Latest / Austin Signal / Smokable hemp is now banned in Texas, but what about by mail?

Transcript

Smokable hemp is now banned in Texas, but what about by mail? · Austin Signal

• 0:09
  Hemp flour and other smokable
• 0:10
  forms of cannabis are no longer
• 0:12
  allowed to be sold in Texas.
• 0:14
  What hasn't changed, however, is
• 0:15
  Texas law that says it's legal to
• 0:17
  possess those kinds of products.
• 0:19
  So can Texans procure these
• 0:21
  smokables from other states?
• 0:23
  It's a complicated answer, we're
• 0:24
  going to have more about that.
• 0:26
  And UT Austin's Mexican American and
• 0:28
  Latina Latino studies will soon be
• 0:30
  consolidated into a new department.
• 0:32
  Latino studies scholars and
• 0:34
  researchers are protesting the
• 0:35
  changes while planning for the
• 0:36
  future.
• 0:37
  The impacts of consolidation at UT
• 0:39
  Austin, and in Texas public schools,
• 0:42
  coming up on today's show.
• 0:43
  The Austin Signal is a production of
• 0:45
  KUT News, hosted by Jerry
• 0:48
  Quijano.
• 0:49
  Plus, a neighborhood park in West
• 0:50
  Austin that was once segregated is
• 0:52
  now named for a black Austinite
• 0:54
  and Austin High legend.
• 0:56
  Come hear his story up next,
• 0:58
  right here on Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there!
• 1:09
  You are tuned in to Austin
• 1:11
  Signal. Thanks for spending part of
• 1:12
  your day here with us.
• 1:14
  I'm your host, Jerry Kehannel.
• 1:16
  It is Wednesday, it is the first
• 1:18
  day of April.
• 1:19
  Hopefully you haven't been fooled
• 1:20
  too bad.
• 1:21
  We're only bringing you the truth
• 1:23
  right here on Austin Signal,
• 1:25
  so thanks for being here with
• 1:27
  today.
• 1:27
  Let's get into the show.
• 1:30
  Hemp flour, extracts, and other
• 1:32
  smokable forms of
• 1:35
  access.
• 1:36
  But the Texas law that makes it
• 1:38
  illegal to possess smokable
• 1:40
  hemp products?
• 1:41
  Well, that hasn't changed.
• 1:43
  So that leaves open a big question
• 1:45
  for Texas consumers.
• 1:46
  If state stores cannot sell these
• 1:48
  products anymore, can Texans still
• 1:50
  order them online from out of
• 1:52
  state?
• 1:53
  As we hear from KUT's Nathan
• 1:55
  Bernier, that answer is
• 1:57
  a little bit complicated.
• 2:01
  Even though Texas is banning
• 2:03
  smokable hemp products, it does not
• 2:05
  mean bongs across the state are
• 2:07
  going silent.
• 2:08
  The new regulations only affect
• 2:10
  sales and manufacturing.
• 2:12
  For those who want to order out of
• 2:13
  state, it's a bit confusing.
• 2:15
  State regulators say, no you can't.
• 2:18
  Cannabis attorneys say, yes you can,
• 2:20
  but acknowledge it's gray area.
• 2:22
  These rules are concerning
• 2:24
  licensing, not
• 2:26
  criminal liability.
• 2:28
  Susan Hayes is a lobbyist and
• 2:30
  lawyer specializing in cannabis law.
• 2:32
  So whether anyone can be criminally
• 2:33
  prosecuted for
• 2:36
  buying products from out of state
• 2:38
  is still gonna be
• 2:39
  doubtful and difficult.
• 2:42
  And I say difficult both for
• 2:44
  legal reasons and also practical
• 2:45
  reasons.
• 2:47
  Most prosecutors, many
• 2:49
  cops, certainly the
• 2:50
  majority of the people living in
• 2:52
  Texas are over this
• 2:54
  idea of criminalizing a
• 2:56
  plant.
• 2:56
  But the Department of State Health
• 2:57
  Services says the new rules
• 2:59
  governing sales and manufacturing
• 3:00
  also apply to any out-of-state
• 3:02
  business selling hemp products into
• 3:04
  Texas.
