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Texas Legislature - Education
1:41 pm
Fri April 12, 2013

Senate Passes Charter School Bill With Bipartisan Effort

Credit Flickr user Phil Ostroff / cc

Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, got another win for open-enrollment charters schools and vouchers on Thursday as the bill, which would raise the number of charter schools to 215 by 2014, got little to no opposition, and even got some help from across the aisle.

The bill also calls for that number to be raised to 331 by 2019.

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Fronteras Desk
1:16 pm
Fri April 12, 2013

New Mexico Debating Whether To Accept Washington's Nuclear Waste

Credit Elaine Baumgartel / KUNM
A handmade card shows opposition to nuclear waste traveling along New Mexico highways to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M.

Fronteras: For several decades mules have delivered mail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, but now the company that runs the mule train plans to stop the package service. Plans to ship nuclear waste from leaky tanks in the state of Washington to New Mexico are stirring up an old debate about the storage of toxic waste. Also, filmmaker Rodrigo Gudiño tells us about his latest work, which  is fueled by his earliest memories of being horrified by religious images.

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Texas Matters
12:28 pm
Fri April 12, 2013

The Confusing And Murky World Of Tax Loopholes In Texas

Credit State of Texas District Viewer
2012 general election precincts

Texas Matters: Taxes are a touchy subject no matter what side you are on, but they exist to raise revenue so closing loopholes is one way to make sure everyone pays a fair share. Also on the show: A look at Tesla Motors effort to open up the Texas market, Texas school districts letting teachers with a CHL carry a gun on campus, and the Texas history behind John Ford's classic film, "The Searchers."

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Gun Control
11:34 am
Fri April 12, 2013

Committee Passes Campus-Carry Bill, Takes Up Gun-Show Loophole

Credit Oleg Volt / Wikipedia Commons

Sparked by the campus stabbing in Houston, lawmakers in the Texas House passed a college-carry bill out of committee this morning and are hearing opposing bills related to gun restrictions.

The House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety passed a measure that would allow students and faculty at a public university to carry their gun on campus if they possess a CHL license.

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City Council Elections
10:39 am
Fri April 12, 2013

Redistricting Forces Candidates Into New District Race

Arthur Thomas, 34, and Celeste Montez-Tidwell, 45, thought they’d be running in District 9 when they decided to make a run for the San Antonio City Council.

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Texas Legislature
10:04 am
Fri April 12, 2013

Senate Ends Week Passing Unemployment Drug Testing Bill

Credit Ryan Poppe / TPR
Both the House and Senate have started to pass bills in the 83rd Legislature, but nothing has made it to the governor's desk.

Similar to the bill mandating welfare recipients be screened for drugs, this bill mandates that Texans receiving unemployment benefits also be drug-tested.

Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, authored the bill that would force all unemployment applicants to go through a drug-screening process with a counselor from the Texas Workforce Commission.

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Classical Spotlight
9:33 am
Fri April 12, 2013

YOSA On The (Fun) Run With Beethoven

Credit Chris Eudaily/TPR
Angel Whitley and Steven Payne at TPR

YOSA (Youth Orchestras of San Antonio) are usually on the move, but this weekend, they hope you will join them in a 5k/10k fun run. This is the second year the group has led a "Beat Beethoven's Fifth" race and they are joined by Fleet Feet Sports San Antonio, as well as Texas Public Radio, for the event Saturday morning.

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City Council
9:12 am
Fri April 12, 2013

Council Postpones Library Vote To Consider Bigger Ethical Issue

Credit Ryan Loyd / Texas Public Radio
Councilwoman Elisa Chan speaks to Councilman Reed Williams during a December city council meeting.

The San Antonio City Council followed the lead of District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal Thursday to hold off on a vote about a proposed library branch on the city’s north side.

The 10 members and Mayor Julián Castro initially voted to approve the project at its April 4 meeting, but District 9 Councilwoman Elisa Chan, who represents the district where the library is proposed, asked for the item to be brought back to council. This time she recused herself from the process.

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Classical Spotlight
9:10 am
Fri April 12, 2013

SOLI Is Surreal For McNay Exhibit

While SOLI Chamber Ensemble typically performs 10 to 12 times a season on their subscription series, this year has allowed audiences to hear them a few more times in special settings. This weekend the modern quartet, recognized in January by ASCAP for their adventurous programming, collaborates with the McNay Art Museum for a program called SO(LI) Surreal, based on their visiting Whitney Art Museum exhibit Real/Surreal

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San Antonio Tourism
5:04 pm
Thu April 11, 2013

Bexar County Congressmen Introduce Mission Expansion Bill

Credit Eileen Pace / TPR
The newly-restored Mission San Juan.

As the Texas legislature takes up the possibility of forming a commission to look at what it would take to transform the area around the Alamo, U.S. congressional leaders are also making strides toward the future integrity of the Missions.

State Rep. Mike Villarreal is attempting to create the Alamo Museum District Commission, a group that would study how to honor the Alamo as a national treasure.

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