Texas governor’s race appears to be competitive

0:00In the latest episode of Black Austin Matters, you hear the interview we did back in May at the inaugural KUT festival with artist, educator, father, community leader and Austin's poet laureate, Zell Miller III. Not every creative is a teacher! I've learned that the hard way! No, no, you just perform from this point on. Nobody teaches you. You can hear Black Austin Matters on KUT.org or wherever you get your podcasts. Remember redistricting in Texas? The plan was to try to secure more Sure Fire wins for Republicans, but now we're seeing some surprises. The tales today on their Texas stand. Texas stand is a production of KUT Austin, KERA North Texas, Houston Public Media, and Texas Public Radio Inc. I'm David Brown, a funny thing happened on the way to the midterms, though not so funny for Republican redistricting efforts as Texas looks to be a battleground state for control on Capitol Hill.

1:06We'll tell you what's happening. And another political surprise, possibly in the making the governor's race initially not expected to be much of a battle for Governor Abbott, now forcing many to reconsider. We'll hear more. Also, do public libraries have a return on investment? The numbers may surprise you. That, a visit from the Texas Beach cohort, a whole lot more as the Texas standard gets underway, right after this. No matter where you are, Texas Standard Time on this second day of October, a soggy end to the week across a big stretch of Texas and for some of us. Not over yet, with flood watches stretching from North and Central Texas through the Hill Country, San Antonio, and Houston, and down into South Texas, more heavy rain possible before the day is out. Keep it here for the latest on the weather in your part of the Lone Star State. Meanwhile, another storm is brewing and this one is political. We are now down to just over a month from the midterm elections, and control of Congress could come down to a remarkably small number of races across the country, which makes Texas

2:12especially interesting. In a last year, Republican lawmakers redrew the state's congressional map with the explicit goal of making five Democratic seats more winnable for the GOP. Remember that? Despite that effort right now, six Texas congressional districts are considered especially competitive, including four of those newly redrawn seats, along with two Republican held districts that Democrats are hoping to flip. Interestingly enough, all six have majority Hispanic eligible voter populations, and four touch the U.S.-Mexico border. So, did redrawing the map actually make Texas more predictable as Republican politicians hoped or just reshuffle the battleground? Here to tell us more Gabby Birrenbaum, who reports from Washington for the Texas Tribune. Gabby, welcome back. Yeah, thanks for having me. Let's begin with a big picture here. How many seats do the Democrats need to pick up to flip the House and how might Texas play into that?

3:13Yeah, I mean, the House majority is incredibly narrow right now. Democrats, I believe need four flips. And so when you're looking across the map and you're looking at Texas, they're hoping to flip a seat in the valley. They're hoping to flip a seat in southwest Texas, and they're hoping to hold on to some of these seats that are Republicans, as you mentioned, intentionally redrew with the intent of flipping them to Republican. They're hoping to hold on to some of those seats and keep them in Democratic hands. Wow, let's talk a little bit about how last year's redistricting effort played into this. If anyone has ever seen the redistricting process, there's rooms full of maps, and they're going right down to street by street trying to carve out these districts. A lot of science, a lot of, I don't know, art, I guess, goes into this project. Did they miscalculate along the way or what accounts for the fact that we've got some real races here? Yeah, that's what we're going to find out. So of the five seats that they redrew, three of them were drawn to have been seats that President Trump would have won by 10 points in 2024, which, you know, the goal was to keep every Republican seat at least a double digit Trump margin.

4:23But when you look at some of these seats, as you mentioned, they have a majority Hispanic voting population, or eligible voting population. So that's one of the groups that we expect to see based on polling, the biggest swings from Republicans to Democrats, the cycle Republicans had been making gains with Hispanic voters throughout the last several cycles. And that really came to bear in 2024 when they, for example, won a bunch of those border counties down south. But we see now that there's, you know, like I said, polling evidence that it seems like Latino voters are going to shift back into the question is, you know, by how much, what does turnout look like? And then some of these districts, what does Latino turnout look like compared to white turnout? And so these districts are going to be a real, you know, battleground for, for that theory and seeing if they did indeed draw them safe enough or if they didn't. Yeah, it's interesting to think how border policy and conversations about immigration appear to have affected those races in ways that perhaps the redistricting groups just couldn't, or didn't take account up. Yeah, I mean, it's certainly that I also think the economy is really critical here, you know, a lot of a lot of Hispanic voters in 2024.

