Austin Signal

February 12, 2026

UT Austin consolidates ethnic and gender studies departments

The University of Texas at Austin is restructuring departments in the College of Liberal Arts. The decision was announced today, but it’s a move that students and staff have been worried about for months. We’ll hear more about the departments affected. Police in Austin are still using license plate reader data months after city council […]

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February 11, 2026

Probe finds pregnant migrant girls lack adequate care in Texas shelter

Pregnant migrant girls are being sent to a South Texas shelter, where both the region and the facility lack the necessary care. The decision from the Trump Administration was made against objections from officials inside the administration. The story is a collaborative effort between The Texas Newsroom and The California Newsroom, and we’ll have from […]

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February 10, 2026

Travis Heights housing project scale draws some concerns

An affordable housing complex planned for the Travis Heights neighborhood is one step closer to becoming a reality. Neighbors around the proposed site say they aren’t opposed to the idea – more so the scale of it. We’ll hear more about the complex and the neighborhood it could be built in. The Austin Independent School […]

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February 9, 2026

Parents of missing Austinite file lawsuit against Camp Mystic

The parents of an 8-year-old Austinite still missing after last July’s flooding in Texas have filed a lawsuit against Camp Mystic. It’s the fifth such lawsuit against the camp in the Hill Country where campers and counselors drowned in the floodwaters. We’ll have more about that lawsuit. Early voting in the primaries gets going next […]

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February 6, 2026

APD, councilmembers hear from public about ICE enforcement in tense meeting

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis and members of the Austin City Council met with community members this week to talk about local Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and the city and police’s role in them. The meeting was billed as a conversation but turned into a shouting match that laid bare the community tensions around […]

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February 5, 2026

Some students and teachers see benefits from cell phone ban

Teachers and students in the Round Rock school district say they’re seeing benefits from a statewide ban on cell phones in public school classrooms. The ban went into effect at the beginning of this school year, and some students say they feel more engaged inside the classroom and outside of it, too. We’ll have more […]

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February 4, 2026

Texas GOP reexamines ICE messaging amid crackdown controversies

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs to “recalibrate” its tactics, and he isn’t the only member of the Texas GOP to comment on the operations and the rhetoric around it. The messaging comes a few weeks before early voting begins in the Texas primaries ahead of the midterms. We’ll have […]

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February 3, 2026

Austin area students stage walkouts over ICE actions

Student walkout demonstrations in the Austin area continued this week in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Texas and across the country. The Austin Independent School District has come under fire from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton over such actions. We’ll hear from some of the students who participated […]

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