What Cornyn’s absence at CPAC could signal for Senate race

Tens of thousands of Texans statewide participated No Kings Trump protests as Texas Republicans

try to coalesce for the midterms, more today on the Texas Stand.

Texas Standard is a production of KUT Austin, KERA North Texas, Houston Public Media, and

Texas Public Radio in San Antonio.

I'm David Brown, a No Kings protest this weekend and what's considered a mostly pro-Trump

Texas City, meanwhile hard core conservatives gather, hoping to fend off what may be the

most serious Democratic challenger Republicans monopoly on statewide office in decades will

hear more.

Also, our conversation with a top oil analyst who warns many Texans don't realize just

how bad a fuel shortage could become if the Iran War continues, plus the elite eight

in our March movie brackets.

What's the best Texas film?

Call that in a whole lot more coming up today on the Texas Stand.

No matter where you are, if you follow Texas politics, you gotta hear what happened this

weekend great by.

It's Texas Standard time on this 30th day of March 2026.

I'm David Brown, great to have you with us.

While in cities across Texas on Saturday thousands rallied against President Trump as part

of the National No Kings demonstration, something will have more honor in a few minutes.

Meanwhile a much smaller gathering was happening inside a mammotho-telling grapevine called a

Gaylord Texan this weekend.

Side of this year's Texas conservative political action conference, these CPAC events bring

together Texas Republicans of all stripes but mostly a field of the hard core and far

right.

It's estimated just under 2,000 Texas Republicans were there, taking part in discussions

on the 2026 midterms, immigration, foreign policy and more, but the main event this year.

What looms as a huge test facing Texas Republicans in November, they're hoping to hold off a

tough democratic challenge for a U.S. Senate seat currently held by 23-year incumbent John

Kornin.

Kornin won the Republican primary earlier this month, but didn't get the 50 percent

he needed to prevent a runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's pitched himself

as more conservative, more aligned with the MAGA movement.

Paxton was at the CPAC conference, guess who wasn't?

Because the New York Times put it on Sunday, if John Kornin hoped his absence wouldn't be

noticed, he was wrong.

Joining us now to tell us more about this gathering and what it may or may not tell us about

Texas politics at the moment, blaze gainy of the Texas newsroom, blaze welcome back.

Thanks for having me.

First let's talk about the conference itself, this was happening as the No Kings rallies

were taking place statewide, were folks at the conference paying any attention to those

protests?

No, not at all.

I mean, they were-

So there were no protesters outside the building or anything like that, huh?

I did not see any No Kings protesters.

The protesters I saw outside of the building were more so rallying for the war in Iran.

Well, I want to turn to that in just a moment, but I want to focus on this US Senate race

because John Kornin didn't show up and I know that former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was

hammering that home at this conference saying, Kornin's not coming.

You know why?

He didn't think you were important enough to talk to and everyone roared booze, you know,

as I understand it.

It seems like the crowd was very much solidly behind Ken Paxton.

They were definitely behind Ken Paxton.

I think, you know, he used that as a reason why Kornin wasn't there.

Kornin said he wasn't there because he was busy trying to work on getting the Save

America acts passed.

You know, the one that makes people show proof of citizenship before being able to register

to vote.

That is why he said he wasn't there, but of course, you know, Paxton is going to drum

it up as a different reason and say that he didn't think that people were as important

as him.

I mean, but Paxton also knows that's his crowd.

CPAC is his crowd.

He got 100% rating.

Dave endorsed him in the race.

They are totally back in him.

I guess you anticipated what I was going to ask because in the big picture does Kornin's

absence at this conference matter?

And I guess what I'm really asking is how representative of the Texas GOP is the CPAC

conference?

I mean, ultimately, most people there want Paxton, but there were a good number of people

who just were undecided still in the race.

Carrie Wood was one of them.

He thought that Paxton just had a lot of baggage coming into the race.

It's there, and that's a reality, and that's going to potentially impact, especially maybe

with female voters and things like that, and, you know, God forbid, if it ends up being

enough to get Talleriko in, well, now we're really in a position where it's not, you

know, doesn't benefit anyone at that point.

And what he's talking about is all the baggage that Paxton comes along with, obviously,

the divorce going on.

And then, you know, he's been tempted to be impeached and several other things.

Accusations of corruption and that sort of thing.

But of course, Paxton says Kornin isn't conservative enough.

And Kornin, as you were saying there, says if Paxton wins, the GOP will likely lose to

James Talleriko, the Democratic challenger in November.

President Trump hasn't endorsed a candidate yet.

He said he would.

Why no endorsement?

You know, I think it is a hard choice to make because, obviously, if CPAC, who is sort

of home-based for also MAGA Republicans is saying we want Paxton, but all this money

has been given to Kornin, it's pulling in both sides, you know, and so I think he just

doesn't know, or at least maybe didn't know what he wanted to do.

