Debbie Hiott

Austin police will confiscate hemp flower and concentrate if people don’t have the packaging with them, a senior police official told me. He said they don’t arrest for small amounts of marijuana because they can’t tell if it’s hemp or not.

Water in this Austin suburb comes out brown, leaving residents with high bills and ruined appliances. Some are spending thousands on solutions. kut.org/energy-environ…

As CBS retreats from radio - which 233 million Americans use - NPR remains on and the audience is up. The main CBS product was a short hourly newscast. NPR’s hourly news is on your local station - and also available on demand! Hit Play on the NPR app apps.apple.com/us/app/npr-nat…

Dear journalism students: Exhibit A in how to communicate with sources, with civility, clarity, and, yes, ethics—courtesy of the expert @NYTLiz. ⬇️

Listen live at 1 pm on 90.5 to Austin Signal for @KUT as we talk SXSW, featuring @ShakeyGraves.

Texas is banning the sale and manufacture of smokable cannabis effective March 31. The rules have now been adopted by DSHS. The annual fee for hemp stores will go from $150 to $5,000. The annual fee for hemp manufacturers will go from $250 to $10,000. kut.org/business/2026-…

The number of people (or bots!) willing to believe a rando, now backpedaling X propaganda account over credible U.S. journalists is so frightening for the future of this democracy.

Kari Lake kept saying she had legal authority to effectively shut down Voice of America. We asked: Did she? Shot Chaser August 2025 March 2026

NEWS: Judge Lamberth declares "null and void" seemingly all actions by Kari Lake at Voice of America/US Agency for Global Media - saying she took on power without legal authority. This includes the mass layoffs, administrative leaves and more /con't Two page decision:

Estefany Rodríguez, a reporter for a Spanish-language outlet in Nashville, was covering immigration raids. The next day, ICE agents arrested her without a warrant. Read @carolabbottg on the case. cjr.org/analysis/estef…

CBP this week quietly removed two stretches of planned border walls from its map of "Smart Wall" projects in the Big Bend region of West Texas, including one such project slated to run through Big Bend National Park. Latest from @MarfaRadio: marfapublicradio.org/news/2026-03-0…

.@KUT hosts Ruben Pizarro and Juan Garcia, along with Program Director Jimmy Maas, are prepping for local election updates.

You can listen on KUT News 90.5 in Austin or watch the stream on YouTube.

We’re on @TexasStandard time! Just some of the @KUT crew in the newsroom and out in the field for election night.

The UT System has voted to limit "controversial topics" in class, as the state moves to exert more control over what is taught by professors. kut.org/education/2026…

How to spot AI-generated images and online content during the 2026 primary elections texastribune.org/2026/02/18/tex…

The Washington Post’s decision to eliminate bureaus and reduce the number of its reporters in the Middle East, India, Ukraine, China, and Turkey could have negative implications for democracy. Removing reporters from foreign bureaus impacts the flow of information by reducing deep contextual knowledge, cultural understanding, and insight into the fabric of a society. Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, the Bradford M. Freeman Managing director of global policy at the Bush Institute, and William McKenzie, senior editorial advisor at the Bush Institute, say losing foreign bureaus impedes the flow of reliable information. “The more that happens, the more difficult it becomes for American citizens – and voters – to make informed decisions about the world, and America’s place in it.” Read more here: bushcenter.org/publications/l…

An investigation from @KUT’s Texas Newsroom, working with The California Newsroom.

"if i didn't see it the media didn't cover it" feels like an increasingly notable problem for overall media literacy

Journalism and photojournalism undergrad students in Texas: @TxFOIFT is offering a great scholarship for the 2026-27 academic year. Deadline to submit the easy application is Friday, Feb. 13. Check it out: foift.org/activities-pro…