Austin News Briefs - Austin American Statesman: Recent Episodes
Austin American Statesman
The Austin school district is defying a request from a Republican state lawmaker for select school districts to investigate and catalog library and classroom books related to race, gender identity or sexuality. On Friday, district spokesman Jason Stanford said in an email that district officials "decided that a response is not necessary, especially since anyone can search our library catalogues on this website." Austin school Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde had told the American-Statesman on Wednesday that the district would work to respond to the request, but she did not want to "turn everything upside down" because of the labor-intensive inquiry.
The San Marcos Activity Center at 501 East Hopkins Street will be closed indefinitely because of water damage that occurred in the building early Friday. Officials said the flooding appears to be the result of a 3-inch pipe that disconnected from its coupler, causing several inches of water to cover the entire facility. Police were flagged down at approximately 3 a.m. after a resident saw water coming from the building. Officers notified the Fire Department and crews successfully shut off water to the building. The city’s insurance carrier has been notified and is assessing damage and providing assistance where possible.
Texas health officials on Friday recorded 3,646 people in the hospital for COVID-19 statewide, or about 26% of the summer peak total of 13,932 on August 26th. Meanwhile Travis County coronavirus data released Friday showed enough improvement in hospital trends for COVID-19 that health officials maintained the community threat level at Stage 3. The county recorded 9 new hospital admissions for COVID-19. The rolling seven-day average of new daily hospital admissions, which helps Austin Public Health determine guidelines for the most medically vulnerable members of the community, stayed at 14.
Three large dinosaur statues stolen from a dinosaur museum in Bastrop County were found this week at a University of Texas fraternity house. The Dinosaur Park in Cedar Creek wrote in a Facebook post that the statues, which are 6 to 10 feet long, had been stolen last week from their exhibit areas. The statues were found and returned to the park on Tuesday evening with some damage, according to an update posted Wednesday on Facebook. Austin Nunez, who does marketing for the park, said someone at a fraternity party on Saturday left a tip that led to the recovery of the dinosaur statues. The Bastrop County sheriff’s office worked with the U-T Police Department to recover the statues, he said.
Two freshmen at Texas A and M University are suing a fraternity after they say they faced “serious” bodily injury when industrial strength cleaner was poured on them. The students, Patrick Close and Jose Figueroa, filed a complaint in state District Court in Harris County against Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity Incorporated, A and M’s chapter of S-A-E, and members of the A and M fraternity at the time for violation of the anti-hazing statute in Texas.
A Southwest Austin man, who had been in a standoff with police after firing a gun from the residence when city code personnel came to cut his lawn, was fatally shot by police after the home caught fire Wednesday afternoon. The man, who was only described by police as being in his 50s, was not immediately identified by Austin police on Wednesday night, pending notification of his family, Police Chief Joe Chacon said.
Gas prices in Austin have risen to their highest level since 2014, according to industry experts, and local drivers and businesses are feeling the pinch. The cost for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Austin increased 5 cents in the past week, reaching an average of $2.96 a gallon, according to industry website GasBuddy, which tracks fuel prices nationwide. The last time the average price in Austin was higher was the week of Oct. 10 in 2014, when the average price was $3.08 per gallon.
Powerful westerly winds buffeted Austin-area neighborhoods Wednesday, rampaging across lawns festooned with Halloween decorations and reportedly damaging trees in Wells Branch and Cedar Park. The gusty winds had been preceded by a fast-moving but noisy wave of thunderstorms that heralded the arrival of a cold front moving through Central Texas early Wednesday. The storms dropped up to an inch of rain across the Austin area and left more than 6,000 Austin Energy customers without power.
The average Hutto homeowner will see their taxes increase by about 52 dollars in the city's new budget. The average homestead property in Hutto has increased in taxable value by 16.5 percent, from $208,496.88 last year to $242,978.72 this year. Under the new tax rate, the average homeowner would pay $1,303.45. The average homeowner paid $1,250.98 last year. The city has adopted a property tax rate of 53.6 cents per $100 valuation. The current tax rate is 60 cents per $100 valuation.
The University of Texas ranked as the No. 43 university in the world, according to the 2022 list of top global universities by U.S. News & World Report. The annual list, published Tuesday, ranked more than 1,700 universities in 90 countries based largely on academic research and global reputation. The calculations were based on 13 indicators, including total citations, publications and international collaboration, and it also ranks schools for their academic research performance in 43 different subjects. UT was the top-ranked Texas school on the list, and the only school from the state in the top 100 schools. In last year’s ranking of nearly 1,500 schools, U.S. News ranked UT as the No. 38 university in the world.
Texas is already home to some of the highest levels of semiconductor output in the nation, but as the industry sees unprecedented federal investment, industry leaders want to ensure the Lone Star State remains at the forefront. Governor Greg Abbott has created a semiconductor task force that will work to attract semiconductor investment into the state, including two key institutes being created by the federal government. The Texas task force will bring together semiconductor industry stakeholders from the private sector, higher education institutes and community partners to develop a proposal for the U.S Department of Commerce to choose Texas as the site for both the National Semiconductor Technology Center and the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program.
An organization affiliated with Eric Holder, who was attorney general in the Obama administration, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the state's GOP-drawn redistricting map for Congress on behalf of a Latino rights group and 13 Texas voters. Filed Monday in an Austin federal court, the lawsuit claims mapmakers in the Texas Legislature improperly drew political districts in Senate Bill 6 that increased the power of white voters even though 95% of the state's growth last decade was fueled by people of color. That population growth made Texas the only state to gain two congressional seats after the 2020 census.
Texas health officials on Monday recorded 4,078 people in the hospital for COVID-19, the fewest number of inpatients with coronavirus in three months, and about 30% of the summer peak total of 13,932 on August 26th. The pandemic high was 14,218 Texans hospitalized in January. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 708 available staffed ICU beds for adult patients, up from the pandemic low of 270 on September 9th.