5:29And as in 2026 indicated that the economy is their top issue. And you have a lot of frustration still with the economy, particularly on gas prices, which, you know, as we know, have gotten more expensive since the Iran war started in February. And so, you know, the question is who to voters blame for some of these high costs. And I think part of the problem the Republicans are running into right now is that a lot of voters do blame President Trump and the GOP for gas prices specifically. Let's talk about Texas's ninth congressional district, your story highlights that that's in the Houston area. Can you break that down for us? What's going on there? Yeah, that one is kind of just now coming on to the board. So that's a Trump plus 20 district that the president will have 20 points. And so that includes a lot of the eastern part of Harris County, you know, the East End, heavily Latino, heavily working class, and then Liberty County, right, which is very red. So like I mentioned, Trump won that by 20, but if you go back to 2018, that is a seat that better or can his Senate run narrowly ones. So Democrats do have, you know, a somewhat recent history of winning there. The Democratic candidate there has not been very well funded up to this point.

6:29There are Republicans, Alex Mueller, who ran Countywide in Harris County in 2022 and almost once so she certainly has experience. But just today that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is, you know, the main House Democratic campaign arm in Washington, they just added that seat to their list of districts and plies. So certainly the Democrats are taking a closer look at it. And President Trump's the, you know, super PAC affiliated with his political operation has already started spending money there. So they certainly see some sort of need to play a little defense there. Yeah, follow the money and you'll see what both Democrats and Republicans are seeing is right concerns or pick up points. What about the 35th congressional district in central Texas? What's the story there? Yeah, that's a really interesting one. So that takes pieces of bear County. And if people are familiar with House District, 2018, that's about the most competitive state house district in the state that's John Luhon, see Trump won it by I want to say four. They basically took that part of bear County and tacked it onto some super red counties to the east Wilson County, Guadalupe County and Cards County. That's another Trump plus 10. That's another one that's narrowly majority Hispanic based on voting population.

7:34And that one you've got an interesting race. You've got a law enforcement Democrat, Johnny Garcia, who's, you know, much more of a blue dog moderate harder to attack on some of these social issues. And then you've got a first time candidate in on the Republican side in Carlos Salah Cruz, Monica, Dale Cruz's brother, the Congresswoman from Edinburgh. He is a veteran. So he's hoping to appeal to you know San Antonio's large veteran population. But that one as well as going to tell us a lot about where the Latino vote is at particularly in some of these neighborhoods, you know, like the South side of San Antonio and see, you know, see if turnout is heightened compared to previous elections. Gabby Barron, bomb reports in DC for the Texas Tribune. We're going to link to her latest reporting Texas standard dot O R G Gabby. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. You know, these days Texas Governor Greg Abbott is something of an institution in Texas politics. This is his 12th year leading the state, making him the country's longest serving governor in office right now. And if reelected in November, Abbott would be on track to becoming Texas's longest serving governor in history. While most polls currently show him in the lead over his Democratic challenger Gina, you know, Hosa.

8:36The race has tightened as election day draws closer. The Texas newsrooms blaze Gainy reports on what's making this race more competitive and what Abbott is doing to turn up the pressure. When Governor Greg Abbott won his first governor's race in 2014, he did it by nearly 20 percentage points. Four years later, he won re-election by 13 percentage points. His tightest re-election win, if you could even call it that, was in 2022 when he beat Democrat Beto Arork by about 11 percentage points. So Abbott's use to decisive victories against Democrats in that show in his campaigning. For most of this year, he didn't even mention Gina Hena Hosa by name, but that changed in the last few weeks. I don't have anything to deceive you on, of course I'm not deceiving you. When Abbott hosted this ad on social media and finally called out his opponent, the shift came as Hena Hosa rose in the polls. While most still show another one's likely for the incoming governor, it's a narrower spread than he's used to. Two recent polls even showed the Democrat with the narrow lead, but Abbott's dismissed it.

9:40Polls don't win elections, and polls are often wrong. This is the governor at a recent campaign stop in Gainesville, where CBS Texas asked him about the numbers. Abbott's campaign didn't respond to the Texas Newsroom's interview request for this story. What I'm confident about is exactly where my campaign stands and the outcome, but I'm going to win this race. Yet that same day his campaign announced a $12 million ad buy against Hena Hosa targeting her voting record on property taxes in the Texas legislature. Hena Hosa will make your property taxes go even higher. Abbott's also making that argument directly. She voted more than 40 times for higher property taxes. Talk about dismantling our economy. Hena Hosa disputes those claims. I have never not once voted to increase property taxes and anyone who says otherwise is lying. The Democrat says the 40 votes cited by Abbott's campaign are being taken out of context. While Abbott's campaign are used, they did give local officials more room to raise taxes.

10:42But that's just part of Abbott's new push against Hena Hosa. His campaign is also going after his opponent on education, public safety, and policies around transgender Texans. Kirby Goydle is a professor of political science at Texas A&M University. He thinks the calculation inside Abbott's campaign might sound something like this. Here is a candidate who's polling better than we think she should. And too close for comfort. And what we want to do is define her for voters. Hena Hosa has a much lower statewide profile than Abbott. So those ads could introduce her to voters who haven't formed an opinion of her yet. Goydle says the tighter governor's race is also part of a broader political environment, an environment being shaped by economic concerns and cost of living nationally and in Texas. Plus issues like the state's data center boom. You look at the Senate, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, any of the races that we have polling on in the generic ballot, they're all showing surprising democratic strength even when the candidates aren't very well known.

