A series highlighting the investigative journalism coming out of The Texas Newsroom.
Join us every month as we take deep dives into topics impacting Texans across the Lone Star State.
Got something you think we should cover? Send any tips over to us at tips@kut.org.
In Texas, insurers are watching your home from above. It could cost you coverage.
May 2025 – Insurers in Texas are partnering with aerial imaging and AI companies to assess homes from the sky. Computer models parse these photos to flag moldy roofs, askew tree branches and missing shingles.
Andra Adkins was deemed medically fit to be in the Dallas County Jail — and then he died
April 2025 – Dallas County did not accept Andra Adkins until after Parkland Hospital staff deemed him medically fit for detainment. He died hours later.
How a 9-year-old Texan died despite concerns from family, neighbors and police
March 2025 – Despite two child welfare investigations and child abandonment charges, Hardiquinn Hill was allowed to stay with her abusers and died.
CapMetro’s secret fight to fix a broken fare system
February 2025 – For about a month last spring, QR code scanners riders used to pay fares suddenly became unreliable, sometimes not working at all. Internal documents obtained by KUT News reveal the extent of the agency’s problem and the lengths CapMetro went to fix it.
An education ecosystem is being built in Elon Musk’s image. It starts in rural Texas.
January 2025 – Ad Astra School has opened around the corner from Elon Musk’s corporate compound in rural Central Texas. Nonprofit filings show secondary schools and a university are also planned.
A PAC funded by North Texas billionaires targets ‘soft on crime’ judges with questionable claims
October 2024 – With the help of some North Texas billionaires, the Judicial Fairness PAC is targeting voters by pinning the blame for Dallas’ crime rates on the city’s Democratic judges.
Thousands of North Texas voter registrations challenged by just a few people
September 2024 – In Texas, registered voters can challenge other voter registrations. That’s resulted in thousands of challenges, creating extra work for election officials.
Hurricane Beryl exposes gaps in storm preparation laws for Texas seniors
August 2024 – Houston Public Media’s Colleen DeGuzman and The Texas Newsroom’s Stella Chávez reveal what measures – if any – officials have taken to protect senior living facilities in the wake of Hurricane Beryl.
Madeline Gray / For NPR
Trench collapses have killed hundreds of workers in the US over the last decade, investigation finds
July 2024 – Texas Public Radio’s Josh Peck delves into a joint investigation alongside NPR and the program 1A, looking at how ver the past decade, hundreds of workers across the U.S. have been killed when the construction trenches where they worked collapsed.
Women in Texas prison say a guard is preying on them
June 2024 – Texas Public Radio’s Paul Flahive digs into the a situation at a prison unit, where multiple women are accusing a guard of predatory behavior.
The FBI kept investigating Ken Paxton after he beat impeachment. Will he face federal charges?
May 2024 – The Texas Newsroom’s Lauren McGaughy details information obtained about the FBI investigation into Attorney General Ken Paxton that sheds new light on its scope and activity.
County sheriffs claim Texas Department of Criminal Justice is worsening jail overcrowding
April 2024 – Houston Public Media’s Lucio Vasquez shares what he and KERA’s Miranda Suarez have learned about this statewide issue.
How North Texas police departments approach high-speed chases
March 2024 – KERA News and the Fort Worth Report have been investigating departments’ car chase policies.
Understanding what’s going on with I-35’s expansion in Austin
February 2024 – Transportation report Nathan Bernier of KUT News shares an inside look at his reporting on the $4.5 billion project.
An inside look at the state’s takeover of Houston schools – and what’s next
January 2024 – Reporter Dominic Anthony Walsh of Houston Public Media shares what he’s found via public records requests.
