In the summer of 2024, the Taylor City Council quietly inked a deal to approve a new data center. That decision put Taylor on a growing list of Texas communities hosting data centers. Currently, there are at least 300 data centers in the state. Read here: austinfreepress.org/minority-rep...

Black businesses, event curators, chefs, artists, and historical leaders are not only vital to the culture that makes Austin a top destination city, they feed the state economy. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/philanthropi...

In the wake of major cuts to federal food programs, the City of Austin and area nonprofits have joined forces to help prevent Austin’s youngest and neediest from going hungry. Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/it-takes-a-v...

On a hot afternoon, I joined a group of fellow Huston-Tillotson students to visit one of the city’s most vital resources for those living without homes: the ARCH, or Austin Resource Center for the Homeless.  Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/the-arch/

Is it possible to keep the lights on during peak demand and care for the planet and public health at the same time? Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/on-demand/

Code blue: Central Health documents reveal mixed views of its CEO's performance Despite strong performance metrics, Central Health’s CEO faced a potential firing as board members raised concerns about governance and oversight. Read story here: austinfreepress.org/code-blue/

Austin’s city manager is one of the highest paid metro managers in Texas, earning nearly a half-million dollars a year, according to public records analyzed by Austin Free Press using the newly launched Government Accountability Project database. Read the story: austinfreepress.org/mind-the-gap/

The Austin City Council continued its near lock-step approval of rezoning requests in 2025, according to a new analysis of voting patterns that updates Austin Free Press’ 2024 report. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/rubber-stamp/

“Does anyone actually know what a cervix is?” comedian Ivy Le asked, recalling her first pap smear. “Okay, but seriously — is it a muscle? An organ?” Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/laughing-pas...

Austin summers have gotten hotter. As temperatures rise, advocates say institutional racism is intensifying the risks faced by unsheltered residents,leaving Black and brown people disproportionately exposed to extreme heat and with fewer options for shelter. Story: austinfreepress.org/unequal-heat/

Public comments on plans to widen Austin’s MoPac Expressway should not be publicly released, according to the local highway entity promoting that road expansion. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/overdriving-...

The developer of a proposed hotel and conference center near Circuit of the Americas would receive payments from the city nearly comparable to the amount it would owe under the city’s hotel tax, under a package of incentives being considered at Austin City Hall.

For many, the approach of summer means little more than vacation time. But for others, Austin’s increasingly hot summers represent something different: a deadly crisis, figures show. Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/too-hot/

After months of neighborhood pushback, Austin City Council voted to approve a high-rise redevelopment project on a UT-area block. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/tower-tradeo...

Scorching Reality: Cooling centers feel out of reach for Austin’s unhoused Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/scorching-re...

During her third pregnancy, Dominique Adeniyi, suffered stomach pains that didn’t feel normal. As the pain grew she repeatedly asked her doctors for help. They said it was probably just a stomach bug. Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/mother-love/

More than three decades after East Austin residents forced six oil companies to shut down a sprawling fuel storage facility in their neighborhood, the story of the so-called tank farm is still being told. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/tank-warfare/

More than three decades after East Austin residents forced six oil companies to shut down a sprawling fuel storage facility in their neighborhood, the story of the so-called tank farm is still being told. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/tank-warfare/

In 1994, Bertha Rendon-Ortiz’s grandfather, Edward Rendon Sr., launched a petition to rename East First Street in Austin as César Chávez Street, honoring the labor leader who had died the year before. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/la-primera/

For months beginning in mid-2025, parents at Becker Elementary School in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood showed up to meetings, asked questions and pushed back on a school closing decision that they didn’t fully understand. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/raw-deal/

A new patch of shade in East Austin is doing much more than cooling the pavement. It’s quietly producing power — and sparking conversation about how Austin might chart its energy future. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/amped-up/

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk set up his 2,500-acre Tesla Gigafactory in East Austin, he promised to create at least 5,000 jobs and an “ecological paradise.” Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/terra-bite/

Travis County officials are weighing how to comply with a new Texas law that requires the sheriff’s office to formally partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, years after the county was embroiled in the state’s.... Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/on-ice/

A plan to widen MoPac Expressway through the heart of the Barton Creek Greenbelt and the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone is drawing renewed scrutiny from local officials and residents who say the project could have long-term consequences... Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/pass-with-ca...

Austin’s housing debate again collided with questions of neighborhood identity. The Austin City Council voted on March 26 to advance a measure that could reframe where and how the city grows. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/upzoning-cou...

On April Fool’s Day, The Austin Bulldog — the first hyper-local, digital only, non-profit news organization in Texas — will celebrate 16 years of being a thorn in the sides of local politicians and government agencies. Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/bite-back/

As Women’s History Month draws to a close, Austin Free Press is reflecting on Wilhelmina Delco, a trailblazing woman whose leadership has reshaped the city’s institutions and expanded opportunity for generations. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/wilhelmina-d...