11:45But that's only part of the picture. Joshua Blank is a research director for the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin. He says Hena Hosa used Abbott's delayed focus on her to her advantage. Hena Hosa took the space that Abbott gave her in the summer and really went hard introducing herself to Democrats. And that's really been important for her and it's really what's made the race more competitive in a lot of ways. Hena Hosa also focused much of her campaign around affordability. He says Texans often tell her they're having a hard time getting by. This high cost economy, people are struggling in a big way and they meet a governor who's going to work to bring costs down. Governor Abbott's also making this issue a central campaign theme. His Gainesville stop was part of a statewide tour focused on what he's calling the Abbott Affordability Agenda, aimed at bringing down property taxes into other everyday costs. Another thing Blank at UT says might be weighing down Abbott's reelection bid. Some of the other Texas Republicans on the ballot.

12:45Abbott's job is made more difficult by the fact that there are people on the ticket like Paxton, like Beau French, who've taken positions that make running statewide more difficult. But ultimately Abbott is the leader of the party in Texas. And as election day approaches, Blank says more voters will start paying attention, including undecided ones. Ultimately, no matter who wins, the tight polls mean this will likely be the most genuinely interesting governor's race. Texas has seen in a long time. I'm Blaze Gainey in Austin. Hey, think of a public library. A cozy hangout for study, kids finding their next favorite book. An economic booster for Texas? A new study showing a return on investment for libraries and the numbers. They might surprise you, stick around for that, and more as the Texas standard continues, we are fast approaching 19 minutes past the hour Texas Standard Time. Support for Texas Standard comes from the Houston Cinema Arts Festival.

13:45Now to October 11th at venues across Houston. Films include the debut and once upon a time in Harlem. Programming includes screenings and film make-ermingsers. More at cinemahtx.org. Support comes from Central Market celebrating the tastes of fall with pumpkin bread, butternut squash, ravioli, and more. Centralmarket.com This is the Texas Standard, I'm Laura Rice. Texas has hundreds of miles of coastline. Yet for many of us, the Gulf can feel a world away. We're changing that with the help of resident Beach Comer Jace Tunnel, who provides a glimpse of beach life even for those among the pines or on the plains. So Texas, let's go beach coming. One of the most unusual things I found washed ashore this week wasn't a shell or a sea bean. It was a rope ladder, nearly 70 foot long, lying in a tangled heap above the high tide line.

14:49Judging by its size and heavy duty construction, it almost certainly fell from a large cargo ship or tanker making its way through the goal. Rolling it up was no small task. As I worked my way down the beach, I couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship. Each wooden step was grooved across the top to provide extra traction, helping prevent wet boots from slipping. Every run was secured with a wooden block above and below on each side. The rope fit neatly into grooves carved into those blocks, while tightly wrapped twine blocked everything firmly in place. The ladder looked as though it had come straight from the pages of a pirate adventure novel. Despite that old-fashioned appearance, rope pilot ladders were made an essential piece of modern maritime equipment. Large ships are often too big to pull alongside docks or harbor facilities. So harbor pilots climb aboard using these ladders while the vessel is still off short. Those pilots then guide the ship safely through channels, into ports, and around hazards using their local knowledge.

15:51Proo members also use rope ladders for boarding from smaller boats or for maintenance while the ship is at anchor. International maritime standards govern exactly how these ladders are built because their lives depend on it. The hardwood steps resist wear and weather, while the carefully designed rope system keeps each wrong level and secure even under the weight of a climber. Standing beside this massive ladder on an empty Texas beach, it was easy to imagine the countless sailors, pilots, and crew members who had climbed it somewhere far off shore. Before ending its journey on our coast, it had already traveled the world one careful step at a time. Wherever Texas meets the tide, you'll find Jace Tunnel, the Texas Beach Comer. Jace is director of community engagement at the Heart Research Institute at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi.

16:51And you're listening to the Texas Standard. If you walk into your local library, you can borrow a book or ask for help with a research question. You can also get help with your resume, access the internet on public computers, borrow a movie, or perhaps participate in some free public programming. The Texas Library Association commissioned a study this summer to measure the return on investment for public dollars spent on libraries. Their findings, every dollar spent by local libraries generates almost five in statewide economic activity. Shirley Robinson is the executive director of the Texas Library Association. Shirley, welcome to the Texas Standard. Thank you so much for having me today. Well, can you break down where this return on investment is coming from exactly? I mean, what library services were considered and how was their value in dollars calculated? Yeah, that's a great question.