• 3:05
  In a statement to KUT News, DSHS
• 3:07
  spokesperson Lara Anton said,
• 3:09
  quote, There is no carve-out for
• 3:11
  mail order, end quote.
• 3:12
  In other words, not only are out-
• 3:14
  of-state businesses expected to stop
• 3:16
  sales of smokable hemp flour into
• 3:17
  Texas, but they're also supposed
• 3:19
  to start paying the new fees imposed
• 3:21
  on hemp businesses.
• 3:22
  For retailers, that's $5,000
• 3:25
  per location per year.
• 3:27
  Attorneys working for the Texas
• 3:28
  cannabis industry say enforcing that
• 3:30
  across state lines is going to
• 3:32
  be hard.
• 3:33
  Andrea Steele is with The Banks Law
• 3:35
  Firm in Houston.
• 3:35
  Had to think about the feasibility
• 3:37
  and practicality of enforcement and
• 3:39
  the low-hanging fruit is going to be
• 3:40
  the enforcement of the people that
• 3:41
  they can touch right away.
• 3:43
  And so it's going to be more
• 3:44
  difficult to locate and
• 3:46
  get jurisdiction over an
• 3:48
  out-of-state company who's shipping
• 3:50
  through interstate commerce, which
• 3:51
  is expressly protected in
• 3:53
  the 2018 farm bill.
• 3:56
  Is there life for me?
• 3:59
  That was from the Emmys.
• 4:02
  I sang Green Acres.
• 4:03
  President Trump signed the 2018 Farm
• 4:05
  Bill into law during a big ceremony
• 4:07
  at the White House.
• 4:07
  It was a
• 4:09
  bipartisan success,
• 4:11
  something you don't hear too much
• 4:13
  about. The 2018 Farm bill
• 4:14
  legalized hemp nationwide.
• 4:17
  It also prohibits states from
• 4:18
  interfering with the transportation
• 4:20
  of hemp across state lines.
• 4:22
  Texas adopted a very similar law in
• 4:24
  2019.
• 4:25
  Now, hemp, by the way, is really
• 4:27
  just a legal term.
• 4:28
  It's used to describe cannabis that
• 4:30
  does not have a lot of Delta 9
• 4:32
  THC, which is the main ingredient in
• 4:34
  weed that gets people high.
• 4:36
  Less than 0.3%
• 4:38
  Delta 9 by dry weight,
• 4:40
  that's legal hemp.
• 4:42
  More than 0,3%
• 4:44
  delta 9 by dried weight,
• 4:46
  that's illegal marijuana.
• 4:48
  But cannabis has dozens of
• 4:49
  psychoactive compounds, not just
• 4:51
  Delta 9.
• 4:52
  There's also something called THCA.
• 4:55
  And THCA converts
• 4:57
  to delta-9 when heated or smoked,
• 5:00
  and that's really where most delta-
• 5:01
  9 comes from, even in states where
• 5:03
  marijuana is legal.
• 5:04
  So the new Texas rules basically
• 5:06
  treat THCA as delta-
• 5:08
  9 for the purposes of selling
• 5:10
  and making hemp products.
• 5:12
  That's why flour and concentrates
• 5:14
  are banned, and it's why edibles
• 5:15
  remain legal to sell.
• 5:17
  But this is where it gets even more
• 5:19
  confusing.
• 5:20
  Those are just regulations, not
• 5:22
  laws. And they only apply to
• 5:23
  licensing and registration.
• 5:25
  The Texas law defining what hemp
• 5:27
  is has not changed.
• 5:29
  So possessing smokeable hemp remains
• 5:31
  legal.
• 5:32
  And that's why police departments
• 5:33
  like Austin's have not changed how
• 5:34
  they approach enforcement.
• 5:36
  Lieutenant Patrick Eastlick oversees
• 5:38
  APD's Tactical Intelligence
• 5:40
  Division.
• 5:40
  No one, an officer or
• 5:42
  even anyone highly trained can
• 5:44
  tell the difference between him and
• 5:47
  marijuana.
• 5:48
  So just by looking at it, you're not
• 5:49
  going to be able to determine that.
• 5:51
  They're the same plant.
