Homeless People Face Waitlist for Services at Downtown Austin Community Court

byMizelle Mayo

About 200 unsheltered people are on a waiting list for the kind of intensive case management services at the Downtown Austin Community Court, which is temporarily located in the Terrazas Library at 1106 E. Cesar Chavez St. The court attempts to divert people charged with petty crime from the criminal justice system and to provide them with help getting their lives in order. 

The community court was established in 1999 and was the eighth community court in the U.S. and the first in Texas. Many of its clients are experiencing homelessness and tend to cycle through the criminal justice system. Initially, the court focused its efforts downtown, but it has since added East Austin and the West Campus area to its jurisdiction.

Reporting Texas TV – April 29, 2021

byReporting Texas TV Staff

Journalism students from Moody College at the University of Texas made their fifth newscast of the semester on April 29, 2021. This week student journalists report on an upcoming Austin vote that could ban camping and soliciting, student efforts to warn others of UT professors who violated sexual misconduct rules, a nurse’s fight against her […]

Houston Nurse Crowdfunds to Take Hospital to Court Over Vaccine Layoffs

byKenny Jones

HOUSTON, Texas — Several Houston Methodist Hospital employees are resisting their boss’s order to receive COVID-19 vaccines by June 7. Dr. Marc Boom, Houston Methodist’s President and CEO, announced April 15 that all employees must comply with the vaccination deadline or face suspension and eventual termination.  “The process [to decide to require COVID-19 vaccines] was […]

Austinites Engaging in the Profitable Fetish of Financial Domination

byRamón Rodriguez

In financial domination, a financial submissive, “finsub,” pays a financial dominant, “findom,” often without expecting anything in return, and often without meeting in person. In some findom arrangements, dominants hurl insults online at submissives. Submissives get aroused from the loss of control and surrendering of power, sex experts say.

Reporting Texas Newsletter April 23, 2021

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Vaccinations Open Possibilities for Child Care Workers and Families

byAshley Miznazi

AUSTIN, Texas — For many college students, child care provides a stream of income with flexibility for school and internships. When people began to shut their doors to strangers during the pandemic, both child care workers and families had to adjust.  Adrienne Anderson has a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. She regularly hires people […]

UT Students Warn Peers About Professors with Sexual Misconduct Violations

byANDRÉS GARCIA

AUSTIN, Texas — With summer and fall registration underway, some students at the University of Texas are warning their peers of classes taught by professors who violated the school’s sexual misconduct policies.  Sophomore Kaya Epstein posted a Twitter thread that identified professors with university-documented records of sexual misconduct who will teach in the fall 2021 […]

Prop B Seeks to Ban Camping and Soliciting

byLibby Cohen

AUSTIN, Texas — One item on the ballot for many Travis County voters in the May 1 special election seeks to ban people from camping and soliciting money on public streets in Austin. Supporters of Proposition B say it will make the city a safer place for the housed and the unhoused. Opponents argue that […]

Central Texas Rescuers Work to Save Pigs, Farm Animals During Winter Storm

byBenton Graham

Central Texas Pig Rescue, a non-profit, was founded in 2016 and is run entirely by volunteers. In addition to housing hundreds of pigs at its farm in Bastrop, the rescue sees itself as a pig advocacy group and aims to create the “perfect pig paradise.” All animals at the rescue, which includes the 228 pigs, four donkeys, two goats, five cats, six chickens and two guinea fowls, survived Winter Storm Uri.

Reporting Texas TV – April 22, 2021

byReporting Texas TV Staff

Journalism students from Moody College at the University of Texas made their fourth newscast of the semester on April 22, 2021. This week student journalists report on local reaction to the fatal shooting of a Black man by police in Minnesota, Austin voters considering a change to the current mayor and city manager system, Earth […]

UT Theatre Festival Goes Online Because of COVID

byBrynne Herzfeld

AUSTIN, Texas — When COVID-19 halted performances in front of live audiences, UT Department of Theatre and Dance students and faculty showcased their creations in a new and safe way.  The 2021 edition of the Cohen New Works Festival, a biennial celebration of student work, took place April 12 through 16. Begun in 2007, this […]

Preservation without Reservations: Land Grabs of Past Rob True Native Texans of Indigenous History

byBrooke Nevins

Take a couple steps off nearly any highway spanning its 270 million acres, and you’re bound to be trespassing on someone else’s property. Over 95% of the state’s land is privately owned, resulting largely from the removal of Native peoples in the 19th century. Despite its huge size and a history of hundreds of Indigenous tribes inhabiting its present-day borders, Texas has only three federally-recognized reservations – those of the Alabama-Coushatta, the Kickapoo and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. Hundreds of non-federally recognized tribal communities exist here, left without allotted land to practice self-autonomy or the funding to preserve cultural traditions.

Foster Parents: Texas Child Welfare System Remains Broken

byCaitlin Davis

Kathleen Ender was just 21 when she began the process of becoming a foster parent after the idea of parenting foster children appeared in her dreams again and again. Enders, chief program officer at National Angels, well equipped emotionally and armed with experience, deeply believed in the beauty of being able to love a child […]

Reporting Texas Newsletter April 16, 2021

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Reporting Texas Newsletter April 9, 2021

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Reporting Texas Newsletter April 2, 2021

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UT Students Struggle to Cope with Police Killings of Young People of Color

byDominique LaVigne

AUSTIN, Texas — In the last two weeks, police killed at least four young people of color: Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Adam Toledo in Chicago, Anthony Thompson in Knoxville, and Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. All of the victims were under 21 years of age. The deaths coincided with the trial of Derek […]

Upcoming Austin Election Includes Proposal for “Strong Mayor” System

byClark Dalton

AUSTIN, Texas — A proposition on the May 1 municipal election ballot seeks to change Austin’s city government to a “strong mayor” system, which would make the mayor Chief Executive Officer. Proposition F is one of eight propositions for voters to decide May 1. Early voting started this week. The mayor would have more responsibilities […]

Celebrating Earth at UT

byMaggy Wolanske

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas Campus Environmental Center (CEC) is working on multiple events to get students excited for Earth Month.  Activities include a seed swap, campfire chats, UT Farm Stand, microfarm workshops, and an art contest.  “The Office of Sustainability, in general, celebrates Earth Month, so that’s why we have so much programming […]

South Texas Geothermal Energy Project Ready to Provide Power That Never Stops

bySumaiya Malik

A geothermal test project that could set the stage for “always on” green energy is set to take root in South Texas with a goal of competing with wind and solar energy production. The project is a joint venture between Sage Geosystems, a private green energy company, and the Bureau of Economic Geology at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, based on a U.S. Air Force-funded initial feasibility study.