Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., Aug. 2, 2024
107 Degrees And Heat Didn’t Kill Him: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice currently faces a lawsuit over heat-related deaths in its prisons that lack air conditioning. The TDCJ continues to deny that anyone has died from heat in a Texas prison in more than a decade. But autopsies obtained by the Texas Newsroom’s Lauren McGaughy show deaths of prisoners whose internal body temperatures were 106 and 107 degrees.
Not a Problem For Vanessa Fuentes: Vanessa Fuentes will have a conservative opponent in the fall election. The District 2 council member will face 53-year-old Robert Earl Reynolds, who filed for the election this week. In an interview with the Austin Bulldog, Reynolds said he was “just an average working guy” who has no particular criticism of Fuentes’ performance. “I’m not trying to compete with her,” Reynolds said.
Well, That Should Be Embarrassing: A recent report from the Office of the City Auditor found that two in three city employees are men. The gender disparity has only grown since the last audit of this kind in 2021 – despite the city implementing all six recommendations from the 2021 report, like creating more diversity positions. Especially in leadership roles, the audit found “a higher percentage of management positions are held by white individuals and men.”
Come Spread Your Ashes! Some call the Alamo a shrine to white supremacy, given that the Texas heroes who died there were fighting to preserve slavery. But hey, is there any better place in the state to spread your ashes? Apparently not, according to a survey by Choice Mutual, which found that Texans prefer the Alamo over Big Bend or Lost Maples or dozens of other less-slavey spots as the final dumping ground for their crumbly, insubstantial remains.
Whatever Smokes Your Roach: Weed is still decriminalized in San Marcos after a Hays County judge dismissed A.G. Ken Paxton’s lawsuit challenging the voter-approved move. Paxton has already filed a motion to appeal the dismissal, KUT reported. Ground Game Texas and Mano Amiga, the groups that organized to free the weed in San Marcos, are working on similar efforts in Dallas, McAllen, Lockhart and Bastrop.
More Flights Eliminated: We recently learned that low-cost airline Allegiant would eliminate 12 routes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport this summer, and now American Airlines plans to eliminate five nonstop flights. A peak in demand post-pandemic has declined, but don’t freak out – AUS still offers nonstop flights to 44% more locations than in 2019, KUT reports.
Firefighters Have a Pretty Small Ask: Amid city budget conversations, the Austin Firefighters Association is asking for more funding to help address increasing injury rates and mental health concerns. How? AFA wants to reduce the typical firefighter’s workweek by one hour, and to do so is pushing the city to add another annual cadet class to create 25 new positions, the Austin Monitor reported.
Boosting Tax Revenue From Big Events: The city’s tourism commission is looking at ways to better accommodate big events that bring in big hotel tax money. A C3 Presents festival producer says our city can be difficult to work with, pointing out that this year the CMT Music Awards canned the show in front of the Capitol because they couldn’t get the road closures and police officers needed, the Monitor reports.
Father of Austin Urbanism Passes On: Former City Council member Chris Riley died on Sunday at the age of 60 after his second battle with cancer. An Austin kid and a fierce proponent of urban density, Riley recently revealed to journalist Jack Craver that since discontinuing chemo he had lost his fear of death. “Ever since then I’ve been kind of in that mode – wanting to hug everybody,” he told Craver. “It’s just filled me with love and gratitude.” KUT reported Riley spent the last weeks of his life doing Austin things – being pulled through Downtown in a pedicab, eating barbecue, and floating in Barton Springs. Read more online.
Whole Foods Discount Food Option: Maybe you’re familiar with Too Good To Go, an app allowing users to buy for a big discount bags of food that businesses would otherwise toss at day’s end. Too Good To Go has partnered with Whole Foods in Austin for the past year. KUT reports the two companies will now partner nationwide.
Diesel Wins For Now: CapMetro is pausing Austin’s dream of an all-electric bus fleet. The public transit authority will operate about 110 electric buses by the end of the year, but head Dottie Watkins told KUT they’ll “sit for a minute while we wait for the battery technology to catch up.” The electric buses can only run for 8-10 hours a day, while diesel ones can go from early morning to late night.
Quote of the Week
“It’s their pain, it’s their loss, it’s their sorrow, but it’s someone else’s entertainment.”
– Council Member Zo Qadri speaking on City Cast Austin about how unfounded rumors of a serial killer affect families of drowned Austinites
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