• 5:53
  And Austin doesn't have expensive
• 5:55
  testing equipment to measure Delta-9
• 5:57
  levels and doesn't even prioritize
• 5:58
  marijuana arrests anyway.
• 6:00
  Eastlick and his colleagues are too
• 6:02
  busy tracking down fentanyl and
• 6:03
  methamphetamine.
• 6:05
  So if Austin police catch someone
• 6:06
  with cannabis flower or extract,
• 6:08
  they ask to see the packaging.
• 6:10
  Usually, it will say that it has
• 6:12
  less than 0.3% THC
• 6:14
  concentration, so it's the labeling
• 6:16
  is the easiest way for
• 6:18
  officers to be able to distinguish
• 6:19
  between the two.
• 6:20
  So it's why it's very important for
• 6:22
  folks who have legal
• 6:24
  hemp to have the packaging with
• 6:26
  them when they're out and about.
• 6:28
  If people don't have the packaging,
• 6:29
  whether it's hemp or marijuana,
• 6:31
  the cannabis will be confiscated and
• 6:33
  destroyed.
• 6:35
  The Austin cannabis shop ATX
• 6:37
  Organics is one of the few hemp
• 6:39
  retailers in Texas that grows
• 6:41
  their own plants and makes their own
• 6:43
  products.
• 6:44
  Smokable hemp accounted for about 75
• 6:46
  percent of the business, according
• 6:47
  to Brandon who owns ATX
• 6:50
  Organics.
• 6:50
  75% of our
• 6:52
  business is going to be
• 6:54
  ordered from out of state.
• 6:56
  Taxpayer money to money
• 6:58
  that we've used to grow this
• 6:59
  industry is just going to funneled
• 7:01
  into other states, which is
• 7:02
  just ridiculous.
• 7:04
  And then you're killing jobs,
• 7:06
  you're destroying industries.
• 7:08
  It's a lot of damage.
• 7:09
  So the Texas hemp industry is
• 7:11
  planning to fight these regulations
• 7:12
  in court, but had to wait until the
• 7:14
  rules took effect to file suit.
• 7:16
  The Texas Hemp Business Council
• 7:18
  plans to seek an immediate
• 7:19
  court-ordered pause on the rules,
• 7:21
  and that suit is expected in the
• 7:23
  coming days.
• 7:24
  I'm Nathan Bernier in Austin.
• 7:36
  Education in Texas at the
• 7:38
  collegiate and K-12 level
• 7:40
  is rearranging, rethinking,
• 7:42
  and consolidating what students
• 7:43
  learn from social and ethnic
• 7:45
  studies.
• 7:46
  UT Austin, for example, is
• 7:47
  consolidating their ethnic and
• 7:48
  gender studies department, while the
• 7:50
  Texas State Board of Education is
• 7:52
  revising its social studies
• 7:53
  curriculum.
• 7:54
  For more about what's changing,
• 7:56
  we're talking with Greta
• 7:57
  Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
• 7:58
  She is KUT's education reporter.
• 8:00
  Greta, thanks for being back on the
• 8:01
  show with us.
• 8:02
  Hey Jerry, happy to be here.
• 8:03
  So let's start first with what's
• 8:05
  happening here at UT Austin.
• 8:07
  Can you remind us what has been
• 8:08
  going on with the UT ethnic studies
• 8:10
  departments?
• 8:11
  Yeah. So back in February, UT
• 8:12
  announced the consolidation of seven
• 8:14
  departments into two.
• 8:16
  And one of those departments is the
• 8:17
  Mexican American and Latina Latino
• 8:19
  studies known as mouse.
• 8:21
  That's how I'm going to talk about
• 8:22
  it. Mouse.
• 8:22
  Okay, mouse.
• 8:23
  And it will be consolidated with
• 8:25
  other three departments including
• 8:27
  African and African Diaspora
• 8:29
  Studies, American Studies, and
• 8:31
  Women's Gender and Sexuality
• 8:32
  Studies, and they will become the
• 8:34
  Department of Social and Cultural
• 8:36
  Analysis.
• 8:37
  And so when this was announced back
• 8:38
  in February, U.T.
