The Republican Party in Williamson
County has agreed to let voters cast
a ballot at any polling location
available in the upcoming primary
runoff.
A move to precinct-specific voting
mucked up the process last month for
voters in Williamston and Dallas
counties.
More about why they're reversing
course.
And rent prices in Austin continue
to fall as more units become
available and with fewer people
moving to the city.
Come hear the latest numbers, that's
on today's show.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
Plus, it's the last full week of
March. That means it's time to catch
you up on the best new music that
you'll want to add to those
playlists.
And both Texas basketball teams are
still dancing amid the March
madness.
Come hear how they did it and
their chances to keep on dancing.
That is up next here on
Austin Signal.
Howdy out there, and thank you for
tuning in to Austin Signal.
I'm your host, Jerry Kehannel.
It is Monday, March 23rd.
Thank you for starting the week with
us and for making community-powered
public radio part of
your day.
Vice President JD Vance is arriving
in Austin today, potentially
creating delays for some drivers
caught in road closures for his
visit.
Closures on Cesar Chavez Street
from Red River Street to Brazos
Street are expected to last
overnight. Until tomorrow morning,
so keep an eye out for that.
The city is asking drivers to take
alternate routes or to take public
transportation if possible, and
drivers should avoid parking along
any part of that route.
City officials haven't yet said why
Vance is visiting the area.
The Williamson County Republican
Party has agreed to return to
countywide voting for upcoming
primary runoff scheduled for May
26th.
This is after widespread confusion
and frustration among many voters
required to visit assigned polling
places on election
day.
For more about this story, we are
joined by KUT's Williamson County
reporter Kaylee Hunt.
Howdy, Kaylee.
Hey, Jerry.
So remind us, why did this change
to precinct-specific polling
locations happen in the first place,
and what was the reasoning from
Republican Party officials in
Williamson county?
Yeah, so the March 3rd primary
election actually marked the first
time in over a decade that
voters in Williamson County had to
cast their ballots at a
precinct-based polling location.
Up until that point, they had been
using the commonly
used countywide voting format
on primary elections, and
the Williamson county Republican
Party officials said that they
made that change at the request of
the state party leadership.
They argue that by
doing precinct-based polling
locations, elections are
more secure and therefore they can
be more confident in the results.
Okay well how did you see that
impact voters in Williamson County
specifically back in February
on primary election day?
Well, you know, Jerry, since it had
been over 10 years,
since folks had used
this precinct based polling
system on primary election day,
there's a lot of confusion.
You know, I spoke to voters of both
parties all throughout the day.
Many, many people that I talked to,
you know, went to their usual
polling place only to show up and
find out that it wasn't the correct
location.
It also resulted in a lot
of long wait times at
locations.
Lots of voters I spoke to, including
Sonia Hernandez, say they
spent more than two hours
just looking to vote.
And Hernandez actually expressed
that frustration to me when I
spoke her on primary election day.
I don't know, I just kind of felt
like it was purposefully confusing.
I think sometimes
politicians want to make it hard for
people to vote.
They're counting on people getting
frustrated and getting
up after a while, or
having to get to work and having to
kind of drop it and maybe come back
to it.
And that's just, you know, maybe
that's my cynicism, but I
was pretty peeved about it.
Okay, Kaylee, well now the
Republican Party in Williamson
County is going back to county-wide
voting for the primary runoff.
What is their reasoning now?
Yeah, well, they say
that they heard they heard that
frustration and anger among
voters.
You know, there was a lot
of comments made at the following
commissioners court meeting just
the week after that first primary
election day.
And yeah, over the weekend,
the Williams County Republican Party
put out a Facebook post saying that
they had agreed to move back to
countywide voting that They had
heard, they had heard their
frustrations.
Okay, so what has to happen now for
this change to officially go
into effect? I read that post that
you were talking about on kut.org
where the county
officials had agreed to go back
to countywide voting, but what
actually has to happen for that to
become a reality?
Yeah. So Jerry, if you remember,
unlike during early voting or
general elections, the county's
political parties are responsible
for conducting the
polling places and the elections,
uh, the process on primary
election day.
And so that includes this
upcoming primary runoff in
May. And, so basically, to
make this change back to countywide
voting official, the
both Republican, both the Williamson
County Republican Party and the
Williamston
must amend their contracts that they
have with the county's elections
department.
