Just 7% Texas homeowners have federal flood insurance. But the state also saw one of the biggest drops in people with this coverage in the past year. The July 4 floods, like other disasters before it, are forcing people to rethink that. By @mcglinchyreports.bsky.social: www.kut.org/housing/2025...

NEW: Want to save $100,000 on tuition at UT Austin? Just buy a house. I've found an industry of out-of-staters buying condos with $$ and using these condos to get in-state tuition. It's legal and comes as undocumented students in TX lose the right to pay cheaper tuition: www.kut.org/education/20...

NEW: TX will not go the way of other GOP-led states in banning guaranteed income programs. Bills outlawing these cash aid programs failed at the lege this session. www.kut.org/politics/202...

NEW from me: Insurers are increasingly using aerial images and AI to decide whether to renew homeowners’ policies. Companies say it's more efficient. But I found examples where homeowners in Texas lost coverage because a sky-high photo of their home was misread: www.kut.org/housing/2025...

New from me: One of TX Gov. Abbott's priorities this legislative session is "cracking down on squatters", or people who enter + occupy homes w/o ever having a legal right to be there. But what lawmakers have proposed would affect renters with leases: www.kut.org/housing/2025...

We're excited to announce the 2025-26 Knight-Bagehot fellows. Congrats @amandaaronczyk.bsky.social, @bykylecampbell.bsky.social, @aishagani.bsky.social, @esmyjimenez.bsky.social, @mcglinchyreports.bsky.social, @robaeprice.bsky.social Full list and bios at journalism.columbia.edu/2025-knight-...

Latest from me: Austin's having a YIGBY, or "Yes in God's Backyard" moment. As congregations dwindle and revenue drops, a growing number of churches are building affordable housing as a way to fulfill their missions but also earn some income: www.kut.org/housing/2025...

I'm at a @sxsw.com panel with Austin Mayor Kirk Watson talking about housing. Watson touts the work of he and his colleagues over the past 2 years as part of Austin's "enormous success" on housing. Rents have been falling for nearly 2 years.

Breaking: Antitrust enforcers are investigating whether large egg producers have conspired to raise prices or hold back supply.

NEW from my @kutnews.bsky.social colleague: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been quietly telling heads of state agencies they need to end remote policies and state employees need to return to the office five days a week. www.kut.org/texas/2025-0...

From @propublica.org -- DOGE has now gained access to confidential data with sensitive information at HUD. www.propublica.org/article/doge...

1/🧵 A couple weeks ago, I did a social media callout to Tesla and Cybertrucks drivers. As Elon Musk veers right, I asked, how ya doing bud? I heard from folks all over Texas. The consensus? Y'all Tesla drivers are in your feelings right now. www.kut.org/politics/202...

Hi Austin housing folks -- I'm looking into the local impacts of reports of mass firings at HUD. If you want to talk, you can reach me on Signal: audrey.153

The White House has kept the wire service from covering key events because it refuses to call the body of water between Mexico and Florida the Gulf of America, as the Trump administration prefers.

NPR host Adrian Ma's girlfriend, Kiah Duggins, was aboard the American Airlines flight that crashed into the Potomac River. He spoke to NPR about that night and about his late girlfriend.

Strong drink and a bad attitude are never a good combination. But, occasionally, they do change history. In this episode of The Disconnect learn how a drunken brawl in downtown Austin delivered a system of energy price fixing that persists to this day. kutkutx.studio/the-disconne...

They arrived seeking asylum. Instead they were shackled, flown to Panama, stripped of passports and phones, locked in a hotel, barred from lawyers and soon will be sent to a camp near the jungle. Julie Turkewitz @haleaziz.bsky.social Farnaz Fassihi Annie Correal www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany on Saturday accused Vice President JD Vance of unacceptably interfering in his country’s coming elections on behalf of a party that has played down the atrocities committed by the Nazis. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/15/w...

Season 3 of The Disconnect — our podcast about the Texas power grid — has begun. This time: natural gas — how it failed in the 2021 blackout and why TX leaders call it the future of a reliable grid. The first episode is all about the con man who started it all. kutkutx.studio/category/the...

NEW from me: Austin is set to change how it regulates short-term rentals (aka Airbnbs), after court cases have gutted the city's rules. The city's now focused on getting more owners licensed and less on limiting the number of these controversial rentals: www.kut.org/housing/2025... :

The incredible Mose Buchele and @mattlargey.bsky.social asked me to help out with a new season of @kutnews.bsky.social's podcast about the Texas electric grid, The Disconnect, and I couldn't say no. Season 3 coming next month: one.npr.org?sharedMediaI...

Jose Alvaro, who is undocumented, had been navigating the long and costly process of applying for a green card. Now he faces deportation proceedings following a traffic stop that led to police calling federal immigration officials.