• 8:40
  President Jim Davis also said the
• 8:41
  curriculum would be reviewed to
• 8:43
  determine what majors, minors, and
• 8:45
  courses would be offered at the
• 8:47
  new departments.
• 8:47
  Okay, and you have been following
• 8:49
  this story all along.
• 8:50
  You can find more from Gretta's
• 8:51
  reporting at KUT.org.
• 8:53
  Your most recent story was about a
• 8:55
  conference that took place here in
• 8:57
  Austin.
• 8:58
  And along with that conference,
• 8:59
  there was also a protest held on
• 9:01
  campus. What was that protest about?
• 9:03
  Yeah, so I want to talk about the
• 9:04
  conference first because yeah,
• 9:06
  last week UT hosted the bi-annual
• 9:08
  national Latina Latinx Latino
• 9:10
  Studies Association meeting and
• 9:12
  organizers said that more than 600
• 9:14
  academics registered to
• 9:16
  come to the conference making it one
• 9:17
  of the biggest Latino studies
• 9:19
  conferences in the country.
• 9:20
  Okay.
• 9:21
  And so during that conference, yes,
• 9:22
  there was a protest, so researchers
• 9:25
  from all over the country protested
• 9:27
  the elimination of Miles.
• 9:29
  And the president of the
• 9:31
  association, David Vasquez, who's
• 9:33
  a professor at American University
• 9:35
  in Washington, DC, told me
• 9:37
  that it was important for them to
• 9:38
  hold a meeting at UT as
• 9:41
  part of to show solidarity
• 9:43
  with the UT community, but also
• 9:45
  to show the importance of
• 9:47
  the program at UT.
• 9:50
  And let me give you context.
• 9:52
  So at UT, Latino studies started in
• 9:54
  the 70s, and it started because
• 9:56
  of community pressure.
• 9:57
  And so it started with the Center of
• 9:58
  Mexican-American Studies.
• 10:00
  And since then, it has been home to
• 10:02
  some of the best Chicano, Chicana,
• 10:03
  and Latino scholars
• 10:05
  in the world, in the country, but in
• 10:07
  the word. And it became a department
• 10:09
  in 2014,
• 10:11
  and students have, PhD students
• 10:13
  I have talked to have noted that
• 10:14
  it's the only department in Texas.
• 10:16
  One of the few in the country to
• 10:18
  offer a PhD in Latino studies.
• 10:20
  So for them during this protest it
• 10:22
  was important to say this is
• 10:25
  a very important department
• 10:27
  not only in Texas but in the
• 10:28
  country.
• 10:29
  Well, what is the future
• 10:31
  of that department look like?
• 10:33
  The consolidation was announced back
• 10:35
  in February and things have been
• 10:37
  happening slowly.
• 10:39
  What does the future look like for
• 10:40
  that department?
• 10:41
  So we know that it will be
• 10:42
  eliminated, but there's still a lot
• 10:44
  that we don't know.
• 10:46
  When the announcement was made, UT
• 10:47
  officials said current students
• 10:49
  would be able to graduate from the
• 10:50
  programs that they're involved in.
• 10:52
  But as I said, I've talked to PhD
• 10:54
  students and they worry that that
• 10:56
  might not be the case.
• 10:58
  They have tried talking with UT
• 10:59
  official, but have not succeeded to
• 11:01
  have in-person meetings.
• 11:03
  And they worry about their research,
• 11:04
  research funds, and also of course,
• 11:07
  undergraduate students in which
• 11:08
  classes they'll be able to teach.
• 11:10
  And we've also heard from some
• 11:11
  faculty, including Karma Chavez,
• 11:13
  who teaches at Miles, that told us
• 11:15
  that faculty have been asked to
• 11:17
  review current majors and propose
• 11:19
  what majors will be offered in
• 11:21
  the future.
• 11:22
  And we're currently looking into
• 11:23
  this, and we hope to know more
• 11:25
  about it soon.
• 11:27
  Okay, well we will bring you that
• 11:28
  reporting here on Austin Signal
• 11:29
  whenever we have it.
• 11:31
  Again, you can read the latest from
• 11:32
  Greta over at KUT.org,
• 11:34
  and we're going to have a link in
• 11:35
  today's podcast, Show Notes.