Maybe when he came out, he wanted Kornin and then now he's gotten word that no Paxton

is the candidate that real conservative Texans want.

And I think it's just, at this point, maybe he'll stay out of it and just let Texans

decide.

Even though Kornin's absence seemed to be the big story from the convention, you mentioned

that there were protests over the Iran War.

Are Texas Republicans united behind the President in this war?

They are totally united.

I've heard a lot of people say, you know, whatever he's going to do there, we're behind

100% Iranian Americans were there.

They even said, I had one tell me that, you know, the innocent lives that have been lost,

it is worth getting the regime out there.

I thought that was shocking here.

But Rosa Polly also spoke there and talked about the unification of Iranian American

Americans.

Unlike the regime that works its death and destruction, the Iranian people celebrate

life and liberty.

That's why I can imagine in Iran that exports engineers instead of extremists.

And the Crown Princess hoping to lead Iran over the next five or six months after the war

is finished to eventually elect a leader.

Obviously, he's trying to get support from Trump supporters and eventually win the support

of President Trump himself.

Blaze Gainey covers politics for the Texas newsroom.

Blaze, thanks so much.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

As Blaze was mentioning, there are a growing fault line among Republicans over support for

that war with Iran.

Since the start of that military action, average prices for a gallon of gas have risen from

roughly $2.70 to over $350 a gallon in parts of Texas in just over a month.

Go out to El Paso, prices are above $380 a gallon.

Things are worse in some other parts of the country.

But our go-to energy experts concern many don't fully appreciate just how much more serious

things could get.

Matt Smith is head oil analyst at Kepler.

Matt, welcome back.

Thanks, David.

I know much of your concern comes down to the straight of her moves, which has been virtually

shut down to traffic.

As we enter the fifth week of this conflict, what do you see as the knock-on effect that

you think many folks haven't come to terms with?

Yeah, sure.

David, it's just such big numbers, right?

And the length of how long it has been closed and how much longer it can potentially still

be closed for.

So we see a third of the world's crude exports on a seaborn basis passing through there.

20% of the world's liquefied natural gas exports, 15% of the world's clean product exports.

And so that's the immediate issue, right?

Is that that product and that crude is not flowing?

But what that means is there's also been a delayed impact because we're still

seeing those products that loaded before the war started and they're still heading

to their destination since they're still just finally discharging in Asia.

But what this means is then right now in the next few weeks is when things really start

to get a lot worse because these various refineries in Asia are not getting the oil they

need to produce the jet fuel, the diesel, the gasoline.

You have Africa, which is not getting the gasoline or the diesel that it needs.

And so the ramifications of this is really going to be kicking in over the next few weeks

here.

I'm hoping you can spell this out because we don't rely much on oil from the straight

of Hormuz.

And I think a lot of Texans feel like we're insulated from major price hikes, the sort

of thing that people would be facing in Asia and in Africa and other parts of the world

because of local supply.

David, we are insulated from a supply perspective because the US is producing its own gasoline.

We know our refineries run at 16 million barrels per day, but we are insulated from a price

perspective because our prices at the pamper at your local gas station are influenced by

the price of oil and oil is influenced by global factors.

And that rise that we have seen is what is charging gasoline prices higher here.

How much is Texas oil going to supplement shortages globally?

That's a great point and so as we've seen the Trump administration essentially trying

to keep oil prices down, that is keeping US oil prices down relative to global benchmarks.

But what that does is make it that much more attractive to be exported down to the global

market.

So April crude exports from the US are going to hit a record because they're a relative

more attractive than other countries oil.

Earlier to down social media, President Trump warned Tehran to open the straight of Hormuz

or quoting here.

We will conclude our lovely stay in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all

of Iran's electric generating plants, oil wells and carg island.

Now there are some independent reports that seem to confirm there's some sort of talks

happening, but you follow these oil markets extremely closely.

What do you see happening next?

What is your concern right now?

Our concern is that the straight of Hormuz remains closed for the next three to four weeks

here.

And then even if it does start to open back up again, it's going to take probably a couple

of months to get back up to normal.

So it's going to be the summer by this time gets fixed anyway, even if things are resolved

relatively quickly here.

So that is the concern that this is going to get much worse before it gets any better.

You mentioned that your concern people aren't don't really fully grasp how serious this

is.

This has been in the news.

Is it that people, I mean, don't realize just how high our prices could become, could

go or what?

Yeah.

So you're looking at that price of gasoline and seeing it move higher, but jet fuel is $200

a barrel now.

Diesel is close to that as well.

So even though gas prices have risen, diesel prices are up like 44% something like that

over the last month.

