Hot Headlines

Austin burger sensation goes brick-and-mortar and more top stories

JABS will open on East Riverside.

Photo courtesy of JABS

Editor's note: The top Austin stories of the week includes big burger news, a UT Austin invention, an opening, and a smokin' TV show. Read on for our hottest headlines, then find the best weekend events right here.

1. Award-winning Austin burger joint to open first brick-and-mortar. Burger sensation JABS — aka "Just A Better Smashburger" — will open its first brick-and-mortar location on East Riverside later this year.

2. UT Austin engineers invent jacket that pulls drinkable water from air. Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a prototype jacket that harvests clean drinking water directly from the atmosphere, and it works even in the driest desert conditions.

3. Austin Rotisserie opens new location and debuts menu expansion. French comfort foods are ready for pickup in North Austin with the opening of Austin Rotisserie Takeaway on East Anderson Lane.

4. Austin barbecue personality to judge new Food Network competition show. Local live-fire pro Jess Pryles has a scientific approach to cooking meat, and she's using it as one of four judges on Pitmasters, a new series on Food Network.

Pitmasters, Servantes, cast Jess Pryles is among the judges of a new Food Network series. Photo courtesy of Food Network

5. Austin burger brand Hopdoddy gets new owner with plans for growth. Hopdoddy Burger Bar is now under new ownership. Founders Table Restaurant Group has acquired the burger business and aims to apply its "robust non-traditional licensing program" as it grows.

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After the Flood

New podcast searches for accountability after 2025 Central Texas flood

Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

Texans have a lot more to process a year after the floods.

A year after flooding Central Texas killed more than 130 people, the community is left with questions: philosophical ones about life with grief and practical ones about accountability. A new public media-powered podcast, After the Flood, launched June 24 to catch up with survivors in search of answers.

The five-part podcast series, hosted by Dominic Anthony Walsh of Houston Public Media, combines the efforts of the famous PBS investigative documentary program Frontline and the Texas Newsroom, a collaborative news network between NPR, KUT News in Austin, KERA in North Texas, Houston Public Media, Texas Public Radio in San Antonio, and more stations. It is supported by Frontline's Local Journalism Initiative, which is in turn funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Most of the flooding happened in Kerr County along the Guadalupe River, and much of the podcast focuses on this region. However, communities north of Austin proper also experienced flooding, including Sandy Creek, the topic of one episode that addresses the neglect the community experienced, or as a press release about the podcast puts it, their "feeling overlooked in the broader disaster response."

Other episodes present first-person accounts of the floods, the history of the outdated flood warning system in the Hill Country's notorious "Flash Flood Alley," the legal struggle to install new safety legislation for children's camps in the area, like Camp Mystic, and anniversary reflections on what will come next in long-term recovery. Episodes include reporting by Kailey Hunt (KUT News), Lucio Vasquez (The Texas Newsroom), Sarah Grunau (Houston Public Media), and more.

"The first days of a disaster are only part of the story," said Walsh in the release. "Recovery unfolds over months and years. By returning repeatedly to these communities, we were able to document how grief evolves, how people rebuild their lives, and why many residents believe important questions about preparedness and accountability remain unresolved."

As the anniversary of the floods approaches, the news stories continue rolling in. In May, a moving story about the flood in Texas Monthly won a Pulitzer Prize and its author, Aaron Parsley, started his own podcast on the topic. In the same month, a documentary film about ecological recovery toured Texas. Camp Mystic, on the same day the Texas Newsroom podcast launched, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. News is couched not just in facts and quotes, but in ongoing debates about what's enough.

“This reporting project reflects public media at its best – taking the time to earn trust, build relationships and follow communities long after the headlines fade,” said After the Flood executive producer Ana Campbell, who is also special projects editor for the Texas Newsroom. “The people featured in this series are still living with the consequences every day, and their stories raise important questions about preparedness, accountability and recovery.”

After the Flood is available to listen to at kutkutx.studio. The first episode, "The Day Of," is out now, as is a two-minute introduction for the series as a whole.

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