• 11:37
  I want to ask you now about the
• 11:38
  Texas State Board of Education.
• 11:40
  What's going on there with their
• 11:41
  social studies curriculum,
• 11:43
  excuse me?
• 11:44
  Yeah, so the State Board of
• 11:45
  Education is reviewing the K-12
• 11:47
  Social Studies Curriculum, and it's
• 11:49
  also known as the Texas Essential
• 11:50
  Knowledge and Skills.
• 11:52
  So sometimes you hear about people
• 11:53
  talking about TEKS, that's what they
• 11:55
  mean, the curriculum.
• 11:56
  Yeah, this is something that happens
• 11:58
  every few years.
• 12:00
  State education officials review
• 12:01
  standards, not only for social
• 12:02
  studies, but also for math, for
• 12:04
  English, for other things.
• 12:06
  And the Board of education tasks
• 12:08
  nine appointed content advisors
• 12:10
  to guide the curriculum
• 12:12
  and also two workgroups.
• 12:14
  Group A and work group
• 12:16
  B that will give feedback on
• 12:18
  the changes.
• 12:19
  And I have talked to some content
• 12:21
  advisors and some members of the
• 12:23
  work groups who have raised concerns
• 12:24
  about the process and how changes
• 12:26
  are said to happen this time.
• 12:28
  Yeah, whatever they had to say.
• 12:29
  Yeah, so the biggest change that is
• 12:31
  happening is the framework.
• 12:33
  Now students will learn things
• 12:34
  chronologically.
• 12:35
  So that means kinder through second
• 12:37
  grade, they will learn about
• 12:39
  what they called American Indians
• 12:41
  because there are certain words
• 12:42
  they're not using, like indigenous.
• 12:43
  One of the content advisors
• 12:45
  told me that they're are not allowed
• 12:47
  to use indigenous or Native
• 12:48
  American.
• 12:49
  And they're also going to learn
• 12:51
  about the exploration of America and
• 12:53
  Texas. And then third to eighth
• 12:54
  grade, once again, Chronologically,
• 12:56
  we'll learn about the U.S.
• 12:58
  And Texas.
• 12:59
  Starting with the birth of Western
• 13:01
  civilization.
• 13:02
  Okay, okay, so what
• 13:04
  happens next?
• 13:05
  Is that a done deal or is that
• 13:07
  curriculum still being worked on?
• 13:08
  What happens next.
• 13:09
  They're still working on the
• 13:10
  curriculum.
• 13:11
  They're taking feedback from people.
• 13:13
  People have worried that it's too
• 13:15
  heavy, that there's a lot of
• 13:16
  content, that it takes us focus,
• 13:18
  that the chronological order doesn't
• 13:20
  really work out in education because
• 13:21
  they might be too abstract for
• 13:23
  little kids.
• 13:24
  But the board is set to
• 13:26
  do a first reading on April
• 13:27
  6th, so next Tuesday.
• 13:30
  And they also have to vote on
• 13:32
  it no later than
• 13:35
  June. Sorry, that's next Monday.
• 13:36
  April 6 is a Monday.
• 13:39
  Okay, okay, yeah, it's just today's
• 13:40
  April 1st.
• 13:41
  Lots going on.
• 13:42
  Okay, so April 6th is the Monday,
• 13:44
  and then, can you repeat that last
• 13:46
  part about June?
• 13:46
  Yeah. And they have to vote on it
• 13:48
  now later than June.
• 13:49
  So we still have a long way to go.
• 13:51
  And I must also say whatever they
• 13:53
  approve won't go into effect until
• 13:55
  2030.
• 13:56
  It's not something immediate because
• 13:57
  they also have to create
• 13:59
  textbooks and all these changes.
• 14:01
  So it's going to take a little bit.
• 14:02
  Okay, well, we will bring you
• 14:04
  those changes whenever we know more
• 14:06
  about them.
• 14:07
  And we have been speaking with Greta
• 14:08
  Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
• 14:09
  She is KUT's education reporter.
• 14:11
  We're gonna have more about her
• 14:13
  reporting in today's podcast, Show
• 14:15
  Notes, in at kut.org
• 14:17
  slash signal.
