Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., Sept. 27, 2024
Trump Train’s Final Stop: Concluding a two-week trial over the “Trump Train” convoy in Central Texas that surrounded a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris bus on I-35 in October 2020, a federal jury rejected voter intimidation allegations against all but one of the group. The jury found one defendant violated the 1871 Klan Act, which was intended to combat the paramilitary acts of the Ku Klux Klan by prohibiting coordination to prevent political participation through intimidation.
A Million Bucks and a Burger: Speaking of Kamala Harris, our maybe-future-first-first-gentleman Doug Emhoff continued a trip through Texas Tuesday with our almost-governor Beto O’Rourke. They raised more than $1 million at an Austin fundraiser before getting lunch at Whataburger, the Texas Tribune reported.
Musk Against Humanity: Okay, so, first of all, the owners of cheeky card game Cards Against Humanity bought beachfront property in South Texas in 2017 to physically block Trump’s border wall. Furthermore, the property abuts that of SpaceX, the satellite company owned by the famous South African Elon Musk. Now, Cards Against Humanity is suing SpaceX, saying the company has been trespassing on its land, using it as a parking lot and dumping ground. The card game is demanding $15 million in damages, KUT reports.
School Shooting Threat: Students at Lake Travis High School reported getting texts Tuesday from a person who said they would “shoot up [the] school” and make them “my first target.” Law enforcement agencies are still investigating, but Lake Travis ISD said they determined the threats were not credible, so the school day would “continue as regularly scheduled,” the Statesman reported.
Actually, Make That Multiple Threats: Representatives of Austin ISD and most of its surrounding districts – Round Rock, Lake Travis, Eanes, Hutto, and Pflugerville among them – held a press conference last week to warn of an increase in school threats and to promise that they are being taken seriously. “School districts all across Central Texas have seen an uptick in threats to our schools,” AISD Superintendent Matias Segura told the public. “Whether they’re real or rumors, it’s important to know every single threat is investigated.”
Surgical Center On The Way: On Thursday, Austin Regional Clinic broke ground on the new South Austin medical campus that will house a new surgical center and specialty clinic, the Statesman reported. It’s expected to open in early 2026.
Chip Time: According to KUT News, the Austin City Council could soon require pet owners to microchip their beloved animals. Turns out microchipping can help keep pets out of shelters. Don Bland, Austin’s chief animal services officer, told KUT that many of the pets in city shelters are “well-groomed, well-cared for, and well-fed” – in other words, pets. If they had microchips, in theory, they could be reunited with their owners.
UT Police Switcheroo: University of Texas Police Chief Eve Stephens, who took the position last July, abruptly resigned Friday. UT-Austin announced Assistant Chief Shane Streepy would rise up to take the job. A UT spokesperson refused to tell the Statesman more about the reason for Stephens’ departure, though sports media outlet A to Z Sports reported she was “pressured” to resign.
Budget = Approved: Travis County Commissioners Court approved a $2 billion budget on Tuesday that will boost property taxes by an estimated $160 a year. The budget includes $70 million for the creation of a mental health diversion center to provide treatment for people who have committed nonviolent crimes but might otherwise be put in jail. It spends $15 million to provide free attorneys for people appearing before a judge for the first time after arrest, a proposal known as Counsel at First Appearance. And it provides $5 million for county parks, among a long list of other expenditures.
Shelter Beds Stay: The temporary homeless shelter in Southeast Austin known as the Marshalling Yard is staying open. The shelter houses about 260 people currently but had been scheduled to close in August. The closing has been delayed at least eight months as the city looks for other places to open shelters. The Marshalling Yard offers a place to sleep, laundry facilities, showers, and three meals a day, among other services.
24 Hours on the Border: The Texas Tribune and Associated Press partnered to spend 24 hours in five cities on the Texas-Mexico border to measure the impact of a dramatic drop in migrant crossings. They found things very quiet. A few months ago hundreds of asylum-seeking families were waiting to crawl through razor wire in Ciudad Juárez, but during the reporters’ 24 hour project, no one was camping. In McAllen, reporters watched Border Patrol agents scan fields for five hours without encountering one migrant.
What Texas’ ID Decision Means: KUT took a look this week at how Texas’ decision to block its citizens from updating the gender on their driver’s licenses and birth certificates will impact the state. The sudden, unannounced policy change, which took place last month and seems aimed at harassing – and collecting information on – transgender Texans, could create problems for them in opening a bank account, renting an apartment, and updating health insurance, among other things.
No Guns on Fairgrounds, After All: Ken Paxton got his ass handed to him again. A Dallas County district judge ruled against Paxton last week, allowing the State Fair of Texas to continue its gun ban. Paxton had argued that the State Fair was acting under the authority of the city of Dallas and thus was bound by state law forbidding state agencies and political subdivisions from banning guns on government property. The State Fair said it is not an agent of Dallas so it has the right to ban guns. Judge Emily Tobolowsky agreed, giving Paxton just days to appeal before the fair begins.
Allred and Cruz Love Microchips Bill: In another moment where Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Rep. Colin Allred seem oddly similar, they agreed this week that Texas will be getting new jobs and economic development from a bill that will make it easier to build new semiconductor manufacturing facilities. According to the Dallas Morning News the two went on to spar this week over which one of them deserves credit for the bill. Allred’s people point out that he co-sponsored the original House bill. Cruz said he rewrote it in the Senate and got House GOP leaders to get it past the finish line.
APD to Target Bars Serving Too Late: A recent study identified some Austin bars and nightclubs that sold alcohol after hours despite state liquor laws. At the most recent meeting of the Downtown Commission, an advisory board to City Council, an Austin Police Department representative said they’re planning to crack down on this, the Austin Monitor reported. Already, APD has spent recent months visiting the owners of some of the suspected businesses.
Police Contract Price: The city and Austin Police Association have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract that, all told, would give most Austin Police officers a 28% raise at a cost of about $218 million. It would be the most expensive contract in APD history. For years 2-5, Council will likely need to raise taxes and dip into the city’s reserve funds to pay for it. Pulling both levers simply to maintain current levels of city services has basically become an accepted fact among Council members. For more on the contract, see our lead news story this week.
Jump in Black Cricket Sightings: You might have noticed, there are a lot of crickets. Fun fact: Outbreaks tend to come after dry springs and summers, the Dallas Morning News reports. If you’re trying to get rid of these guys, please keep in mind these bugs are good for the ecosystem and insecticides are not. For natural deterrents, turn off outdoor lights (which they love) and spread the scents of peppermint, lavender, citronella, and vinegar (which they hate).
Quote of the Week
“One email had the subject line, 'All Cowboys Are Gay.’ The body read, 'what I said.’”
– Reporter Lauren McGaughy writing about emails sent to the Department of Public Safety after it changed policy to prevent gender changes on licenses
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