing payments for the displaced. Forrest Wilder, a reporter for the Texas Observer investigated. He found that the Texas-run disaster recovery plan has been a disaster. You can read his report at texasobserver.org. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: The shuttle Discovery blasted off Thursday on its final voyage. The space ship is carrying six astronauts and a humanoid robot. Discovery is NASA's most traveled space shuttle, putting in nearly three decades of service. Now it's slated to become the first of NASA's three remaining shuttles to retire. This is the 39th flight for Discovery, which has logged 143 million miles (230 million kilometers) since its first mission in 1984. Nathan Bernier of Austin's KUT Public Radio has this audio retrospective of the shuttle program. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #547, February 18, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: The 2010 Census is revealing a state that is increasingly urban and Latino. We get more from Hernán Rozemburg from Fronteras: The Changing America Desk. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Matt Angle is the director of the Lone Star Project. He says the new census figures show the dramatic population growth in Texas is driven almost entirely by minorities. Special attention must be paid to make sure that the increased population growth and voting strength of minority Texans are protected. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: A growing number of American kids from border towns are being recruited into Mexican drug cartels. Michel Marizco from Fronteras: The Changing America Desk reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Texas' debate on illegal immigration continues this legislative session with the proposal of an Arizona-style immigration bill. The bill, HB 311, would require law enforcement to inquire about immigration status if a person is arrested, regardless of the nature of the crime. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Monica Ortiz Uribe, from Fronteras: The Changing America Desk reports that New Mexico is pushing forward get tough anti-illegal immigration laws similar to it’s neighbor, Arizona. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: A report released this week has rekindled the debate over a controversial immigration enforcement program. Should local police agencies help deport every undocumented person they encounter, or only those who have committed serious crimes? From Fronteras: The Changing America Desk in Las Vegas, Jude Joffe Block reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 7: A new report on drug violence in Mexico shows that by far most of drug violence is happening in only one part of the nation. More than 80 percent of last year's record number of murders occurred in just four Mexican states. From Fronteras: The Changing America Desk reporter Amy Isackson has the story. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 8: Carter Smith is the Executive Director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Parks and Wildlife has a new documentary called “The State of the Gulf: America’s Sea.” Check your local PBS station for air times. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #546, February 11, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Governor Rick Perry gave his sixth State of the State address Tuesday. While he announced that the state of Texas is strong, Perry did say there are tough budget choices facing the state. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: How was Perry’s speech received in places like Poteet and other towns in Texas? We turn to the editor of the Quorum Report, Harvey Kronberg, for his analysis. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: The state has a reported $27 billion budget shortfall. It is hard to wrap one's mind around that number and to understand what it means for residents of Texas. For school districts across Texas, however, that budget shortfall translates to a massive downsize in teacher ranks — with an increase of students per class — and reductions in education services. This week, David Martin Davies attended two San Antonio town hall meetings addressing the budget cuts: one at the San Antonio Independent School District, and another at the North side Independent School District. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The school funding crisis has caused grassroots organizations to sprout across Texas, mobilizing to keep teachers in classrooms. Save Texas Schools is one of these groups. They are planning a rally on the capital steps in Austin on March 12. Allen Weeks an organizer of Save Texas Schools. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #545, February 4, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: There is a serious side to Super Bowl coverage. State officials call the Super Bowl a human trafficking magnet. Bill Zeeble is a reporter for KERA in Dallas, and he tells us the crime is among the toughest to identify. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: This week a mass of arctic air swallowed Texas. The mercury and snow fell--even down in South Texas. The state's electric power providers were caught off guard just as electricity demand spiked, setting a wintertime record for usage. We talk to Trip Doggett, president and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: One part of the Texas grid that was working overtime to keep up with demand was the wind energy sector. Michael Goggin is the manager of transmission policy for the American Wind Energy Association. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: Texas and the EPA are tussling over the regulation of cement kiln emissions. Congressman John Carter (R-Round Rock) is leading the fight in Congress to undo the EPA authority in this area. The Texas watchdog group Downwinders at Risk is looking to counter Carter.J im Schermbeck is an organizer for Downwinders at Risk. