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Top Stories: New Medical School Would Serve Rural Areas; How To Prevent Drownings This Summer

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The top local stories this evening from KERA News:

Texas has almost a dozen medical schools. But it also has a shortage of rural healthcare workers.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is set to vote Thursday on whether to approve another medical school.

And as Alexandra Hart with public radio's Texas Standard reports, Huntsville-based Sam Houston State University is making the case that the new school it has in mind could be part of the solution.

Other stories this evening:

  • Republican Senator Ted Cruz has challenged his Democratic challenger to five debates before the November election. The Cruz campaign sent its request on Wednesday to El Paso Congressman Beto O'Rourke. The first proposed debate would be held in Dallas, on Aug. 31. O'Rourke's campaign had previously proposed six debates, including two in Spanish. O'Rourke said he's encouraged that Cruz is ready to debate the issues and looks forward to finalizing debate details.

  • Somali refugee Abdi  Nor Iftin grew up obsessed with American culture, and his friends gave him the nickname "Abdi-American." So when he won a visa through the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery, it was a dream come true. Today on Think, he talked with Krys Boyd about how the U.S. was different than he had imagined.

  • Across Texas, nearly 60 children have died from drowning this year, mostly in pools, but also in ponds, lakes, rivers and bathtubs. And Tarrant County has seen a spike in drowning deaths, although experts can't pinpoint why. KERA’s Christopher Connelly talked with James Fike, president of the Fort Worth Drowning Prevention Coalition, about how to prevent drownings.

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