Central Texas top stories for May 2, 2025. A tornado touched down in Burnet County yesterday, a house and a building were destroyed. Protesters marched down Congress Avenue in Austin yesterday to speak out against the Trump administration. The number of people experiencing homelessness in Austin and the surrounding counties has increased by about 36 percent, according to the latest point-in-time count. Voters will be going to the poles this weekend for the May 3 elections. The Austin Independent School District is working on plans to turn around three campuses that have received several failing grades in a row from the state.
Funding cuts
Interview: PBS CEO says “this time is different” with threatened federal funding cuts.
President Donald Trump tried to fire three members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting even though it’s not a government entity. Now, they are suing him. KUT’s Jennifer Stayton talked to PBS CEO Paula Kerger about how public television is funded and how federal funding might be in jeopardy. This is not the first time there has been talk of defunding public media, but Kerger says “this time is different.”
Anti-Trump protests were held across Texas and nationwide over the weekend.
Protests were held across Texas and the nation as part of the 50501 Movement, a nationwide response to President Donald Trump’s policies. The Texas Newsroom’s Lucio Vasquez tells us Texans took to the streets in multiple cities.