Corpus Christi official says the city will never run out of water

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Despite warnings of a water crisis, Corpus Christi's top official overseeing water says we will never run out.

Our conversation and more today on the Texas Standard.

Texas Standard is a production of KUT Austin, K-E-R-A North Texas, Houston Public Media,

and Texas Public Radio in San Antonio.

I'm David Brown. The governor is warned of a state takeover of Corpus Christi

if the city can't deal with a water crisis there. Today, the city manager tells us why he's so reluctant

to declare a water emergency, even as reservoirs drop below 10%.

Also, the maker of a popular wheat killer blamed for cancer deaths in Texas and across the country,

facing more than 100,000 lawsuits now asking the Supreme Court to limit their liability.

Michael Marx unpacks that case. Also, the week in politics and a whole lot more

as the Texas Standard gets underway right after this.

No matter where you are, Texas Standard time on this third day of April,

the start of a wet weekend for much of the Lone Star State.

I'm David Brown. No matter how much rain we get, it won't be enough for Corpus Christi.

Where published reports say the city's just months, perhaps weeks away from a stage one water

emergency. As reservoirs have dropped below 10%, the governor is warned of a state takeover

amid reports of mismanagement of this crisis. On again, off again talks about building a water

desalination plant. Our on again, but it would be expensive and likely couldn't be built fast enough

to deal with shortages in the short term. The person ultimately responsible for management of

the city's water infrastructure has been pushing back against any sense of panic,

insisting Corpus Christi will not run out of water. His name is Peter Zannoni, the city manager

of Corpus Christi, Mr. Zannoni. Welcome to the Texas Standard.

Yeah, thank you, David. Glad to be on with you all this morning.

I know you've been in this role since 2019, about seven years. Back then, what were the conversations

like at the local and state level about the water issues facing Corpus Christi?

You know, back then our western reservoirs were in pretty decent shape.

And so the focus really was was bringing on an additional water supply, you see water desalination,

but it was it was done in the more the conversations were more in a relaxed atmosphere.

But concerns have certainly spiked in recent weeks. There have been several stories that have

reported on how Corpus Christi is months away from a full-on water catastrophe. When did the alarm

bell start ringing in your office? Yeah, and I would just correct that you know there's been

some some additional industry. There's a there's a notion out there that all of a sudden we

added the we added tons of refineries and petrochemical plants. If we look at our city, the

the main refiners that are here, the three to four, they've been here for decades. Now we

we did agreeably add a few more industrial customers that are in the petrochemical space,

but it is known and it should have been known to the leaders of the city that we have a

a large industrial complex that uses a lot of water and that really hasn't changed substantially

since I've been here or in the last decade. So we've known it here. I think I think the the

bigger issue is is the lack of commitment to be focused on bringing on alternative water

supply projects, diversified alternative supply projects. It has been over 30 years since the city

invested in a new water source. Governor Abbott, when he when this appeared on their radar screen

in Austin, he seemed to be pretty agitated. He was threatening to take over the city of Corpus

Christi and try to manage this water crisis from that point. Where do coordination efforts stand

with the state right now? Right, so the state has been an extreme partner in helping us do

this throughout the record and and bringing on seawater desalination. So the Texas Water Development

Board has ranked our in a Harvard desalination project as a as a like a number two number three

ranked project amongst many in the state and have secured funding the lowest interest loan funding

from that portfolio of the $757 million. The environmental agency TCEQ, especially in recent times

and these recent months has helped expedite permits for groundwater projects. Governor Abbott and

his team have directly helped and we thank him. We understand where he's coming from and he has

been helping tremendously and we're grateful for that. Do you feel like the relationship is positive

or is is it a little contentious? Well from my standpoint I'm not an elected official so I think

it's very positive because he's working he and his team are working directly with me the city

manager and in our team here. We have calls into his office two sometimes three times a week.

Wow and there's no there's no confrontation the very positive very professional

dialogues that we have. I want to ask about something recently you started doing weekly

briefings for the city's residents who were seeing these headlines very concerned about

the description there that Corpus Christi you know might run out of water. You said at that first

briefing we will never run out of water and I'm wondering if you can clarify that. Do you really

believe Corpus Christi will will will never run out of water? You have enough water to meet demand

for the foreseeable future. Well a local resident who was commenting on that recently saying how

would he know you know but that statement comes from miss I think a misleading headline that said

our two western reservoirs are about to run out of water and therefore the city will run out of

water and so we do have somewhat of a diversified surface water program where we get water from our

two western reservoirs and water from east Texas. Today 70 percent of the water that we have here

in this region comes from east Texas from Lake Texana and the low Colorado River. Those areas are

well in well in an emerging drought generally get better rain chances in here.

