‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
[link removed]
View this email as a web page.
[link removed]
There’s a kind of beauty in a well-done task. Something you can sense about skill and purpose and hard work coming together. It’s a feeling you chase. In December, I saw it in Alpine. KUT multimedia journalist Julia Reihs and I went there to cover a
[link removed]
desert bighorn sheep relocation . It’s quite a spectacle (and you can see Julia’s fantastic photos of it
[link removed]
all here ). If I try, I can put myself back in the moments from that day: standing at the base of Elephant Mountain in the pre-dawn dark, watching that first sheep get lowered to the ground from a helicopter, recording them bound out of a trailer and disappear into the desert. But what really stuck with me from that story was the competency and compassion of the people there. It was remarkable to watch wildlife professionals like Dewey Stockbridge, Brandon White, and Dr. Bob Dittmar work with these animals. They could tell a sheep’s age by their horns, like reading tree rings. When others had trouble drawing blood, they knew just how to maneuver the syringe to coax out a sample. They’d patiently explain to a nosy, know-nothing reporter why if you stand there to record sheep
getting loaded into the trailer, you’ll probably get kicked. They were competent and compassionate – the kind of person you want to be, or at least be around. Which is why it hurt so much to read that on Saturday, the three of them
[link removed]
died in a helicopter crash over Black Gap Wildlife Management Area in west Texas. They were conducting aerial surveys of the herd there – a not-uncommon task if you’re in the bighorn business. Their deaths are painful to think about. I’ve been trying not to focus too much on the loss, but instead be grateful that I got to know these folks who’d mastered their craft and used it for something higher than themselves. I’m lucky to have seen them at work. I hope to follow their example. Thanks for taking the time to read, and review more of our stories from the past week.
- Michael Marks
[link removed]
@michaelpmarks
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
How One Man’s Disturbing Arrest Is Improving The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department
An elderly man with a brain disease called police for a safe ride home. Instead, he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed.
He sued – and outcome of the case has changed policing in his community.
[link removed]
[link removed]
'There Are No Risk-Free Propositions' But This Former Education Secretary Says Schools Must Reopen
Former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings says some basic precautions will allow schools to reopen more safely.
[link removed]
Read More
[link removed]
[link removed]
Pandemic Limits Some Kids And Parents In The CPS System To Video Visits
Family court judges have ruled that visits must be online if one of the parties is fragile, or particularly susceptible to COVID-19.
[link removed]
Read More
[link removed]
[link removed]
Amid Pandemic And Protests, College Football As We Know It Is Over
Players feel increasingly empowered to "have a seat at the table" when it comes to decisions about the football season.
[link removed]
Read More
-
Census Changes Could Take Political Power, Funding From Texas Latinos Already Hit Hard By COVID-19
[link removed]
(KUT Austin)
-
Mexican Victims Of El Paso Shooting Seek Special Visas
[link removed]
(KERA North Texas)
-
Despite Broad Support, Mayor Turner Won’t Budge On Houston Eviction Grace Period
[link removed]
(Houston Public Media)
-
After Cocaine Charge, Texas State Rep. Poncho Nevarez Is Sober
[link removed]
(Texas Public Radio)
[link removed]
[link removed]
I’m Bill Zeeble,
[link removed]
reporter with KERA in North Texas where I’ve worked since 1992. I’m an education reporter these days, but for a long time I covered everything from museums and music to politics, parades, board meetings and board rooms. As KERA’s staff grew, we watched other stations around the state grow too. I’m now among a posse of diverse, public radio education reporters across the state helping to cover one of the biggest, most important, and constantly changing stories of our lives: COVID-19. What’s unusual about this one is we are reporting the story that we’re living through. We conduct interviews from great distances, usually through a mask. (Wanna travel back into time? The picture’s from my very early COVID-19 reporting in March, before masks were
required – and before I even had one.) But the fundamentals haven’t changed. When we’re interviewing people, we’re still looking into their eyes, listening to their words and sensing their emotions. These days those emotions are raw. Parents love their natural-born geniuses that they desperately want to educate. Teachers love their jobs many say they’ve been called to. They don’t want to die doing it – and COVID-19 makes that fear real, even if statistics say the odds are low. Everyone’s got a story, and they can always be compelling. Always. That’s why this beat keeps on giving. We keep working to get it right, and keep it fair.
- Bill Zeeble
[link removed]
@bzeeble
[link removed]
Thank You to our Sponsors
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
The Texas Standard is a partnership of
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
No matter where you are,
you're on Texas Standard Time
Connect with
[link removed]
The Texas Standard
512-471-1631 |
mailto:
[email protected]?subject=
Contact Us
----------------------------------------
This email was sent by:
KUT and KUTX Public Radio
300 W. Dean Keeton, A0704
Austin, TX, 78712-8546, US
We respect your right to privacy - visit the following URL to view our policy.
( [link removed] )
----------------------------------------
Visit the following URL to manage your subscriptions.
( [link removed] )
Visit the following URL to update your profile.
( [link removed] )
Visit the following URL to unsubscribe.
( [link removed] )
