Suing Over Outsider Money: Austin mayoral candidate Doug Greco is suing the city over its campaign finance rules that limit the amount a candidate can raise from outside city limits to $47,000. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges that existing rules violate First Amendment rights by silencing those outside of Austin, KUT reports.
Rent Story Reversal: Rents across the nation are on the way up, but Austin’s rents are still going down, KUT’s Audrey McGlinchy reported this week. The pandemic created crazy demand in Austin, and in 2021, the average monthly rent in the region rose 25%. With tens of thousands of new apartments now online in Austin and the rate of people moving to the city slowing down, that trend has flipped. According to new counts from Zillow, Austin leads the country in declining rents.
APD’s Solve Rate: Why doesn’t the Austin Police Department publish yearly reports on the crimes it solves? After KUT’s Andrew Weber asked APD about clearance (solved case) rates, the department said it will begin publicizing those numbers. KUT looked at data submitted by APD to the Texas Department of Public Safety and found Austin has had a pretty average clearance rate compared to other U.S. cities, and recent murder clearance rates are significantly above the national average.
Patriot Patrick: Dan Patrick’s got some swell priorities for the upcoming session. The lieutenant governor released a list of goals for the next legislative session on Tuesday, asking for legislation prohibiting protesters from being able to cover their faces during demonstrations, plus a return to emphasizing school vouchers and property tax relief. He’s also renewing his war on higher education, requesting new anti-DEI legislation, per Texas Tribune reporting.
Feeling Out Phelan Replacements: A lot of folks want to replace House Speaker Dade Phelan. On Tuesday, James Frank of Wichita Falls became the fourth Republican to announce for speaker, joining Tom Oliverson, Shelby Slawson, and David Cook in the race. Frank is a big supporter of school vouchers, a scheme allowing private religious schools to use public school funding. Republicans have bitterly criticized Phelan for allowing vouchers to die in the last legislative session and for allowing the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Trump Train Trial Underway: On Monday, an Austin jury watched video taken by Wendy Davis in the waning days of the 2020 presidential election, showing a convoy of trucks flying Trump flags as they surrounded a Biden-Harris bus traveling north on I-35 through San Marcos. In the video, the Trump supporters box the bus in, slowing it to 20 miles an hour on the freeway, and scream obscenities out of their windows. Davis and two others who were on the bus are suing six of the Trump train participants, saying they illegally threatened and intimidated them.
Cheneys For Kamala: Dick Cheney was once so despised for pushing the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that comics like Jon Stewart regularly compared him to Darth Vader. Now, the somehow-still-alive lord of the dark side is warning voters to support Kamala Harris, saying, “there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.” Cheney’s endorsement came a day after his daughter, Liz, announced she would vote for Harris.
Hostile to Voting: The man who could be evil-er than Dick Cheney, Attorney General Ken Paxton, expanded his statewide assault against voting last week, suing Travis County to block an effort to encourage non-registered folks to sign up to vote. The lawsuit followed another filed against Bexar County (county seat: San Antonio) for a similar get-out-the-vote effort and a raid conducted by Paxton’s office targeting an 87-year-old volunteer. “He’s basically saying I don’t want new folks, people who are U.S. citizens, to get a chance to vote,” U.S. Rep. Greg Casar said during a discussion at the Texas Tribune Festival.
Warning to Dripping Springs Residents: The Hays County Sheriff’s Office is increasing patrols between Nutty Brown Road and Sawyer Branch Road along Highway 290, southwest of Austin. Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Hipolito, who is running for sheriff (there’s lots of his signs along that stretch), said that crashes have risen dramatically on the road since the beginning of the year. The department will continue the patrols until Sept. 19, at which point it will analyze the data and decide whether to continue them.
Hotel Tax to Pay For Homelessness Services: City leaders think a long-envisioned new hotel tax to provide homelessness services funding could be ready for final City Council approval in a few weeks, the Austin Business Journal reported. Tom Noonan, CEO of Visit Austin, said plenty of hotels have signed on to the agreement.
Quote of the Week
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats.”
– Former President Donald Trump at the Debate Tuesday
This article appears in September 13 • 2024.