And that is actually expected
to happen anytime now.
The Williams County Republican Party
told my colleague Olivia
Aldridge that they had actually
already signed that revision on
their contract.
And there is a special
meeting that has actually been
called tomorrow after
the regular commissioner's court
meeting to discuss those changes.
All right, well that is KUT's
Williamson County reporter, Kaylee
Hunt. She will continue following
this story, and we'll bring you the
latest here on Austin Signal.
Kaylee, thank you for your time.
A new report shows rent
costs here in Austin have continued
a downward trend over the last
few years.
The data show rental housing costs
have declined so much that the city
is now leading the nation in
rent relief.
KUT's Luz Moreno Lozano
has the story.
The data comes from Realtor.com.
It shows monthly rents in Austin
dropped more than 7% year
over year.
As of this past February, the median
asking rent is $1,357
for apartments up to two bedrooms.
That's about $100 less than the same
time last year, according to the
company.
The data also revealed that rents
have seen a significant decline
since costs peaked in September,
2022.
Joel Berner is an Austin-based
economist with Realtors.com,
He says rents in the Austin area
surged in 2021 and 2022,
when more people flocked to the city
with flexible work situations.
That ignited a building boom.
Developers built lots of new
apartments to accommodate the
demand.
Really what happened was there
was a lot more supply added to the
market in the last couple of years
and demand slowed down
considerably.
We have seen a little bit slower in
migration into Austin in the past
couple of years than we did during
the post-pandemic kind of
moving frenzy of 2021
and 2022.
He says now there are a lot more
vacancies.
That's a good thing for renters.
It gives them more choices and more
leverage to negotiate their rent.
And so if you have seen your own
rent go up, don't be afraid to
make a move or at least threatened
to make them move, you know, because
what we're seeing out there is that
landlords are really looking for
people to come and fill up some
vacancies that we've got across the
city right now.
And following rents are good news
for all renters, including people
who might be lower on the income
scale.
Professor Jake Wegman studies
affordable housing at UT.
It does actually help
people who, even
people who can't afford the median
rent. It may not help them
as much as people
who can afford the medium rent.
Here's why.
Wegmans says if market rate rents
are dropping, that means below
market rents are doing the same.
When the market is softer like it is
now, he says landlords are also more
open to renting to families with
Section 8 vouchers.
But some affordable housing leaders
say that lots of people are still
struggling to afford to live in
Austin.
Avesta Czar is the executive
director of Housing Works, a local
affordable housing advocacy
nonprofit.
So even as housing costs have gone
down,
Rental housing costs have gone down.
We have seen that on the flip
side, there are folks who are still
struggling quite a bit.
Of course, that has a lot to do with
incomes being flatlined, job
insecurity.
There is, of course, a really high
cost of living issue that we're
dealing with at this moment.
It's definitely gotten more
affordable for families
and households that make above
$50,000 a year,
but folks with really tight budgets
are still really stretched.
That's Walter Moreau, the Executive
Director for Affordable Housing
Nonprofit Foundation Communities.
I think it's great
that we've had a building boom in
apartments and rents have come down
and hopefully we can
hold on to some of that as long as
we can.
Overall, rents in Austin are lower
than the nation as a whole.
Across the country's biggest cities,
median rent is around $1,670
for an apartment of any size.
But the decline in Austin likely
won't last forever.
Experts say that eventually, the
prices will level out.
I'm Luz Morana Lozano in
Austin.
This is Austin Signal, we are
coming up on a break, but we wanted
to let you know about a wildfire out
in Bastrop County.
The fire started last night and
spread over 46 acres through
Bastrop State Park and prompted
evacuations at a nearby RV
camping park.
No injuries or casualties related
to the fire have been reported at
this time.
Bulldozers were actively patrolling
the fire's edge through the morning,
according to Texas Parks and
Wildlife officials, who say the
blaze has been contained to the
state park.
The Texas A&M Forest Service is now
reporting the fire is 55%
contained.
We have more about it over at
kut.org.
You are listening to Austin
Signal.
We will be back after a break.
This is Austin Signal, welcome
back.
Our sister station, KUTX, had
a wild march so far.
We still have a few days to go with
South by Southwest shows at
Schultz, at the Rivian.
We've got Rock the Park happening
this weekend. There's just a lot
happening here in Austin.