Long security lines stretched throughout the departure concourse at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Monday, as thousands of Formula One fans headed home after a sun-dappled weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport reported heavy traffic on Sunday and Monday. Sunday's confirmed total was 29,251 passengers, making it the airport's 10th busiest day ever, said Bryce Dubee, ABIA spokesperson. Monday's projections are showing 36,146, which would be the airport's busiest day ever.
Tesla has landed its biggest single order deal ever — estimated to be worth more than $4 billion — just weeks after the automaker announced it is relocating its corporate headquarters to Austin. Rental car company Hertz placed an order for 100,000 Tesla vehicles to be delivered by the end of 2022 — the biggest order for electric vehicles ever placed by a rental car company. The rental company is purchasing Tesla Model 3 sedans, the company's midsize four-door car. Reuters news service estimated that Tesla surpassed $1 trillion in market capitalization on Monday.
A 27-year-old San Marcos man was sentenced to life in prison without parole Thursday after a jury convicted him of murder in the death of his 1-year-old son on the Fourth of July in 2018. Stevie Dwayne Williams Jr. and his wife had called 911 claiming that they found their son, Mason, not breathing after a nap. First responders in Kyle tried to resuscitate the child but soon noticed bruising and evidence that death had occurred hours earlier. Investigators later learned that Stevie Williams had called his grandmother and told her the baby was dead, 12 minutes before calling for an emergency response.
The unemployment rate in the Austin area fell to a new pandemic-era low of 3.5 percent in September, as local businesses clamored to hire workers amid the recovering economy and the lead-up to high-profile events such as the Formula One race this weekend and ACL Fest earlier in October. The region added 12,900 nonfarm jobs last month — with more than a quarter of the hiring coming from restaurants, hotels and other businesses in the local leisure and hospitality sector, which was hit hard by the coronavirus-induced economic downturn and has been among the slowest industries to rebound.
Some of the people who purchased credentials to attend the canceled South By Southwest festival in 2020 could be eligible to get part of their money back after SXSW LLC, the company behind the annual event, agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over the event's no-refund policy. SXSW was called off a week before it was scheduled to start in March 2020 when Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared a public disaster amid mounting COVID-19 concerns. The festival, which annually attracts more than 100,000 people to Austin, was among the first major events canceled as the pandemic swept into Texas. After the event was shut down, SXSW LLC said it was in a "dire financial situation." The company laid off about a third of its 175 year-round employees. In April 2020, SXSW LLC said that it lacked the financial resources to issue refunds to people who bought passes.
The Austin Police Department released officer body-worn camera and dashboard camera footage Friday of a downtown shooting earlier this month in which a 17-year-old was killed and a police officer fired his weapon. It's still unclear whether the teen, identified by police as Michael Carothers, was struck by the officer's weapon. Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon on Friday shared three videos — one from a patrol car dashboard camera and two from officers' body-worn cameras — to show the sequence of events of the Oct. 9 shooting.
While the duel between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen [vehr-STAH-pin] at the top of the Formula One driver standings has captivated fans, Valtteri Bottas [vahl-TAYR-ee BOH-tahs] briefly stole the spotlight in the opening practice round of the U.S. Grand Prix. Bottas nipped both second-place Hamilton and third-place Verstappen on a scorching track Friday at Circuit of the Americas. In the process, the veteran Finnish driver flashed the potential to spoil the anticipated showdown between the two most popular drivers in the world and the co-protagonists in the latest F1 rivalry.
A key indicator that helps Austin Public Health determine COVID-19 guidelines to protect the most medically vulnerable in the community has dropped to its lowest level since early July, signaling a possible shift to a safer stage of the pandemic. According to Travis County coronavirus data released Friday, only nine people were newly admitted to the hospital for COVID-19. That pushed the local rolling seven-day average of new daily hospital admissions for the coronavirus to 14.
Texas health officials on Wednesday recorded 4,739 people in the hospital for COVID-19, which was about 200 fewer than the previous day — and 1,000 fewer than a week ago. But the day's total number of coronavirus inpatients was about a third of the summer high of 13,932 on August 26th. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 647 available staffed intensive care unit beds for adult patients, up from the pandemic low of 270 on Sept. 9. The state had 125 staffed pediatric ICU beds, which was almost twice the pandemic low of 64 beds reported on August 4th.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick wants Governor Greg Abbott to call lawmakers back to Austin for a fourth special legislative session, this time to tackle two election-related measures that did not pass during previous sessions this year. The third special session ended Tuesday, with most of Abbott's agenda items adopted. Patrick called it a "strong conservative session" in a Wednesday tweet, but he said lawmakers need another opportunity to pass a bill increasing penalties for illegal voting and legislation authorizing a forensic election audit — a priority of former President Donald Trump.
In the first of several expected legal challenges, a Latino rights organization has filed a federal lawsuit pressing to toss out all four Texas redistricting plans, arguing that the Republican-drawn maps illegally and unconstitutionally dilute the voting strength of Latinos. Coming out of the third special session of the Legislature, the maps that set new district boundaries for members of Congress, the Texas House, the Texas Senate and the State Board of Education have not yet been signed into law. But the lawsuit, filed Monday by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, argued that court intervention is needed because Republican lawmakers drew maps that ignored robust gains in the state's Latino population.
The University of Texas and Texas State University would receive millions in funding for campus construction projects under a bill sent to Governor Greg Abbott early Tuesday. Senate Bill 52 authorizes more than $3.3 billion in tuition revenue bonds for the construction of research buildings, health facilities and various other projects at public universities and health institutions across the state. The bill now awaits Abbott’s signature after passing the Texas House and Senate shortly before the year's third special legislative session came to a close.