And that is going to work its way into everything that is trucked around the US.

So we're going to be paying more for our goods starting with groceries because the vast

majority of them are moved around the country on diesel powered trucks.

Much bigger than prices at the pump.

Yes.

Matt Smith, one of the most knowledgeable experts on the oil industry globally, he's top

oil industry analyst at Kepler.

Matt, thanks so much for sharing your expertise.

Thanks, David.

Hi, David, great to be with you.

How do you make ends meet in Texas right now?

It's a question on many people's minds as it is getting harder out there, gas prices

ticking up like we just heard groceries costing more along with a rising cost of living.

For a lot of folks, it's not just one big thing, it's everything at once.

So we want to hear from you.

It's changed lately, are you having to cut back or pick up extra work, rethinking big

plans or just trying to hold steady?

Our partners at the Texas newsroom are collecting real stories from Texans across the state.

Not just numbers, but how this moment actually feels day to day, moment to moment.

You can share your experience right now.

We've got the link up at texasstandard.org, steer your browser there and look for the

post titled, Hey, Texas, how do you afford to live in your city?

We want to hear from you already getting some pretty fascinating responses, David.

I'll be back to share some of those later in the program.

Keep them coming listeners.

That's audience and engagement editor Wells Dunbar who'll be back with us in about 30 minutes

or so.

Texas's construction boom, what the immigration crack down means for that industry.

Those stories and a whole lot more has the standard continues.

Support for Texas Standard comes from HEB and the MyHEB app, which is available for download

and shopping fresh departments like seafood, produce, bakery, and deli and scheduling

curbside pickup or home delivery, more at HEB.com.

It's the Texas Standard, I'm Laura Rice.

Construction workers in North Texas are living in fear over heightened immigration enforcement.

Still, they continue laboring to feed their families.

As KERA's Pablo Arouse Pena reports, workers and business leaders say the crack down is

having a chilling effect on the industry as a whole.

A group of workers is carrying shingles atop the roof of a one-story red brick house in

East Dallas.

One worker carries a pile of shingles over his shoulder while another lays them down

on the roof one by one.

So on a typical day like this, you can be whole day, you know, from 6.45 all the way

onto the finish.

Jose Reyes is a contractor who owns the roofing company working on the site.

He says in the past year, some of his employees have been deported, part of the Trump administration's

crackdown on people in the US without legal status.

People that had, you know, they were making honest living, families, kids, some of them

even expecting, you know, another one.

It's the human cost of ramped up immigration enforcement that's happening at a national

level.

John Martinez with the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association says many workers live in fear.

He spoke at a press conference earlier this month and addressed how immigration policy

could influence future elections.

The men and women who get up and build our homes, our roads, our schools, our hospitals,

and every day they get up not knowing are they going to come back to their families.

Martinez tells KERA there's also an economic cost in construction time is money.

What we lose productivity is when people hear about ice raids and things like that and

they don't show up to work.

And in commercial construction, there's penalties of projects don't finish in time.

Martinez says when building projects have built in incentives or fines, there can be

a domino effect if there are interruptions.

Ultimately, any additional cost goes to the consumer.

So if you think that, hey, I'm so lucky, I don't have, I'm not a mixed-use house, I don't

have friends that are immigrants and stuff, you're not escaping the cost, right?

It's coming to your door.

Construction workers are essential to the growing North Texas economy.

Their labor is crucial as the region experiences a population boom and needs more housing.

A recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says around one in five Texas businesses

are struggling to hire and retain foreign-born workers because of the changes in immigration

policy.

The Fed added this could also amplify the ongoing labor shortage in the construction industry,

which in Texas is about 38% foreign-born.

And there's an impact on the workers themselves.

People in the country without legal status are more vulnerable to exploitation by some businesses

says David Chinconchen with the Advocacy Organization Workers Defense Project.

That is a really big issue in Texas already, like wage stuff is rampant, misclassification

of workers is rampant, folks often work in dangerous working conditions.

Chinconchen says when workers are fearful of being deported at their workplace on a daily

basis, they're even more prone to being taken advantage of.

For immigrant workers, that is really exacerbated by the potential threat of immigration threats.

Jose Reyes, who owns the Roofing Company, says his work sites haven't been the target

of raids and his employees are still showing up to the job.

They know that they have to go out and impede the bills right and make a living.

Reyes says even as immigration enforcement impacts the industry, it's not going to stop construction

workers from pursuing the American dream.

I'm Pablo Arosbenia in Dallas.

And you're listening to the Texas Standard.

The Trump administration is moving forward with a new border wall initiative.

This one is not concrete or steel.

This wall floats.

The plan is to deploy over 500 miles of a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande.

