BJ Austin

Reporter

BJ Austin has more than 25 years of broadcast journalism experience, anchoring and reporting in Atlanta, New York, New Orleans and Dallas. She covered Atlanta City Hall, the Georgia Legislature and the corruption trials of Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. More recently, BJ has reported on events at Dallas City Hall for more than a decade, including the American Airlines Arena vote, the FBI’s corruption investigation and arrests of public officials and the fight to save the historic Dr. Pepper building, as well as many mayoral races. BJ was named the 2003 KRLD Programmer of the Year for her contributions to the news department.

At KERA she has earned a 2009 Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Honorable Mention for best specialty/beat reporting for her city government reporting, and a 2010 Honorable Mention for best general assignment for a story called Zoo Poo. She has also shared several awards, such as a 2009 Texas Associated Press Broadcasters second place award for best continuing coverage for Family Values: What Voters Want; a 2010 Texas Associated Press Broadcasters First Place Award for KERA’s radio series Living with the Trinity: Thirsty; and a 2010 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association, First Place, Best Continuing Coverage – The Economy Project.

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Health/Science
6:08 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Do-Or-Die Inspection Underway At Parkland

Credit BJ Austin / KERA News
Parkland Hospital officials say the surveyors for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will be in the hospital 24/7 until the inspection is completed. Officials say inspectors offered no timeline.

Government officials are at Parkland Hospital for a critical review that will determine if the Dallas County public hospital keeps federal funding, which accounts for nearly half of Parkland’s annual budget.

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Texas News
5:52 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

New Home For Oak Cliff Family Burned Out After Slow Firefighter Response

Credit BJ Austin / KERA News
Dora Fuller, (right-front) holds the keys to her new home on Berwick Avenue.

It was a homecoming for an Oak Cliff family on Berwick Avenue Tuesday morning.  Dora Fuller and her adult son returned to the neighborhood and a new home after a devastating fire last year.

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Health/Science
5:56 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Mosquito Spraying Starts In Dallas

Credit Gravitywave / flickr.com
Mosquito control officials are working to prevent a repeat of last year's outbreak of West Nile Virus. The four metro counties reported more than 900 human cases of the mosquito-transmitted illness, and more than three dozen deaths.

City of Dallas mosquito-spraying trucks will be out in half a dozen neighborhoods tonight and tomorrow night, weather permitting.

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Texas News
5:41 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Election Gives Dallas City Council A New Look: Less Diverse

Credit drriss / flickr.com
The 2013 Dallas City Council will be sworn-in Monday June 24th.

Hispanics and women lost seats on the Dallas City Council after the May vote and Saturday’s runoff elections. KERA’s BJ Austin reports on what the new council will look like.

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12:55 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Fire Guts Dallas' Luna Tortilla Factory

Lead in text: 
A fast-moving fire gutted the Luna Tortilla Factory on Harry Hines this morning. A Dallas fixture since 1924, the Luna family moved from Cedar Springs downtown to the Harry Hines location in 2008.
A fire destroyed Luna's Tortilla Factory in northwest Dallas this morning. The two-alarm blaze broke out about 11 a.m. at the bakery in the 5400 block of Harry Hines Boulevard. The restaurant, across the street, was not damaged. Firefighters took a defensive stance because of the speed of the ...
12:44 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Komen Race for the Cure Names New CEO

Lead in text: 
Dallas-based Susan G. Komen for the Cure named a new CEO today. Founder and CEO Nancy Brinker had announced in August she would step aside for a new role with the world's largest breast cancer charity.
Have more to add? News tip? Tell us Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced Monday that it has a new CEO. The breast cancer charity named Judith A. Salerno to replace founder Nancy Brinker, whose promise to her dying sister begat a fundraising powerhouse that invested hundreds of millions of dollars in cancer research.
Texas News
2:49 pm
Thu June 13, 2013

Dallas Arts District Showdown Over Sun's Glare Sizzles And Fizzles Again

Credit Jerome Weeks / KERA
Museum Tower on a sunny, summer day in the Dallas Arts District.

The owners of the Museum Tower in Dallas' Arts District introduced what they called a new proposal today to fix the glare the high-rise has created at the Nasher Sculpture Center next door. But Nasher officials say it’s a dressed-up version of a proposal already rejected.

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Texas News
10:55 am
Thu June 13, 2013

US Supreme Court To Tarrant Water District: Hands Off Oklahoma Water

Credit Texasrobo / flick.com
A growing population in North Texas has cities and water providers looking for new sources of water, even importing it from another state.

The US Supreme Court today,  in a unanimous decision, shut down the Tarrant Regional Water District's plan to import water from Oklahoma.

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Politics
8:55 pm
Wed June 12, 2013

Sprint To The Finish In Dallas Council Runoff Races

Credit Kent Wang / flickr.com
A new Dallas City Council will be sworn-in at ceremonies June 24th. Four new members will take the oath, including the two winners of Saturday's runoff election.

Voters decide two Dallas City Council seats in Saturday’s runoff election.  In Districts 5 and 14, the runoff rhetoric has swirled around personality and race. 

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Texas News
1:30 pm
Wed June 12, 2013

Dallas Gay Marriage Resolution Could Get New Life With New Council

Credit BJ Austin / KERA News
Cece Cox, CEO of Dallas Resource Center, urges city council members to act on marriage equality, pointing out that Dallas has the sixth-largest LBGT community in the U.S.

The Dallas City Council did not take up a gay marriage equality resolution at City Hall today – as originally planned. But that didn’t stop leaders of the LGBT community from speaking on the issue.

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