Austin E. Sanders's profile photo

Austin E. Sanders

Austin

Senior Staff Writer at The Austin Chronicle

Mastering the who, what, where and why like Guru. Staff Writer @AustinChronicle. Get at me. [email protected] or text/Signal: 512-666-0903.

Articles

  • 3 weeks ago | austinchronicle.com | Austin E. Sanders

    Looking into the causes of a predicament that somehow snuck up on the city City Council is entering budget adoption season with the city facing a structural deficit that cannot be easily closed by borrowing money from the city’s emergency reserves or by making minor cuts to services. It’s hard to pinpoint the last time Council had to deal with a fiscal problem this severe, but it’s certainly unprecedented in 21st century Austin.

  • 3 weeks ago | austinchronicle.com | Austin E. Sanders

    20% of scans were done without clear justification Criminal justice advocates see ALPRs and other forms of surveillance as tools to be exploited by federal law enforcement officials to help with immigration enforcement or other investigations that conflict with Austin values At multiple points during the pilot period of the Austin Police Department’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) program, one out of five searches conducted by officers of the vast license plate database were done...

  • 1 month ago | austinchronicle.com | Austin E. Sanders

    City to fund columns that could support highway parks A rendering of the bridge at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. with a cap The first round in the City Hall fight over the future of I-35 has ended, and it was an ugly one. The bout, which culminated at City Council’s May 22 meeting, centered over whether or not the city should pay for structural support columns along the highway through Central Austin, which will soon undergo a massive, state-mandated transformation.

  • 1 month ago | austinchronicle.com | Austin E. Sanders

    Two years after the election, the board begins its work Austin voters approved the Oversight Act in 2023, but several measures including the forming of a new oversight board have taken years now to implement Two years after the voter-approved Austin Police Oversight Act became law, one of its central components has finally been enacted.

  • 1 month ago | austinchronicle.com | Austin E. Sanders

    License plate readers scan cars at all times Activists and the Austin Police Department argued over the automated license plate reader program for years. Advocates called it “mass surveillance,” and feared that data from the readers might be used to arrest undocumented immigrants or Austinites seeking abortions. Now, with a one-year pilot program coming to a close, Council will soon have to decide if they want to renew it.

Journalists covering the same region

Mathew Richards

Breaking News Editor at inForney.com

Owner and Publisher at My Texas Daily

Mathew Richards primarily covers news in Houston, Texas, United States and surrounding areas including San Antonio and Dallas.

Lucy Tompkins's journalist profile photo

Lucy Tompkins

Reporter at Freelance

Lucy Tompkins primarily covers news in Austin, Texas, United States and surrounding areas.

Sarah Paynter's journalist profile photo

Sarah Paynter

Reporter at The Wall Street Journal

Sarah Paynter primarily covers news in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, including areas like Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Benjamin Wermund's journalist profile photo

Benjamin Wermund

Senior Political Reporter at The San Antonio Express-News

Senior Political Reporter at Houston Chronicle

Senior Political Reporter at The Pasadena Citizen

Benjamin Wermund primarily covers news in Austin, Texas, United States and surrounding areas including Houston.

Yasmeen Khalifa's journalist profile photo

Yasmeen Khalifa

Audience Development Producer at Chron

Yasmeen Khalifa primarily covers news in Texas, United States, including major cities like Houston and Austin.

Contact details

Socials & Sites

Try JournoFinder For Free

Search and contact over 1M+ journalist profiles, browse 100M+ articles, and unlock powerful PR tools.

Start Your 7-Day Free Trial →

Coverage map

X (formerly Twitter)

Followers
5K
Tweets
11K
DMs Open
Yes
Austin Sanders
Austin Sanders @daustinsanders
4 Jun 25

Citing "community concerns" and "outstanding questions" from City Council members, City Manager T.C. Broadnax has pulled the license plate reader item from Thursday's Council agenda.

Austin Sanders
Austin Sanders @daustinsanders

NEW: Emails show that between 10%-20% of searches conducted within the Austin Police Department's vast license plate database were done without any clear justification. The findings were not included in the program audit released two weeks ago.

Austin Sanders
Austin Sanders @daustinsanders
28 Apr 25

Lisa Davis has been Austin's Chief of Police for a little over 100 days, but it appears that now she is taking real ownership of the department. https://t.co/DXFDcQctBc

Austin Sanders
Austin Sanders @daustinsanders
25 Apr 25

APD Chief Lisa Davis Reorganizes Department Top Brass https://t.co/4LR9tnfF3K via @austinchronicle