At STPR's David Martin Davies reports, there are questions about what could happen when

the river floods.

It wasn't easy to find the buoys to see them ahead to cross to the other side of the

border wall, an area near Brownsville that folks call No Man's Land.

I drove past a border wall gate and onto a bumpy dirt path, then kept going along the

Rio Grande until I saw them.

We have found them.

With me is Becca Henahosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network.

She is an activist opposed to the border buoys.

I mean, this is a gorgeous river bank and in the middle of our river, I see these orange

cylinder barrier buoys just floating in the center.

Upriver at the buoy deployment staging area, there are over 100 buoys on the ground.

Each one is about 15 feet long and 4 to 5 feet tall.

A work crew on a raft is linking them together and anchoring them to the riverbed.

Eventually, this one string of buoys to deter illegal immigration will grow to be about

17 miles long.

But this is just the beginning.

In January, then Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Knome, was in Brownsville to announce

the buoy project.

The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are deploying

over 500 miles of border barrier.

That is long enough to stretch all the way from Washington, D.C. to Nashville, Tennessee.

DHS has named the effort Operation Riverwall and signed a $96 million contract for the

first 17 miles section.

That breaks down to about $5.6 million per mile, making the whole project cost just under

$3 billion.

The Department of Homeland Security signed a waiver to expedite the project, waiving environmental

laws and environmental assessments, including flood modeling, are not public.

According to Mark Tompkins, a fluvial geomorphologist who studies how rivers flow.

He said putting hundreds of miles of buoys and the Rio Grande is a bad idea.

Tompkins was contracted by a lorado environmental group.

He studied Homeland Security's plan to deploy buoys in the area and said buoys could become

a ticking time bomb.

Sections of these buoys change breaking free.

And then if they get caught on a bridge or on a section of wall, then you've got real

problems.

Tompkins said if a string of buoys gets caught on border bridges, that could cause structural

damage because of the significant amount of trade that crosses the border, closing down

bridges could send shockwaves through supply chains.

They don't seem very stable.

Adriana Martinez from Southern Illinois University studied the river flow in the Rio Grande after

the state of Texas installed buoys to deter illegal immigration in 2023.

She said the new buoys are bigger and much longer.

The amount of force that would be required to hold them in place is just not something

that's physically feasible by the concrete blocks that I've seen.

In a statement, Customs and Border Protection said the Waterborne Barrier is designed

to withstand a 100-year flood event.

Additionally, the Waterborne Barriers are designed to withstand increases in currents

and water elevations.

According to the National Weather Service, the lower Rio Grande reached a record flood

level in 2010 due to remnants of Hurricane Alex.

I'm David Martin Davies in Brownsville.

It's a Texas city that often lands on lists as one of the most conservative in the nation,

not exactly the sort of place you'd expect to find a no-kings protest.

Well, here what happened this weekend in Abelene from a reporter who was there and coming

up next is the Texas snooze roundup.

We'll lot more the standard just ahead, Stainless.

From the Texas News are my Matt Herob, officials say they are as prepared as they can be to launch

Artemis II on Wednesday afternoon, the four astronauts who plan to fly around the moon

and back, left Houston on Friday for Cape Canaveral, Florida.

They are in quarantine and spoke with reporters virtually on Sunday.

Here's Mission Specialist Christina Cook.

It is our strong hope that this mission is the start of an era where everyone, every

person on Earth can look at the moon and think of it as also a destination.

NASA says it expects to begin a countdown to launch this afternoon.

A lawsuit over air conditioning in Texas prisons gets underway today in Austin.

Plaintiffs from a coalition of advocacy groups say the temperatures in many prisons exceed

100 degrees and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

State says the cost of providing air conditioning to about 100 prisons could exceed $1 billion.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission wants to clarify criteria for a pathway to Medicaid

services for children with complex medical needs.

KERA's Abigail Ruman reports advocates say the criteria is too rigid.

The proposed language would allow certain children with complex medical needs to receive

home and community-based services through Medicaid without requiring a nursing facility

to stay, making one path to services less burdensome.

Michael Clark is with the arc of Texas.

He says the criteria to qualify for one of these diversion slots is too narrow.

Many families would not qualify until their situation has deteriorated to an extreme

and potentially dangerous point, rather than receiving services early enough to prevent

institutionalization.

The state is accepting public comment on the draft language until April 3rd.

I'm Abigail Ruman in Dallas.

MSISD will provide a free universal pre-K across the district beginning next school year.

At a briefing earlier this month, trustee Dan Michke says he likes the move.

I think it's a great idea of the more students we can have in pre-K, the better and certainly

our results have shown that.

I think it's innovative and a good thing to do.

Up until now, pre-K has been free only to some three and four-year-olds, including

children and military households or from low-income families.