A worried caller led police to discover the bodies of two adults and a 6-year-old boy in a Southeast Austin home late Monday. The latest killings bring the city's homicide death toll to 69 so far this year, Austin police records show. Police found the bodies of James Robertson, 6, and Jennifer Robertson, 36, according to a statement from Austin police. Both had fatal gunshot wounds. A third body belonging to 36-year-old Darius Robertson was also found. Investigators believe he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. James Robertson would have turned 7 years old next week, according to police records.
The third special session of the Texas Legislature came to a close early Tuesday morning with lawmakers delivering on six of the 10 tasks assigned to them by Governor Greg Abbott, including newly drawn political maps that could cement Republican power for the next decade. Republicans also passed a law to limit the participation of transgender athletes in public school sports, an effort led by religious conservatives that galvanized opposition from transgender Texans and their loved ones. But several of Abbott's big-ticket priorities floundered. Lawmakers did not prohibit COVID-19 vaccine mandates by Texas businesses or governments. Nor did they grant the governor's request to return several voting offenses to felonies.
Compared with its previous frenzied pace, Central Texas' housing market is continuing its "calming trend" across the region, according to the latest data from the Austin Board of Realtors. In September, sales declined in the region and within Austin's city limits, even as the median home-sales prices in both areas rose by double digits to set September records, the board said Monday. Although the local market has cooled some in recent months, demand for housing continues to outpace supply, driving prices ever higher, local real estate agents and housing industry experts say.
Lloyd Doggett, a longtime Democratic congressman from Austin, is running to represent a newly formed U.S. House district that encompasses much of the city. Doggett, 75, currently represents the 35th District, which stretches from East Austin to San Antonio. But now his sights are set on the 37th District, one of two new congressional seats drawn with new census data. Texas was awarded two additional U.S. House seats because of the state's rapid population growth over the past decade. Lawmakers still must sign off on the newly drawn congressional map, but the district would encompass 55% of Travis County and 10% of Williamson County, from the southern boundary of Travis County to just past its northern edge, stopping short of Cedar Park.
Texas on Monday recorded 4,950 people in the hospital for COVID-19, slipping below 5,000 for the first time since mid-July and extending a streak of declining figures after reaching a summer high of 13,932 on Aug. 26. The pandemic high was 14,218 Texans hospitalized in January. The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 710 available staffed ICU beds for adult patients, up from the pandemic low of 270 on Sept. 9. The state also had 132 staffed pediatric ICU beds, an improvement over the pandemic low of 64 beds reported on Aug. 4.
The Biden administration will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a Texas law banning most abortions, a Justice Department official said Friday, while an appeal to the law goes forward. It's the latest attempt by the federal government to block the law. The announcement came hours after a federal appeals court sided with Texas officials a second time and kept in place a previous order by that appeals court to suspend a lower court ruling that had blocked the law. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 late Thursday, refusing a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to let stand a lower court ruling by a federal judge in Austin blocking enforcement of the Texas law. But the Supreme Court, which previously allowed the law to go into effect by declining to intervene at the request of Texas abortion providers, may get a second look.
Bitcoin miners are flocking to Texas. Many of those seeking their fortune are likely to be from China, where the government has been cracking down on Bitcoin mining, the practice of competing to extract digital currency from the blockchain or document data transfers using high-powered, energy-hungry computers. The state of Texas has no income tax, relatively low energy prices — which is important because Bitcoin mining requires vast amounts of electricity — and a “don’t tread on me” self-sovereignty vibe that appeals to many bitcoin miners. Bitcoin miners have been quietly staking out parts of Texas to build or rent mining facilities, and a wave of new mining operators from China has been arriving since the crackdown in China.
With a few days remaining in the special legislative session, an effort to codify Governor Greg Abbott's COVID-19 vaccine mandate ban faces an arduous path forward. Democrats object to the effort due to public health concerns, and some lawmakers from both parties have voiced opposition to the government interfering in the decisions of business owners, who were previously allowed to mandate vaccines. Major companies based in Texas and business groups also have come out against the proposal, complicating its future at the Capitol where limited time remains for lawmakers to pass legislation. The current legislative special session ends Tuesday.
Despite shifting to loosened coronavirus guidelines in Travis County this week, local hospital numbers on Friday were slow to meet hopeful expectations for an end to masking and social distancing this fall. Austin and Travis County on Friday recorded 23 new hospital admissions for COVID-19. The rolling seven-day average of new daily hospital admissions, which helps Austin Public Health determine guidelines for the most medically vulnerable members of the community, went up to 20 after two days at 19. On Tuesday, Austin Public Health shifted to Stage 3 of the agency's risk-based guidelines because the rolling seven-day average stayed below 30 for several days in a row.
After 10 hours of emotional, contentious debate, the Texas House voted Thursday night to block transgender athletes from competing in public school sports in their gender identity. Democrats forcefully, and sometimes tearfully, attacked House Bill 25 as a dangerous foray into discrimination that seeks to address a nonexistent problem — sacrificing already vulnerable transgender youths to foment a culture war for political gain. But the bill's author, Representative Valoree Swanson of Spring and other Republicans insisted that the goal was to protect girls' sports.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors will get to make their final arguments Monday about whether the murder conviction of death row inmate Rodney Reed should be upheld. In another stage of the legal process, attorneys on both sides will appear before state District Judge J.D. Langley in Bastrop County to make their final arguments about whether Reed was responsible for the 1996 killing of Stacey Stites. Langley will then make his recommendation on an undetermined date. The case will then go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which could take months to decide whether Reed's conviction should stand, he should go free or he deserves a new trial.
