Reporting Texas
News and features from UT-Austin's School of Journalism
byIsabella McGovern
The piles of Douglas Fir and cedar sat in Pease Park, waiting to be repurposed into Austin’s newest public artwork. The Douglas Fir had once been a research test tank at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus of the University of Texas. Now it was destined to be an 18-foot troll — and a testament to recycling.
While the trend of making art from recycled materials is not new, Dambo’s troll artwork proved to be a good match for environmentally conscious Austin benefactors.
byIsabella McGovern
With excitement over the eclipse reaching a fever pitch, Reporting Texas asked Anita Cochran, a senior research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin and assistant director of the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis to share her insight into this once-in-a-lifetime event.
byAnissa Sanchez
Chanting “sí se puede” and holding small Mexican flags, several dozen people marched through East Austin on Saturday to celebrate the legacy of Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez and to highlight present-day challenges for Latino civil rights.
“To me, honoring that and not forgetting that struggle is so important,” said PODER director and march organizer Susana Almanza, “especially for the next generation that never got to meet César Chávez.”
byKatrina L. Spencer
The bartenders at the Roosevelt Room in downtown Austin are as likely to grate fresh nutmeg on your beverage as they are to spray black walnut oil inside your glass. It’s an experience, for sure, and it’s not just for those who love liquor, wine and beer.
“A cocktail is interesting whether it has alcohol or not,” said Armando Garza, a bartender at the Roosevelt Room.
The Roosevelt Room and other Austin bars are tapping into the trend of consumers forgoing alcohol when they go out for happy hours, gatherings and celebrations. A 2023 Gallup report found that only 62% of 18- to 34-year-olds said they had occasion to drink in 2021-23, down from 72% two decades ago.
“There’s almost as many reasons to abstain as there are people,” said a Missouri professor of psychological sciences.