And new rules on smokeable hemp and THC consumables go into effect tomorrow in Texas.

Smokeable hemp will be prohibited, fees for retail stores and manufacturing facilities

will also increase dramatically.

The change is the result of an executive order issued by Governor Abbott, after he and

the Texas legislature could not agree on regulation for the industry as a whole.

I'm Matt Herob in the Texas Newsroom.

Support for these Texas headlines comes from Texas Casa for a child in foster care.

Small moments today can have a big impact tomorrow.

More on how lending time and support can make a difference at becomeacasa.org.

33 minutes past the hour, Texas Standard Time, I'm David Brown.

We mentioned earlier those no-kings rallies held around the nation in the world.

While turnouts in the thousands largely expected in the state's big metros, there was also

a no-kings rally in a Texas city frequently ranked as one of the most conservative in

the U.S. KACU's Bailey Simon reports now from Abilene.

2 grassroots organizations, 50501 and indivisible, work together to organize the rallies across

the country.

They estimate as many as 8 million people participated.

In Abilene, organizers say around 300 people showed up this time, more than the last two

no-kings rallies, and that shows that frustration is growing, even in solidly Republican regions

like West Texas.

During the October rally, several Trump supporters stood across the street from the city hall and

opposition to the no-kings message.

This time, there was no opposing crowd.

Charles Null held a sign reading no war, no terrorists, follow the Constitution.

He describes himself as an independent voter and says he actually voted for Trump in 2016.

I watch politics every day and I see what he's doing.

I mean, it's the authoritarian playbook, step one, two, three, and he's probably on two

and a half, and I'm just, you know, I'm tired of it.

So, you know, we've got grandkids, I'm concerned about the future of, you know, the Earth.

I'm concerned about the future of the United States of America.

The demonstrators were motivated by a wide range of complaints from the war in Iran to the

Epstein files, immigration, and inflation.

Diana Luna, who is running for Texas House District 71, says she supports the no-kings-day

movement because it gives people a chance to express their first amendment right to protest.

She says she doesn't agree with any of the policies Trump has implemented to try to help

the economy.

All they've done are to make billionaires more billionaires richer and working class

people. Our groceries are still going up.

Our gas prices are now going up.

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran has put a standstill on the Strait of Hormuz, a

vital waterway that handles about 20 percent of the world's oil supply.

As a result, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by about

a dollar.

Samuel Garcia, chair of the Taylor County Democratic Party, set up a table with a sign

asking, what is something you do that a billionaire wouldn't understand?

They don't understand what we do every single day as regular Americans who suffer with

our budget.

Garcia says people's answers to his question serve as a reminder to him of why he is passionate

about working in politics.

For elections matter, yes, I am a political animal, I have my whole life.

I love politics.

I really do.

But why?

Because I know it makes it different to your everyday lives.

Vote them in!

Vote them out!

Vote them in!

Vote them out!

What does democracy...

Through the whole rally, speakers emphasize the importance of voting and influencing others

to make change happen.

Linda Goalsby came to the rally as a Taylor County volunteer deputy registrar to help

attendees go through the steps of registering to vote.

I am here because I am really concerned about the fact that all of a sudden we have a

very non-constitutional semi-monarchy going on and it's important to me that our democracy

survive.

The place where we are right now is we are a democracy, people can vote and change things.

Protester's held signs reading, keep families together and for my father who came with nothing

to give me everything and retaliation to ice raids and detentions.

As of March 2026, 13 deaths in ice detention have been reported this year.

Raleigh Atendi, Billy Keith says he is not usually the type to go to protests, but felt

that it was time he used his voice to make a difference.

Everybody wants all the criminals gone, they want the criminals, you know, sent away,

put behind bars, but folks that are over here to try to earn a living, to do better for

themselves and their families, leave those people alone, you know, let them work, they're

not hurting anybody.

For the protesters and speakers at the Raleigh, accountability and justice go beyond getting

Donald Trump out of office.

They also want to see government officials involved in the Epstein files be held accountable

for their criminal activity.

Shelby Taylor spoke to the crowd about the impact that the lack of accountability has

had on human trafficking survivors like herself.

In October of 2025, President Trump called the No Kings protests a joke and said that the

protesters were not representative of the whole country.

A head of Saturday's nationwide rallies, the White House called them Trump to arrangement

therapy sessions.

For protesters, the day of action gave them the chance to join with millions of other

Americans to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights, to gather and to speak,

delivering the overarching No Kings message that nobody is above the law.

I'm Bailey Simon in Avaline.

I'm Jason Meloder from the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University.

This weekend, Texas Music History, San Antonio Rockers joined the British invasion in disguise.

On April 2, 1965, the Sir Douglas Quintet singles she's about to move her into the billboard

charts.

