Join me this Saturday at the Austin Environmental City Council Candidate Forum! I will be moderating panels with most every candidate running for City Council. We're going district by district. Learn where the candidates stand! actionnetwork.org/events/austi...

Austin Environmental City Council Candidate Forum

Environmental stewardship is a cornerstone of Austin culture. It's a big part of what makes Austin special. The Austin City Council should play a key role in upholding these environmental values. Dist...

actionnetwork.org

At today's Public Utility Commission hearing on ultra high voltage transmission projects fot Texas. Again, many landowners speaking in opposition. New podcast title idea: Power, politics and.. property rights?

I am at a hearing of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission talking to opponents of border wall/barrier construction in the Big Bend region. They just held a demonstration in from of TPWD HQ. This story will be updated as the hearing gets underway. www.kut.org/energy-envir...

Opponents of Big Bend border construction take protest to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission

Those opposed to the a border barrier throughout the Big Bend region say the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department should be doing more to stop the construction on state lands.

kut.org

You have one more evening to catch Austinhenge, the twice annual event when the sunset lines up perfectly with our city's downtown east-west streets. www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

‘Austinhenge’ is back! How astronomy and urban planning create this twice annual sunset phenomenon

Austinhenge is what people call the days when the sunset aligns perfectly with Austin's east-west downtown streets.

kut.org

Watching Texas capitol hearing on new high voltage transmission lines. The lines have sparked a lot of opposition. But some lawmakers are sounding like they're against the very idea of a state grid, suggesting electric generation only happen close to where it is consumed.

The state office awarding billions to expand rural broadband changed rules to pay more up front to low earth orbit satellite providers. Only Musk's Starlink currently offers that service at scale. The change came at suggestion of Office of Gov. Abbott. 1/2 www.kut.org/energy-envir...

Texas governor’s office asked for broadband rules that help Elon Musk’s Starlink

The state office that distributes billions to expand Texas rural broadband is facing allegations of “favoritism” and offering “sweetheart” deals to companies that provide low earth orbit satellite bro...

kut.org

temperature & dew point forecast for College Station brutal dew points in the upper 70s, the absolute definition of miserable I'm just glad summer is almost over [looks at calendar and starts quietly sobbing]

They say there's no accounting for taste. Today Austin Chronicle readers provided a new data point to back that up by naming me "best news reporter" in the Best of Austin poll. But seriously. It is a true honor, especially given the competition. 1/3 calendar.austinchronicle.com/best-of/2026...

All Politics & Media - Readers Poll 2026

Austin Chronicle

calendar.austinchronicle.com

46 Texans so far have commented on the state rule allowing treated fracking fluid and produced water to be sprayed on crops and well guys they are mostly not for it.

Future Heist — 43 of 46 Texans Opposed TCEQ's Produced Water Rule

Not one commenter supported the rule outright. See the full breakdown and read every letter.

futureheist.org

Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin has fired KUT Public Media General Manager Debbie Hiott, following a back-and-forth fight with UT over the station's inaugural festival last month. www.kut.org/education/20...

UT Austin leadership fires KUT General Manager Debbie Hiott

An email to staff at Austin's NPR station, addressed from Anita L. Vangelisti, the interim dean of the Moody College of Communication, said the decision was effective immediately.

kut.org

fellow Texans: you've probably heard that chirping sound - especially after rain - and wondered what it was. well, @mosebuchele.bsky.social solved it a couple of years ago. I enjoyed it and hope you do too. especially love that we don't know how they reproduce w/o water. www.kut.org/energy-envir...

Meet the chirping frogs of Austin. They’re all around, but you never see them.

Chirping frogs fill the night air with strange squeaks and whistles all over Austin, but they are nearly impossible to see.

kut.org

Researching the history of executive session at Austin City Hall and came across this from 1923.

They're baaack! The mats of blue-green algea often have a dark greenish hue and a slimy puke-like consistency. They can be toxic to humans and their pets and become entangled in other water vegetation. Stay algae aware when out with your dog! www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

Dangerous blue-green algae emerging in Austin lakes for another year

Toxic cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, can poison people and has killed several pet dogs since it established itself in Austin lakes in 2019.

kut.org

Toxic blue-green algae has appeared in Austin lakes for another year. The algae (actually cyanobacteria) can be poisonous to humans and has killed several pet dogs since it arrived in our waterways after flooding in 2019. It thrives in warmer water. www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

Dangerous blue-green algae emerging in Austin lakes for another year

Toxic cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, can poison people and has killed several pet dogs since it established itself in Austin lakes in 2019.

kut.org

Austin's Bikeshare service has been shut down since a May 23 fire inside a battery charging room at a CapMetro facility on Ben White. The same day, a Bikeshare bike caught fire on South Congress. The role of batteries is being investigated in both. www.kut.org/transportati...

Investigators examine whether batteries sparked fire that shut down Austin's Bikeshare

Almost 500 electric bikes have been pulled from Austin streets since Memorial Day weekend, with no timeline for their return.

kut.org

He has called Native Americans “third world savages” and believes that the U.S. should “round up every muslim." Now, Republicans want him to regulate oil and gas and Democrats see an opportunity. www.kut.org/energy-envir...