But that doesn't mean that they
don't have time to keep us up on
the latest music out there.
Joining me now to talk more is
KUTx's Joel Aguillon-Lefargue.
Joel, thanks for coming on the show.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Okay well this first one we're
really excited to talk about because
a few of us on the Austin Signal
team got to check out this artist at
an unofficial DiCicco
World Showcase that happened last
week. That's Eddie Angel.
Tell us a little bit about Eddie
Angel and his song.
Yeah, Eddie Angel is
a local Austinite, an R&B
musician.
He is branching more into
Hispanic music and singing
more in Spanish.
He brings the music alive
in his live performances.
He has this really groovy R&
B tone.
And this latest track, Ballazo,
kind of exemplifies that.
It's earnest, it's yearning,
it is dripping with desire, and
really brings those stellar vocals
and some soaring guitar
riffs to the forefront.
And I believe he is set to release
music later this year.
Yes, uh, he has his upcoming
EP, Chica-
This next artist is somebody that
you and I got to check out together
recently at Southby at the
Rivian. That is Bayonne.
Tell us about their new track.
Yeah, Bayon's multi-phase kind
of exists in like a liminal space,
it feels kind of nostalgic but also
kind of something you haven't heard
before, it has repetitive synths
and like a really like deep subject
matter of exploring the multitude of
emotions that happen when you lose a
loved one.
Again he did play at the KUTX
Rivian Day Party and has
amassed hundreds of streams
in the last few weeks since its
release.
Speaking of deep material,
that's what I think about when I
think of Bill Callaghan.
He's also got a track that is
featured on this list.
What is this new track?
This new track kind of like
starts off more brooding and
deeper and
talks about like some really intense
stuff but it kind of builds up
to a more optimistic
and brighter and definitely
more layered
song as the song progresses.
Inside me.
Trying to claim my body
as its own
Invader, enslaver
Little headstone
In this new article
out from KUTX, there's six songs
featured. We only have time to
feature a few of them here on
Austin's Signal, but this last one,
tell us who is the artist in this
last
This last one is the band of
heathens, Take the Cake,
they're a band that started off 20
years ago and their
original members Ed Geurde and
Gordie Quist is
back with this track, Take The
Cake, it's like Southern Fried
Americana and
they call for listeners to check the
rampant materialism and selfishness
of the current age.
So honey, take a break
keep in school.
If you love yourself
and give a
little ground and
give it all away,
it'll come back around.
Joel, what else are you working on
over at KUTX?
Right now, I am discussing more
of the new Austin music you need to
know for this month.
So some of the songs that we didn't
get to talk about today will be
featured on the KUTX social media.
Alrighty, that is Joe Aguilón
La Fargue.
He is an intern at KUTX
and he has been speaking
with us about the best new songs
from March 2026.
You can find more at Kutx.org.
Joe, thanks for your time.
Thank you.
So honey, take a break.
You can't take any more.
You can take the cake.
Well, it was a busy weekend for
Longhorn sports fans with the second
ranked baseball team earning a
series victory over top five
Auburn. The second ranked softball
team extending their winning streak
to 26 and both
Texas basketball teams advancing to
the Sweet 16 in this year's
basketball championship tournaments.
For more, we're joined by QUT's
program director, Jimmy Moss.
Howdy, Jimmy.
Howdy. It was a very busy weekend.
It was indeed.
Let's start with the men's team
because I didn't anticipate that we
were going talking about them.
Advancing to the round of 16 last
week.
Last week. Three layers to get to
this point. So yeah.
Yeah, so what's been working for
them?
I would say timely,
what didn't work
for them down the stretch of the
season losing five of six and they
really needed wins to get safely
into the tournament is now
kind of there's a yin and yang.
They always say it evens out.
Well, now it's evening out because
now those bounces are going for
them. Last minute shots against
North Carolina State.
Timely shooting in their first two
rounds and really defeating,
there are no.
There are no perfect
brackets left in any of the major
services that are servicing millions
and millions of brackets, CSPN,
CBS, all those.
In fact, Texas'
win over Gonzaga on
Saturday night destroyed the
last five remaining brackets in
Yahoo Sports.
And now there are none.
So obviously, if you're in
a league and you're trying to get
points, you're still alive.