Those long as that supply is decent the city will never run out of water. We may be in a circumstance

where we can't meet the daily demand but through demand curve reduction we can still provide water

for for all of our classification and customers. Well let's talk about the short term here briefly

because from all the stories that I've been reading it's looking like within a few months the

restrictions that are currently in place if we don't see a substantial I mean like like we're

talking tropical storm sized amount of rainfall there's just not going to be enough rain to cover

the water needs for the city and that perhaps within a few months y'all are going to need to

declare a water emergency. Am I wrong? We've updated forecast so it's a little more than a few months

and we'll have a we'll have a final model in mid-April based on the performance of our most recent

right on groundwater project in New Wases County. Once we see how that is performing in terms of

the quality of the because we're discharging that water into the New Wases River that conveys it

to the treatment plant. If that if there if our water quality management plan stays in check we'll

be able to we'll be able to produce the amount of groundwater that we want to keep us out of that

level one emergency further into the future should say. Why not just declare a water emergency right

now you see where this is trending? Why don't just say stage one water emergency we've got to do

more in the meantime because we don't know where this is headed. Right because we have a forecast

that show new water supply coming on and it's happening now it's been happening for several

it's been happening for months but more aggressively now that the governor has helped us in the

last couple of weeks and we have more in the horizon we have another big project in that

is joining county San Patricia County that comes on in November with 24 million gallons

in total starting after November it starts with four and then ramps up to 12 and then 24

is there there are solutions even if the western reservoir is deplete to zero or to somewhere

around that depletion mark as long as our ead's been supplies say solid and as long as our new

sources come online as planned we can we can push back or totally eliminate the need for a level

one water emergency declaration. You don't want to declare a level one water emergency clearly but

what what would that mean for residents if you had to? Yeah right so it would be it's all

classifications to be residents commercial businesses and large volume industry it wouldn't it

would mean that we would we would demand a reduction in use it would be it would be a conscious

effort to drive down demand so that there would be enough supplies to meet that new reduced

demand and keep our pressures up in the system and so we we don't want to panic the community

or the region we don't want to we don't want to shut down business we don't want to halt production

from our petrochemical industry here that's why we're reluctant to say hey let's just call it

today let's just call the level one emergency today because there there is a good chance

based on the work that we have done in the policies that the city council has approved

that we can forego or eliminate altogether the need and so we're we're monitoring this every

day of the week and and it's something seems like our plans are going to materialize and we

could call it sooner than we had to but right now there's no reason to do that our people knowing

what to do right now to save water do they are are people taking steps or is it or people kind

of feel like well you know we've been hearing about this for as long as we can remember why

why should why should I change my habits? Do see in our data from all residential

classifications is that our residential customers have dropped demand substantially in the last

two years that's probably primarily from the prohibition on outdoor irrigation or outdoor

landscape watering yeah but our residential customers have done a tremendous amount of responding

to this drought and have literally reduced demand in some cases up to 2,000 gallons a month so

typical household is about 6,000 a month our charge our charge or analysis is showing that that

demand that demand use has dropped to four and in some cases even less thousand gallons per month

our commercial accounts are also similarly probably from irrigation use have used less in the

last two years and then our final and the biggest user of all outwaters are industrial partners so

at the actual chemical industry here and their demand has stayed consistent so there's been

while they do are they are they doing enough to are they doing enough are they working with you on

this or should do they need to cut back more they are working with us but they but for them to cut

back it means they have to shut off operations as it's really it's pretty that simple they would

have to shut off units shut off operations layoff employees and cut back in production so they're

doing they're doing the doing some they in a level one emergency they would be the ones that would

have to do the the most significant water reduction use you you've been very generous with your time

let me just ask you one question sort of from the gut and I appreciate your candor here you think

you're gonna I mean from the gut when you you know get up in the morning and look at yourself in

Mary you you feel like Corpus Christi's gonna be able to avoid a stage one emergency this year

I do most days not as a day or two that I get up and I'm like oh god I don't know if we're gonna

if we're gonna make it but I think the data that I see here recently and the fact that uh weather

patterns are changing to the benefit of this region uh the fact that now we do have we're in a

season where we have our springtime rain chances and then the tropical storm hurricane storm

chances later this summer plus we're bringing on our groundwater supply projects and uh and and

and then that's what reuse project so I think we'll I think it's gonna be tight but I think we

can do it if we stay focused on the delivery of this water this new water 76 million gallons

and new water that we're bringing on over the next year to two years and if we are if we're if we're

and if we're improved if that scenario is improved with rain uh then I think we have a chance