This month in the Austin area marks eight years since the Halloween floods of 2013 and six years since the Halloween floods of 2015. Combined, those two disasters locally destroyed more than 100 homes, damaged more than 1,000 others and triggered higher insurance premiums on renters and homeowners. Concerned that area residents might not be fully prepared for another big storm, city leaders are taking additional mitigation steps. On Thursday, Austin City Council members voted to direct the city manager to do a number of things to prepare the city for future storms. The vote, which passed unanimously, happened to come the morning after a heavy rainstorm that led to a flash flood warning in parts of the area.
A noisy, lightning-filled band of storms slowly crawled across Central Texas late Wednesday into the wee hours of Thursday, dumping up to 8 inches of rain in spots along the Interstate 35 corridor. By daybreak, the storms drifted southeast, away from the Austin area, but the better news is that the Austin area is unlikely to see any more heavy rainfall this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. "The stronger front arrives by midday tomorrow," the weather service said in a bulletin Thursday afternoon. "This is the front we have all been waiting for that will give South Central Texas the first real taste of fall." Forecasters said that "behind the front, north winds will kick in, ushering in cooler and drier air."
Joan Elizabeth Means Khabele [kah-BELL], instrumental in the integration of Barton Springs Pool and Austin High School, among a lifetime of other civic achievements, died in Austin of leukemia just after midnight on Monday morning. She was 78. One of five children, Joan Khabele was the daughter of Austin educator and civil rights activist Bertha Sadler Means and mathematics professor and businessman James Means. Her maternal great-grandfather, the Reverend James Sadler, founded the freedom colony of Valley Mills in Bosque [BOSK] County after emancipation. During the 1940s, her parents, who helped found St. James' Episcopal Church, one of the city's first integrated congregations, served on the front lines of protests against segregation throughout the postwar period.
Central Texas university officials say they are able to provide more opportunities and support to Hispanic college students with the help of federal grants offered to minority-serving institutions. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas hosted a roundtable discussion Tuesday with representatives from Austin Community College, St. Edward’s University and Texas State University at the ACC Highland campus to highlight the work of Hispanic-serving institutions in Central Texas and how they are helping support the workforce in the state. Universities with more than 25% Hispanic undergraduate enrollment can be designated as a Hispanic-serving institution, which qualifies a school for multiple federal grants. Texas universities received more than $23.5 million in federal Hispanic-serving institution grants during the 2021 fiscal year, Cornyn said.
The U.S. Army identified a soldier found dead behind his company barracks at Fort Hood last week as 26-year-old Specialist Maxwell Hockin. Fort Hood leaders at the Central Texas post said Hockin died Saturday but they did not release his identity until Wednesday. The incident is still under investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. Fort Hood leaders say no information on the cause of death will be released at this time, citing the ongoing investigation.
The Texas House early Wednesday approved a map for new political districts that would solidify Republican control of the chamber, protect incumbent lawmakers from both parties and reduce the number of competitive districts across the state. Democrats criticized the map for failing to reflect the rapid growth of the Hispanic and Asian population over the past decade. They contended that the proposed maps would reduce the number of districts where nonwhite people make up the majority of eligible voters.
Austin Public Health on Tuesday moved the community to Stage 3 of the agency's risk-based COVID-19 guidelines, allowing many Travis County residents to safely unmask while shopping and dining indoors. But Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes, who announced the positive change during a joint Austin City Council and Travis County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, still urged the public to be cautious while moving forward into the fall and winter seasons. Health experts have blamed the most recent surge in coronavirus cases on the potent combination of the delta variant and a significant population of unvaccinated residents. But now hospitals are girding against a much older threat: flu season.
Two of the nation's largest airlines — Southwest Airlines and American Airlines — both based in Texas, said Tuesday they plan to follow looming federal guidelines and require that their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19, despite an order from Gov. Greg Abbott that attempts to block such mandates. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines last week ordered all of its estimated 55,000 employees to be vaccinated against COVID 19 by Dec. 8. That followed a directive from President Joe Biden, who in September said all private companies with more than 100 workers must require employees to be vaccinated or conduct weekly tests for the coronavirus.
In a move that it says reflects its commitment to grow along with Central Texas, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has signed a lease for the top two floors of a new 25-story office tower in downtown Austin. The New York-based investment banking giant said it will occupy about 35,000 square feet of space on the 24th and 25th floors of the building, which is called 405 Colorado. Brandywine Real Estate, a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Pennsylvania, developed the tower. JPMorgan Chase officials said the company will have two brand signs at the top of the building, with details to come.
A federal appeals court late Friday allowed a Texas law banning most abortions to be enforced, suspending a lower court ruling from two days before that had blocked the measure. Attorneys for Texas filed an appeal with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier Friday, asking the court to take action "as soon as possible" to ensure that the state is not "held in contempt for the actions of third parties it cannot and does not control." Friday's action by the 5th Circuit is temporary and stands while the court considers whether to grant a longer stay.
Travis County coronavirus data released Monday showed continued improvement in hospital numbers for COVID-19. The county recorded 16 new hospital admissions for COVID-19. The rolling seven-day average of new daily hospital admissions, which helps Austin Public Health determine guidelines for the most medically vulnerable members of the community, dropped to 19. The average needs to stay below 30 for an extended period before Austin Public Health can consider downgrading the threat level to Stage 3 of its guidelines.
Rain has been rare this fall, but the Austin area could finally get a decent soaking this week, according to the National Weather Service. A low pressure system — where lower air pressure allows warmer air to rise and rain clouds to form in the unstable air — will move into Texas from the northwest Tuesday into Wednesday. The remnant of the soon-to-be Hurricane Pamela off the western coast of Mexico also could be influential toward the end of the week as it moves northeast into South Texas. However, the weather computer models disagree on likely rainfall amounts, with some models calling for heavier rain if Pamela turns out to be stronger than expected, forecasters said.
