Abby Church⭐️

Psst... guess what? There's been lots of movement and change over @HoustonChron, and I am so so SO elated to have a bunch of new teammates on the local government team! Y'all know me already (if not, hi hello I cover Houston City Hall), but let me introduce you to the team: 🧵

Housing officials hired a private firm that paid Gilpin Court residents $20 each to attend a City Council meeting and express support for the proposed transfer of the housing project. The company knocked on doors and drove residents to City Hall in vans. richmond.com/news/local/gov…

scoop: Gannett is offering buyouts to its staff, per email just now from CEO Mike Reed. "...We need to adjust our organization to efficiently meet the needs of our business today...as we continue to use A.I. and leverage automation to realize efficiencies."

A few months ago I noticed something unusual: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is increasingly outsourcing big cases to private lawyers — even though his office has 700+ attorneys in-house, with several specialized divisions. So we dug in...

NEW: We listened to hours of scanner traffic and analyzed 911 logs to put together a visualization - complete w/maps + audio embeds - showing how the disaster response unfolded in Kerr County on July 4. w/@DugBegley @carolineghisolf @AmandaDrane houstonchronicle.com/projects/2025/…

DallasNews Corp. Board says its reviewing offer from Alden to buy The Dallas Morning News. Robert Decherd, DallasNews Corp. controlling shareholder says he favors moving forward with deal that allows Hearst to buy the company | @dallasnews: dallasnews.com/news/2025/07/2…

i gotta go my own way

Houston, we have a new @HoustonTrash director. The City Council voted today to bring on Interim Director Larius Hassan permanently to the role. houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-t… via @Rya_n_ickerson (covering for me while I am in NYC!)

NEW: Despite having $3.4 million in reserves, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority in Kerr County chose to cut taxes and turn down a 0% interest loan from the state rather than fund a $1 million flood warning system upgrade. W/@keribla houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…

Check out our new Houston city budget explorer w/ @ameliawinger and @abbschurch

Remaining seated until a meeting ends. Not using phones during executive session. Always referring to her as “Mayor Jones.” These are some procedures @Mayor_GOJ has implemented to restore what she views as a lack of decorum at City Hall. expressnews.com/news/article/g…

We have a fun new tool on the @HoustonChron website... ✨a city budget explorer✨ Curious what cash went into or was taken from your city services under this year's budget? @matt_zdun and I break it down here: houstonchronicle.com/projects/2025/…

Council Member Ramirez said the idea to ban electric scooters came from the mayor's office but they have also received complaints from downtown hotels and restaurants about the riders houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-t… via @houstonchron

I will be talking about this slice of vodka pizza (left) for the next three weeks, as a warning

It’s not just PBS & NPR. Small community radio stations run by historically Black colleges, like KTSU at @TexasSouthern are going to lose key funding These stations were critical during the pandemic in getting info to hard to reach communities houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas…

NEW: Texas NPR/PBS stations will lose millions from Congress' rescissions bill. Stations I spoke with said they're in new territory, with tough decisions ahead. Ft. @HoustonPubMedia, @YourKEDT and @MarfaRadio chron.com/culture/articl…

NEW: Texts obtained by @HoustonChron show a Houston City Council member asked a city contractor for personal favors for herself + her nonprofit. Ethics and legal experts question whether the interactions violated city ethics code/state law. houstonchronicle.com/politics/houst… w/ @mmorris011

Eight Houston cyclists who died on city streets will be honored this fall with ofrendas designed by local artists, including former City Council member @Karla4Houston axios.com/local/houston/…

Life is a highway but a Houston highway where no one really knows what they’re doing and you have to go fast to survive and also sometimes you hit a surprise pothole and go flying

just remembered that americans don’t have random old castles in the countryside that they can go and visit