But Texas isn't going to hurt you
there unless you had Gonzaga winning
the championship.
Well, the teams that are normally
bracket busters are considered
Cinderella's, right?
These smaller teams that come up and
usurp the glory from these bigger
teams. There's a lot of discussion
over the weekend, at least on social
media, about the qualities
of Texas as a Cinderella team.
This is one of the more successful
programs. Not maybe not in
basketball, but across the sports
spectrum.
Do you see this basketball team as a
cinderella team?
Look, they are not a
single sport, this is all we
care about types.
They're not a small college in the
middle of the Midwestern
plains covered in snow
this time of year.
It's hard to call them a Cinderella.
They are the biggest earning sports
athletic department in
the country.
They're doing actually what they
probably should be doing year
in and year out, based on
income level, NIL
level, all of that.
But they are the
lowest seed left in the tournament.
And that is saying something.
That's not all that common for
double digit seeds to make it this
far. Texas has done it as a double
digit seed two times prior
to now. This is the first time,
though, in a long time.
Last time was 2007 under Rick
Barnes.
Okay, so who are they going up
against next, and what are their
chances looking like there?
Up next, they're playing three
seed Purdue in San Jose
6-10 on Thursday.
Purdue is a good offense, a Big Ten
school classic,
a blue ribbon
NCAA tournament type
team.
They're usually in it or
in discussions.
Yeah, competing.
And they are three seed.
It could very well be that
the Cinderella
run, if you'd like to call it that,
or the unexpected
run of Sean Miller and this Texas
basketball team could end this
weekend. However, it's fun while
it lasts, right?
And I think most Texas fans
are probably OK with a second
weekend elimination.
And I don't think a lot of people
were expecting national championship
run in the first year of Sean Miller
with the Texas basketball program.
Sub. Uh, this note about
Sean Miller, though, he's been to
the round of 32, 10 times,
won the last nine in a row.
I guess this is 10 in a round, so
that's a pretty
solid, like if he gets there.
You're cooked, so.
One thing he talked about last week,
Jimmy, was playing that extra
game sometimes. It just gives you a
little bit more momentum.
A lot of teams in this tournament
have won two games in a row now.
His team has won three.
Maybe there's something to be spoken
for for that.
National championship aspirations
were certainly true for the Texas
women's team. They secured their
third consecutive Sweet 16
appearance over the weekend.
How good have they been?
And Madison Booker, how good has she
been? They're, they're,
They're doing exactly what you would
expect in the, I mean, they are
a number one seed. They are expected
to make it to a
return appearance, at least to the
final four.
A lot of people, especially after
their win over South Carolina in the
SEC tournament, are expecting them
to do even better, like, you know,
that kind of raised the stakes a
little bit for them.
But they did what you think they
would do.
They pounded their first two
opponents in the opening two rounds
of the NCAA tournament.
Madison Booker scored 40 points last
night and a 100 point
outing for the Texas team.
Very impressive.
And she now
has the highest point total for any
player in the NCAA tournament right
currently. I mean, their game's
happening as we speak.
So at any moment, that could be
broken. But they will now face the
winner of Kentucky and West Virginia
later this afternoon.
They're playing their second round
game.
Two opponents that Texas is very
familiar with. Uh sec and
former big 12 opponents so um
there is uh
no no no chance for those
expectations to die off as
they enter their round of 16 next
weekend
Yeah, it's going to be another busy
weekend for Texas sports fans.
Texas baseball will also be hosting
Oklahoma this coming weekend for a
three game series.
Texas softball hosting Texas A and
M here in Austin for a three game
series.
So shaping up to be another busy
weekend for Longhorn sports fans
we can't make
You can't make the trip though, it's in
Fort Worth. It's in Ft.
Worth, that is right.
191.
Miles from where we sit right here.
There it is, and now I believe
they play on Saturday.
We don't know their opponent, but we
know for sure that they're going to
be playing on Saturday, so you can
prep for that.
We have been talking with Jimmy
Moss, program director for KUT,
and one of the hosts of the Vamos
Verdad, the podcast all about Austin
FC in this season.
They tied this weekend.
About the World Cup too.
We'll get into that a little bit
later. We got lots to go on this
week and we hope you'll join us for
Austin Signal all week long.
We'll be back with you at the same
time. One o'clock tomorrow.
This is Austin Signal.