One of the biggest economic development announcements in Austin history came with little fanfare and almost no warning. Speaking to shareholders Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned almost casually that the electric automaker — one of the world's best-known and most valuable companies — has decided to move its corporate headquarters from California to Austin. The stunning move — which came as a surprise to many local and state officials — continues Austin's ascent as a technology hub and adds to Tesla's swiftly growing presence in the region, as the company is building a $1.1 billion manufacturing facility in southeastern Travis County.
The Austin area's public health chief said Friday that if trends keep improving, the community could move back to Stage 3 pandemic guidelines by early next week. Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County health authority, decided to wait a few more days before loosening pandemic restrictions. Four cases of COVID-19 were confirmed among ACL attendees during the first weekend of shows, according to Walkes. The public health leader said she hopes cases will remain low if festival goers follow the rules, wear masks and keep socially distant during the event.
Voting along party lines, the Texas Senate on Friday approved a redistricting plan for the state's congressional seats that could be instrumental in delivering a Republican majority to the U.S. House of Representatives. It draws no new minority opportunity districts, where nonwhite voters can elect their candidate of choice, while increasing the number of white majority districts. As the only state to pick up more than one congressional seat in reapportionment that happens once every decade, Texas is playing an outsized role in determining the partisan makeup of the U.S. House in redistricting efforts taking place in statehouses across the country.
To improve the quality of life of Austin's deaf, blind and hard of hearing populations, the city and Travis County this week launched a system to send emergency alerts in American Sign Language. Austin's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Travis County Office of Emergency Management partnered with Deaf Link — an all-service interpreting agency — to launch the Accessible Hazard Alert System for those who are deaf, blind, visually or hearing-impaired. A spokesperson for Austin's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the record-breaking February freeze that caused power and water outages throughout Texas also showed the need to get timely emergency and weather-related warnings and information to everyone in the city, he said.
A San Antonio developer plans to build an apartment complex in San Marcos that will have below-market rents, putting the units within reach of families making less than the area's median income. The 216-unit Lantana Apartments will be built on about 10 acres at Rattler Road and Old Bastrop Highway, across from San Marcos High School. Plans call for 163 of the units to be reserved for families making 30% to 60% of the area's median income. The San Marcos project will be developed by Mission DG of San Antonio.
Austin is moving on plans to improve safety on Sixth Street — an initiative that came about after a June mass shooting in the downtown bar district, according to a memo from Austin Police Department Chief Joseph Chacon. A coalition of public safety agencies and city of Austin departments have started work to improve lighting, tamp down underage drinking and create a standing EMS presence in the area on weekends, Chacon said in a memo to the City Council. The council ordered the initiative — known as Safer Sixth Street — in late July in the wake of a string of shootings in the Sixth Street area, including the June 12 mass shooting that left one man dead and 13 people injured.
For the fourth consecutive legislative session of 2021, social and religious conservatives are pressing to ban transgender Texans from competing in public school sports based on their gender identity. Their persistent efforts have been vigorously opposed as cruel and unnecessary by LGBTQ advocates, progressive groups and influential state companies — a coalition that has managed thus far to fend off the sports bills and other measures directed at transgender Texans at the Legislature. The opposing sides squared off once again Wednesday at the Capitol, where a House committee took public testimony on House Bill 25 — which, like a similar measure already passed by the Texas Senate, would require public school athletes to compete in sports under the "biological sex" as listed on their original birth certificate.
A federal judge late Wednesday temporarily blocked enforcement of a Texas law that bans most abortions, delivering an early victory to the Biden administration in its legal challenge to the law. In a 113-page order, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman of Austin said the law is an "offensive deprivation of such an important right" and said state actors, including judges and court clerks, can no longer enforce its provisions. One hour after his ruling was released, the state notified Pitman that it planned to file an appeal with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
More of the city of Bastrop [BASS-trahp] is considered susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters under a proposed updated federal floodplain map. Allison Land of the city’s Planning Department and Abram Barker, a floodplain administrator for Bastrop County, hosted several information sessions on Monday at the Bastrop Convention Center to inform residents, local business owners and engineers about how they should expect the new map to affect their flood insurance and permit requirements. The areas of the county in which the floodplain regions changed include Piney Creek, Gazeley Creek, Willow Creek, Cedar Creek and Dry Creek along the Travis County line.
Elon Musk, the billionaire leader of Tesla and SpaceX, is now the wealthiest Texas resident, according to Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the 400 richest Americans. But whether or not Musk also happens to be the richest person living in Austin remains open for debate. With an estimated net worth of $190.5 billion, Musk last year said he had relocated from California to Texas. Forbes lists Austin as Musk's city of residence, but the magazine did not say how it verified whether Musk is, in fact, an Austinite. Musk himself has never publicly confirmed that he lives in Austin.
A Hays High School student was arrested on Tuesday after school officials said he brought an airsoft gun to school and threatened the campus with it. No students or staff were harmed. According to an email from Principal David Pierce,some students overheard another talking on his cell phone stating that he had a gun and was planning to use it at school. The students then alerted staff members on campus. The district did not say what, if any, criminal charges the student is facing.
A woman has sued Williamson County, claiming a deputy assaulted her when he responded to a domestic violence call. After her boyfriend choked her and left her apartment, the woman refused to let the deputy search her home, so the deputy grabbed her neck and threw her to the ground, according to the lawsuit. The incident happened in 2019. It is the eighth pending lawsuit against the county claiming excessive force was used by deputies during the tenure of former Sheriff Robert Chody. The county does not comment on pending lawsuits, said Connie Odom, a county spokeswoman.
Travis County coronavirus data released Tuesday showed continued improvement in hospital numbers for COVID-19. The county recorded 14 new hospital admissions for COVID-19. The rolling seven-day average of new daily hospital admissions, which helps Austin Public Health determine guidelines for the most medically vulnerable members of the community, dropped to 25. The average needs to stay below 30 before Austin Public Health can consider downgrading the coronavirus threat level to Stage 3 of its guidelines.