17:51So our study looked at all services provided by Texas libraries in their communities, public programming, classes on finding a job, assistance with resumes, access to the internet, even telehealth. And our research firm compared all of those services to comparable resources that one might be able to go and find in the open marketplace if you were needing to pay for those things on your own. And so that's how that dollar figure of $4.74 for every dollar invested towards Texas libraries produces for an individual and community value. So was this economic boost equal across the state or were there certain regions or maybe types of libraries seeing more or less return on their investment? Well, we looked at a wide variety of libraries across the state.

18:51And so this was an average figure across all of those libraries. We talked to library directors from hundreds of libraries in small and rural communities all the way up to large public urban systems. Well, beyond the return on investment for public dollars spent by libraries, this report also looked at other economic impacts. Can you walk us through what some of those were? So I mean, when you when you look at things like just the overall support for jobs in the state, for example, and we know that approximately 11,200 individuals are employed in our Texas public libraries. That's absolutely an economic value for the state. And then the other significant number in this study was that there's $3.8 billion in total economic benefit generated from library.

19:52So when you look at how those services help to support the community, that number becomes really significant. Well, were there particular innovative programs that came up during the course of compiling this report that you want to highlight? I mean, you mentioned, you know, healthcare access at some libraries. What else stuck out? Yes. I mean, there are just I think some of my favorite programs are the ones that particularly target seniors and helping them to have access to digital resources that they may not have had the education. Or even experience with in, you know, the past couple of decades and their lives. We have a couple of programs that specifically train seniors on how to do things like use a mouse on a computer, how to get on to the internet and pay bills. There is almost no aspect of our day to day lives now that doesn't involve the internet or using a mobile device.

20:55And so a lot of these programs and our public libraries are able to either put devices directly into the hands of our seniors or trying them on how to use those devices when they are at home to give them greater independence, connection to social circles, and just the ability to conduct day to day business that a lot of us take for granted. So I assume you want to use this information to encourage more investment in libraries. What is your your hope for this report? Yes. I mean, one of the things that we have seen since the pandemic as so many things in our lives have shifted is funding for our municipal resources and systems and libraries have been no exception to that. We have seen decreases in funded staffing levels to our public libraries. In fact, I'm thinking right now of a couple of different libraries across the state that have had to cut their staffing by almost half over the last five or six years.

22:00And that has a huge impact on the services that they're able to provide the number of hours that they're able to stay open. We very much would like to see those staffing levels increased and returned to what they were pre pandemic. We would also like to see greater investment by our cities and counties and state in public facilities for our libraries. Many of these buildings were built in the 60s and 70s. We're really needing to reinvest in those buildings so that they can continue to serve the population that is growing in many parts across the state. Shirley Robinson is the Executive Director of the Texas Library Association. Surely, thank you so much. Thank you for your time. Support for Texas Standard comes from Trial Med, conducting clinical research for over 30 years. Info on current trials in Texas at trialmed.com.

23:11In the Texas newsroom, I'm Shelby Rose. Flood watches are in effect for much of South Central Texas. San Antonio, saw heavy rain and flooding Thursday is a cold front pushed through the area. Emily Heller is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. On average, most of locations in Bear County received at least an inch, most around two and a half and then there are some isolated amounts maybe up to four inches within the county. He has brought some much needed moisture and cooler temperatures to drought stricken areas. President Trump spent part of Thursday rallying voters at the Peter Bilt Motors manufacturing facility in Denton. He again threw his support to U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton. He's been a friend of mine for a long time. One of the most loyal people when I was being hit by the radical left, very hard, harder than very few people could have withstood it. I was being hit. Ken Paxton was up my side more than anybody. And I have to always remember that because he could be a pain in the ass sometimes that'll be ours. Trump went on to call Paxton the greatest attorney general in the United States of America. Free chips in salsa at Mexican and Tex Mex restaurants could soon be a casualty of President Trump's trade war with Mexico.

24:20Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider says the administration's tariffs on Mexican tomato exports are making the traditional appetizer to costly for restaurants to just give away. The Trump administration increased tariffs on Mexican tomatoes in July 2025. Restaurants were initially able to absorb the higher costs rather than passing them on to consumers. But then bad weather in Mexico and Florida reduced supplies. As a result, we saw the fresh tomato market jumped to about $80 a box. Dante Galeazzi of the Texas International Produce Association says that first hit grocery store sales of tomatoes and now it's hitting restaurants. You have restaurants that are simply saying, look, I can't afford to put salsa on the tables anymore. Mexico accounts for roughly 90% of the tomatoes the U.S. has imported since 2015. I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston. Texas Public School districts will lose nearly $300 million in state funding to the voucher program according to a report from watchdog groups. Our schools are democracy and every Texan decarney with our schools are democracy says the funding loss may force districts to make major cuts.