Peter Zanoni is city manager of Corpus Christi. Mr Zanoni thank you so much for taking time to talk

with us on the Texas standard very very grateful thank you David I appreciate it

coming up Michael Marx on packs a closely watched Supreme Court case involving cancer

and a commonly used weed killer that and more as the standard continues

you

support for Texas standard comes from half price books a Texas bred new and used bookstore

proudly supporting public media and its role in informing our communities

store locations staff picks and more at hpb.com it's the Texas standard I'm Laura Rice

the US Supreme Court will consider a case this month related to something you may have in your garage

the weed killer roundup the Texas standards Michael Marx reports the outcome could affect

thousands of lawsuits filed against the chemicals parent company the people who filed these lawsuits

claim that after using roundup they are a loved one developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma a type of cancer

Charlie Stern is a lawyer for the nachoati law group in Dallas he represents plaintiffs in these

kinds of cases almost every single one of my clients who have ever had has passed away roundup

was first made by monsanto bear bought that company in 2018 a common complaint in these lawsuits

is that users were not adequately warned that the product could cause cancer this is called a failure

to warn claim in legal terms you know the theory that monsanto needed to warn their users about the

hazards of roundup causing cancer and did not do that John Dernel of St. Louis won a judgment

against bear in 2023 involving a failure to warn claim but the company appealed the verdict

and the Supreme Court will hear the case on April 27th the Dernel ruling came in a Missouri court

but bear argues that states cannot set their own standards for herbicides that that responsibility

lies only with the federal environmental protection agency or EPA bear in monsanto are arguing that

basically the federal government intended to take up this entire space when it came to labeling

Jennifer's wagerman is the director of the agricultural law center at Drake University

bear says federal law gives the EPA alone the power to decide what should be on a chemical's label

it does specifically prevent states from making any sort of labeling or packaging requirement

that differs from the federal law bear claims there is no evidence that roundup causes cancer when

used correctly although some research contests this a 2015 study from the world health organization

found that glyphosate the chemical's main ingredient is quote probably carcinogenic to humans

but that is not the opinion of the EPA because EPA has never concluded that glyphosate is carcinogenic

in fact the EPA has consistently concluded that glyphosate is likely not the carcinogenic

EPA does not require roundup to include a cancer warning label this is Bridget Rollins staff

attorney and environmental law specialist for the national agricultural law center so what bear

is arguing is because it's not required on the federal level it shouldn't be required on the

state level eater she says bear argues that it's illegal to put a cancer warning on their label without

EPA approval if the company wins at the Supreme Court potential plaintiffs will no longer be able to

sue bear or other chemical companies for failing to warn about a potential cancer risk again here's

Jennifer's Wagerman of the agricultural law center if bear is successful in in the journal case

then these types of claims just aren't going to be possible it takes away an entire line of litigation

that you know plaintiffs have been using for years but lawyers say that are ruling for bear

at the Supreme Court would not extinguish all claims against the company Aaron Wood isn't

an attorney at Nacho Wadi log group in Dallas there would be remaining claims of those roundup

plaintiffs those would include liability defective manufacturing claims negligence claims bear says

farmers around the country rely on roundup to protect their crops agribusiness groups the

federal government and the state of Nebraska are among those who filed briefs with the Supreme Court

supporting bear but a number of other states including Texas have written in support of the plaintiff

John Dernel a Michael Marx for the Texas standard

and you're listening to the Texas standard the San Havana project began three years ago as an

attempt to connect San Antonio artists one to one with Cuban artists but it's grown into a small

scale humanitarian effort to support people they meet during repeated visits to Cuba TPR's Jack

Morgan reports Angela Martinez came up with the idea and has been to Cuba five times mostly over

the last three years she sites the old saying may you live in interesting times by nearly any measure

those times are here especially in Cuba photographer Anthony Garcia of Joe Joe dancer photography

has been on most of these trips it was artist helping artists really Garcia says Havana is facing

severe shortages of electricity and food Martinez's first visit came just before two of the most

high-profile events in recent Cuban history the first time I went was in 2016 so the two things

were about to happen is Obama was going to come and the Rolling Stones were going to come

former president Barack Obama visited Cuba in March of 2016 to begin normalizing relations

and the Rolling Stones plate Havana that same month so there was just so much optimism in the air