• 14:18
  Thank you, Greta.
• 14:18
  Thank you, Jerry.
• 14:19
  And thank you out there for tuning
• 14:21
  in to Austin Signal.
• 14:23
  We will be back after a break.
• 14:30
  This is Austin Signal, welcome
• 14:32
  back.
• 14:33
  The Sir Douglas Quintet got its
• 14:35
  start down I-35 in San Antonio,
• 14:37
  but the band and its characters have
• 14:39
  become inextricably linked to the
• 14:41
  Austin of yesteryear,
• 14:43
  when maybe things really were cooler
• 14:45
  and weirder.
• 14:46
  And though there's no argument that
• 14:48
  the quintet's sound is
• 14:49
  quintessentially Texan,
• 14:51
  they had to blend in to the British
• 14:53
  Invasion to grab some attention.
• 14:55
  Here's Jason Medlard from
• 14:57
  the Center for Texas Music History.
• 14:59
  At Texas State University.
• 15:08
  This weekend in Texas music history,
• 15:10
  San Antonio rockers joined the
• 15:11
  British Invasion in disguise.
• 15:14
  On April 2nd, 1965, the Sir
• 15:15
  Douglas quintet single, She's About
• 15:17
  a Mover, entered the billboard
• 15:19
  charts.
• 15:20
  Doug Sam led the quintet and the
• 15:21
  young man was no stranger to the
• 15:23
  spotlight. He'd been a steel guitar
• 15:24
  prodigy, learning the instrument at
• 15:26
  five, hanging out with Hank
• 15:27
  Williams, and earning an invitation
• 15:29
  to the Grand Ole Opry.
• 15:30
  He'd pivoted to garage rock after
• 15:31
  turning the invite down and was
• 15:33
  joined in the 1965 quintet by
• 15:35
  Augie Myers on Vox Organ, Jack
• 15:37
  Barber, Frank Marin, and Johnny
• 15:38
  Perez.
• 15:39
  The group made music in the mold of
• 15:41
  San Antonio's Chicano soul and
• 15:42
  westside sound, but Orquesta Tejana
• 15:44
  met rhythm and blues.
• 15:46
  You can hear it in the track, the
• 15:47
  way that Augie's organ and Barber's
• 15:49
  bass line play off one another just
• 15:50
  as an accordion of Bajos Sexto would
• 15:52
  in conjunto, all the while
• 15:53
  channeling Ray Charles' What I'd Say
• 15:55
  and the coasters' hit, Searchin'.
• 16:06
  Huey Moe, who produced the track,
• 16:08
  didn't give it that San Antonio
• 16:09
  frame, though.
• 16:10
  Moe had seen his regional record
• 16:11
  business suffer in the face of the
• 16:13
  British invasion, and so, in his
• 16:14
  words, "'I took a little Philips
• 16:16
  phonograph, bought all the Beatles'
• 16:18
  LPs, went to a motel with a case of
• 16:20
  Thunderbird wine and sat down to
• 16:21
  figure out what these cats were
• 16:22
  into. After two days of drinking
• 16:24
  and listening, I got it.
• 16:25
  They were playing the beat on the
• 16:27
  beat.'" He then called up Doug Som,
• 16:29
  told him to start growing his hair
• 16:30
  in a Beatle Bob and write a song
• 16:31
  like that.
• 16:32
  The band dressed in mod suits and
• 16:34
  Chelsea boots and wouldn't reveal
• 16:35
  their drawers with stage banter.
• 16:37
  The Sir Douglas quintet would come
• 16:39
  off as British lad.
• 16:40
  Hallabaloo proudly presents, the
• 16:42
  Sir Douglas Queen Tip!
• 16:49
  The thin ruse may or may not have
• 16:50
  been why the song caught fire.
• 16:52
  It didn't last long, though.
• 16:53
  The quintet appeared on the TV
• 16:55
  program Hullabaloo, hosted by fellow
• 16:57
  Texan Trini Lopez.
• 16:58
  On a stage that continued the
• 17:00
  faux-British theme of fabricated
• 17:01
  castle, models in knight's armor,
• 17:03
  Sam and the Boys in full Mercy Beat
• 17:05
  mode, Lopez came on after the
• 17:07
  song and told the audience, but I
• 17:08
  have a surprise for you.