Doug Som led the Quintet and the young man was no stranger to the spotlight.

He'd been a steel guitar prodigy, learning the instrument at five, hanging out with

Hank Williams and earning an invitation to the Grand Old Opera.

He'd pivoted to Garage Rock after turning the invite down and was joined in the 1965

Quintet by Augie Myers on Box organ, Jack Barber, Frank Marin and Johnny Perez.

The group made music in the mold of San Antonio's Chicano Soul and West Side Sound, but

Augusta Tejana met Rhythm and Blues.

You can hear it in the track, the way that Augie's organ and Barber's bass line play off

one another just as accordion of Bajo's sexto, but in Camunto.

All the while, channeling Ray Charles, what I'd say, and the coasters hit, Searching.

Julie Moe, who produced the track, didn't give it that San Antonio frame though.

Moe had seen his regional record business suffer in the face of the British invasion,

and so in his words, I took a little Phillips phonograph, bought all the Beatles LPs, went

to a motel with a case of thunderbird wine and sat down to figure out what these cats

were into.

After two days of drinking and listening, I got it.

They were playing the beat on the beat.

He then called up Doug Som, told him to start growing his hair in a beetle bob and write

a song like that.

The band dressed in mod suits and Chelsea boots and wouldn't reveal their draws with

a stage banter.

The Sir Douglass quintet would come off as British lads.

The thin ruse may or may not have been why the song caught fire.

It didn't last long though.

The quintet appeared on the TV program Hullabaloo hosted by a fellow Texan Trin Lopez.

On a stage that continued the faux-British theme, a fabricated castle, models in Night's

Armor, saw him in the boys in full mercy beat mode.

Lopez came on after the song and told the audience, but I have a surprise for you, before

on Masking's or Doug as a Texan.

I bet we even fooled Lyndon Lopez quit.

You can hear music from the Lone Star State 24-7 on the Texas Music Experience at tmx.fm.

For the Texas Standard, I'm Jason Mellard.

While we're talking Texas music, we make a passing, dashed crofts, one half of the soft

rock duo seals and crofts, who died on the 25th at 81.

Born in Cisco, crofts helped shape a mellow harmony rich sound in the early 70s with hits

like Summer Breeze and Diamond Groove, and a towering figure in the Austin music scene

passed on Friday, John D. Graham, a guitarist, guitarist, songwriter, songwriter, beloved

Austin Music Hall of Famer, earned deep respect far beyond Texas to very different careers,

unmistakably part of why Texas music matters to so many.

If the Texas Standard and David Brown marches almost over, but the madness continues.

That's true on college basketball courts around the nation and here at the Standard too,

where we've been asking you to help us pick a favorite Texas movie.

We've been getting an earful about the film's producers initially picked for the finals

and a few that weren't.

Nonetheless, you folks have wintered a field of 32 down to an elite eight of films set

and at least partially made right here in the Lone Star State.

Joining us with an update on Texas movie madness, it's the Standard Zone bracket Wrangler

Shelley Brisbane.

Hello again, Shelley.

Hi David.

So we're down to listeners favorite eight Texas movies, just four matchups left.

Tell us about a couple of them.

Well there are some real studies in contrast and some that may be less contrasty urban cowboy

versus no country for old men.

Is it an interesting one?

Different conceptions of Texas, absolutely.

Bottle Rocket versus office space is a fun 1990s one.

If you thought we got too many old movies, we've got some 90s movies for you.

And then I'll mention giant versus Bonnie and Clyde.

That's kind of a giant matchup.

Yeah, absolutely.

What are we missing?

It seems like we're leaving.

Oh right.

We've got days been confused versus Texas chainsaw masker.

That's a real classic Indie versus Indie kind of matchup.

I'll say, we should take some time to mention some films that our production staffed and

including the top 32, but the listeners definitely have strong feelings about it.

Absolutely.

So we ranked 32 films.

We actually started out with about 50 and a couple of films people mentioned were pretty

close to the top 32 but didn't quite make it.

Here's so we heard from some listeners.

This is Nancy Gaulson.

I am crushed that the answer Texas population 81 did not make it into your brackets.

It inspired my first road trip across Texas to Fort Davis.

It captures the beauty and vastness of Texas and it makes me smile every time I watch it.

Hello.

One film that didn't make the cut was Outlaw Blues starring Peter Fonda and Susan St.

James.

He was filmed in and around Austin in 1976 and provides a snapshot of the city that Susan

St. James called the Sleepy College Town.

They use locals as extras including myself, local bands from music scenes, and locations

such as So Creek Saloon, Symphony Square, the Driscoe Hotel, and KVET Studios.

Well I admit it wouldn't win any film awards but it is fun to watch.