Garcia says that optimism has faded these are people that are going without food and now

it's a sad situation they don't have the electricity to get the water pumped into the storage tanks

above the buildings he says shortages create a snowball of unintended consequences that extend

far beyond anyone need they can't get food that will go bad and it's hard to cook food without

electricity if they're ovens or electric or gas daily life in Cuba is shaped by multiple factors

including the US embargo Garcia says residents have become creative to get things done they'll

sleep with the lights on so when the electricity does come on the lights will wake them up

and then they can do the things they need to do you know make sure that I guess the phone being charged

they can cook laundry or any of the little things you might want to take care of when you have

electricity fuel shortages are severe with gasoline reported to reach as much as $33 a gallon

during shortages one consequence is that those vintage American cars from the 1950s that Havana

is known for are largely parked due to a lack of fuel they don't have enough fuel to operate

the garbage trucks so there's garbage piling up on every corner and then they're having a

structural collapses of the water system so there's water leaking everywhere those leaks create an

environment where mosquitoes thrive and the diseases they can bring are concerning dengue fever

and chukongunya they have the doctors and they have the knowledge they just don't have medicine

there's just no appointments the aspirin penicillin and one thing that's happened is there's

been a mass exodus of the of the population from the island so they've lost a lot of their doctors

a lot of their artists a lot of their specialists the stories from the San Havana group convey a

growing sense of urgency as the shortages worsen and I did want to share a text from my friend

she sent today we're at the edge of something very awful and painful these artists would like help

whether it be paint at various art supplies and and music gear I've taken plenty of guitar strings

and guitars various musical devices our goal was to go in and help the artist but we've ended up

making so many friends over there and we have these probably six pockets of families that

we're going and like taking supplies Martinez says the goal now is simple help the friends they've

made I'm Jack Morgan in San Antonio well the UT Longhorns women's basketball teams

cruised into the final four with considerable star power capturing the attention of fans this

season pretty remarkable stuff that the Texas news roundup and so much more as the Texas standard

continues we are fast approaching 29 minutes past the hour Texas standard time support for Texas

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to helping Texas communities and emphasizing safety more at texasmutual.com slash Texans get it

support for Texas standard comes from half price books a Texas bread new and use bookstore

proudly supporting public media and sustainability by keeping books music and other media in circulation

store locations and more information at hpb.com

from the Texas Newsroom I'm Matt Harrah we are now past the one-year anniversary of what

president Trump called Liberation Day when he imposed emergency tariffs on virtually all U.S.

trading partners our Andrew Schneider says those tariffs have since been struck down by the Supreme

Court but the latest trade numbers from the Census Bureau shows Texas businesses are still

feeling the impacts the office of the U.S. trade representative is hailing the anniversary by

pointing to a 24% drop in the U.S. goods trade deficit from April 2025 through February 2026

compared to the same period a year earlier the small business advocacy group we pay the tariffs

says those same trade statistics show that the emergency tariffs cost American businesses more

than 150 billion dollars between March of last year and this past February when coupled with

other tariffs imposed by the White House that total comes to more than 260 billion the coalition

finds that Texas businesses paid 14 billion dollars in emergency tariffs over that period along

with another 14 billion and other presidential tariffs on steel and aluminum autos and auto parts

and Chinese made goods. I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston. President Trump nominated two Texas

federal prosecutors to judicial positions in Texas KERA's Tolonio Cebemolo reports they've

carried the torch on Trump's heightened immigration and border enforcement. The president picked

acting U.S. Attorney John Mark and his second in command Rob Jones for the lifelong positions.

It comes two months after the Senate confirmed the previous U.S. attorney as a judge for the Texas

Southern District. In a post on Truth Social Wednesday Trump praised what he called Jones and

Mark's commitments to cracking down on immigration and border-related crime. The focus prosecution is

part of Operation Take Back America. Trump's nationwide crime initiative to quote repel the

invasion of a legal immigration. The majority Republican Senate still has to approve the appointments.

There are currently four judicial vacancies in the Southern District which is headquartered in

Houston. I'm Toluani Ocebemolo in Dallas. A Dallas community leader must leave the U.S.

and return to Mexico. An immigration judge has ruled Omar Salazar has been in ice detention

since last summer after he was detained during a routine traffic stop in West Texas.

