Plastic in the U.S. is largely going unrecycled, but the city says that’s not so for the plastic we put in the blue bins.
More than a decade in, Austin is not meeting its ‘zero waste’ goals — and we’re not even close
The city of Austin had set goals for reducing the amount of trash sent to landfills. So far, we’re falling far short.
KUT Morning Newscast for April 14, 2023
Austin High students walk out, expanded access to overdose reversal drug, Llano libraries will remain open.
Why is the two-step danced differently in Austin than in other parts of Texas?
Two-stepping originated from foxtrot and has been danced to country music in dancehalls around Austin for ages. Influenced by other music genres played in the region, people here have put their own spin on it.
KUT listeners Allyson Lipkin and Cristopher Juarez wanted to know why people in Austin and San Antonio dance the two-step differently than folks in the rest of Texas and the U.S. So, they reached out to KUT’s ATXplained project.
What’s the story behind the abandoned house by Dell Medical School?
One of the oldest homes still standing in Austin was once known as The Chateau. Its residents hosted legendary parties that were often safe spaces for gay people in the 1960s and ‘70s. Today, the home is boarded up — but there’s a new effort brewing to ensure it’s preserved.
Austin’s COVID experts are reuniting to take on future pandemic threats
Three years after Austin’s first COVID case was detected, Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of UT Austin’s Center for Pandemic Decision Science, says it’s a matter of when, not if, another pandemic arrives. She and her fellow researchers want to be prepared.
What happened to Brian Vargo almost 50 years ago? His niece is still looking for answers.
Brian Vargo was 20 years old when he disappeared in 1976. The UT Austin student seems to have simply vanished.
Is Austin’s Paramount one of only a few century-old theaters still operating in the country?
The landmark theater in downtown Austin has been a source of movie entertainment for more than a century, while many of its contemporaries have closed for good.
Why do sidewalks in Austin suddenly end?
According to the Public Works Department, the city is missing about 1,600 miles of sidewalk — a length of concrete that could stretch from here to Winnipeg, Canada.
KUT Morning Newscast for January 27, 2023
Central Texas top stories for January 27, 2023. APD Alex Gonzalez. Williamson County approves raising officer pay. Prescribed burns. Hays County homeless count. Claudio Reyna new role with Austin FC.
What happened to the Zilker Park minitrain?
The Zilker Zephyr stopped running almost four years ago, and there’s still no miniature train in Zilker Park.
How did H-E-B’s Combo Loco get its name?
As an enticement to get tickets to our next ATXplained Live show at the Paramount Theatre on Feb. 22 — here’s a taste of our last live show from back in September 2022.
Greg Casar is prioritizing housing, health care and voting rights during his first term in Congress
The new congressman said he wants to look for ways to “do good work for the American people, regardless of party affiliation.”
What was the grandstand on the shores of Lady Bird Lake in East Austin used for?
Decades ago, the public event space was full of life. Now it’s rundown, like an old relic.
Austin ISD has a new inclusive sex ed curriculum. Educators hope it will reduce stigma and shame.
The new lessons AISD introduced this fall start in kindergarten and run through high school. But not all students will participate. Parents and guardians must opt their kids into the lessons because of a state law Texas lawmakers passed in 2021.
Black houses are so hot right now. But are they hotter?
Does it make any sense to live in a dark-colored house in a state like Texas? We ask experts whether these homes are less energy efficient.
What’s the deal with that out-of-place 10-story building in southwest Austin?
The Pinnacle building in Oak Hill was intended to be an office tower, but then the economy tanked and it was sold to Austin Community College.
What’s the most valuable thing in a museum in Austin?
There’s expensive stuff, and then there are those things that just have value.
Austinites spend one last Halloween with Lucy in Disguise on South Congress
For 38 years, people have visited the iconic year-round costume shop for birthdays, murder mystery parties, on-stage performances and, of course, Halloween. But this October, Lucy’s customers are in mourning. The store will close at the end of the year.
Fifty years in the making, Robert Hunter’s violin finally finds its voice
A West Texas man chipped away at the project for decades. When he died in 2018, the violin was still unfinished — a bunch of carefully crafted parts in a box.