Some 50,000 Texans are drinking tap water contaminated with potentially unsafe levels of arsenic, according to a Washington, D.C.- and Austin-based environmental group. The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) reviewed more than a decade’s worth of data and discovered that 34 Texas communities “have violated the Safe Drinking Water standard for arsenic,” for at least the […]

Several years ago, Chemese Armstrong, 34, from Abilene, Texas, learned that she was allergic to an industrial chemical commonly found in permanent hair dyes called paraphenylenediamine (PPD), used for the natural look it gives to colored hair. Trying to avoid an allergic reaction, and at the behest of her dermatologist, Armstrong visited a salon in […]

In contrast to public opinion, members of the Austin City Council have boldly moved to regulate rideshare companies Uber and Lyft, requiring drivers to submit to heightened security checks on top of the ones already in place. However, in the same breath, certain City Councilmembers want to make the hiring process easier for those with […]

The outlook for foster children in Texas is grim as the state struggles to manage budget insufficiencies and an influx in kids taken from their homes. For the second time since 2007-08, foster children have been forced to sleep in the offices of Child Protective Services, according to a piece by The Dallas Morning News […]

Though attendance at South by South West Interactive was lower than usual this year, the calmer atmosphere is more indicative of California’s economy than it is of Austin’s. The state capital was named the fastest growing city for tech jobs by Forbes last year, with companies like Facebook, Indeed, Google, Amazon, and PayPal employing a […]

A motion for the state of Texas to intervene in a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Land Management regarding the Red River “land grab” was granted on Monday. The ruling was applauded by Gov. Greg Abbott, who promptly took to Twitter to share the news, adding that if the government wants it, they will […]

South by Southwest Interactive turned out to be less exciting than years past. Many Silicon Valley tech companies decided not to attend this year’s festival based on what is rumored to be economic reasons. Companies like Yahoo didn’t host the events they normally do, while executives from Tumblr attended only a handful of panels. Some investors and […]

The manager of a hip dive bar that features nightly live music in East Austin has joined the battle to help keep rideshare companies Uber and Lyft operating in the state capital. Samantha Phelps, a booking and marketing manager for Stay Gold Austin, petitioned the Texas Supreme Court last week to intervene in an upcoming […]

Pro-gun rights supporters will descend on downtown Austin during the 2016 South by Southwest festival to celebrate the Lone Star State’s new Open Carry law, which was signed in June by Gov. Greg Abbott and implemented on January 1, 2016. The armed march is being organized by non-profit Open Carry Texas, an affiliate of the […]

On Friday, the Austin city clerk tossed a petition to recall District 5 Councilwoman Ann Kitchen on a technicality, arguing that each of the document’s 989 pages did not include a notarized affidavit. The petition met two of the three requirements: 10 percent of eligible voters in Kitchen’s district signed the petition (it actually exceeded […]