His wife Ella says she looks forward to reuniting with her husband but she has mixed feelings

about the judge's decision. I feel like I keep kind of going back and forth. There's some

piece just knowing that we have an answer. A federal judge this week denied Salazar's bid to cancel

his removal from the country and granted him voluntary departure. Gas prices across the state

jump nearly 20 cents compared to last week. Triple A says Texans are now paying on average 380

for a gallon of regular. I'm Matt Harib in the Texas newsroom. You're listening to statewide news

from public radio stations across Texas. This coverage is only possible because of support

from listeners like you. You can help sustain and grow Texas news coverage by donating to your

local public radio station today. 33 minutes past the hour Texas standard time. I'm David Brown.

For a team headed to the final four Texas hasn't exactly been living on the edge.

These games haven't been nailed byters closer to blowouts but that's created some space for

well something else to take over. Two players in very different ways have become a big part

of why this run has been so much fun to watch up to now. Sports journalist Matt Young of the

Houston Chronicle has been tracking it. Matt, welcome to the Texas standard. Thanks for having me.

Let's talk about the big picture first. Final four, where do we stand?

Well, as the game would apply we're down to four teams. So it's all number one seeds. All the best

teams in College of Basketball. So Texas plays UCLA on Friday night and before that is UConn

versus South Carolina. Probably the two best women's basketball teams over the past decade. So

if you're just picking up on women's College of Basketball, this is the perfect time to do it

because you got the four best teams playing each other. Oh, that's fantastic. All right. So

what do you think about the Longhorn chances against UCLA? I think they have a pretty good shot

against UCLA. They played earlier in the year. The Longhorn's won by about 12 points. We're up

big at halftime and kind of cruise to the wind. So UCLA hasn't lost since that game. So it should

be still a tough game, but I think Texas can win that one. The real challenge will be

if they make it to the championship and have to play their UConn or South Carolina. Those are

two really tough teams. You know, when games aren't close, I know as a sports writer, you know,

you sort of focus in on the storytelling aspect of it and it seems like two players in particular

have really grabbed a lot of attention and you've profiled them both. Let's begin with Madison

Booker. This is Madison's the star, the the scorer, the centerpiece, I suppose. Sarah Graves,

the former walk-on who seems to be sparking the noisiest reactions in the building.

Where do we begin? Booker. What do you see in her game right now?

Yes, she's just like you said, she's the star player of the team. Texas has a lot of good players,

but she is one of the best players in the country. Probably going to be a top three or four WMBA

draft pick when she's ready to go pro, but she came from Mississippi, decided to go to Texas.

She idolized Kevin Durant, who is currently used to rocket star, but played at Texas. She

wears the same number that he wore at Texas and her game was a lot like like his just an incredible

shooter. She's big, big for her position. So people have trouble gardener and she's just kind

of instant offense for the teams of like you said, there's been a lot of blowouts. They haven't

relied on her a lot, but in the time that she's on the court, she's pretty devastating on offense.

Now, how deep does that relationship with Kevin Durant go?

They didn't, you know, Madison didn't grow up knowing him. He was her favorite player and

she was growing up. And then once you got to Texas, then they kind of built a friendship there,

because Kevin Durant keeps up with Texas athletics a lot. And Kevin Durant has his own shoe brand

with Nike. And so he even struck a deal with Madison, where she wears his sneakers. And so

after the rockets, after rockets games, he's been kind of mentioning frequently, hey, did you see

Madison? Do you see your sneakers? Do you see how she scored and all this? So I think they keep

in touch, you know, and Madison Booker has said, you know, what a crazy time it is for her for a

player that she grew up watching as a kid. And now he can just text her. She can text him and

they kind of share insight into the game. Yeah, an incredible storyline there. Now let's move on

to Sarah Graves. Minimal minutes, maximum reaction, I suppose. Yeah, she's kind of become a fan favorite,

which isn't all that unusual for maybe the last player off the bench to become embraced by the fans.

But she's also really embraced by the team, her teammates lover. She's a person who was a really good

high school player at Keller High School, there by Fort Worth. And probably could have played at a

smaller school, but she really wanted to go to University of Texas. So she did. She walked on,

didn't have a scholarship and coaches liked her so much of the Gamer Scholarship after one year.

