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Top Stories: Patrick Brings In Backup For 'Bathroom Bill;' Criminal Justice Reform Plans

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The top local stories this evening from KERA News:

A state senate committee on Tuesday takes up Senate Bill 6, the so-called bathroom bill.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has long favored legislation that would require people in public schools and government buildings to use the restroom according to the sex on their birth certificate. As KERA’s Bill Zeeble reports, Patrick today launched a new campaign to shore up support. 

Other stories this evening:

  • George Saunders’ new novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” takes us into the mind of Abraham Lincoln just days after the death of his beloved son Willie, who died of typhoid fever in 1862. Today on Think, Krys Boyd talked with Saunders about using the No. 16 president as inspiration for the book. 
  • There’s not much Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on in Austin these days, but criminal justice reform is one area that has found bipartisan support over the past decade. This year, lawmakers are looking to make more changes. There are scores of proposals intended to improve the way police, courts, jails and prisons do business – to make the system fairer and reduce the cost to taxpayers. KERA’s Christopher Connelly takes a look at some proposals getting lots of attention.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.

Gus Contreras is a digital producer and reporter at KERA News. Gus produces the local All Things Considered segment and reports on a variety of topics from, sports to immigration. He was an intern and production assistant for All Things Considered in Washington D.C.
Lauren Silverman was the Health, Science & Technology reporter/blogger at KERA News. She was also the primary backup host for KERA’s Think and the statewide newsmagazine  Texas Standard. In 2016, Lauren was recognized as Texas Health Journalist of the Year by the Texas Medical Association. She was part of the Peabody Award-winning team that covered Ebola for NPR in 2014. She also hosted "Surviving Ebola," a special that won Best Long Documentary honors from the Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI). And she's won a number of regional awards, including an honorable mention for Edward R. Murrow award (for her project “The Broken Hip”), as well as the Texas Veterans Commission’s Excellence in Media Awards in the radio category.