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Health care costs in the United States continue to rise, and that includes the cost of dental care. Some people are looking to save money and save their pearly whites by going across the border.But is the care as good as north of the border? Devin Brown from Fronteras: The Changing America Desk has the story. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: It was just 6 million years ago that humans and chimpanzees shared a common ancestor. And bio-science research has made use of our commonality with chimps. A lot of that life-saving medical research is happening in San Antonio, but animal rights groups say the practice needs to stop. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #544, January 28, 2011 Rodney Crowell’s Chinaberry Sidewalks
Rodney Crowell grew up in the early 1950’s, east of Houston in Crosby, Texas. A shoddy housing development was the stage for the story of his childhood and his outlandish, dysfunctional family. Crowell’s childhood was simply toxic. He managed to overcome years of emotional and physical abuse to become one of country music’s most admired songwriters. In his new memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks, Crowell tells his story in a manner that sidesteps the tattle-tale tone of many growing-up-miserable memoirs. Texas Matters' Yvette Benavides spoke to Crowell about his childhood and writing the memoir. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript
Show #543, January 21, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: Rick Perry was sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term as Texas Governor this week. Texas Matters recaps the governors inauguration day. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Michael Phillips is a professor of history at Collin College in Plano and the co-author of the book The House Will Come to Order: How the Texas Speaker Became a Power in State and National Politics. The book is published by the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History and University of Texas Press. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: The threat posed by organized crime in Mexico is so great that even the Catholic Church is not safe. From Fronteras: Monica Ortiz Uribe of Fronteras: The Changing America Desk reports from the border city of Juarez. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: When a gunman killed six people last Saturday in Tucson, he took the life of Federal Judge John Roll, one of the hardest working judges along the U.S.-Mexico border. From Fronteras: The Changing America Desk in Tucson, Michel Marizco reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: Despite its location in the Southwest, Texas is only home to three federally recognized Indian tribes. A little-known Native American community in San Antonio is trying to be the fourth. From Fronteras: Changing America Desk, Hernán Rozemberg reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 6: The recent murder of Mexican poet and activist Susana Chavez has elicited much attention south of the border. From Fronteras: Changing America Desk, Monica Ortiz Uribe reports from Juarez. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #542, January 13, 2011 Special Program: The Texas Budget Deficit and the 82nd Legislature Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: State Comptroller Susan Combs remarks on Texas' revenue projection. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: A special report from KERA News in Dallas, "The State of Texas: 2011." Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Show #541, January 7, 2011 Full Program Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 1: This week, the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission passed proposal that would open up Texas to accept the radioactive waste of 36 states. The nuclear trash would eventually be buried at a private landfill run by Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County. Andrews in on the New Mexico border about 30 miles north of Odessa. Public Citizen Texas was one of the leading voices opposed to the opening up of the WCS nuclear waste dump. Tom Smitty Smith is the organization's director. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 2: Previously on Texas Matters, our coverage of the Andrews County bond election that financed the nuclear waste site. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 3: Texas isn't the only state dealing with the fallout of the growth of the nuclear energy industry. Near the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Denison Mines wants permission to open three uranium mines. From Fronteras: The Changing America Desk in Flagstaff, Laurel Morales reports that the biggest worry is whether these mines pose a threat to drinking water. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 4: The production of solar and wind energy is booming in Texas and across the Southwest. There is a land rush to find suitable places to put wind and sun farms, and that rush is reaching into Mexico. From Fronteras: The Changing America Desk, Ruxandra Guidi reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript Segment 5: There is another "Hecho en Mexico" export, growing in popularity: Tequila. From Fronteras, The Changing America Desk, Al Macias reports. Audio Player Requires Flash and JavaScript  |
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Texas is a big state with a growing, diverse population and as the population grows, the issues and challenges facing its residents multiply. Texas Matters is a statewide news program that spends half an hour each week looking at the issues, newsmakers and culture of Texas.
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