She only played one single minute her entire freshman year and she still did enough to convince

coaches she was worth a scholarship. And yeah, these games that like he said, Texas has been

blowing teams out. So she's gotten into the last minute of games. She's had a knack for it in a shot,

you know, not necessarily a high pressure situation, go through it by 30 points or 40 points, but

she still has been hitting three pointers and she does fun celebrations on the way down the

court. Our team goes crazy on the bench. Fans go nuts. It's all fun for Texas. Sometimes,

you know, when you have a couple of standout players or maybe one or two standout players,

I suppose I should say more precisely, sometimes get a little bit of jealousy. Is there any sign of

that creating a sort of a fissure there on the team? There's not at all and I've covered a lot of

teams and you're right. There's sometimes when fans start chanting for these players at the end of

the bench that obviously aren't as good as the starters. Some of the starters kind of roll their

eyes like, okay, here we go. But it doesn't seem to be any of that with this long-horn team. They all

lever. They all say the right things after games. How excited they are for Sarah. And you know,

she's really it's rare that she plays a little bit. She's really one of the team leaders and she is.

She's one of the people who steps up and speaks for the team when things aren't going well,

which hasn't been the case very often this year. But when things aren't, she has stepped up and

spoken for the team. And I think she's just really embraced as a team leader, even if she doesn't

necessarily lead on the court. She leads from the bench and in the locker room. Texas and UCLI

played a night sports journalist Matt Young is with the Houston Chronicle and will link to his

excellent reporting over at TexasDanger.org. Matt, thanks so much for getting us up to speed.

Thanks for having me. Support for TexasDanger comes from HEB and the MyHEB app, which is available

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information at Austinwater.org. It's the Texas standard. I'm Laura Rice.

Most evenings in Austin, you can find a man dancing and wrapping on the corner of Barton Springs Road

and South First Street. He looks like he's having the time of his life. He's not asking for money,

he's not plugging his Instagram, just dancing his heart out. A listener at our home station

wanted to know his story. Matt Largie went to meet him.

This is my spot. When you come here, you will see the dancing man.

He gets there a little after 5 p.m. and time for rush hour. He's wearing something that will

attract your attention. He looks pretty sharp. He'll stay all evening dancing, singing,

wrapping, waving. By now everybody know I'm not crazy. But if they didn't know, let me just go

ahead and answer that question too. I'm not crazy. I know we're near crazy.

His name is Broderick Cornelius James Jr. AKA Prime Time King, AKA Positive Thinking KEP.

He says he's out on this corner more than 300 days a year. A lot of what he does is more like

pantomime. The microphone that he holds doesn't do anything. It's just a prop.

He wraps or sings along with the music in his headphones. At times, he seems lost in the performance.

It's an actual unofficial show, not a real show like, but it's an actual unofficial show

that people are actually invited into the show with me standing at the red light.

He calls it Invisible Theater. The visible theater means everybody is my audience. If they

spend a moment or five or two minutes, I got two minutes to impress. So in that two minutes,

I might get a couple of people who look my way. That's the audience. Every few minutes,

someone stopped at the light, rolls down their window and shouts at him. These are the moments

when Broderick really comes alive. What's up, man? I love you, man. He got somebody in the car,

Broderick is 46 years old. He grew up in Atlanta, joined the army, got married, had kids.

Things went downhill about 20 years ago. His marriage fell apart. He went to jail.

He was having mental health problems. Things were really bad. I want to kill myself, right?

I want to come into a side, or whatever the word is. He spent some time in psychiatric treatment.

A doctor there gave him some advice. She told me, you got to find a way to replace

like your pain and which you went through to make you want to do that. You got to find something

in the community to do or in the world to do that can make you feel just like that pain made

you feel in reverse. He did find something. If you've been around Austin long enough, you might

remember. Because this is not the first intersection he's been a fixture at. No, no, it's not.

It's not the first. Everybody know me from being on the other side of town in North Austin.

Specifically, the intersection of Lamar and Runberg. For years, Broderick was known as the Runberg

Running Man. The Running Man was famous, a mascot for the neighborhood. His super power was

positivity. This is from a short documentary made about him back in 2013. I turn my community into

a place that people want to see somebody be happy. That is the purpose why I'm here. You know what I'm

saying? At the end of the day, huh? Look at this. When everybody's there with negative, we turn it into

something good. But over time, it became more than just running and dancing. People wanted him to

be more of a leader to solve their problems. And he got burned out. I feel like they made the

King Martin King of that. Like, I think I became like a somebody I didn't ever wanted to be.

I never wanted to be the activist. He was more interested in being an artist. Plus, he says the

corner started to get more dangerous. Broderick put 10 years into being the Running Man. And then

he stopped. Many left. Even though I left Runberg, I had to replace it with another corner. Like,

I could not just leave Runberg. And now if I haven't, I had to find another corner. Had to because this

is my lifeline. In 2022, Broderick moved to an apartment in South Austin. One day, he came out to

Barton Springs in South first. He stood on the northeast corner, looked out at the intersection.

