News

Plastic bags are as much a part of the retail and grocery store experience as the milk and bread they carry, but recently, cities across Texas have been taking a journey down the road less traveled.

Brownsville, Laguna Vista, South Padre Island and now Austin are part of a growing movement to ban plastic bags.

Local shoppers seem to agree with the sentiment.

"I wouldn't mind banning something as long as there's an alternate to it," said H-E-B shopper John Saldaña.

Four major players square off in the fight to save whooping cranes; one side wants to save the birds, while the other side sees an invasion of state's rights. Water management is one of the large items on the table for this session of the Texas Legislature, the question then is: What is the best way to solve the problem?

State Senator Dan Patrick gave a report to the Greater San Antonio Chamber’s education committee Friday about issues important to area business leaders.

Greater chamber members are keenly interested in programs that prepare students for jobs. Education Committee Chairwoman Denise Green said they heard from the senator on measures addressing dual credit, more funding for career education and replacing the school funding taken away in the last session.

The House Budget Committee approved additional funding for public school districts and changed a key component for how schools are funded locally. They voted out a budget bill out of committee late Thursday that will provide school districts $3 billion over the next 2 years.

Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, is the vice-chair of the committee and said that is still below what was cut during the 2011 budget.

The four finalists are doing all they can to impress the judges and make their mark on this special occasion. There is the award-winning performance of the commissioned work "Upsparkles" by the Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Moravec.

Russian mystic Alexander Scriabin breaks free from 'sonata-form' with his "Sonata Fantasy in g minor."

Claude Debussy cuts loose from the forms he used in his first set of preludes when one of the contestants plays four of the twelve works from his second set from 1913.

Clément, the lead singer of Paris-based French band Alba Lua, still calls Bordeaux his hometown and loves to talk about life in southwest France. Though they are proudly French, the name of the band is actually a mixture of Spanish and Portugese.

"Alba is the dawn (in Spanish), and Lua is the moon in Portugese... I like the association of the two words and sometimes you can see the moon in the daylight and it has always been beautiful to me."

Are you a high school student who is interested in learning what it's like to work at a radio station?

Haochen Zhang, gold medal-winning pianist in the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will be performing at Ayers Hall at Texas Lutheran University on Monday, March 25 at 7 p.m.

KPAC's Randy Anderson spoke to Mr. Zhang about his experiences in Fort Worth, touring, and the music on next Monday's program.

"The competition meant a lot to me. [Now] I get to spend so much time touring, and it’s a very maturing experience for me, mentally and spiritually." -- Haochen Zhang

A senate hearing at the capitol dials down the accountability standard for state dropout recovery schools under a bill authored by Sen. Leticia Van DePutte.

If the bill passes, dropout recovery schools would not face the same accountability standard as any other public school in the state.

Justina Gonzalez runs the Por Vida Academy & Charter School in San Antonio, an at-risk school for students that have fallen behind.