Housing

KUT Morning Newscast for November 20, 2023

Central Texas top stories for November 20, 2023. Austin housing analysis. Thanksgiving health. Longhorns hold firm in AP ranking. Monarch butterfly migration.

How Texas lowering requirements to become a teacher in the 2000s impacted the profession

As the first week of a fourth special session draws to a close, the Senate passes a voucher-like plan for education.

A teacher shortage and what a new study tells us about the implications of past plans to bring in and retain teachers in Texas classrooms.

The independent market monitor for the Texas power grid steps down after blowing the whistle on what she claims were artificially inflated energy prices.

Texas, once a red-hot housing market, has lost a lot of sizzle, yet many still struggle to get a house of their own. We’ll take a closer look at what’s happening.

Plus, the week in politics with the Texas Tribune and poetry with the Typewriter Rodeo.

KUT Morning Newscast for November 1, 2023

Central Texas top stories for November 1, 2023. Christopher Taylor trial wrapping up. House relocation. University research proposition. Water project proposition.

KUT Morning Newscast for October 27, 2023

Central Texas top stories for October 27, 2023. Home Initiative Hearing. Cruise Pauses Operations. TEA Injunction, Health Fair. Cold Front Coming.

Biden administration bets big on hydrogen energy – and Texas is the winner

Up for a vote statewide: an amendment to the constitution to lower property taxes for Texans.

We continue to monitor events in the mideast, where President Biden is trying to tamp down tensions as a prominent congressman from Texas tries to turn up the heat on Hezbollah, calling to give the president the authority to use military force against Iranian proxies. we’ll hear more.

With the danger of a disruption to energy prices, a renewed focus on the US strategic oil reserves. Was it a mistake to draw them down with the outbreak of war in Ukraine?

Plus the effort to make Texas a hydrogen hub.

KUT Morning Newscast for October 4, 2023

Central Texas top stories for October 4, 2023. New housing development in North Austin. Austinites react to student loan payments restarting. Councilmember Kelly hosts public safety meetings.

We’re tracking Texas cryptids all October

From guns to religion, free speech and more, a very loaded docket awaits the Supreme Court as it begins a new term.

Why a race for Houston’s top financial officer is getting so much attention.

A plan to consolidate schools in San Antonio could leave behind almost 20 empty buildings – and the district needs to figure out what to do with them.

As the dollar strengthens, other currencies weaken. But there’s a notable outlier: We’ll look at why the Mexican peso seems to be doing so well.

Also, as the spookiest month of the year gets started, a look at why Texas is so full of mysterious creatures unconfirmed by science.

What you need to know about viewing the upcoming solar eclipses from Texas

Though Attorney General Ken Paxton has been acquitted on all impeachment charges, whistleblowers say they’re not giving up. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of the Texas Newsroom shares more.

It’s rare for an eclipse to be visible at the same location within several years, much less a few months – but the skies over a portion of Texas will be ground zero for observing both an annular and a total solar eclipse.

At the Rescue Mission of El Paso, plenty of food is coming in – but it’s not to feed people experiencing homelessness. Instead, those people are feeding others. Texas monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn shares the mission of Hallelujah! BBQ.

KUT Morning Newscast for September 26, 2023

Central Texas top stories for September 26, 2023. Austin affordable housing developments up in the air. Future of Barton Springs’ iconic tree uncertain. Ex-employees of Attorney General Ken Paxton go to state Supreme Court.

Migrants’ arrival at Eagle Pass underscores Biden’s challenge on immigration

An emergency is declared in Eagle Pass as more than 6,000 migrants entered the small town in less than two days, and the Biden administration sends active duty troops to the southern border. Gaige Davila of Texas Public Radio with the latest.

With open acrimony between the Texas House and Senate, what’s likely to get done in the next special legislative session?

There’s less competition for homebuyers, but that doesn’t mean it’s getting easier to buy a home. We’ll hear the latest.

A new exhibit celebrates the “Big Bang of Texas music” 50 years after the seminal album “¡Viva Terlingua!”

Also: The week in politics with the Texas Tribune.

KUT Morning Newscast for September 15, 2023

Central Texas top stories for September 15, 2023. Possible final trial day for Ken Paxton. Austin City Council approves new EMS contract. RVs and Tiny Homes now legal to live in in Austin.

KUT Morning Newscast for September 8, 2023

Central Texas top stories for September 8, 2023. Excessive Heat Warning. ERCOT Weather Watch. Rent numbers. TEA proposal reactions. Paxton Trial Day 4. Narcan Distribution. Zilker Relays Closures.

After a pandemic boost, what’s the next chapter for independent booksellers?

Fort Worth ISD temporarily closed its school libraries as the district worked to comply with a new state law over adult content.

Texas is one of only 10 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid. Why?

The pandemic boost for books, and its aftermath: the Standard’s Sean Saldaña on the next chapter for independent booksellers.

The most dangerous jails in Texas may not be the lockups that get the most attention. Eric Dexheimer of the Houston Chronicle shares more.

And the Texan trying to redefine travel TV, and what travel looks like in the real world, too.

Grow or Die

(Episode 7) Now that the machine has done its job, what now? We explore some of the existential questions that Austin’s housing market has wrought.

How to prepare and stay safe amid high wildfire danger

With low humidity and winds picking up across Texas, a growing wildfire threat has prompted officials to raise the state’s preparedness level. What should Texans be doing to prepare for the danger of wildfires?

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is facing not one but two Democrats with considerable name recognition as he prepares to try to retain his Senate seat.

A conversation with Ire’ne Lara Silva, Texas’ poet laureate.

And there are growing concerns about artificial intelligence in Zoom amid recent changes to the app’s terms of service.

Examining the skills gap in a post-pandemic workforce

Border Patrol agents say Texas efforts to address migration are disrupting their work. Troopers say complaints are overblown.

We’ll have an update on the state’s wildfire risk as the dangerous pattern of hot and dry conditions continues.

How one Texas school district spent the the summer addressing safety concerns.

Reports of a concerning trend in the workforce: new employees that just aren’t ready to do the job.

There’s bipartisan support for rolling back some environmental regulations to speed up the production of U.S.-made semiconductors.

And we’ll hear from Kiana Fitzgerald, author of the new book “Ode to Hip-Hop: 50 Albums That Define 50 Years of Trailblazing Music.”

There Go The Neighborhoods

(Episode 6) Austin last re-wrote its land development code in 1984. Sounds boring, right? Well, that rewrite made it harder to build denser forms of housing. We explore the history of zoning in Austin and the opposition to changing the rules today, which could make the biggest difference in fixing Austin’s affordability crisis.

Details on a massive release of greenhouse gases in West Texas brought on by the heat.

How does the new movie ‘Oppenheimer’ stack up against history?

And as the ‘Barbie’ movie premieres, a look back at how the world’s most famous doll has been a source of both inspiration and debate for over 60 years.