Our guest host Joy Diaz has some thoughts about statehood, federal spending and making sure our flags look fabulous.
Have you heard the District of Columbia wants to become the 51st state? Just yesterday, the U.S. House Oversight Committee delivered a proposal
to make Washington, D.C., a state. It makes me wonder so many things, but chiefly, where do we put the extra star on the flag? Should it come to pass, maybe D.C. could take some advice from Texas. After all, we’ve been everything from a colony to a republic to the Lone Star State. D.C. is on my mind for several reasons, including the president’s new proposed budget
. Allocating billions of more dollars toward building a U.S.-Mexico border wall, there’s a lot for Texans to unpack in there. And as the some of the most intimately impacted, maybe D.C. should take some advice from us on this topic too, no? It’s one of the stories we took a look at this week. Check out some of our other favorites below – and we’ll see you next week.
Beto O’Rourke’s Not Backing Down, Even If He May Be A Liability In Some Districts
The former congressman is organizing to turn the Texas House blue – but says he’ll send volunteers to districts where his presence might be too divisive.
The Voice Of Big Tex, Bob Boykin, Dies At 73 (KERA)
Texas Researchers Say They Found A Way To Help Cops ID Pot With 100% Accuracy – Using Lasers. (KUT)
Once A Rural Problem, Feral Hogs Are Now Encroaching On Houston’s Suburbs (Houston Public Media)
Rodeos Take A Toll On Athletes; These Doctors Offer Free Care To Keep Them Healthy (Texas Public Radio)
I’ve been covering a wide range of mobility and transportation issues in the Austin area since I arrived in June – just in time for the summer! They range from enforcement of bike lane rules to the future of
the region’s transit system. I’ve found that a lot of the issues here are shared by the other large urban areas in the state. As more and more people move to Texas, urban leaders struggle with how to get everyone from place to place and ease congestion in the process. Houston, for instance, has been looking to expand transit and
other related infrastructure, while at the same time, the Texas Department of Transportation is looking to expand the region’s freeway capacity. It will continue to be a fascinating issue to follow – not only from my home base in Austin, but across Texas.