And he knew this was the place. I saw this as my sanctuary. And I was like, this is where I'm going to

perform until I die. If the runner at Running Man was about inspiring a community, Broderick's new

character isn't too far off. If the Running Man was Martin Luther King, he says this version

is the spiritual descendant of Leslie Cochran. We know Leslie is the king or slas queen of weird.

So, let me be the king. I'm going to be the other side. I'm going to be the other part of the corner.

Leslie was, of course, the cross-dressing, song-wearing icon of Austin Weirdness in the late 90s and

2000s. He died in 2012. I honor the king. He's the peep. You can't have anything without a foundation.

I'm on his foundation. This is Weird Austin. This is Leslie Austin. I'll get a chance to continue his

his legacy. I said, watch Broderick do his thing. A couple of teenage boys tear up to him on these

electric bikes. At first, I think they're going to give him a hard time. But then the high five start

going around. And it's clear that they came here to see him, to joke around, to say hi. He's a

fixture in their lives. It's the idea of where I was when I wanted to commit to not live anymore.

Once I got free, this became like the freedom. So for me, to be out here is to wave to everybody,

to say, well, what's up to everybody? Because this to me is my family.

There's a danger to doing any kind of public performance. At least his Broderick sees it.

There's no doubt he's charismatic. He radiates confidence and positivity. Just spending a few hours

with him makes you want to be a better neighbor. For the running man, that meant people wanted more

from him. He felt like they wanted him to fight their battles, to be the activist.

Here on the other side of town, he says, people wonder why he's out here on the street. Doesn't he

want to be more than this? He tells me about a time when a woman in fancy business clothes stopped

and asked him, is there anything she could do to help him become more? How could she help him

fulfill his vision? And at the time, he didn't know what to say. He didn't have an answer,

but he kept thinking about it. Now, if she came back and asked that question, I'm no longer clueless.

The answer would be no. There's nothing she could do to help me.

He's already living the dream. The vision, he says, is already realized.

I don't want this life-changing,

uh-huh, revelational message of what I'm trying to do for the world and nobody on peace prize.

No, we've already reached that already. This is it. This is what you get.

It sounds simple. Show up in the same corner almost every day. Give folks who come by

away for a high five. Put on a show for people who are late for dinner. People resting to pick up

their kids. People who avoid making eye contact. Make them smile. Help them chill out at the red light.

Let them know, weirdness is still alive. In a city where people want you to be more, be bigger.

Maybe the invisible theater is enough. I love the smallness of my name. Not making it bigger

than it needs to be. You got the stars for being. I want to be small, compact, you can pull up on me

and say you love me like he did. That's what I want to be.

I'm Matt Largie in Austin.

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Hi, this is Eli Karen. I'm a poet with typewriter rodeo. We write custom poems on the spot

on whatever topics people want. I'm going to read you a poem today called Entry Level.

How discouraging to fail the opening campaign, to lose the first game, to get hung up on the primary

levels. It feels like Groundhog Day, but there's no one to fall in love with.

No one to suck out the sting. Instead, the banks' insistent chirps about deteriorating funds,

about dwindling allowances. Oh, shut up. Can't you see I'm trying my best? That the system is at its

worst. Why are we not hiring teachers? Why are we letting robots, stocks, shelves? Why are we

taking accounting advice from an AI model paid for by Goldman Sachs? I'd just like a couple

bucks to leave the house with a purpose. I'd like to come off the bench, rise out of the bullpen,

let me pitch a few innings, let my fingers just touch the dirt and the seams, I'll water the grass,

I'll run the snack bar. Just give me something. This is Eli Karen with Typewriter

Rodeo and you're listening to Texas Standard. Typewriter Rodeo is part of our Friday lineup

here on the Texas Standard, but any day of the week you reach out with your suggestions and ideas,

of course, TexasStandard.org. Look for the contact dust link. Friday's also the day we break down

the week in Texas politics and joining us as he does most Fridays. Jasper Sherr, politics editor for

the Texas Tribune. Jasper, welcome back. Thanks for having me. Hey, tax days almost here,

interesting case involving the IRS. Apparently in the waning days of the Biden administration,

several Texas churches and religious groups had sued the IRS. I guess they were hoping to get rid

of this law that prevents churches from endorsing political candidates, politics from the pulpit,

that kind of thing. A lot of folks thinking that there might have been a landmark ruling coming

down from the courts, but on Tuesday, a federal judge and Tyler dismissed this suit, raising some

eyebrows here. What's going on? Yeah, this ruling came down from a Trump appointee which

would made this particularly notable, I think, but the case was brought by several Texas churches

and essentially the crux of their argument was that it was a violation of their first amendment

rights to prevent them from electioneering from the pulpit, but at the end of the day, it sort of

rested on a technicality that the judge was saying that the churches hadn't already been taxed,

so therefore they didn't have standing, so they'll have to find a new legal argument on this one.

