The Texas Longhorns are the underdogs tonight as they face the Buckeyes of Ohio State in Arlington in the Cotton Bowl with a shot at the national championship still within reach.
More on the Cotton Bowl can be found further down this post in SPORTS.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, multiple ducks found dead at a shopping center in northwest Austin have tested positive for avian influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, according to preliminary results.
What to know about bird flu. (KXAN-TV)
Austin Public Health on Wednesday issued a public health advisory to remind people who work with or have contact with wild birds, poultry or cattle to take precautions.
Mason ISD is delaying the start of school by two hours today. Buses will run two hours late.
Austin Independent School District phone lines were down temporarily Thursday due to an outage. (KXAN-TV)
A late night house fire in Southeast Austin Thursday night has displaced four residents.
Austin police are releasing more details about the city’s second homicide of the year that occurred early Thursday morning.
A Kyle man has been charged with driving while intoxicated following a crash that ultimately led to a train wreck.
Two people were arrested in connection to a series of aggravated robberies in December.
Hays County authorities are looking for a suspect who broke into a vehicle, stole personal property and then used the victim’s credit card to make purchases.
Texas DPS is trying to identify a woman killed in an auto-pedestrian crash on New Year’s Day in Del Valle.
On December 30, a Texas DPS trooper stopped to assist a driver in a Ford F-150 parked on the shoulder of US-277 in Maverick County. During the roadside interview, the trooper observed signs of nervousness. The driver consented to a search of the vehicle, resulting in the recovery of six illegal immigrants concealed underneath boxes in the rear seat area.
The smuggler, Yahaira Mireles Ramirez, from Austin, was charged with six counts of smuggling of persons. All six illegal immigrants, from Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico, were referred to Border Patrol.
The INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard released Thursday shows that drivers in Austin lost nearly two days’ worth of hours to traffic jams last year. (KVUE-TV)
CapMetro will part ways with its unreliable QR code-based fare system and switch to tap-to-pay technology beginning in March. (KUT 90.5)
Austin’s process to bring in homeless residents from the cold has improved in the last few months due, in part, to changes in the system that give more of a heads up when shelters are opened. (KUT 90.5)
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
Travel has been disrupted in the Dallas/Fort Worth area due to the weather.
Snowfall totals in North Texas yesterday.
Teague, Texas, was the “lightning capital of the US” in 2024 with over 1,900 events per square mile.
Texas as a state had more than 40 million lightning strikes in 2024, which was more than Florida, Oklahoma and Kansas combined. (Fox7 Austin)
As the fires in Southern California rage on, some families with ties to Central Texas say they’ve had to evacuate.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson spoke to the Austin American-Statesman about what’s at stake for the city in the upcoming 89th Texas Legislative session. (Austin American-Statesman)
Despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s claim that school choice will become a reality this year, the top Texas House Democrat says Abbott’s biggest legislative priority may be up in the air. (Chron)
Less than 24 hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico, Texas Governor Greg Abbott threw out a suggestion. While Trump recommended renaming it to the “Gulf of America,” Abbott proposed changing it to the “Gulf of Texas.” (MySanAntonio)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing TikTok for the second time.
An El Paso pediatrician being sued by the state for allegedly administering puberty blockers and hormones to minors for gender transition says he’s innocent. (Texas Tribune)
A San Antonio H-E-B store was forced to close early Thursday after reports of someone with a gun in the building.
SPORTS
COTTON BOWL: The No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns (13-2) will square off against the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes (12-2) in the 2025 College Football Playoff semifinals on Friday in the Cotton Bowl. The Buckeyes knocked off top-seeded Oregon, 41-21, in the Rose Bowl and the Longhorns defeated No. 4 Arizona State, 39-31, in double-overtime in the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Day to advance to the semifinals. This is their first meeting since 2009 when Texas defeated Ohio State, 24-21.
The winner of this game will face Notre Dame in the CFP National Championship Game on January 20.
Both head coaches held a joint media briefing Thursday.
PETA is urging SEC and Cotton Bowl officials to ban Longhorns mascot Bevo from being present at the game.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Senior Rori Harmon moved into second on the Texas career assist list and Madison Booker scored 21 points in 18 minutes as the No. 5/6 Texas women’s basketball team took down No. 18/19 Alabama 84-40 on Thursday at Moody Center.
It was their largest margin of victory against an AP-top 25 team in at least 25 years. (Texas Longhorns)
NBA: Jaden Hardy scored a season-high 25 points off the bench, P.J. Washington had 23 points and 14 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks used a late 16-0 run to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 117-111 on Thursday night. (Yahoo! Sports)
Alperen Sengun had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets held on to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 119-115 on Thursday night in a showdown between two of the top teams in the Western Conference. (Yahoo! Sports)
The Mavericks, Rockets and Spurs all have tonight off.
Let’s take a moment and enjoy the sights and sounds of a Texas snow day.
