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Stories by Audrey McGlinchy, KUT

Harvey 'washed us back home': Is Austin too expensive for those relocating after Harvey?

Wendy Rivera sat in a metal folding chair outside the shelter for Hurricane Harvey evacuees in Southeast Austin. She shared a 44-ounce convenience store soda with her husband, Ramiro. Ramiro, tall, soft-spoken and tattooed, used his body and a white…

How one immigrants' rights group is preparing for 'sanctuary cities' law

Candelario Vazquez, 34, stood in front of a 20-person audience. None of the adults and children, some of them squirming in their hard plastic chairs, asked to be in his audience. “Good morning, friends,” said Vazquez, who works for the…

Regulation Vacation: City collects taxes from unlawful Airbnbs

Becca Dobberfuhl has a name for her Bouldin Creek home. “It’s all this rusty, rusty, rusty color,” she said. “And the house is a modern house and it has a box-like look to it so we call it the ‘Rusty…

A Council member wants to officially rename Robert E. Lee Road. What would it take to do it?

Following a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend, Austin City Council Member Greg Casar is calling for the renaming of Robert E. Lee Road in South Austin and Jeff Davis Avenue in North Austin. Over the weekend,…

Mayor Adler wants a task force on gentrification. We've had plenty of those.

For five weeks in 2001, Karen Paup spent her afternoons with other Austin residents talking about the city’s changing east side. The group included a pastor, a developer and a now-professor at New York University. “We shared anecdotes, we looked…

Budget proposal would raise Austin property taxes, increase permitting capacity

Austin homeowners could see higher property tax bills next year. Under the city’s proposed $3.9 billion budget, most residents with a median-value home ($305,510) would pay an additional $118 in property taxes compared to last year. Utility fees would rise,…

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Texas lawmakers may alter property tax collection. But how does it even work?

During a recent committee hearing on a property tax bill, a state lawmaker made an unusual comment: He praised Travis County. “Travis County has the best record on reducing tax rate,” said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), the author of…

B-cycle is expanding. So why are all the new stations near downtown?

B-cycle, Austin’s bike-share system, recently added three new stations as part of an 18-station build up over the next 18 months. All of these new stations will be close to or in downtown, adding to the company’s existing 51 docks.…

As city debates how to keep the peace, an expert explains how to keep things quiet

City Council members have delayed a vote on the so-called “agent of change” proposal, which would establish rules aimed at easing tensions between neighbors and music venues over amplified sound. An early version of the rules asked both new businesses…

Council nixes daytime juvenile curfew, extends late-night curfew through summer

City Council Thursday decided to nix the city’s 27-year-old daytime juvenile curfew, extending instead the city’s nighttime curfew for young people until Oct. 1. At that time, members expect to have a report back on alternatives to a criminal curfew…

Here's what we learned about requests from ICE to pick up Travis County inmates

Drunken driving. Property theft. Possession of a controlled substance. These are some of the crimes for which the Travis County Sheriff’s Office did not honor requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain suspected undocumented immigrants past their sentences…

Is 'missing middle' housing still missing from CodeNEXT?

Jake Wegmann, an assistant professor of housing and real estate at the University of Texas, stood on the sidewalk in Mueller, a large mixed-use development on the site of Austin’s old airport. He pointed across the street to a string…

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