Very interesting decision from this judge and perhaps not the last word here.

Want to move on to another really interesting story. AI aligned Super PACs, the Texas Tribune

reports, pouring almost $3 million into Texas congressional races this year. What's going on?

Yeah, this has been, I think, a case of this industry seizing the opportunity with, there's just

a lot of turnover in the Texas congressional delegation, all these open primaries and some of

these Super PACs that are backed by major leaders in the AI industry. Often, in most cases, most of the

money has been from PACs that are pushing for a lighter regulatory climate. And Congresses

AI from the state legislator. And Congress really hasn't acted on this yet, so I think looking

ahead to the next Congress after the midterms trying to, seeing Texas as an opportunity to

increase the numbers in their favor, at least in the U.S. House.

We don't have much time, but very interesting story, Texas Tribune dug into how they're like

1.7 million undocumented people living in Texas right now, and according to

y'all's reporting, Texas Republicans have transformed state government for them last year.

What's what it changes? Yeah, we basically tried to pull together all the ways that state leaders

are trying to make life just unlivable for undocumented folks here, and I think the biggest

changes recently, the state licensing agency rolled back the types of non-citizens that can get

professional licenses, and this is just coming on the heels of rollback of in-state tuition access

for undocumented folks, directives to more strictly enforce language requirements to get

commercial drivers licenses, so just across the board major changes for undocumented Texans.

Jasper Scherer, politics editor of the Texas Tribune. Jasper, thanks so much for joining us again.

Have a great weekend. You too, David. Thanks for having me. And you are listening to the Texas

Standard. You hear a lot of talk about the cost of living in Texas these days, and for a long time,

the pitch was simple. Things are supposed to be cheaper here, but for a lot of folks, that math

just isn't mathing anymore. This is Wells Dunbar with Texas Standard, and this week we're working

with our friends at the Texas Newsroom who are looking into how folks afford to live here.

We heard from Christine McCulloch who said she's trying to keep her consumerism in check,

living with what she has and being realistic about what's affordable, but she didn't sugarcoat it.

She talked about despair, and doing all the things you're told to do, and still feeling like

the middle class has just slipped out from under you. That idea came up again and again.

Robert Flood put it pretty plainly. If you're on a fixed income, the basics are what get you.

Food, gas, health insurance, so people adjust. Kenneth Schilken talked about the kind of habits

that might sound old school, but are really just timeless. Fewer trips to the store, planning every

meal, store brands, coupons, picking up pecans in the fall, as he writes, use it up, wear it out,

make it do, or do without. And then there's Beatriz Vera. She's 76, retired, and spent her life as

a social worker. She said she used to mostly make ends meet, but now she calls herself part

of the working poor, making too much to qualify for help, but not quite enough to really get by on.

What struck me reading all this wasn't just the pressure people are under. It's how many people

said in one way or another. I know I'm not alone. That might be the one thing that hasn't gotten

more expensive. People are sharing tips, adjusting expectations, and rethinking what getting by looks

like. And yeah, sometimes just naming how hard it is, because ultimately it's not just about

budgets, it's about what people thought their lives were going to look like, and what they actually

look like now. But if there's something to hold on to here, it's that Texans, for better or

worse, are pretty good at figuring it out as they go, stretching things, helping each other,

getting creative when the numbers don't add up. That doesn't fix the bigger problem,

but it does mean people aren't facing it quietly. And maybe, maybe that's where something better

starts. I'm Wells Nonvar, and this is the talk of Texas.

Well, let me ask you something. What are the movies giant, dazed and confused,

office space in no country for old men having common? They're all in the final four of our bracket

competition for the best Texas movie of all time as selected by listeners. Hey, wait a minute,

you having cast a vote? What are you waiting for? Go to TexasStandard.org and do it now.

Then make sure to tune in as we tally the ballots and get you up to speed on all the weekends news

on the next TexasStandard. I'm David Brown wishing you and yours a wonderful weekend.

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Thanks so much for listening to the TexasStandard. KUT and the Texas Standard are members of

the NPR Network. It's an independent coalition of public media podcasters. You can find more

shows in the network wherever you get your podcasts. I'm David Brown, we'll see you tomorrow.