Thanks.

This is Craig Towns in Austin, Texas.

I mentioned the movie madness team here at the Standard Understand or Own Laura Rice

talked to some well-known Texans and film fans.

Yeah, actually Laura was out on the red carpet at the Austin Film Awards recently and she

heard from a few folks about their favorite Texas films.

The reason confused is iconic.

I mean it's a film that we can show our high school daughters and just laugh and giggle

and the soundtrack is amazing.

I think I'll double down on that era of linked later like between Slacker and Daisy and Confused.

Slacker was the like out there weird laid back mentality that I was everything I thought

Austin was going to be and Daisy and Confused really captured I think an era that I wasn't

here but so much of it is iconic but I think that one I mean that's just like an epic

you know iconic Texas film but I think people around the world can quote Daisy and Confused.

Oh my gosh, I think a trip to Bountall was a huge one for me because it was so lyrical

and beautiful and I had never heard of Waxahatchee and I was like I want to be in Waxahatchee

where is this place and obviously turns of a deer man a huge one for me when I was at

Rice University I was very young still but they were doing Urban Cowboy.

That was Celeste and Adrienne Cassada Adrienne a pretty well known musician around these

parts and also film producer Elizabeth Avalon.

I understand Laura ran into some folks who have pretty close connections to films on this

list right?

She absolutely did Richard Link Letter and Robert Rodriguez just happened to be hanging

out together at the film awards and here's what they had to say.

I'd go back to the old like last picture show or something like that right, right,

and her last picture show.

I was one I heard about my whole child and my mom visited the set and she told us about

it that she went out there and saw the set and saw them filming because she lived in

El Paso.

Yeah, drive over to yeah and it was a big deal back then because it was like I really

knew about it and was advertised for people of that generation.

Yeah, it was like giant and she would just tell the story about it.

That always went with my mom's story being at this time.

Mr. Linklater still represented in the Elite 8, so if folks want to vote for his film

or someone else's, what do they need to do?

They need to go to texasstandard.org slash movie madness.

The Elite 8 bracket is there for you until tomorrow and after that we will be down to the

final four.

So now is the time to get your votes in.

Shelly Brisbane usually covers things like tech or transportation for us here on the

standard, but she's also a big fan of movies from the Lone Star State.

Shelly, thanks so much for joining.

Thanks for having me.

Report for texasstandard comes from Texas Mutual Insurance Company, a workers compensation

provider committed to handling claims to help injured workers get back to work.

More at texasmutual.com slash mutual care.

Hey, what's cooking?

Make sure to join us as we check in with Texas's Top Taco Journalist to hear about the latest

innovation stories and the people behind many of Texans favorite go to.

It's Mondo Raya with the Tacos of Texas Thursday on the Texas Stamp.

Report Tacos of Texas comes from H.E.D.

It's the Texas Standard.

I'm David Brown.

Texas has the largest veteran population of any U.S. state with an estimated one and a

half million former service members who call Texas home.

But some veterans may face a harder time getting federal food assistance.

An act passed by Congress last year which Republicans called the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Often's work requirements for veterans who apply for SNAP benefits formerly known as

food stamps.

From Fairbanks, Alaska, Shelby Herbert reports now for the American Homefront Project.

Ashley Edgerton is the volunteer coordinator for Meals on Wheels and Fairbanks.

But on a particularly cold morning and we're talking negative 30s, she's making the deliveries

herself.

You're going to also be driving in immense ice fog today.

Just take it slow and steady.

Alaska has some of the highest food prices in America.

It's also home to the highest share of veterans.

And for many of them, those two facts collide at the checkout line.

There are several food insecure veterans on Edgerton's delivery list today.

But she says as a group, they can be really hard to reach.

That population specifically, you have to be one of them.

You know, I eat those stock materials at the VFW Hall for the VA clinics.

Part of Edgerton's job is connecting her food insecure clients with assistance programs

they can apply for, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.

But she says that's out of reach for many.

Alaska is experiencing an administrative backlog for SNAP applications.

We've had people who perfectly qualified because maybe their income was zero, but you

have months and months and months and months of delay.

And there's another barrier on the horizon.

Veterans used to be exempt from the program's work requirements, but the one big beautiful

bill act passed by Congress last year removes that exemption.

Most SNAP recipients, including veterans, will have to work, volunteer, or study at least

80 hours a month, unless they're pregnant, responsible for a dependent child, or have

a documented disability.

Nina Plattenino is the director for SNAP at the Food Research and Action Center, a

nonprofit advocacy organization that addresses food insecurity.

She says it's already hard for many veterans in need to comply with the new law.

This bill didn't come with a job offer, didn't come with, will provide transportation,

will fly you out, will provide broadband, will provide a computer, will provide the training

necessary.