25:25Well, they have to reduce teachers limiting or eliminating extracurricular opportunities, reducing student services or closing schools. The report estimates districts will face a roughly $8,000 cut in state funding per student lost. The lawyer for Wilbur Garcés Peta says he underwent surgery yesterday to remove the bullet that had been lodged in his back for almost two weeks. He's the Venezuelan man who was shot by ice last month in Austin while working as a food delivery driver. I'm Shelby Rose 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 passed the hour Texas Standard Time. I'm Laura Rice. Conference play kicked off last week for Abeling Christian University's Women's Soccer. The Wildcats have faced top competitors from outside the conference and have had an impressive showing so far.

26:27A lot of that traces back to a player who wasn't even on campus a year ago. KACU's Josiah Wannell takes a look at an impactful freshman forward who chose ACU over bigger programs. The second day of fall was a warm one in Abeling as the ACU Women's Soccer team took the field for early morning practice. They were preparing to travel east for the start of conference play. This team has no shortage of leaders, a veteran core that's guided the program for years. But this season one of the biggest leaders by example is someone who's only been here for a few months. A freshman forward Addison Brisco has found her groove in her first campaign in a Wildcat uniform leading alongside the team's veterans setting up her teammates on the field and scoring goals for a defense first program. Her impact has been hard to miss. The story of how she got here starts in a parking lot outside the ACU Soccer office. So it sat down like in the meeting and I got my offer and everything.

27:31My entire family was here, my brother, my dad and my mom. And I had other offers, other visits coming up. So I was going to let those play out and come back with an answer. But Brisco didn't make it out of the parking lot with her family before making up her mind to play for ACU. I remember my dad telling me like, what do you think? And I was like, I don't have anything bad to say. Like even if I went to those other colleges, I know I'd pick this one. So my dad was like, okay, like, well, then what's the point of going to those other ones? You already know your answer. So I walked back in and the coaches were standing right there and they actually thought I like forgot something. But I told him I was just like, I want to commit here. Like this is where I want to be. She came back and was like, hey, I want to, I want to commit. It was, yeah, it was just a cool story. Steven Salis is Abeling Christian's head coach. She was our number one commit that we're looking to go after. So it's always nice to get your number one commit. That was the summer before Brisco senior year of high school. She turned down interest from some of the biggest college programs along the way. Her high school coach, Jason Atkins says the poll wasn't really about soccer at all.

28:35The religious nature of Abeling Christian compared to some other schools. She's a strong in her faith. And I think that was a big draw for her being able to play at the D1 level. And obviously being on a campus and community that she felt comfortable in. Where their future already settled, Brisco entered her senior year at Smithson Valley High School in spring bench, Texas with something to prove. The year before her team had lost in the state semi finals on penalty gigs. There was just like a fire behind everyone from like the second day of school. We're like, we're going to work our tails off and we're going to win state this year. Like we spoke it into existence like the second day of school. Like a surreal feeling. It still feels not real to this day to say that I won state my senior year. Have an addy as a captain senior captain coming in that year. You know, she got the group really focused. And I think she was a catalyst in that that state title was the last chapter of high school. College brought a different test entirely. And Brisco's coaches say the reason she's been able to handle it traces back to the shift.

29:37Coach Atkins watched happen in real time between her sophomore and junior year. Is really when she grew tactically and technically as a player talent wise. It was always there, but to take herself to the next level. She knew she had to be a little bit more physically fit. And she came in her junior year just I mean off the charts physically. That work showed up almost immediately at ACU in a preseason fitness benchmark called the beep test. A shuttle run that gets faster every few reps until players can't keep pace. Believe it got 53 and I think I believe it was a record that I set. So just like fitness level. I was like I kind of set that mentally for myself. I was like, OK, if I'm not the last one standing on the team, like I'm going to be the last freshman standing on the team. That impressed coach Salis alongside everyone else. She broke our fitness record. So she got 53 on the beep test, which is the highest we've ever had. So we knew her capacity was large. Salis says that engine is exactly what's let her be everywhere at once this season. Tracking back on defense, then sprinting into attack.

30:38If not scored goals, then she's assistant. If not scored and assisted, then she's created a lot of dangerous opportunities. Weeding her team with four goals and tied for first and assists. Brisco's attack has been extremely effective. That output has shown up against ranked bigger school opponents too. Results, Brisco says have the team fired up heading into conference play. Just kind of like a game of soccer that like we don't usually play like we were just so confident on the ball. It didn't matter if they were like a big, a big school or a larger school. It was just the fact that like I did in the day where there's 11 girls on each team and we're both just playing soccer. Now with conference play underway, Brisco says the fate that brought her to ACU continues to guide her mindset. But I just think like making it impact and leaving a legacy. And I think that's such a big thing, especially with coach Salis. It's like, what's your legacy? Like, what are you going to leave on the team when you're gone? So I just think kind of not taking a moment. Anything for granted and just growing friendships and relationships with Christ. And yeah, just leaving a legacy in general. A parking lot in Abelene, a state title in Texas, a fitness record that's still standing.

