Does the name Eric Holder ring a bell? Right: he's the former U.S. Attorney General in the Obama Administration. More recently, he's been leading the National Democratic Redistricting Committee , which has been spending no small amount of time monitoring the post-Census redistricting battles nationwide. Now, Holder's team is honing in on Texas as its affiliate, the National Redistricting Action Fund, puts its support into a major legal challenge of Texas' newly drawn redistricting maps. In the lawsuit, the group Voto Latino charges that the newly redrawn boundaries for congressional districts dilute the voting power of communities of color in Texas, violating the Voting Rights Act. The charge is that although 95% of Texas' growth over the last 10 years has been among people of color, the new maps do not give Black or Hispanic voters a fair opportunity to elect their representatives. Though such legal battles are likely to continue for years, one closer-term effect may be to the timetable in a busy 2022 election season. In the meantime, Texas health officials are watching the clock closely now that the FDA has given the green-light to COVID vaccinations for kids ages five to 11. Nearly 3 million young Texans will be eligible, with vaccinations expected to start as soon as early November. Any questions? Parents have plenty. And we've been getting some answers from some of Texas' top pediatricians. We invite you to explore these stories and much more in this week's Talk of Texas newsletter (psst: tell your friends!), handpicked by social media editor Wells Dunbar and the rest of the talented Texas Standard team. And you can be sure that even when the closing strains of the big broadcast fade each weekday, our producers are already thinking about the next news cycle and the stories that will affect the lives of Texans near and far. You can keep up with the news 24/7 at TexasStandard.org, and until next week, we'll see you on the radio.

- David Brown

Work safe, Texas. Texas Work Comp Insurance

Texas has unveiled its COVID vaccine plan for children

The FDA and CDC are expected to give final approval next week to a version of the Pfizer vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11.

Bitcoin miners keep coming to Texas. No one knows how the fragile electric grid will be affected.

Mining for crypto requires a lot of electricity. Some operators says they want to use renewable sources when they can.

After a quiet rule change, Delta-8 products are now illegal in Texas

The change caught consumers and retailers off guard, but legal action could be coming.

LISTEN: Life after prison – and the redemptive power of family love

With his sister’s help, Marshall Byers is starting a new chapter after 15 years behind bars. You’ll want to hear this story.

Jewish communities in Austin and San Antonio targeted by neo-Nazi group (Texas Public Radio)
Abbott signs bill limiting transgender youth participation on public school sports teams (Texas Newsroom)
Boys and nonbinary students at Magnolia ISD can have long hair for now, after a judge temporarily blocked the district’s ban (Houston Public Media)
Texas lawmakers drew political maps that will make elections less competitive in the coming years (KUT Austin)

Hi there! I'm Kristen Cabrera with Texas Standard. As a producer my job keeps me primarily behind the scenes. I'll find a topic, book guests, write an intro and questions, trim radio interviews for air and write up a short version for the website all in one day pretty much. It brings me in touch with a range of stories. Some focus on hard news, like the Q&A we did about current U.S. and state representatives who had to change campaign plans after they were drawn out of their districts, and new candidates that could throw their hat in the ring for a seat. But producing can also include a lot of really fun and exciting moments. This week, I was elated to produce a second interview with Cristela Alonzo . A Rio Grande Valley native, Alonzo was the first Latina to both write, create and star in her own network TV show. Since then she has had Netflix specials, starred in Pixar movies and used her platform to focus on activism. She's also an author and spoke with me previously about her autobiography called "Music To My Years: A Mixtape Memoir Of Growing Up And Standing Up.” Tuesday, Alonzo returned to the Standard to talk about her new role as game show host on CW's "Legends Of The Hidden Temple ," a show we both grew up watching in the ‘90s. Originally on Nickelodeon, it now features adults doing what the kids used to do – and having a blast. Alonzo talks about how reentering television after taking a break to focus on activism didn't scare her because she "already beat the odds, being this Rio Grande Valley native, first generation Mexican-American wanting to do this thing as a dream, not having any access to it – [and] breaking through." Being from the Valley as well and entering the radio journalism field, I know the exact same feeling: we both want to tell stories of and about people who normally don't get a say in how their story is told. If you know of a story like that or anything you think is just interesting please let me know! You can email me [email protected] or find me on Twitter. And as a bonus recommendation: check out another interview I produced with Mexican writer, director and illustrator Jorge Gutierrez on his Mesoamerican epic, "Maya And The Three."

- Kristen Cabrera
@MsKCabrera

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