Nationally, about 8% of veterans participate in SNAP.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, while one in five veterans experience

food insecurity, many do not claim those benefits.

And Plattenino says the able-bodied designation might not account for veterans with disabilities

that are harder to see.

There's some of them, depending when they serve, that they do come with certain physical

or or mental disabilities, and those necessarily are not as easily documented or as easily

able for them to be accepted.

Under the new law, people who don't qualify for an exemption can receive SNAP for only

three months out of a three-year period.

In some states, those three months are already expiring for veterans.

Congressman Glenn Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, chairs the House Committee on Agriculture.

At a December meeting, he defended the part of the law that removes work requirement

waivers for many veterans.

If you're coming out of the military and you don't have a disability, I mean, I just

find that someone has gone from active duty status to veterans, they want to work.

Back in Fairbanks, Edgerton comes to a stop at one of the last homes on a route.

It belongs to an elderly veteran and his wife, who signed up for meals on wheels because

the food bank is too far away from them to safely drive on the frozen roads.

They have to drive a 35-mile drive and the husband's on oxygen, so there's a lot of barriers

and layers there.

She says she doesn't know what the future holds with the new law, but she urges veterans

facing food insecurity to not give up hope and to reach out to local and regional non-profits

for help.

Reporting in Fairbanks, I'm Shelby Herbert.

That story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration covering

American military life and veterans.

And you are listening to The Texas Standard.

Audience and engagement editor Wells Dunbar joins us now with the talk of Texas, Hello

again Wells.

Hi, David.

Lately, it feels like the numbers just aren't adding up for a lot of Texans, talking about

the costs of basics, the stuff you can't really opt out of like food and housing and

how they keep creeping up and for a lot of people.

There's no single breaking point.

It's that slow accumulation, so people adjust.

Sometimes that means small everyday trade-offs, or sometimes it's the bigger shifts, the

kind that change routines, plans, or even we're and how you live.

These are some of the changes that our partners at The Texas Newsroom are looking to learn

more about right now, not just the headlines about costs going up, but the real life recalculations

happening behind the scenes.

We're helping them gather voices from across the state, the work around, the compromises,

the unexpected strategies, and we want to hear even more.

We want to add yours to the mix.

You can share what this moment looks like for you.

We've got a link up at TexasStandard.org.

Up there toward the top of the site, just go there and find the post titled, Hey, Texas,

how do you afford to live in your city?

Because we want to hear from you, I want to hear your stories, and also potentially follow

up, get a contact from a Texas Newsroom reporter and have your story inform our reporting

going forward.

We're already getting a lot of rather thoughtful responses.

This one came in via Facebook from listener will.

He writes that these are some of the things he's doing, fixing things that are broke, watching

what I can, and watching what and where I eat, looking for price cutthung groceries

I will actually eat, and going on to say that he learned well from his grandparents

and parents who both grew up in the depression era.

Nothing is thrown away if it can be reused like bailing wire and string from hay bales.

So some fascinating ideas.

They're K Rogers.

I love this comment.

She shouts out a popular North Texas pastime, Kroger Fuel Points.

If you know this comment from Penny Bonkowski, she says that I work three jobs.

I don't buy new clothes very often.

I repair them.

I try to pick hash and not take out loans for things.

I donate instead of money, donate time, rather, instead of money to charity and negotiate

as much as possible for things like internet and streaming services, keep the AC as high

as I can tolerate.

These are some of the steps that many Texans are taking right now to try and deal with

the rising costs of living in the state.

And of course, as we've been reporting on the show this hour, lots of anxiety and uncertainty

over the cost of things like fuel, what with the US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Iran's

strikes back.

So lots to talk about here.

And again, we want to hear from y'all about it.

So go to texestandard.org and try to find that post.

I know it's easy.

It's right up there at the top.

You can do it.

It's called Atex.

Sure.

How are you dealing with the rising costs out there?

And yeah, sign up.

We'd love to hear from you.

And again, how do you in our Rolladex, so to speak, so you could be contacted by Atex's

newsroom reporter for more on the subject?

Obviously, it's one that isn't going anywhere, David.

Yeah, I'm fascinated in how people are trying to deal with these rising prices.

I've been noticing more and more people hanging onto their car a lot longer.

And it's got me wondering, why aren't we seeing the rise of sort of one-stop auto-restoration

shops?

You would think that that would be an interesting sort of gig.

You know, you drive up and trying to keep your car running longer.

You think of anyone who can help you with my stereo?

I'd love that.

Amen, brother.

Well, it's done by monitoring the talk of texest.

We're at a time for today's big broadcast.

The news continues 24-7 texestandard.org.

We'll be back here tomorrow and we hope you will, too.

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