How Austin’s LGBTQ Community Hopes to Recover from COVID’s Cultural Vacuum

byKrissi Reeves

As venues, bars and theaters shut their doors and cultural funding dried up because of COVID, many Austin LGBTQ arts organizers struggled to keep their heads above water and found it increasingly difficult to connect with their communities. 

UT’s Mental Health Services Adjust to Life in a Pandemic

byVeronica Apodaca

Students are returning to in-person counseling at the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center after the COVID-19 pandemic limited in-person sessions. 

Texas Oil and Gas Pipelines are Causing More Oil Spills than the National Average

byGabriella Ybarra

Oil and gas pipeline spills along the Texas coast are 16 times the national rate.

Texas Moves to Protect Sexual Violence Survivors

by Veronica Apodaca

Texas organizations and lawmakers have seen victories in their work helping victims of sexual violence.

Santa and the Supply Chain: How Austin Toy Stores Are Coping with Christmas

byEniola Longe

With global supply chain disruptions affecting industry, independently owned toy stores have had an increasingly hard time stocking their shelves. 

With New Coach, UT Men’s Basketball Looks to Its Past to Build for the Future

byKevin Malcolm Jr.

In November, Students piled on top of each other as the University of Texas men’s basketball team made its return to Gregory Gym for the first time in 45 years.

Resilient Texas Pecan Business Is a Family Affair 

byKrissi Reeves

For the Texas pecan industry, December marks an end-of-season hustle as the last of the buttery, tender nuts fall from their sprawling branches and pecan lovers worldwide clamor to purchase fresh nuts for the holidays. 

200 Chefs Demand More U.S. Action to Stop Illegal Fishing

bySamuel Stark

Currently 20% to 32% of all wild-caught fish imported into the U.S. is considered to be a product of unreported and unregulated fishing.

Texas College Republicans Secede from National Organization Because of ‘Rigged’ Election

byAndrew Logan

A group of College Republicans say they accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election, but they did not acknowledge the outcome of their organization’s own recent national election.
On Aug. 16, the Texas Federation of College Republicans seceded by unanimous consent from the College Republican National Committee because the Texas College Republicans claimed the election for CRNC chair was fraudulent.

The CRNC is the national organization for the College Republicans. It is composed of all the state federations and claims to have more than 250,000 members across the country with a presence on almost 2,000 college campuses.

Long Underrepresented and Overlooked, Native American and Indigenous Students Are Getting Texas Colleges’ Attention

byPaula Levihn-Coon

As UT has become more diverse with increasing numbers of Black and Hispanic students, its enrollment of Native American and Indigenous students has dropped.

Austin Rapper Sees Busking as Steppingstone to Success

byBrandon Jenkins

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, Karl Anthony arrives on West Sixth Street around 11:15 p.m. in a silver Jeep Wrangler. He parks alongside the curb, turns his hazard lights on and sets up two amplifiers, lighting equipment and a microphone — all of which are needed to prepare for a three-hour shift rapping to the crowd of revelers, some of whom toss money into a box in front of Anthony. On a good evening, he can make more than $1,200.

Longhorn Basketball Great Gives Back by Opening His Own Gym

byBrandon Jenkins

One of the more decorated basketball players in Longhorn history is now hoping to change lives with the game that changed his.

UT Alerts Questioned After More Gun Violence

byKevin Malcolm Jr.

UT has a policy to send alerts via email and/or text when a crime has been reported and there is an ongoing threat to campus.

Advocates Say Electric Cooperatives Adopting ‘Unfriendly’ Solar Policies

byJill Ament

Liberty Hill resident Richard Hrabik has debated installing solar panels on his home since he moved in 38 years ago.  “I’ve always been interested, but it was never really affordable,” said Hrabik, a retired computer software engineer. “Now panels have gotten to where you can afford them. So, I decided to go for it.”
Not long after Hrabik had his panels installed, the Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s board of directors in December 2020 proposed a significant rate increase for its customers who have solar panels — a 20-25% increase, according to some estimates.

Kaiba White, an energy policy and outreach specialist with Public Citizen Texas, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, said PEC didn’t explain these moves adequately to customers. She’s been helping Hrabik and dozens of other PEC solar customers challenge the increases since the summer.

“When members started to find out about this, especially those with solar or who were considering solar, there was an outcry,” White said. 

Amid Pandemic and Stress, UT Freshman Finds Safe Place in Songwriting

byLauren Goodman

http://reportingtexas.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IMG_4500.mov When Bird Anderson started writing songs around 7 years old, they were about things around her like Legos. Growing up, her house was often filled with the noise of banging drums, guitars or banjos as her father taught Bird and her three brothers to play different instruments. “[Songwriting] developed more into how I like […]

NIL: A Level Playing-Field for Athletes

byZach Dimmitt

At advanced levels of sports, particularly college athletics, fairness within the game is generally set by rules and regulations with judgments on right and wrong as black and white as the stripes on referees’ jerseys. But when the business side of things takes center stage as it has in recent years, the argument of what’s fair and what’s not becomes much more clouded.

The Naked History of Hippie Hollow

bySteven Morvant

In a city that prides itself on being weird, Hippie Hollow remains one of Austin’s most unique places. At this county park, stone steps wind their way down a rocky shore on Lake Travis. The Texas sun’s harsh rays are reflected off of the clear waters as the trees provide some shade to bathers. The […]

Austin Amps Up Communication to Answer Concerns About Feared Return of Deadly Winter Storm

byZach Dimmitt

No one could have seen it coming. In a state like Texas, bitter cold temperatures are common during the short winter months, but what happened on Valentine’s Day of 2021 was almost as likely as hell freezing over. The storm, that has come to be known as Winter Storm Uri, brought unprecedented low temperatures to […]

UT Students Participate in Austin’s Expansive Climbing Community

byHailin Zhang

From group outings to nearby climbing gyms to joining climbing organizations and competing, the sport of climbing has taken hold at the University of Texas at Austin, creating a entirely new community and culture. Climbing’s popularity has skyrocketed recently—especially in the United States, which has witnessed numerous gym openings each year. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, […]

A Podcast: James White’s Legacy Unbroken at The Broken Spoke

byDanielle Streetenberger and Sarah Velasquez

James White, the founder of the The Broken Spoke, died almost a year ago in January 2021. But his presence and vision lives on through the vibrato of cowboy boots two-stepping across the legendary honky-tonk’s dance floor to the wail of traditional country music. Reporting Texas’ Danielle Streetenberger and Sarah Velasquez sat down with White’s […]