• 17:10
  Before unmasking Sir Doug as a
• 17:11
  Texan, I bet we even fooled
• 17:13
  Lyndon Lopez-Quist.
• 17:22
  You can hear music from the Lone
• 17:23
  Star State 24-7 on the
• 17:25
  Texas Music Experience at TMX.fm.
• 17:30
  Whoa, yeah, what I
• 17:32
  say!
• 17:43
  While football may roll in
• 17:45
  Texas and basketball is too much
• 17:47
  fun in March-April,
• 17:49
  Texans also love them some
• 17:51
  baseball.
• 17:52
  The Astros and the Rangers have both
• 17:54
  won championships in recent years,
• 17:56
  and Texas is home to eight minor
• 17:58
  league teams, the third most in
• 18:00
  the country.
• 18:01
  Now an Austin baseball legend
• 18:03
  is getting renewed recognition for
• 18:05
  his historic career.
• 18:06
  The city renamed a park
• 18:08
  in honor of Hall of Famer Don
• 18:10
  Baylor recently.
• 18:11
  Texas Standard's Justin Doud heard
• 18:13
  from Baylor's son Don Baylor Jr.
• 18:15
  About his dad's enduring legacy and
• 18:17
  why having his name on this
• 18:19
  particular park is especially
• 18:21
  meaningful.
• 18:24
  Me out to the bar
• 18:26
  game take
• 18:29
  0-1 to Baylor.
• 18:31
  Curveball missed outside from Tia.
• 18:32
  I tell you, Baylor has always been
• 18:33
  one of my favorite players in the
• 18:34
  big room. I've really enjoyed
• 18:35
  watching him.
• 18:36
  He's a hard player Howard, he's a
• 18:38
  tough guy.
• 18:39
  He grew up here in Austin,
• 18:41
  attended Austin High School,
• 18:42
  integrated O'Henry in the
• 18:45
  mid-60s, got drafted.
• 18:47
  His first full season was 1972
• 18:49
  with the Baltimore Orioles.
• 18:52
  Fast forward to 1979, that was
• 18:54
  his MVP year and
• 18:56
  really kind of a magical year.
• 18:57
  Don Baylor.
• 19:00
  Don Baylor
• 19:03
  That gets the crowd up.
• 19:04
  As a kid, I remember some of that.
• 19:06
  I was only about six or seven
• 19:08
  at the time. But I do remember how
• 19:10
  exciting that particular
• 19:12
  year was.
• 19:13
  And then got traded to the Red Sox
• 19:15
  in 1986.
• 19:16
  I remember that like it was
• 19:18
  yesterday. It was a very
• 19:19
  heartbreaking year.
• 19:20
  I'm sure people always remember
• 19:23
  game six of the 1986 World
• 19:25
  Series when the ball goes through
• 19:26
  Bill Buckner's legs.
• 19:27
  Five five in a delirious
• 19:30
  10th inning.
• 19:31
  Can you believe this ball game a
• 19:33
  shame. Oh brother three
• 19:35
  and two to Mookie Wilson little
• 19:39
  roller up along first behind
• 19:41
  the bag.
• 19:42
  It gets through but.
• 19:46
  That year started the first of
• 19:48
  three years where he was in
• 19:50
  three consecutive World Series but
• 19:52
  with three different teams.
• 19:54
  Went on to the Twins
• 19:56
  later in 1987 where
• 19:58
  they ended up winning the
• 20:00
  World Series and you know he played
• 20:01
  a pretty prominent part.
• 20:03
  To deep left!
• 20:09
  Watching baseball, I probably
• 20:10
  thought that was the best team I'd
• 20:11
  ever seen up until that point.
• 20:13
  Don Baylor's first home
• 20:15
  run as a twin,
• 20:17
  as that graphic showed you, the last
• 20:19
  one, a grand slammer, and Boston
• 20:21
  off Steve Pearl.
• 20:28
  He was born in 1949
• 20:30
  in Clarksville.
• 20:32
  Clarksville was the oldest
• 20:33
  Freedmen's community west of the
• 20:35
  Mississippi, so it is kind of
• 20:37
  a cloister, if you will,
• 20:40
  in West Austin.