31:41For Addison Brisco, the freshman leading alongside a team of veterans, the story keeps writing itself one chapter at a time. I'm Josiah Winnell in Abelene. Support for Texas Standard comes from Half Price Books, a Texas bread new and news bookstore, proudly supporting public media and sustainability by keeping books, music, and other media in circulation. Store locations and more information at hpb.com. Support comes from Austin Waters Conservation Team. Residents can work together to protect and preserve the future water supply by watering only one day, week, and at the right time of day. Watering schedules, tips, rebates, and more at austinwater.org. This man's identity is unknown. He was believed to be between 30 years old. This is Jason Cosnerich, creative director for Fangoria. Fangoria is a film magazine that's covered the bold and bloody and horror entertainment since 1979. In this October, we've joined forces with Texas Standard to highlight some horror movies with Texas Tuckers.

32:45He wore a white hood and was known only as the Phantom Killer. The town that dreaded sundown, 1976. Loosely based on a Texarkana Moonlight murders in 1946, before there was Friday the 13th, before John Carpenter's Halloween, there was the Slasher Horror and somewhat police procedural, the town that dreaded sundown. The Texarkana Arkansas boys had come home to their families, husbands reunited with their wives. It was a happy, peaceful time. To this day, the actual murders the movie is based on remain unsolved and the only description of the killer was a hooded man. For four months, he held an entire city in the icy grip of terror. In the movie, the Slasher known as the Phantom Killer, where's his sack on his head, which became the inspiration for Jason Voorhees' best in Friday the 13th, part two. Starring Academy Award winner Ben Johnson has kept in JD Morales at the Texas Rangers.

33:50We got a cold-blooded killer here. Not only was the film set in the Texarkana, but it was also filmed there with about 19 local starring and several extras. A man who nobody sees, a phantom who so far hasn't made any mistakes. Andrew Prime, as deputy Norman Ramsay of the Texarkana Sheriff's Department. The only thing we really do know is that we've got a very strange person on our hands. After the films were released in 1977, a Texarkana city official filed a lawsuit with the film's ad campaign. Mainly around the tagline on the poster, in 1946, this man killed five people. Today, he still lurks the streets of Texarkana. Samuel P. Fuller, age 24. Linda May Jenkins, age 19. Rudely attacked March 3, 1946. Howard W. Turner, 29. Emilou Cook, 17. Bodies discovered in a wooded area on March 24. Roy Allen, 17.

34:52Peggy Lumus, 15. Both found dead April 14 in Spring Lake Park. Floyd Reed, age 34. Murdered in his home on May 3. Mrs. Reed shot twice, but survived. In 2014, Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum made a meta-sequel with the same title. It was again filmed in Texarkana as well as Shreveport, Louisiana. It premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. Upon its release, Fangoria magazine gave it a rating of three out of four skulls. Now, Charles B. Pierce brings this incredible, shocking and true story to the screen. In the town that dreaded Sundown, a true story. Now is a horror movie filmed in Texas, that will make a welcome addition to your following horror movie playlist. If you're interested in learning more about the horror genre, visit Fangoria.com where you can read all about new and classic horror films and you can also subscribe to the magazine.

35:53You can also hit up your local comic shop, Barnes & Noble, and specialty book stores to pick up the latest issue of Fangoria. And if you start reading it, just keep repeating to yourself. It's just a magazine. It's just a magazine. It's just a magazine. I'm Fangoria creative director, Jason Cosmerich, and you're listening to The Texas Stand. It's The Texas Standard. I'm David Brown. This week for the first time since NASA's historic Artemis 2 mission, Houston celebrated the crew as hometown heroes within event in space city. Before astronauts say it's still surreal to have returned to Earth as celebrities. And some of them are moving on to new roles. Michael Adkesson of Houston Public Media has more. Three, two, one, booster ignition, and lift off the crew of Artemis 2 now bound for the moon. During the six months following their mission around the moon, the Artemis 2 crew traveled to country as celebrities touting the success of the mission.

36:59Now they're back in space city. Please help me welcome Reed, Victor, Christina, Jeremy, your Artemis 2 crew. For the final stop of their publicity tour, the crew came to the University of Houston Wednesday night. Here's Commander Reed Weissman. We've been back for six months, but today we are home. I asked them if they felt caught off guard by their newfound celebrity status. Was there anything that's really caught you off guard in the last six months of like, wow, I was not prepared for this much attention, this much, you know, presence. Was there anything like that for you guys? The whole thing. That's how otherwise actually. Pilot Victor Glover elaborates. I'd say probably the biggest shock in a moment was when we were in Times Square and they sang Happy Birthday to me. That was just like so. I mean, on top of all the crazy things that have already happened, that was like bananas. Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency says he was in awe of how people reacted to the mission.