The marquees have dimmed, the stages are removed, and the crowds are gone. But the stories that unfolded at this year’s South by Southwest continue to echo — especially those told through an LGBTQ+ lens. Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/beyond-comin...

Austin built more than 120,000 homes in less than a decade, and the city is now being held up as proof that building more housing can push rents down. But the celebration comes with an asterisk. Read Full Story Here: austinfreepress.org/trickle-down/

As grocery bills rise and Americans are losing federal assistance, affordability is becoming the national talking point for the midterms. Read Full Story Here: austinfreepress.org/at-austins-t...

City of Austin officials have paused their request to demolish the historic Barton Springs Road Bridge, slowing a controversial project that has drawn outcry from preservationists, architects and environmentalists. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/suspension/

A UT-area block — once contaminated by dry-cleaning chemicals — is poised for a dramatic transformation with two luxury towers rising more than 400 feet above Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd under a proposal advanced this week by the Austin Planning Commission. austinfreepress.org/stain-removal/

City Council is expected to take a final vote March 12 on a rezoning request that has reignited long-running tensions in the Blackland neighborhood over land use, neighborhood plans, and what “compatibility” means in a historically Black part of East Austin. austinfreepress.org/speaking-for...

The Austin City Council is expected to take a final vote on March 12 on a rezoning request that has reignited long-running tensions in the Blackland neighborhood over land use, neighborhood plans... You can read the full story at austinfreepress.org/historical-l...

Tucked away in Pilot Knob, an unincorporated Central Texas community just south of McKinney Falls and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the 45‑acre Alexander Farm feels worlds away from the city’s sprawl. austinfreepress.org/black-cowboys/ #BlackCowboys #AlexanderFarm #EminentDomain #HighHorse

Austin’s plan to roll out mobile surveillance cameras in city parks is on hold again, stalled by questions about trust, transparency and who controls the footage. austinfreepress.org/short-circuit/

ATX City Council Member Ryan Alter said he will halt efforts to secure more money to replace the historic Zilker/Barton Springs Road bridge until he is convinced that demolition is the only option. austinfreepress.org/a-dynamite-b... #ZilkerBridge #BartonSpringsRoad #ZilkerPark

In the months after the council’s demolition approval, tenants saw signs of imminent redevelopment. austinfreepress.org/dissed-and-d...

With national and local voters putting “affordability” on the political agenda, an advisory commission is urging the city to direct its leading private gas utility to reduce prices, as well as its carbon footprint. austinfreepress.org/hot-seat/

The day Ray Price stumbled onto the Doris Miller Auditorium, he wasn’t chasing history — just a parking spot. It was 2017, and Price had just quit a cubicle job designing audio systems. austinfreepress.org/austins-ray-...

Northwest Austin residents told city officials this week that the noise of revving motorcycles racing around RM 2222 has become unbearable. austinfreepress.org/varoom/ #MotorcycleNoise #AustinCityCouncil #PublicSafety #NoiseOrdinance #NorthwestAustin #RM2222 #CommunityConcerns #APD

Poor communication and planning may uproot part of East Austin’s Festival Beach Food Forest, as Interstate 35 construction and a relocated wastewater line collide with years of grassroots work. austinfreepress.org/blindsided/

A judge is reviewing whether 494 petition signatures were wrongly excluded—potentially deciding whether Austin voters weigh in on the convention center rebuild. A ruling is expected before the Feb. 13 ballot deadline. austinfreepress.org/austin-city-... #AustinPolitics #LocalNews #ConventionCenter

For decades, East 22nd Street has served as a kind of seam in the Blackland neighborhood — close enough to Manor Road to feel the spillover from restaurants, traffic and nightlife, yet still residential in character. austinfreepress.org/blackland-cr...

A Texas appeals court is weighing whether Hays County Commissioners Court violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when it called a $778M road bond election — and whether voter approval still stands. austinfreepress.org/resurfaced/ #TXLege #OpenMeetingsAct #Transparency #LocalGovernment #TexasCourts

More than 125 homeowners in Central Austin’s Rosedale neighborhood are defending themselves from a lawsuit bankrolled by their own tax dollars. austinfreepress.org/sue-thy-neig...

The Historic Landmark Commission recommended East Austin’s Bethany Cemetery, Austin’s oldest Black cemetery, as a City of Austin landmark on Jan. 7. austinfreepress.org/ancestral-au...

An Austin “grocery nerd” advising New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on his campaign promise to open five city-run public food stores worries that the new mayor isn’t thinking big enough to succeed. austinfreepress.org/heaping-plate/

In a move that’s becoming almost routine, Austin ISD trustees voted in November to close 10 local schools, citing a cocktail of budget shortfalls, declining enrollment, and state accountability pressures — all for a projected $22 million in savings. austinfreepress.org/whipsaw-aisd...

After the 1954 Brown school-desegregation decision, Delco overcame racism to earn a U.T. zoology Ph.D, becoming a Huston-Tillotson University dean. austinfreepress.org/a-trailblaze...