Intermittent 911 outages on Sunday were the result of a denial-of-service attack in which hackers flooded call centers in the Central Texas region with robocalls. The robocalls came from AT&T numbers so authorities worked with the provider to identify and disconnect them. Normal operations were restored around 8 p.m. (KUT 90.5)
At least seven counties in the region experienced call center disruptions, affecting 21 different agencies:
- Round Rock Police Department
- Lakeway Police Department
- Travis County Sheriff’s Office
- Austin/Travis County EMS
- Austin Fire Department
- Austin Police Department
- Kyle Police Department
- Llano County Sheriff’s Office
- Burnet County Sheriff’s Office
- Cedar Park Police Department
- Hays County Sheriff’s Office
- Texas State Police Department
- Pflugerville Police Department
- Taylor Police Department
- University of Texas Police Department
- Marble Falls Police Department
- Georgetown Police Department
- Fayette County Sheriff’s Office
- Leander Police Department
- Lockhart Police Department
- Luling Police Department
“Sunday’s cause of 9-1-1 issues in some of the CAPCOG counties resulted from a random Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS) attack that caused call volumes to exceed capacity with the intention of overloading telecommunicators and causing technical difficulties. CAPCOG learned of the problem first in Round Rock and pulled in dedicated AT&T technicians to address it; working with AT&T’s Resolution Center, the numbers receiving the robocalls were identified and disconnected with normal operations restored at about 8 p.m. Sunday.
CAPCOG’s emergency communications staff notified all public safety answering point (PSAP) managers after the initial problem surfaced in Round Rock’s emergency call center around 1 p.m. Steps will be taken, working with AT&T, to prevent a repeat of this type of attack that is intended to intentionally overload 9-1-1 phone systems.”
— CAPCOG, or Capital Area Council of Governments
A child is dead after a shooting in Buda on Monday evening, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office said. The suspect is still at large.
The chief financial officer of the Austin school district has been placed on paid leave in connection with an arrest related to charges of insurance fraud for activities not related to the district. (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin police have identified a teenager who was struck and killed by a car in East Austin last Sunday. (KEYE-TV)
No charges have been filed after a homicide outside a restaurant in North Austin on Wednesday, July 24, the Austin Police Department (APD) said. (KVUE-TV)
The Austin Fire Department responded to a structure fire in North Austin, the incident occurred just after 3 p.m. Monday afternoon in the 2900 block of Silverleaf Drive. (KEYE-TV)
A mental health rescue package for Austin firefighters was put forward by the Austin Firefighters’ Association. It comes just weeks after an Austin firefighter died of suicide.
First responders and development services staff in Austin remain opposed to the single-staircase resolution that City Council approved in May. (Austin Monitor)
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed it has opened an investigation into the incident where a worker lost their life at Tesla’s Gigafactory last week. The Travis County Sheriff’s Office said they were called out to the Tesla facility at approximately 8:30 a.m. on August 1. The nature of the call was later changed to a deceased person, according to a spokesperson for TCSO. (MySanAntonio)
Austin City Council is expected to finalize its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. (KXAN-TV)
A tropical disturbance to keep an eye on along the Texas Gulf Coast as an area of disturbed weather over the central tropical Atlantic Ocean has the potential for some slow development over the next several days. (Houston Chronicle)
Will La Niña be weaker than expected? What would it mean for Texas and its farmers? (Dallas Morning News via MSN)
Barton Springs Pool has reopened after weekend rainstorms caused the popular Austin pool to close. (KEYE-TV)
Drivers can expect changes along Hwy. 290 and Circle Drive.
The $674 million project is an effort by the Texas Department of Transportation to increase long-term mobility near the Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71 intersection. (Community Impact)
Austin and CapMetro are rolling out bike and pedestrian safety upgrades downtown. (KXAN–TV)
Hutto‘s city manager has proposed a city budget of $438,474,075 for fiscal year 2024-25. (Community Impact)
Texas Department of Public Safety officials are putting a Ranger they had planned to fire for the botched Uvalde police response back to work after about 18 months of being suspended with pay. (KVUE-TV)
A Texas man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for decapitating his wife and leaving her head in the shower. (FOX News via MSN)
A Texas driver has died after his Tesla Cybertruck crashed early Monday morning and went up in flames. (Newsweek via MSN)
A Texas megachurch has revealed that its pastor was forced to step down over “excessively personal” and sometimes “sexual” communications with women. (The Independent via MSN)
The family of a 2-year-old Texas girl says she was mauled to death by three Rottweilers at her babysitter’s house. (People via MSN)
A Bastrop man is sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child.
How one Central Texas community in Lee County hopes to solve its feral hog problem. (KVUE-TV)
Real estate values in Texas are being hit by violent weather as insurance costs spike. (Markets Insider via MSN)
This weekend is Tax-Free Weekend in the state of Texas. (Fox4 Dallas)
An Austin resident is now planning to retire after winning a $29 million prize playing Lotto Texas. (Fox7 Austin)
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian says he likes what he’s seeing after the first five days of practice. Meanwhile, the preseason USA Today LBM coaches poll was released Monday with the Longhorns checked in at No. 4, ahead of Alabama at No. 5. (KXAN-TV via MSN)
As fall camp continues for the Longhorns, padded practices and scrimmages await. (Austin American-Statesman via MSN)
High school football camps in Texas began on Monday.
In the MLB last night in Arlington, the Texas Rangers scored a walk-off win against the Houston Astros, 4-3, thanks to Josh Smith‘s 10th-inning home run. (Yahoo! Sports)
A Texas team will have the chance to clinch a spot at the Little League World Series today in Waco. (Houston Chronicle)
It’s a big week for the Dallas Cowboys…
A large number of Texans are winning medals in Paris…perhaps more than some countries.
What will Texan and Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman do to celebrate gold? ‘Go all out’ on barbecue. (KXAN-TV)
A close examination of the population boom of San Antonio, Austin and the cities in between – and what the growth of this inevitable mega-metro means for its economy, transportation, construction and even its water supply.
YOUR WEATHER!!!!!!!!! WOW… that’s crazy
It’s a lot but I’m coping.