GOP leaders shunned Bo French for racist posts. Now they want him to regulate Texas’ oil and gas

After Bo French asked his social media followers whether Jews or Muslims were a “bigger threat to America,” Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for him to step down from his position at the Tarrant...

kut.org

Our ATXplained live show is one week from today! The Austin lore we have gathered.. the depths we have plumbed... Let's just say it will be a night like no other. Join us at the Bass on the 21st! texasperformingarts.org/event/atxpla...

ATXplained Live

<p>KUT’s award-winning ATXplained project is coming back to the stage with brand new stories based on questions from the Austin comm

texasperformingarts.org

A couple years ago Austin City Council members were talking openly about ending the city contract with Texas Gas Service over high bills. Today they will consider a proposal to keep partnering with the gas utility for another ten years. What happened? www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

Despite anger over bills, Austin considers new contract with Texas Gas Service

While Austin City Council has entertained finding an alternative to Texas Gas Service, it now appears ready to award the company another long-term contract.

kut.org

The Texas Newsroom has obtained videos of an immigration operation last summer in East Austin. It involved the arrests of five workers near a construction site. We wondered what the tapes said about how state police and ICE work together in Texas. 1/ www.kut.org/crime-justic...

15 minutes from start to finish: How traffic stops turn into ICE busts in Austin

Police recordings of an immigration enforcement operation in East Austin show how quickly and quietly people are taken into federal custody when state police partner with ICE.These videos, obtained th...

kut.org

Jorge Pederson was one of the victims of the shooting on West 6th this month. When my editor asked me to write his remembrance, I did not expect to laugh when speaking with his loved. But our talks were full of laughter. It's the kind of guy he was. www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

He came to Austin for a new chapter. After death in shooting, loved ones mourn his 'bright spirit'

Jorge Pederson was one of three people who were killed in a shooting on West Sixth Street earlier this month. Now, friends and family hope his life can be an example for others.

kut.org

Interesting! Exxon has its physical headquarters in Texas. But it's been incorporated in New Jersey since 1882 and the days Standard Oil. Company now seeks to shift its legal home to oil-friendly Texas. Says it may "reduce the risk" of future lawsuits. finance.yahoo.com/news/exxon-e...

Exxon Eyes Texas for Legal Home After 144 Years in New Jersey

In a proxy filing on Tuesday, the oil company said moving would mean operating in a more favorable business environment where officials are more familiar with its operations, provide greater certainty...

finance.yahoo.com

Austin officials hope the new rules will thread the needle between local priorities (city police shouldn't do immigration enforcement) and state law (cities cannot tell cops not to call ICE). www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

Austin Police release new rules that could reduce officer calls to ICE

The new rules come after protests against APD reporting people to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Police Chief Lisa Davis said the changes may reduce the number of immigration detentions connecte...

kut.org

BREAKING: Dallas police detain man outside of Ken Paxton campaign event. Officers pulled what appeared to be ammunition for several types of weapons from a blue sedan that hotel workers said the man had been driving, according to our reporter on the scene. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u...

Dallas Police Detain Man Outside Ken Paxton Watch Party

nytimes.com

Sen. John Cornyn's election event at the Downtown Marriott in Austin tonight is not the traditional watch party. It's a press availability. They say they're saving the party for the runoff... We're told he'll be out in a while to take some questions.

For Valentine’s Day, a story about what happens when your loved one is drifting away — and the ways we try to hold on. (Recommend the “listen” button on this one) www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

His memory is fading. This Austin-area woman is trying to keep it alive in a love song.

Nine years into his marriage to Cassandra, Clyde developed dementia. He put down his guitar and quit his job. But music he had recorded still needed lyrics.

kut.org

Five years ago, all of us in Texas were about to learn how quickly things can fall apart when the power goes out. www.kut.org/energy-envir...

Five years since the blackout, the anxiety remains and the big test has yet to come

Five years after the Texas blackout, the power grid is now better equipped to handle winter storms, but what has not been fixed is also becoming clearer.

kut.org

NEW: The Office of Refugee Resettlement has a new policy of concentrating pregnant minors in its custody into one single South Texas shelter. The move comes over the objections of some even within the agency, who say it’s about denying abortion access. 1/ www.kut.org/politics/202...

Trump administration is sending pregnant migrant girls to South Texas shelter flagged as medically inadequate

Government sources and advocates for the children worry the goal is to concentrate them in Texas, where abortion is banned.

kut.org

A divide has been growing in progressive Austin over how aggresively city leaders should resist the ICE surge in Texas. That disagreement erupted into raucous protest at a meeting with the police chief and city council members on Thursday. www.kut.org/crime-justic...

Austinites demand police, city leaders do more to resist ICE

Austin city leaders said at a community meeting that it's illegal to tell police they can't call ICE. Many who oppose Trump's immigration crackdown want them to do it anyway.

kut.org

Update on Austin police’s ICE cooperation: At a protest outside city hall this week, council members told @mosebuchele.bsky.social they could not guarantee APD officers wouldn’t call ICE on undocumented people they encounter. APD to release new guidelines soon. kutkutx.studio/austin-signa...

Cleared off and gently opened our Austin Water hook up in case of a worst case scenario in freeze -always try to cut water at the residential valve first in event of burst pipes- city meter was swarming with what I think are Crazy Ants? Probably not great for new smart meters.