City Council meets today (Thursday, Nov. 12) with a full slate of zoning cases along with contentious matters like short-term rentals and a Convention Center Master Plan, while hoping the next flood is not imminent. See “Council: It Never Rains but It Pours,” Nov. 13.
The U.S. Justice Department announced it would appeal to the Supreme Court the 5th Circuit Court‘s 2-1 decision overruling President Obama‘s executive action directing “deferred action” on deportation of an estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants.
Flood aftermath and flood threat remain ongoing concerns in the Onion Creek and Williamson Creek area, as City Council held a special-called meeting Sunday and an open house at Perez Elementary Monday to hear affected residents and take steps to accelerate city buyouts of flooded homes. See “Council: It Never Rains but It Pours,” Nov. 13.
Austin Pets Alive! has regained custody of Neville, the 30-pound lab mix that bit a 2-year-old boy in the face in September. Previously sentenced to death by the Austin Municipal Court, Neville will now be placed in a home, provided (by order of Travis County Attorney David Escamilla) he receives behavioral training and is not placed in a home with children.
A McLennan County grand jury issued 106 indictments on Tuesday in connection to the May 17 shootout that left nine dead at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco. Each of the 106 have been charged with engaging in organized crime. Seventy-one more arrestees are yet to go before the grand jury. Proceedings were not open to the public, and a judge has put a gag order over the many cases.
Marlin Police Chief Darrell Allen, 43, died Tuesday after being shot in the face on Nov. 1 while working off-duty security at the Laid Back Lounge II in nearby Temple. Temple police arrested 24-year-old Derrick Wayne Gamble in connection.
Raphael Holiday becomes the 13th and final Texan to be executed in 2015; there currently remain no more state-approved killings on the docket. In 2002, Holiday, 36, was convicted of killing his daughter and two step-daughters by setting fire to their home.
Gerrymandering remains, as a U.S. District Court in San Antonio said the contested congressional and state House maps drawn by Republicans in 2013 will be used in the 2016 elections. The judges denied a request for a temporary injunction, ruling that changing the maps this close to the primaries would be too disruptive to democracy.
This article appears in November 13 • 2015.