38:01We've talked a lot about just how shocked we were to get back and see how it rippled around the world. I mean, that was really heartwarming to see. That emotion was palpable Wednesday night as Houstonians screamed and cheered for the crew. Weissman Glover Hansen and Mission Specialist Kristina Cook. At one point, a woman screamed out from the crowd. She said, I love you Kristina. We love her too. I'm blushing. After nine days of speaking with Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center from many thousands of miles away, Cook says it's special to be back. You know, we have been saying the word Houston on the radio is the entire mission. And so to actually come back here, it's that full circle moment. As their publicity campaign comes to an end though, there's a sense of finality for the Artemis 2 crew. They've passed a baton on to the Artemis 3 crew, which NASA expects to launch next year. Not only that, some of the crew members themselves are stepping away from spaceflight.

39:01Hansen is leaving the Canadian Space Agency astronaut program. Weissman and Glover are both transitioning to emeritus roles at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, training and mentoring the next generation of astronauts while allowing them to seek other roles outside of NASA. This is kind of the last event that we are doing as a crew in our post-flight. So this is very bittersweet for us. For what could be one of the last times, Weissman brought the audience at the University of Houston into one of the crew's traditions. We named our spaceship Integrity because it really means all of us coming together. And so let's do this. Three, two, one. Integrity! Thank you, Houston. I'm Mike Gladkissin in Houston. Alright, let's get up to speed on sports as we head into the weekend tonight. In the WNBA, the Dallas Wings face a winner-go home game against the Golden State Valkyries. The Wings forced a game three in the opening round of the playoff series this week with a spectacular game two win a three pointer that forced it into overtime.

40:01Beating the Valkyries, 108 to 100. The winner tonight will face the defending champion, Vegas, Aces on Sunday. On the college football front, the now ranked number one Texas Longhorns remain undefeated and get a buy week so to the Aggies. Meanwhile, the 12th ranked Red Raiders are in Colorado to meet the Buffaloes. In Fort Worth, TCU faces off against an unbeaten Big 12 opponent, number 10, BYU. Texas NFL fans renew a rivalry on Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys face off against the Houston Texans. A new kickoff at Reliance Stadium. Cowboys coming off a last second loss to the Ravens while the Texans have yet to win a game this season. Just a few of the matchups, the standard, will be following all weekend long. We're coming up on 49 minutes past the hour. Texas Standard Time. Support for Texas Standard comes from the Houston Cinema Arts Festival. Now to October 11th at venues across Houston. Films include the debut and once upon a time in Harlem. Programming includes screenings and filmmaker mixers.

41:03More at cinemahtx.org. Support for Texas Standard comes from HEB and the MyHGB app, which is available for download and shopping fresh departments like CBC. Fresh Departments like seafood, produce bakery and deli. And scheduling curbside pickup or home delivery. More at HEB.com. Support comes from Dell Children's, a part of Ascension Seaton. Committed to caring for children across Central Texas. From newborns to teens. Pediatricians, ER and specialty care teams including heart, ENT, ortho and spine. DellChildrens.org. I'm Sean P3. I'm with the typewriter rodeo. And the typewriter rodeo. We make up homes on the spot on whatever topic people want. Evolving for listener Katherine. You will not notice it at once.

42:03But slowly the river will bend. Perhaps to avoid a rocky patch, a hazard. Or just to curve slowly where it needs to go. And yes, sometimes that curve will be so harsh that part of the river is cut off. Left to dry up on its own so that the rest can run its course. And there is a sadness in the part that is now passed. Take a moment. Celebrate it. Give it thanks for the time it flowed and then face forward. You, like this river, are always in movement. You, like this river, must let go of the past to make it through all the hazards. But on you go, like we all do. Flowing toward the light, toward the horizon, whatever twisty course you take, on you go.

43:05For the Texas Standard, I'm Sean Petrie with the Typewriter Rodeo. Well, you can hear the Typewriter Rodeo every Friday right here on the Standard. Got a suggestion for a custom pulling yourself? Send it on over. You just might hear it on the radio. But now it's time for the week that was in Texas politics. And joining us to help us with that project, Jasper Shere, a politics editor for the Texas Tribune. Jasper, welcome back. Yeah, thanks for having me. Well, this week the FBI arrested a man on federal charges for allegedly planning an attack on the Texas Capitol. Quite a scare on Thursday. Tell us a little bit more about this story. We haven't been hearing too many details from officials, have we? Yeah, we haven't. We know that according to the the secretary of the Texas Senate, this individual who is arrested was the main suspect, along with some, I guess, co-conspirators in this sort of plot. We don't know a ton. It sounds like they charged him with making a terrorist threat against a public agent.

