Reporting Texas
News and features from UT-Austin's School of Journalism
byMikhelia Williams
Long before tech bros and $8 matchas, the South Austin neighborhood of Bouldin Creek had wandering peacocks in its front yards. Nearly six decades later, the colorful birds are still strutting through driveways, shrieking at sunrise and sunning themselves on porch railings.
And in true old-Austin, keep-it-weird fashion, most residents like it that way.
Neighbors slow to a stop on Oltorf and Fifth streets to let the peahens saunter across the street. Some even leave birdseed on their steps just in case one decides to drop by. But not everyone who moved to 78704 understood the culture when they arrived.
byMikhelia Williams
Austin’s firefighters union derailed its own tentative contract this week after launching a petition for a citywide vote to require four-person staffing on all fire engines, a new demand city officials say should have been raised at the bargaining table, not after months of negotiations. The four-year, $63 million agreement had been scheduled for a […]
byErika González
At 4 a.m., Yeni Renderos’ alarm went off, just like every other day. Half-asleep, she made coffee, woke her 16-year-old daughter and drove her to school before climbing into her truck, “Rosendo,” as she affectionately called it. For 10 years, that routine had defined her life in Houston, driving to construction sites, convinced her life was finally moving forward.
But that Monday was different. Renderos’ boss called to confirm what she feared most: “You can’t keep working, Yeni, she recalled him saying. “The rules for commercial licenses have changed.”
byDestiny Lewis
Abby Moore, catcher for the Arlington High School baseball team, finally has a route to play professional ball.
For the first time in more than 70 years, women in the United States will have a professional baseball league built for them.
The league held its first-ever player draft Thursday, streamed live on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
More than 100 draft-eligible players from 10 countries were in contention, along with thousands of young girls who suddenly have a future in a sport that once shut them out.
Moore, 18, had already built a résumé that positioned her as one of the youngest serious prospects in the inaugural draft.
