Headlines / Quote of the Week

UT Restricts Free Speech: This summer, when UT-Austin was making changes to its Speech, Expression and Assembly rules ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott to curb antisemitism, the university also slipped in dozens of additional changes to tighten free speech, a Statesman analysis found. These changes expanded authority to non-UT police to enforce campus rules, and generally codified the university’s response to pro-Palestine protests in April.

Suspension Plan: UT plans to suspend at least one student and is threatening others with “deferred suspension” for their participation in pro-Palestine protests in April. According to reporting by KUT’s Audrey McGlinchy, the university sent out notices of discipline last week to at least four students. The suspended student will be barred from campus for two years. The three others will be allowed to continue their educations as long as they don’t violate any more university rules. The students have the right to appeal.

Beryl Barrels Through: Before Beryl, the last Category 5 hurricane to land this early in the year was in 2005, the same year as Hurricane Katrina, the Statesman reported. Monday, Beryl became the earliest Atlantic Category 5 storm on record, beating Hurricane Emily, which formed on July 17, 2005.

Abbott Accuses Biden of Lying: Gov. Greg Abbott said President Biden’s statement that he couldn’t reach Abbott or other state leaders about distributing emergency relief supplies after Hurricane Beryl was “a complete lie.” Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle reported Biden said he was trying to “track down” the governor to secure the disaster declaration request. A White House spokesman said federal officials attempted to reach Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick several times.

Houston’s Grand Experiment: July 3, the Houston Landing, and later The Texas Tribune, proclaimed that Houston is the site of America’s biggest public education experiment ever: It’s all the result of the most dramatic state takeover of a school district in the country’s history. Changes include boosting some teacher salaries by tens of thousands, cutting spending on non-classroom expenses, requiring 1,000 teachers to reapply for their jobs (ultimately replacing about half), requiring teachers to use an approach that ensures students participate in class every four minutes, and employing short, daily quizzes in nearly all subjects.

Detours on Hike and Bike: Tuesday, the city announced a series of detours on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail coming up over the next several months. The city is building new lattice bridges and the Lagoon Overlook and Leaf Deck for the Confluence. The first detour is scheduled to start Monday, July 22, and will be in place through August.

Bitcoin Transactions Suck Power: A report released this week quantified exactly how much power Bitcoin mining takes: One Bitcoin transaction equals the amount of power used by a household in 36 hours, or the same amount of power as 26,000 VISA card transactions. Earlier this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that Bitcoin miners use as much energy as the entire state of Utah. Read more online.

Investing in Climate Resilience: Mayor Kirk Watson and a majority of City Council want to hold a climate bond election to, among other things, fund the reduction of Austin’s carbon emissions, increase its water supply, prevent flooding, and plant more trees, all in an effort to increase the city’s resilience to climate change. But it looks like the election won’t happen this year. According to the Austin Monitor, Watson suggested last week that the city take at least a year to decide what to ask voters to pay for. Under his proposal, an election could come in November of 2025.

Music Commission Moves: Never been to the Texas Music Museum on 11th Street? That might change. The Music Commission is asking the city to boost its current 2,000-square-foot space to 13,000 square feet, partly to safeguard thousands of visual and audio artifacts that are currently in storage and at risk of deteriorating. On July 1, the Music Commission heard a proposal from museum leaders for a three-phase expansion. “Our ask right now for phase one is gonna be at around $330,000 to keep us afloat,” Sylvia Morales, a policy coordinator for the museum, said. “We would love in phase two to go into ... discussions of where to go next.”

Food Banks Hurting: When the COVID pandemic began, food banks began serving more and more needy families. And with the end of federal COVID assistance programs like stimulus checks and food stamps, the demand is climbing higher still. Sari Vatske, president and CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank, told KUT News on Monday that 16% of adults and 25% of children in the region are uncertain where their next meal will come from. Vatske said the food bank is serving more people now than it did at the height of the pandemic. The increased demand is leading groups like the Hays County Food Bank to revamp their facilities.

Pricey Water: Austin Water wants to increase rates for residential customers by 9.5 percent, one year after a hike in 2023 of 3.3 percent. According to the Austin Monitor, the increase, if approved, will boost the water and wastewater bill for an average customer from $85 to $93 a month. Austin Water says the additional revenue is needed for upgrades to the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant (where most of the city’s poop goes), along with other upgrades to its treatment systems and improvements in its flood resilience infrastructure.

Kind Clinic Expansion: Austin’s Kind Clinic already serves about 25,000 patients with low- or no-cost health care. Now they’ve also launched Glossy by Kind Clinic, a med spa for queer Austinites, the Statesman reported. It offers medical nonsurgical services including hair removal and facial fillers, which can help patients present as more feminine or masculine.

Full Doghouse: The Austin Animal Center is full up and will not be accepting any more animals for the time being. Jason Garza, deputy chief animal services officer, told the Austin Monitor last week that the shelter is currently hosting about 700 animals, including approximately 300 medium to large dogs, though it has only 252 dog kennels. The center is accepting animals with life-threatening injuries and those who present a risk to the public, but they must be brought in by one of the city’s animal protection officers.

Quote of the Week

“The debate cannot be unseen. The president has been running behind. We needed a surge, we got a setback.”

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– U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin