Central Texas

Austin Mounted Patrol Making Most of New Home

byPamela Hall Vance

Like many Central Texas residents, Austin police officer Dawn Leonard has bad memories from Winter Storm Uri in 2021. Not only did she have to keep herself warm, but she had to ensure the survival of the horses of the Austin Police Department’s mounted patrol unit.

 “It was a horrible week,” Leonard said. “So 24/7, every two hours, I got up and scooped poop.”

In the end, the storm turned out to be a blessing for the 16 horses in the mounted patrol unit. Because of a lack of water and sewer issues caused by the storm, the Austin Police Department moved the animals from a stable in Manor to the Austin Equestrian Center in Cedar Creek.

Protesters Rally in Austin Against U.S. Supreme Court Threat to Roe v. Wade

byZacharia E. Washington

Several hundred protesters marched from the Texas Capitol to the United States Federal Courthouse in Austin in protest.

With White Tablecloths and a Storied History, Headliners Club Seeks to Maintain Relevance in Changing Austin

byAndrew Logan

Founded in 1954, the Headliners Club has remained a powerful institution in Austin for almost 70 years despite the many changes in the city’s demographics, and its leadership is confident it can sustain that relevance as Austin experiences rapid growth led by the tech industry. 

Members include the state’s most prominent leaders in government, business, higher education and journalism. While critics say such organizations can reinforce class privilege and in practice often exclude people of color, the Headliners Club has maintained its reputation as an exclusive stronghold of the elite in Texas’ politically progressive state capital.

Central Texas Mycology Spawns a Network of Mushroom Enthusiasts 

byKrissi Reeves

In a distinctly similar way to mycelia, the small, savvy team behind Central Texas Mycology Society has built a vast and growing network of enthusiastic volunteers to help distribute the mushroom blocks across Central Texas. Their distribution points stretch from Georgetown to New Braunfels and Bastrop to Cedar Park.  

“We want people to realize that we would not be here unless fungi did all the work helping us become a networked planet,” said one of the society’s leaders.

Invasive Aquatic Species Are Threatening Texas Waterways

byMarina Garcia

Across the street from Sewell Park, while most people tried to get a suntan or go tubing on a cloudy day, a group of researchers worked to capture suckermouth armored catfish, an invasive species in the San Marcos River.

Invasive aquatic species such as the suckermouth armored catfish compete with native species for food, cause erosion and wreck ecological damage, experts say.

After Statements From Texas Leaders, Protesters Take to the Streets for Transgender Rights

byAlexa K. Haverlah 

A student-led march for transgender rights briefly turned violent Sunday when an Austin police officer slammed a protester to the ground.

During Rally in Austin, O’Rourke Denounces Abbott Over Jan. 6 and Electric Power Grid

byMarina Garcia

O’Rourke is traveling around the state and hosting a series of rallies dubbed the Keeping the Lights On: A Statewide Drive for a Brighter Texas campaign.

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. 

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 […]

Climate Change Impacting Austin Real Estate Not So Hard to Fathom

byBrendan Long

After graduating from the University of Texas in May 2021, Sami Sparber ran into the same issue many Austin residents are facing – too few places available for rent or sale. “If you found a place to live, you had to apply right away because within hours or days that unit could be gone,” Sparber […]

Despite Higher Prices and Short Supply, Texas Heritage Turkey Farms Are Thriving 

byEniola Longe

Across the country, the demand for heritage turkeys — a variety of domestic turkeys retaining historic characteristics from the mid-20th Century — has been on the rise since 2005 with the popularity of the slow food movement.

From Pulpit to Pandemic: How Historically Black Texas Churches Spread the Word on Vaccinations

byCristela Jones

Black churches in Texas have been at the forefront of encouraging their congregations to get vaccinated and change the narrative for Black health.