Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., Oct. 4, 2024
Escalation in the Middle East: For 10 days, Israel hit Lebanon with airstrikes that The Washington Post called “most intense and deadly in decades,” hitting more than 3,600 Hezbollah-linked targets. On Tuesday, Iran, which backs Hezbollah, killed eight Israeli soldiers in a ballistic-missile attack with an estimated 180 missiles, the Post reported. The U.S. urged Israel to limit its response, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that the U.S. and others had “effectively defeated” Iran’s attack.
Bernie Comes to Town: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited UT-Austin Tuesday for a rally hosted by UT’s University Democrats to rally the youngsters. Sanders acknowledged college students’ frustration with Kamala Harris’ approach with Israel. “Short term, let us elect Kamala Harris as president. Long term, let us work together to transform this country and create a nation that works for all, not just the few.”
Police Killing Trial: As the Chronicle went to press, a Travis County jury had begun deciding the fate of Christopher Taylor, the Austin police officer accused of deadly conduct for the 2019 shooting of Mauris DeSilva in a Downtown condo. Taylor and another officer, Karl Krycia, were indicted on murder charges for DeSilva’s death in 2021 but the charge against Taylor was downgraded days before his trial began. Krycia has not yet been tried.
Please please please register to vote: Monday is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 5 election, so if you haven’t registered, please get off your butt and do so. You’ll need to be a U.S. citizen and a resident of the county you want to vote in, but you are, right? And you’ll have to get the registration in the mail by Monday or, better yet, drop it off at one of the county’s voting offices in person. Once you do you’ll be able to vote against all kinds of evil assholes: Trump and Cruz, for starters.
Music Money Goes Around: More than a thousand musicians applied for the juicy grants being offered by Austin’s Live Music Fund this year, KUT News reports, but only 137 got the money. Those who did made out pretty good: the fund doled out $15,000 and $30,000 grants, which, for most bands, equates to several years’ worth of the door (or more money than they ever made in their career). Did anyone worth a shit get the money? – depends on who you ask. But $4.4 million was distributed overall.
Parkland Over the Highway: The city released its final picture of the parkland it wants to create over the top of I-35 – 30 acres of it – after the highway is sunk below ground level in TxDOT’s monumental expansion. The parks would stretch from Cesar Chavez to Airport Boulevard, through the densest part of the city, stitching together neighborhoods that were torn apart when East Avenue became I-35 in the 1960s. The plan will take at least two decades to complete and cost upward of $800 million.
Dry as Toast: This September in Austin was one of the driest on record, with just 0.08 inches of rain compared to the average September with 2.94 inches, KUT reported. More specifically, it was the third-driest September yet, behind 2011 when there was 0.01 inches of rain. And yes, it’s related to global warming: hotter and drier autumns are becoming more normal in much of the world, as climate change accelerates.
Closer Look at the Hospital District: After weeks of tense discussion, Travis County commissioners approved a nearly $889 million 2025 budget for the local hospital district, Central Health. They also approved a motion to scrutinize the public hospital district’s financial and organizational practices by directing staff to revisit the financial requirements Travis County gave Central Health seven years ago, KUT reported.
Tacos Are Necessary: Seems like it could have happened to any of a hundred incredible taco trucks in the city, but this week Yelp named Cuantos Tacos on East 12th the best taco spot in Texas (which also means it’s the best taco spot in the country). Cuantos operates out of a food truck on East 12th, purveying the Mexico City-style taco, with small corn tortillas, onions and cilantro, and wedges of lime.
Texans Kicked Off Medicaid: During the COVID pandemic, the federal government forbade states from kicking people off Medicaid, in an effort to provide health care during the crisis. When the crisis passed, the government allowed states to once more remove citizens from the rolls and, according to a new report by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, Texas Republicans stripped coverage faster and more crudely than any other state. More than 2 million people were kicked off Medicaid, most of them children. Officials have “acknowledged some errors,” the report says.
Can’t Read That in Prison: KUT News recently investigated which books are banned in state prisons and yes, the results are weird. Banned books include The Color Purple and Beekeeping for Dummies. Allowed books include Mein Kampf and the Bible. According to the report, Texas prisons have refused access to more than 10,000 books over the years, with comic books being the most frequently banned.
Prison Staffing Problems: Texas prisons are “almost impossible to adequately staff,” according to a state report warning that a years-long staffing crisis is endangering guards and prisoners. The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, which periodically reviews the performance of state agencies, reports that some prisons are operating with only 30% of the usual number of guards, The Texas Tribune reports. Turnover rates are very high and the lower staffing levels are allowing more “adverse events” – inmate and officer assaults, sexual assaults, and attempted escapes. The report recommends closing some prisons, especially those that lack air conditioning, and retrofitting others. It also recommends computerizing the system’s record-keeping practices, some of which continue to use paper and pencil.
Paxton Hates Voting: A federal judge ruled over the weekend that the law Attorney General Ken Paxton has used to raid the League of United Latin American Citizens and other groups is unconstitutional. The ruling will stop Paxton from investigating alleged “vote harvesting” – efforts by third-party groups to collect and submit absentee or mail-in ballots. The voided law theoretically would have applied to volunteers, making them subject to 10 years in prison for helping people vote.
(At Least Some) Republicans Hate Phelan: It looks like Dade Phelan, the current speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, will have trouble holding on to his position. The four Republicans vying to replace Phelan have dropped out of the race and endorsed Rep. David Cook. Cook claims to have the endorsement of 44 other House Republicans, a majority of the caucus.
Everyone Hates Alex Jones: Multiple news outlets report that Alex Jones’ Infowars program will likely be axed in the next few months after a federal judge allowed the auction of the show’s parent company, Free Speech Systems, to proceed. It’s possible bidders will step in and save the show, but once it’s sold off Jones will lose control of it. The auction is expected to generate only a small fraction of the $1 billion Jones owes to the Sandy Hook families.
The Little Engine That Apparently Could Not: Capital Metro’s newest high-frequency bus routes, CapMetro Rapid (formerly MetroRapid), have been delayed, KUT reported. In more sad news, the Expo Center and Pleasant Valley routes will now launch next year with less frequency and diesel-powered buses instead of electric.
Oh Yeah, There Was a Debate: Tuesday Americans watched the only vice presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz. NPR’s takeaways: Vance seemed more sane than Trump, Walz stumbled a bit at first, Vance doesn’t believe we should trust experts, and moderators left out some juicy topics including the war in Ukraine.
Quote of the Week
“It will make all the difference in the world if Colin is elected to the Senate.”
– Bernie Sanders in Austin Tuesday, talking about Senate candidate Colin Allred
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