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Central Texas top stories for May 23, 2024. Travis County Medical Examiner’s report on the impact of the opioid epidemic in central texas. The City of Temple confirmed a tornado touched down there last night. Two Central Texas cities are among the fastest growing in the country. Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon Mercado on the significance of local elections. The Texas Baseball team was eliminated from the Big 12 Championship.

The post KUT Morning Newscast for May 23, 2024 appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The Texas Lyceum released on Wednesday their annual poll highlighting some of the biggest issues on the minds of Texans, ranging from housing and water to gambling and marijuana.

As part of our Civics 101 series that’s running all week on KUT News and at KUT.org, All Things Considered host Jerry Quijano caught up with Nathaniel Wright, vice-president for polls with Texas Lyceum, to go over the findings from this year’s survey.

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Central Texas top stories for May 22, 2024. Families of victims of the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting are suing the state of Texas. Del Valle ISD pay raises. Texas Lyceum poll finds support for marijuana legalization is growing in Texas. Audit finds shortfalls in Austin’s 911 call taking during periods of high demand. Wheatsville Food Co-Op plans to close its flagship location on Guadalupe Street and focus on building smaller stores.

The post KUT Afternoon Newscast for May 22, 2024 appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

How do you get water in your home? For many of you, it’s from Austin. The city owns and runs its own water system. But if you live outside the City limits, you’re probably getting it from what’s called a MUD.

All this week, the KUT newsroom is focusing our coverage on stories that help explain how some of our local government and other systems work for our Civics 101 series. This morning, KUT’s Kailey Hunt is talking about MUDs and why you should care about them.

The post Civics 101: What’s a MUD? appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Central Texas top stories for May 22, 2024. Austin’s new city manager is building his team at city hall. Memorial Day Weekend traffic enforcement. Intense rainfall is becoming more frequent in Williamson County. Amber alert issued for two children last seen in Yorktown, Texas. Travis County will soon start design work to reconstruct some of the worst roads in the area.

The post KUT Morning Newscast for May 22, 2024 appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Even though school boards in Texas have been nonpartisan for more than a century, they have increasingly gotten swept up in political fights over things like library books and how race and gender are taught.

Grappling with those issues can totally be a part of the job, but it’s just one part. As part of our Civics 101 series that’s running all week on KUT and at KUT.org, Education reporter Becky Fogel takes a look at what school board members do through the lens of one Austin ISD trustee.Today

The post Civics 101: What does a school board member do? appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The KUT newsroom is focusing some coverage this week on helping people better understand how government works. We are calling it “Civics 101,” and as part of our effort, we are hosting some special events to take an ever deeper dive into how things work and what our role is in a functioning democracy. One of these events is modeled on a popular game show. “The Price is Right: How the City of Austin Spends Your Money” is happening Tuesday night, May 21, at Austin PBS in conjunction with the local news and civics website The Austin Common, Austin PBS and Good Politics. The announced candidates for Mayor of Austin this year have also been invited to attend. KUT’s Jennifer Stayton talked recently with The Austin Common Editor-in-Chief Amy Stansbury about this game-show-meets-city-budget event:

The post Civics 101: Game show meets city budget in “The Price is Right: How the City of Austin Spends Your Money” appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Texas has a sprawling highway network with more than 200-thousand miles of lanes — almost the distance from Earth to the Moon. And those roads don’t come cheap. The Texas Department of Transportation  outspends every other state, devoting about 18-billion dollars a year to highways. 

Ever wonder who foots the bill? 

All this week the KUT newsroom is focusing on stories that explain how parts of our local government work. To kick things off KUT’s Nathan Bernier takes a look at who pays for highways in Texas. 

You can find all of our Civics 101 stories at KUT.org

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Central Texas top stories for May 21, 2024. UT’s Frank Erwin Center site will next host a medical center but there’s still lots of work to do. Del Valle ISD Board of Trustees approved a three percent salary increase for teachers, staff and administrators. And animal shelters in the Austin area are offering free or discounted pet adoptions.

The post KUT Morning Newscast for May 21, 2024 appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Central Texas top stories for May 20, 2024. The Austin Independent School District is still trying to make a dent in its growing budget deficit. A new initiative in Texas would help teens get better access to mental health services in their communities. And there may be a small silver lining to the big problem of leaky water pipes in Austin.

The post KUT Morning Newscast for May 20, 2024 appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.