The Texas Senate began work Monday on two Republican voting bills that have uncertain futures — one raising criminal penalties for illegal voting and another that got a recent boost from former President Donald Trump because it would allow for audits of 2020 general election results. Senate Bill 47 by Senator Paul Bettencourt of Houston would let state and county leaders of the two major political parties pursue audits of 2020 election results in individual counties. SB 47 also would let candidates and party officials demand audits to confirm the results of future elections. The bill, however, is not eligible for passage because it is not reflected in the special session agenda as set by Governor Greg Abbott, the only person with the power to call the Legislature into special session and set its agenda.
The Texas Senate gave final approval to a new Senate district map late Monday that is likely to increase Republican dominance in that chamber and ensure a GOP majority for a decade. Senators approved the map 20-11 largely along party lines after four hours of debate that focused on race. The proposed map does not draw any new opportunity districts for non-white populations, despite the fact that the state's significant population growth over the past decade was driven by people of color.
Mike Collier has been itching for a rematch with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for nearly three years, after coming within 4.9 points of unseating the Republican leader in 2018. Collier, an accountant and former chief financial officer of an oil company, said his campaign infrastructure has grown significantly in the intervening years. He worked to support other Democrats running for office during the 2020 general election and also served as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden’s Texas campaign.
Residents in the Bryker Woods neighborhood in north-central Austin will have one less grocery shopping option when Randalls closes its store on West 35th Street. The Randalls store at 1500 West 35th Street will close "on or before Nov. 6," according to a written statement from Albertsons Companies Southern Division. The property is valued at $6.8 million this year by the Travis Central Appraisal District. After the closing, Randalls will have 13 stores in Austin and the surrounding area, employing 1,487 people.
Three human cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed among Travis County residents in the past month, but Austin Public Health says in two of those cases, the virus was contracted outside county lines. Five mosquito pools have tested positive for West Nile virus since August, Austin Public Health said in a statement Friday. Every positive pool was in the 78744 ZIP code, an area in Southeast Austin that includes McKinney Falls State Park.
Austin's battle over a police staffing ballot measure has a new heavyweight entering the ring: billionaire financier and Democratic Party activist George Soros. In a bombshell announcement that threatens to shake up the Nov. 2 election, a political action committee opposed to Proposition A — which if passed would require the city to hire hundreds of police officers — says it has accepted a $500,000 donation from Soros.The 91-year-old Soros, of New York, is known for supporting liberal political causes. His net worth is estimated at $8.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Fearing it could cost some of them their jobs, Austin firefighters said Friday they will spend union money to fight a ballot proposition that, if voters approve, would require the city to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to hire more police officers. The decision adds the firefighters' voices to those who oppose Proposition A and say it would have significant financial consequences for the city's budget if it passes. Friday's announcement by the firefighters could threaten the relationship between Austin's two public safety departments, pitting them against each other during the Nov. 2 election.
An Austin judge has issued default judgments against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, citing his pattern of bad faith in dealing with lawsuits by parents of two children killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The rulings mean the lawsuits will proceed to a trial to determine how much money Jones and his Austin-based InfoWars media system must pay the parents for defamation and emotional distress caused by broadcasts that called the school shooting a hoax. It's no longer a matter of whether Jones writes a check to the parents, said Bill Ogden, a lawyer for the parents. "It's now how big a check is it going to be."
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman asked pointed questions Friday to lawyers for the state of Texas about the constitutionality of the new state law that bans most abortions. Pitman is considering a request from the federal government to block enforcement of the law and heard arguments from lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department and the Texas attorney general's office during a three-hour virtual hearing. Pitman did not act on the request Friday.
Governor Greg Abbott added another item to the third special session's agenda Thursday evening, asking the Legislature to increase the penalty for illegal voting that lawmakers had recently decreased as part of a sweeping GOP elections measure known as Senate Bill 1. House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont promptly rejected the idea, saying the Texas House — where SB 1 was amended to decrease the penalty in late August, toward the end of the second special session — will focus its attention elsewhere.
Texas on Friday recorded fewer than 9,000 people in the hospital for COVID-19 for the first time since Aug. 7, extending a streak of declining figures. On Friday, 8,663 people were hospitalized in Texas with COVID-19, another drop from the previous day and an improvement after reaching a summer high of 13,932 last month. The pandemic high was 14,218 Texans hospitalized in January.
John Mackey, who built Austin-based Whole Foods Market from a single store into a natural foods grocery powerhouse, will retire as CEO next year, the company said Thursday. Mackey, 68, co-founded Whole Foods in 1980 and led the Austin-based company through its $13.7 billion acquisition by e-commerce giant Amazon.com. In a letter addressed to employees, Mackey said he will step down on September 1st, 2022. Whole Foods Chief Operating Officer Jason Buechel will take the helm as CEO after Mackey’s departure, the letter said.
Beginning work on a map dividing Texas into 38 congressional districts, the Texas Senate heard Thursday from a series of Texans who were unhappy with the proposed lines — including several who objected to the lack of districts accommodating the sharp population growth of nonwhite voters, particularly Latinos. Nonwhite residents accounted for about 95% of the population growth that gave Texas two additional seats in the U.S. House. Despite that, the number of predominantly Hispanic districts would fall from eight to seven, while majority Anglo districts would rise from 22 to 23, in the Republican-drawn map unveiled earlier this week, said Gloria Leal with the League of United Latin American Citizens.
A Colorado-based real estate investment company is the new owner of the 32-story Austin Proper Hotel in downtown Austin. Financial terms of the sale, which closed last week, were not disclosed. The buyer is McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc., a real estate investment, development and management firm. The Austin Proper Hotel & Residences has 244 hotel rooms and suites, 98 condominium units and more than 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The Austin Proper Hotel & Residences opened in December 2019 in downtown's 2nd Street District amid downtown's continued building boom of residential, hotel, office and mixed-use high-rise towers.
