The New Texan

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GAVEL TALK

DUPLEX DOWN: AUSTIN TRIES AGAIN TO MAKE MISSING MIDDLE MATTER

A zoning-heavy May agenda takes another swing at infill housing, locks in a decade of natural gas, and puts the City Manager on notice.

Zoning dominates the May 7 agenda with nine cases and a citywide resolution that amounts to a public admission: HOME Phases 1 and 2 passed, the cranes didn't follow, and council is trying again.

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Reporting based on the official agenda for May 7, 2026 Austin City Council Regular Meeting · May 19

POLICY MACHINE

Cap and Detained

Luis Fernando Cabrera was 18, two weeks from graduation, and had an asylum case pending when a 2 a.m. traffic stop fed him into a policy machine a year in the making.

The New Texan staff · May 19

HORN OF PLENTY

Longhorn of Plenty

Record donations, a football GPA milestone, top-five baseball, a tennis runner-up — and a student ticket price that keeps climbing.

The New Texan staff · May 19

FORK REPORT

Eater's Digest

Eater Austin refreshed eight major category lists this spring. Here's what the publication is rewarding — and what it reveals about how Austin eats now.

The New Texan staff · May 19

WHIPLASH ECONOMY

As the Rules Turn

Hemp shops, vape retailers, and summer camps are all contracting at once — each squeezed by a different rule that recently moved.

The New Texan staff · May 19

Latest from City Hall Watch

DUPLEX DOWN: AUSTIN TRIES AGAIN TO MAKE MISSING MIDDLE MATTER

A zoning-heavy May agenda takes another swing at infill housing, locks in a decade of natural gas, and puts the City Manager on notice.

Read the digest →

Features

Texas State Capitol seen from the Blanton museum grounds

Hypocrisy Watch

Hypocrisy Watch: Week of May 19, 2026

One entry this week — but it arrives with 130 cities' worth of letterhead behind it.

The New Texan staff · May 19

The Matrix

The Matrix: Texas Officials × The Gap Between the Claim and the Record

In a single news cycle, five Texas officials and institutions made specific public statements that the record — sometimes within days, sometimes within the same week — moved against. This is not a collection of lies; it is a collection of claims that did not survive contact with subsequent facts. The gap between assertion and outcome is the story.

The New Texan staff · May 19

PAPER TRAIL

Stopped Cold

A 2 a.m. traffic stop for expired tags sent an Austin ISD senior — weeks from graduation, asylum case pending — to a detention center south of San Antonio. The policy machinery that made it possible had been running for a year.

The New Texan staff · May 19

PAXTON WATCH

By Other Means

In seven days, Ken Paxton extracted a $10 million settlement, sued a Muslim university, and warned 130 cities. No courtroom required.

The New Texan staff · May 19