• 20:43
  There were no parks in Clark'sville.
• 20:45
  They played in the street,
• 20:47
  they played in vacant lots.
• 20:49
  Sometimes they would go to Butler
• 20:50
  Park in South Austin to play.
• 20:52
  Clarks'ville had few
• 20:55
  amenities, but a lot of love.
• 21:00
  Finally, when desegregation
• 21:02
  began to come to
• 21:04
  Austin, this is probably about
• 21:07
  eight, nine years after
• 21:08
  Brown versus Board,
• 21:10
  is when I think most
• 21:12
  campuses became to be desegregated
• 21:15
  and one of those was O'Henry.
• 21:17
  He was over the moon
• 21:19
  that he could actually go.
• 21:20
  He could actually walk to school.
• 21:22
  So he was one of three to integrate
• 21:25
  that, integrate O'henry.
• 21:27
  You know, I think he had good
• 21:28
  fortune to be
• 21:30
  going to Austin High when he did,
• 21:33
  but baseball's a different sport.
• 21:34
  It's not like football where you go
• 21:36
  to a game and you come back.
• 21:37
  Baseball, you gotta go on road
• 21:38
  trips. You have to stay in hotels.
• 21:41
  That was not something that was
• 21:43
  even feasible at that
• 21:45
  point. You know, every time
• 21:47
  we would drive
• 21:50
  on Wednesday,
• 21:52
  he would point out
• 21:54
  that park as being
• 21:56
  really a symbol of Jim Crow.
• 21:58
  Right? He's like, you know, that was
• 22:00
  where the water fountains were
• 22:02
  segregated. That's where the
• 22:03
  bathrooms were segregated, but
• 22:05
  that's also where I couldn't go and
• 22:07
  play.
• 22:08
  If you look at the map, right, this
• 22:10
  is right across
• 22:12
  the railroad tracks from
• 22:15
  Clarksville.
• 22:16
  And back then before Mopac,
• 22:18
  you could just walk across the
• 22:19
  railway tracks.
• 22:21
  And so that park
• 22:23
  has, you of really
• 22:25
  deep significance.
• 22:27
  Not just for him, but I think for
• 22:28
  the whole family that grew up in
• 22:30
  Clarksville, when that
• 22:32
  park was really off limits.
• 22:35
  He's had the most accomplished
• 22:37
  sports career of anyone that's
• 22:39
  ever was born or raised in Austin.
• 22:41
  So I think it was only a matter of
• 22:43
  time before we found the
• 22:45
  right moment and found
• 22:47
  the the right forum to
• 22:49
  recognize his accomplishments.
• 22:56
  That was the voice of Don
• 22:58
  Baylor Jr., son of Austin
• 23:00
  baseball legend Don Baylor.
• 23:03
  The story was produced by Texas
• 23:04
  Standard's Justin Doud, we're going
• 23:06
  to have a link to more in our
• 23:08
  podcast show notes and
• 23:10
  at kut.org
• 23:12
  slash signal.
• 23:14
  Before we get out of here today, we
• 23:15
  didn't have enough time in
• 23:16
  yesterday's show to mention that the
• 23:18
  Texas women's basketball team
• 23:19
  advanced to their second consecutive
• 23:21
  Final Four.
• 23:22
  The Longhorns are in Phoenix and
• 23:24
  will take the court again on Friday
• 23:26
  against UCLA.
• 23:28
  The Bruins have only lost one
• 23:30
  game this season.
• 23:31
  That was an 11 point loss to the
• 23:33
  Longhorn in the early part of
• 23:35
  the year.
• 23:36
  Texas vs UCLA Friday
• 23:38
  night tip off scheduled for
• 23:40
  6.30. That is it for today's
• 23:43
  show. Thank you for making us
• 23:45
  part of your Wednesday.
• 23:46
  Rayna Sevilla is our technical
• 23:48
  director and Kristen Cabrera is
• 23:50
  our managing producer.
• 23:52
  I'm your host Jerry Quijano, we will
• 23:54
  be back with you tomorrow,
• 23:55
  have a wonderful day.