Matthew Dowd, a onetime strategist for former President George W. Bush and political analyst for ABC News, is running for Texas lieutenant governor as a Democrat. Dowd, who broke publicly with the Republican Party in 2007, announced his candidacy with a two-minute video posted Wednesday to Twitter and in an interview with the Texas Tribune. In the video, Dowd sports a baseball cap and recites a laundry list of criticisms of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, the Republican who has been lieutenant governor since 2015. Patrick’s campaign did not return a request seeking comment. The lieutenant governor presides over the Texas Senate and runs the state when the governor is absent.
A man wearing a U.S. flag bandana threw an incendiary device into the Travis County Democratic Party's East Sixth Street office early Wednesday, Austin Fire Department officials said. Austin firefighters and police responded to the office at about 2 a.m. Thursday after receiving a 911 call about the fire. Neighbors were able to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived, Austin Fire Capt. Brandon Jennings said. Investigators watched footage from security cameras that the Travis County Democrats installed last year after a similar attack, said Kate Naranjo [nah-RAHN-hoh], Travis County Democratic Party chair.
The Texas secretary of state's office is auditing 2020 election results in four Texas counties to "ensure all Texas voters can have confidence in the elections systems of our state," according to a statement from the office providing the first details of the effort first announced last week. The agency announced the "forensic audit" in a short statement last Thursday evening, hours after former President Donald Trump had publicly called on Governor Greg Abbott to add an election audit bill to the agenda of the Legislature's current special session. Officials in the four counties — Harris, Dallas, Tarrant and Collin — said at the time they were unaware of the audits and had not received specific information about what the process would entail.
Austin Public Health on Tuesday announced a shift to the lower Stage 4 of the agency's risk-based guidelines as hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 continue to drastically decline since the summer surge. Health officials praised efforts by the community to help bring infection rates down. Under Stage 4, Austin-area residents who are fully vaccinated, but still at high risk of severe disease, can now travel, gather outdoors, shop and dine safely if wearing a mask, according to the guidelines. Anyone who is not fully vaccinated can now travel and shop safely if masked, but only when essential.
Vorago Technologies, an Austin company that makes semiconductors designed for extreme environments such as space, has agreed to pay up to $497,000 as part of an administrative settlement with the federal government related to allegations that it conspired to divert memory chips to Russia without the proper export license. The federal Bureau of Industry and Security, which announced the civil penalty on Tuesday, said Vorago "conspired with Russian and Bulgarian businesspersons" to ship the memory chips from 2014 to 2019.
A University of Texas historian devoted to keeping alive the stories of long-dead victims of racial violence along the Texas-Mexico border is among this year's MacArthur fellows and recipients of "genius grants." The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation on Tuesday announced the 25 recipients, who will each receive $625,000. UT's Monica Muñoz Martinez is part of an eclectic group of grant winners this year that includes scientists, economists, poets and filmmakers.
Travis County coronavirus data released Monday showed continued improvement in hospital numbers for COVID-19. The county recorded 20 new hospital admissions for COVID-19. But the rolling seven-day average of new daily hospital admissions, which helps Austin Public Health determine guidelines for the most medically vulnerable members of the community, dropped to 34 — the lowest average since July 23. The county's highest average for new daily admissions during this most recent surge was 84 on Aug. 11. The average needs to stay below 50 for Austin Public Health to consider the area in less danger of community spread.
Michael Morton spent almost 25 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, but it is often forgotten that his 2011 exoneration, accomplished despite six years of foot-dragging by Williamson County's chief prosecutor, solved two violent deaths. A new cable TV series will devote a 90-minute episode to the intertwined stories of Christine Morton, killed in 1986 in her Williamson County home, and Debra Baker, killed in a very similar manner in her North Austin home in 1988 — almost a year after Michael Morton began serving a life sentence for his wife's murder. The Morton and Baker stories are told through the eyes and experience of John Raley, a Houston civil lawyer who says the Morton case was a cautionary tale for prosecutors and investigators who jump to conclusions.
Republican mapmakers have drawn a new U.S. House district based in Austin, a likely safe Democratic seat, one of two new districts awarded to Texas based on population increases in the state over the past decade. The other new district is based in Houston and would favor Republican candidates. Republicans took the safer approach, drawing district lines to shore up Republican-held districts that had become battlegrounds in recent elections as Texas' suburbs have become more diverse and more Democratic — instead of trying to draw both new districts as favoring Republican candidates.
The water at Sculpture Falls in Barton Creek has been deemed unsafe after a natural toxin that makes humans and animals sick was found in the water, Austin Watershed Protection Department officials said. People and pets should not ingest or swim in the water at Sculpture Falls, the department said. Signs about the harmful water will be posted at Barton Creek Greenbelt access points near Sculpture Falls. The toxin was detected when officials took samples from the water after receiving a report on Sept. 9 about a person becoming sick after swimming in the area.
Officials in the Texas secretary of state's office have launched a "full and comprehensive forensic audit" of 2020 general election results in four of the state's largest counties: Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Collin. The state agency announced the audit late Thursday in a short statement, hours after former President Donald Trump asked Gov. Greg Abbott to add an election audit bill to the agenda for the current special legislative session. The statement said the agency has the authority under existing state laws to conduct election audits and that officials had "already begun the process." It did not say what prompted the audits. State elections officials told lawmakers earlier this year that the 2020 election was "smooth and secure," and data show that voter fraud is rare in the state.
Mold and mildew have been found on ceilings and vents at Smithville High School, according to a presentation by the district’s maintenance director at the school board meeting last week. The Texas Association of School Boards, a statewide educational association that serves and represents school boards in the state, recently performed an air quality evaluation of Smithville High School and found “fungal spores on the outside exterior” of the building. Mildew was growing on the ceiling tiles and vents of room 108, above the teacher’s desk and storage closet.
