austin

News Brief 7-14-2022 9AM

Daily morning news update from the KUT newsroom. Hot weather and Austin’s mitigation planning. James Lee Dickey museum fire.

Home building in Austin is taking longer and longer

Austin builders are starting a lot of new homes. Finishing them is not so simple. For much of the pandemic, the homebuilding industry has endured delays because of supply chain issues: One month builders can’t get door handles. The next, it’s door hinges, windows and refrigerators. And now this shortage has converged with another: a lack of skilled workers and employees.

While builders in the Austin area are starting new homes at historic numbers, the number of new homes finished and sold lags behind. According to the real estate research firm Zonda, builders started roughly 26,500 new homes during the first few months of this year, while homebuyers closed on just under 20,000 new homes. Compare that to the last months of 2019, when the number of new homes started and new homes sold diverged by just 300 homes.

How much should it cost to ride Austin’s light rail?

Austin’s light-rail system is still years away from becoming a reality. The first trains won’t start running until 2029 at the earliest.

But already some people are worried about how much it could cost to ride light rail. They don’t want Capital Metro to up-charge customers like the agency does for those who ride the MetroRail commuter train.

Texas Standard: July 12, 2022

Demands for transparency in the investigation of the mass shooting in Uvalde. The focus: hallway surveillance footage. We’ll have the latest. Also why a big fight may be brewing between Austin and Washington over new air pollution regulations in West Texas. And military annual fitness checks getting swapped out for Fitbits? Plus an immigration lawyer on the front lines to keep families together at the border, reflects on his own migrant past and others directly affected by immigration policy. And new images of events millions of years in the past, the excitement over the space telescope and what the pictures tell us. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:

Riders Against the Storm

In this episode, Lisa and Rich talk with Chaka and Qi Dada, the husband and wife duo who make up the hip-hop group Riders Against the Storm.

Texas Standard: July 4, 2022

The Texas Supreme Court says Texas can enforce its 1925 abortion ban. We’ll have a closer look at the implications of the decision. Also, with many Texans traveling by car for the holiday, lots of folks feeling the pinch of gas prices firsthand. An update from our go to energy expert Matt Smith. And we revisit our conversation with singer songwriter and Spoon frontman Britt Daniel who shares how a Texas vibe got baked in to one of the most highly anticipated rock albums of the year. Plus reflections on this land and who it really belongs to. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: June 27, 2022

Did the Dobbs decision revive longstanding but dormant Pre-Roe anti-abortion laws on the books in Texas? Also, the impact of the SCOTUS opinion on the state’s sex education, the disproportionate impact of anti-abortion laws on disabled persons, and the specter of other rights being toppled raised by the Thomas concurrence. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Juneteenth: Are We Really Free?

Juneteenth is celebrated annually in commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States, marking the day enslaved people in Texas were finally freed — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The national holiday is known by many names, Freedom Day, Liberation Day, Emancipation Day, and Jubilee Day.

In this hour-long audio documentary, KUT’s Miles Bloxson an Austin native, speaks to Black Austinites about the history of Juneteenth, how they celebrate the holiday, what Juneteenth means to them and explores the question, “Are We Really Free?”

Grackle

Some embrace them as the unofficial mascots of Texas cities — looking at you, Austin. But others are put off by their scavenger natures. The grackle inspired this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Is there really a buried treasure in Walnut Creek Park?

Who doesn’t love a good treasure hunt? But is any of it real?

KUT’s Skye Seipp tries to find the X.

Saying goodbye to Austin’s Godfather of Clubbing

We first met Yorkie Louie in 2020. Now, he’s leaving the dance floor — at least in Austin.

Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette

In this episode of Black Austin Matters, hosts Lisa B. Thompson and Richard J. Reddick talk with Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, the outgoing president of Huston-Tillotson University.

Texas Standard: May 31, 2022

As funerals begin for the nineteen students and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, President Biden promises action on gun safety. How likely is that to happen and what sort of change could be coming? Also, criticism growing over the response of law enforcement as the situation unfolded last week in Uvalde. Why did training efforts aimed at stopping school shooters fail and where do we go from here? These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: May 3, 2022

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled” – that’s a quote from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in an opinion leaked last night. We’ll talk about what happens next on today’s show. Plus the cost increases for Operation Lone Star. As the border security mission drags on, it’s being funded by money meant for state agencies. And an intercontinental railway that will now bypass Texas. We’ll tell you why. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Is Treaty Oak still alive?

The bizarre tale of completely made up stories about one of Austin’s oldest trees — and an even more bizarre tale that’s completely true.

Rest in Power DJ Kay Slay

Fresh and Confucius celebrate the life of DJ Kay Slay, and debate whether Future really is the best rapper alive.

You’ll learn Hip-Hop Facts about DJ Kay Slay, DJ Drama’s Gansta Grillz, and more!

After T-Pain called out the city of Dallas over low ticket sales, Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that artists can’t be mad about low ticket sales.

Confucius talks about the fall of Netflix, Future’s comments about whether he wants more kids, Florida’s decision to revoke Disney’s special status, Jerry Seinfeld’s friendship with Wale, and more on Confucius Reads the News.