The top local stories this evening from KERA News:
On Wednesday, Democrat Lupe Valdez accepted an invitation to a debate with Republican Governor Greg Abbott, but it's not the same debate he has said yes to.
The former Dallas County sheriff agreed to a televised debate on Oct. 8 in Houston, hosted by Houston's ABC13 and Univision45.
That's a separate invitation from the one Abbott accepted from Nexstar Media Group last week. His campaign said he'd debate Valdez in Austin on Friday, Sept. 28.
Valdez tells KERA she won't attend that debate, or any other one, that shares the spotlight with Friday night high school football. She says she'll only agree to a debate that is televised and livestreamed, with a live in-studio audience, a Spanish-language media partner and questions in Spanish.
Her campaign is still negotiating with Irving-based Nexstar for a debate that meets those parameters. In response to Valdez's comments, the Abbott's campaign said in a statement, "We’ve agreed to the debate on the 28th and we look forward to our opponent accepting that invitation."
Other stories this evening:
- Texas Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes is worried about the proliferation of "dual-credit" courses, classes that high school students can take to get college credit. As KERA's Stella Chavez reports, Paredes talked to reporters about a study that's looking into the impact those courses have.
- Aimen Dean joined al-Qaeda as a teenager, rose through the ranks to become an associate of Osama Bin-Laden, and then became a spy for British intelligence. Aime Dean is the author of "Nine Lives: My Time as the West's Top Spy Inside Al-Qaeda." Today on Think, he told Krys Boyd what he learned from switching sides.
- In Far North Fort Worth, the massive Texas Motor Speedway is built for NASCAR events, but for six weeks each summer, the speedway opens up for amateur drag races. Car enthusiasts come from all over North Texas and beyond to try their luck, some from hundreds of miles away. KERA’s Christopher Connelly spent a late night soaking in the scene.
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.