Safe2Save, in partnership with the city of Austin, is hosting a competition where area residents can win up to $10,000 in cash prizes just by staying off their phones while driving. Austin-area residents can participate in a month-long competition to see who can reach the highest driving score. At the end of the competition, all drivers who have a score of 98 or above will be entered into a drawing to win $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second and $1,000 for third. In addition, one user will win $500 each week of the competition. Prizes will be awarded through a grant from State Farm Insurance.
A coalition of parents has sued Austin school district leaders over the district's mask requirement and COVID-19 protocols, arguing they were secretly developed without a public hearing. The group, Austin Parents for Medical Choice, claims Austin Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde and the school board violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by not holding public hearings and board votes specifically over the mask mandate and COVID-19 quarantine protocols. Elizalde announced the mask requirement, which defies Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order against such mandates in public schools, at a special board meeting on August 9th made available to the public through video.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar has designated Ben & Jerry's as a company that boycotts Israel under a law that forbids state investments in firms that take adverse action against the U.S. ally. In July, the socially conscious company announced that it will stop selling its ice cream in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, saying it was inconsistent with its corporate values to continue doing business "within an internationally recognized illegal occupation." Ben & Jerry's insisted that it was not boycotting Israel, noting that it will continue doing business in the nation, though not in the West Bank or parts of contested East Jerusalem.
A half-dozen large school districts, including Austin, have asked a state appeals court to block Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from pursuing lawsuits to enforce the governor's ban on mask mandates in schools. Paxton has sued at least 15 school districts across Texas, including Round Rock and Elgin [EHL-ghin], opening another front in his efforts to enforce a July 29 executive order by Governor Greg Abbott that barred cities, counties and school districts from requiring face coverings to minimize the spread of COVID-19. In a motion filed this week with the 3rd Court of Appeals, the six school districts argued that Paxton's legal blitz is an improper end run around the Austin-based appeals court, where Paxton and the districts are locked in a legal fight over mask mandates.
Two people killed in a crash early Thursday and a pedestrian who died this week after a hit-and-run in South Austin bring the number of Austin's traffic deaths so far this year to 91. With the three new deaths, 2021 already surpasses 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 in the number of people killed in Austin traffic in a year. In 2019, a total of 88 people were killed in traffic accidents, and, in 2020, police recorded 94 such deaths. With three months left in the year, it's possible Austin surpasses 2020's historically high annual traffic death toll. Austin's highest number of traffic deaths were 102 people killed in 2015.
As more travelers look to return to international travel, British Airways is restarting its nonstop service between Austin and London. Following a 17-month absence, the transatlantic service will return to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Oct. 13, the airline said Thursday. British Airways, which has operated in Austin since March 2014, will resume service between Austin and London's Heathrow Airport three days a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Governor Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates in Texas schools, even as dozens of districts are defying the prohibition as the state continues to experience high coronavirus case numbers and hospitalizations. The investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights will focus on whether Texas is violating federal law by preventing disabled students from safely returning to in-person classes. Suzanne Goldberg, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, sent a letter Tuesday to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath informing him of the investigation.
Two technology industry groups filed suit Wednesday in an effort to strike down a new Texas law that will let social media users sue if they or their opinions are blocked from view or removed. House Bill 20 — inspired by complaints that conservatives are frequently censored online — also will give the state attorney general the power to sue social media companies on behalf of affected users once the law takes effect Dec. 2. Governor Greg Abbott, surrounded by Republican lawmakers, praised HB 20 when he signed it into law two weeks ago, saying the measure will let improperly blocked users return online.
Austin interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon [cha-KOHN] has accepted the position on a permanent basis after a nationwide search that began with Chacon as a long shot to take over a department under scrutiny. The appointment of Chacon was announced Wednesday by City Manager Spencer Cronk. This is the second time Cronk has gone with an in-house candidate; he selected then-interim Police Chief Brian Manley to lead the department in 2018.
The Lakeway City Council on Monday night voted to approve the next step in bringing an H-E-B grocery store to a 21-acre property on the corner of Texas 71 and Serene Hills Drive. The preliminary plan for the property was first approved in 2007 and this use of the land is in line with the city’s future land use map, according to Building and Development Services Director Erin Carr. Though exact details about the store will not be confirmed until a later date, Mayor Tom Kilgore said it looks like the location will be a traditional H-E-B and not a Central Market.
The fence in front of the Ponderosa Pet Resort on North Austin Avenue has been adorned with photographs of dogs, their toys, flowers, and signs and cards offering condolences to the owners. Community members and pet owners this week were mourning the loss of at least 75 dogs who died in a fire at the Georgetown pet resort Saturday night. The cause of the fire, which happened around 11 p.m., is still unclear. Georgetown Fire Chief John Sullivan said the dogs probably died of smoke inhalation.
Travis County coronavirus data released Tuesday showed some improvement in hospital numbers for COVID-19. The county recorded 47 new hospital admissions for COVID-19. But the rolling seven-day average of new daily hospital admissions, which helps Austin Public Health determine guidelines for the most medically vulnerable members of the community, dropped to 49 — the lowest average since the end of July. The county's highest average for new daily admissions during this most recent surge was 84 on Aug. 11. The average needs to get below 50 for Austin Public Health to consider the area in less danger of community spread.
July was the fifth-busiest month ever at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, continuing a trend of increased travel since last spring, a year after the pandemic caused the facility's largest drop in passenger traffic. A total of 1.54 million people traveled through the airport in July, which airport officials said is up 279.6 percent compared with July 2020. Only 406,065 passengers were recorded at the airport last July, according to airport data. July 2021 now joins May, June, July and October 2019 as the busiest months ever at the airport.