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Joshua Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Across the state, major projects have drawn fierce opposition in recent years amid a reckoning over how freeway construction in the mid-20th century created and exacerbated racial and economic segregation. Full Story
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Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s proposal reveals the different roads the Texas House and Senate want to take on property taxes — and the fight that might emerge between the two chambers this session. Full Story
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San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker face little opposition in their reelection bids. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson doesn’t have any challengers. Full Story
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Abbott’s spending proposals also include spending $750 million on school safety and mental health services and expanding postpartum Medicaid to a year. Full Story
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Spencer Cronk, who headed the city since 2018, fell out of favor with council members after communication failures that mirrored problems from the 2021 winter storm. Full Story
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As newly elected Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and a City Council with an array of fresh faces review their first major crisis, the city’s top officials once again find themselves trying to figure out why the city botched its response to a significant weather event. Full Story
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Austin City Council members will evaluate Spencer Cronk’s employment during their Thursday meeting. Cronk was hired in 2017. Full Story
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Experts say local governments should prioritize extreme weather preparedness. Cost can be a deterring factor. Full Story
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Republicans are wrestling over how much of the state’s nearly $33 billion budget surplus to spend on property taxes. Democrats have their own ideas about what to do with the cash. Full Story
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The former state senator, returning for a second term as Austin’s mayor, spoke at a Texas Tribune event about how he can help reframe the conversation on affordability and the city’s relationship with state leadership. Full Story
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