44:12So see how that plays out. Yeah, that's really interesting because I don't think there were any hearings or anything planned for the Capitol on Thursday. But I'm surprised to hear that now they're talking about it in terms of a conspiracy. Have there been any other arrests announced in connection with this or no? No, yeah, that's part of the the interesting part of this is they, you know, there is mention of of co-conspirators and a broader plot. But so far it's just this one alleged ringleader who's been taken into custody as far as we know. Let's shift gears to a shooting a week and a half ago, a Venezuelan man shot by an ice officer in Austin. Now that Venezuela and man was taken into federal custody and I understand this week he was formally charged. What are the charges that you're hearing and what do we know about what transpired at least according to prosecutors? Yeah, this is so federal prosecutors charged the man with it was a single count of resisting and assaulting a federal officer.

45:19This is kind of echoes of what we've seen in other ice shooting incidents in other parts of the country where there was an allegation here specifically that the man was fleeing federal agents and that is his car's side view mirror actually struck an officer in doing so. So it's just been a lot of sort of allegations thrown back and forth about, you know, the suspects using their cars as weapons or trying to do harm to the officers with them. And so a lot we don't know for sure, but that's what's being alleged in this case. Yeah, part of the fog here is that the ice officer who apparently pulled the trigger at least according to these accounts was supposed to be wearing a body camera at the time. But was not and so again, we don't have that sort of perspective to know what actually transpired right. That's right. Yeah, I believe his partner was wearing a camera, but not the officer who actually pulled the trigger.

46:23We've been speaking with Jasper Shera politics editor of the Texas Tribune where you can read more on all of these stories. Jasper, thanks so much. Have a great weekend. Of course, thanks David. You too. And you are listening to the Texas standard. M.I. registered to vote. And then the follow up question, M.I. sure I'm registered to vote. That's where we started this week's talk of Texas and Doris Murdoch in Harris County gave us an answer that probably sounds familiar. Yes, I am and I keep checking. I'm Wells Dunbar with the Texas standard and with the election approaching, a League of Women Voters volunteer has been helping Texans work through one particular registration question. 1.2 million voters are on the voter suspense list. Are you one of them? Suspense. A word you'd sooner encounter as a Netflix category than next to your voter registration. But don't worry.

47:27If you find out that you are on the suspense list, do not freak out. I promise it will be okay. Deep breath. The good news is that being on the voter suspense list does not mean you can't vote. It means election officials need to confirm your address. Maybe a piece of mail came back undeliverable. If you still live in the county where you're registered, you can complete a statement of residence at the polls. But there's also a separate reason Texans have been checking their records. The backlog of voter registration applications and updates that the Department of Public Safety failed to send to counties. Some they had been sitting on for nearly a year. Listener Jena Sanders shared her own experience trying to get an address changed to stick after moving from Austin to Tarant County. She says the family checked the voter registration box when updating their driver's licenses but no new voter cards arrived. We checked online. No change, she said. This admitted updated addresses with the state. Jena says it still took a month, but quote,

48:32wait for me, we are all up to date for the November elections. Back to the so called suspense list. If you're already registered and need to fix that address, where do you start? I'm glad you asked. Just go back to votetexas.gov and click on register to vote. I know, I know, you're already registered to vote. But trust me, click on register to vote. From there, you can update your voter registration information online. And it's worth remembering what all this is leading up to early voting October 19th through the 30th. From the US Senate to local races, there's a lot on the ballot. But first, a closer deadline. By the way, October 5th is the last day to register to vote or to update your voter registration here in the state of Texas before the midterm election. So if you want to vote in the midterm election, make sure that everything is good to go by October 5th. That's Monday. Have you checked? Found something you weren't expecting? Tell us about it. Leave us a comment on social media or make a voice recording that we can share on air at texasstandard.org slash talk.

49:39I'm Wells Dunbar and this is the talk of Texas. Indeed it is. You know, the nine justices of the US Supreme Court are kicking off a news session next week with cases that reshape gun rights, workplace discrimination protections at universities and more. Let's take a look at what's at stake for Texas. Get caught up on the rest of the news and a whole lot more on Monday's edition of the Texas Standard. Till then, I'm David Brown wishing you a wonderful weekend. Phil and Dropix support for Texas Standard comes from Casey and Scotto Hare, the Wing Glare Family Foundation, Lindoppson and Greg Waldrich, Adrian Killam, and the George Huntington Family. Would your company or organization like to be a sponsor as well? Contact your local station for opportunities within your community. For statewide sponsorships, visit TexasPublicMediaNetwork.com. Thanks so much for listening to the Texas Standard, 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.

50:54I'm David Brown. We'll see you tomorrow. Support for Texas Standard comes from Trial Med, conducting clinical research for over 30 years. Info on current trials in Texas at trialmed.com.