Some Weird Shit: A Tuesday night Sean Hannity interview with Donald Trump and Elon Musk might have shed some light on who, between the two men, is really running our country. But, as Atlantic writer and professor emeritus of national security affairs Tom Nichols put it after watching the interview, “I am still not sure who’s in charge.” He continued poignantly, “After an hour of this rambling and sometimes weird conversation, all I could think of was George W. Bush’s reported reaction to Trump’s first inaugural address: ‘That was some weird shit.’”
To Russia, With Love: Ever since Trump’s first term, it’s been outrageously obvious that he is a Russian ally, if not a Russian asset. Now that his team is unilaterally “negotiating” an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine – in Saudi Arabia of all places, with participation from Russia but not from Ukraine itself – there are daily reminders of our dramatically altered world order. On Tuesday, Trump blatantly lied that it was Ukraine that started the war and that its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has a 4% approval rating. Zelensky, whose approval rating is around 50%, responded that he would “like to have more truth with the Trump team.”
Rallying for Ukraine: For those interested in showing support to Ukraine, the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America announced this week that it will host an 11am rally Saturday in front of the Capitol (on the same day as a rally in support of public education). Monday will mark three years since Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine.
Affordable Effort Payoff: Austin is leading the nation in building new affordable housing, according to a new study. An analysis firm Yardi Matrix found that 4,600 units of affordable housing were built in the city last year and that the city is expected to finish more units than any other over the next several years. The homes will be available to families making up to 60% of the city’s median family income, which is about $76,000 a year for a family of four. Yardi Matrix’s research shows Austin could build over 9,500 homes in the next three years. That’s far better than Seattle, the city it predicts will build the second-most units at 6,300.
Developing Downtown: With all the projects underway Downtown, it would be nice to have a little coordination between builders to make sure the spaces created work on all the necessary levels. That’s the idea behind the Downtown Austin Strategic Initiative, a plan approved by City Council last week that, according to the Austin Monitor, seeks to coordinate strategies around “mobility, infrastructure, arts, culture, economic development, public safety, homelessness and green spaces in the city’s core.” The new initiative will evaluate the Interstate 35 cap-and-stitch project, Project Connect, and the Austin Convention Center expansion, among several other undertakings.
Demo Day For Burnet: When it was originally built in the early 1960s, Burnet Middle School had no air conditioning! That, according to a report by Austin ISD, is just one of the issues the district has dealt with in regard to the North Central campus over the last several decades. The school has been retrofitted with HVAC, but its old-fashioned single-pane windows make the system inefficient. The gyms and cafeteria are too small and the electrical outlets are inadequate. And the bus canopies where students are dropped off in the morning are rusted through. So the school, though beautiful, will be smashed this summer and a new one built from scratch on the site, to be ready for the 2027-28 school year.
More Money Gone: Things just keep going south for Austin ISD’s budget. Last week, our local school district announced that its ongoing budget deficit has deepened from $92 million in the current school year to $110 million. AISD leaders say that in response they have instituted a hiring freeze. The district’s interim Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery said that lower than anticipated federal funding has helped drive up the budget deficit.
Who Are Texas’ Undocumented Immigrants: A Lubbock man who was running an errand with his wife and three kids, a Rio Grande Valley man driving a tractor near the farm he’s worked on for a decade, and an 18-year-old Venezuelan who only entered the U.S. after securing an appointment with federal immigration officials to request asylum. These are three Texans facing deportation. The Texas Tribune this week laid out statistics about Texas’ undocumented population, highlighting these three stories.
That Actually Won’t Work: We don’t know why, but when the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles rejects applications for personalized license plates each year it then turns around and publishes the submissions that were rejected. There were plenty of naughty ones last year, the Statesman reports. Here are some things you apparently cannot put on your plate: DRG LORD, NASTE, BGDDY 69, QWKLICK, CHKNBTT, BUCCOFF, THCKAF, F@T BTY, PAID-KLR, HIT NSUE, FAKE ID, POLICE, BUBLBUT, MILFJK, XERO*FX, TOP1ESS, NCE RACK, and FUKELON.
Uber, Move Over: You see driverless cars all around the city, but there’s hardly ever a passenger inside. That is about to change, however, as the self-driving car company Waymo announced last week that riders will soon be able to hail self-driving cars through Uber by including autonomous vehicles in their ride preferences, increasing their chance of getting a driverless car once the service goes public.
Quote of the Week
“People are feeling scared. But remember, courage is not the opposite of fear. You got to feel the fear and then you keep going. And that’s what courage is.”
– U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland
This article appears in February 21 • 2025.