“To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do.” — John Adams
Today is President’s Day, a federal holiday, which means several area school systems (including Austin ISD) are closed, there’s no USPS mail delivery and banks, courthouses and other government buildings are closed today. Some municipalities may skip garbage and recycling pickup for the holiday.
Another “50-50-1“protest and rally is scheduled for today at the Texas State Capitol.
Tens of thousands of runners braved the cold temperatures Sunday morning for the 2025 Austin Marathon.
Bradley Makuvire of El Paso and Janet Rono of Grand Prairie emerged as the elite division champions on Sunday. Makuvire, a Zimbabwean national and South Carolina Gamecocks collegiate runner, won the men’s race in 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 56.7 seconds. He narrowly defeated Conner Weaver (2:19:3.7) and George Onyancha (2:19:47.1), the 2024 champion, who finished second and third, respectively. Rono secured the women’s elite title.
One woman crawled 13.1 miles on Austin High School’s track on Saturday, before running another 13.1 miles in the Austin Marathon on Sunday to raise awareness of sexual assault survivors.
A 19-year-old is dead following a crash in Cedar Park late Saturday night. Authorities say street racing may have been involved.
Also late Saturday night, Austin firefighters responded to a person in distress on Lady Bird Lake.
Austin firefighters responded to a house fire just before midnight last night.
One person was injured in a single vehicle collision in northwest Austin Sunday.
A combination of new funding requests, rising costs, and disappointing property tax revenue has widened the Austin school district’s budget deficit to $110 million, up from $92 million, according to interim CFO Katrina Montgomery. This has triggered a district-wide spending and hiring freeze. (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin’s Northeast neighborhood now has a revitalized green space with the grand opening of the Davis-White Northeast Neighborhood Park on Sunday.
Austin’s Deep Eddy Pool will be closed Tuesday for maintenance.
Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace Inc., which builds rockets and lunar landers, has received an $8.2 million grant from the Texas Space Commission that will enable it to increase its manufacturing capabilities, conduct educational outreach and add 50 jobs.
The company currently employes about 750. (Austin Business Journal)
Forbes, in collaboration with Statista, has named Austin one of America’s Best Employers for 2025. (CBS Austin)
Austin’s Housing Department has secured $42 million to support the creation of 1,429 affordable housing units across 11 developments. Approved by the Austin Housing Finance Corp. in December and January, these projects will provide 1,315 rental and 114 ownership units for families earning up to 80% of the area’s median income. Groundbreaking is anticipated for several of these projects in the coming months. (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin Community College classes in Lockhart are set to get underway this week.
Lake Travis ISD expects to start the 2025-2026 school year with budget surplus.
Regional transportation authorities and researchers have joined forces to create a cutting-edge test track at UT Austin’s J.J. Pickle Research Campus in North Austin. The project focuses on advancing smart transportation infrastructure as automated vehicles increasingly roam local streets. (Community Impact)
More autonomous vehicle companies are set to begin operations here in Austin. (KUT 90.5)
You can ride the Zilker Eagle Mini Train for free today.
TxDOT began early preparations Sunday in anticipation of the extreme cold weather heading our way tomorrow night and into Wednesday.
WEATHER
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a press conference in Austin this morning on Texas’ preparation and response ahead of winter weather set to impact the state.
PODCAST: This week’s episode of State of Texas produced by KXAN-TV:
A new poll shows a majority of Texans were satisfied with how the 2024 elections were run. The poll also found that there’s strong support for some election reform ideas being considered by state lawmakers, like requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. (Fox7 Austin)
A former teacher in Montgomery County has been charged after making terroristic threats against a school.
Houston Methodist ranks third in Forbes’ list of the top large employers in the U.S. and is the highest-ranking large healthcare employer overall. (Houston Chronicle)
The measles outbreak in West Texas is drawing national attention.
Who are the undocumented immigrants in Texas?
The estimated 1.7 million undocumented people in Texas are now targets of the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown. Here’s what we know about them. (Texas Tribune)
One person was injured after a plane crash at an airshow in Laredo yesterday.
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Texas defense held LSU 29 points below their season scoring average, including outscoring the Tigers 21-9 in the fourth quarter, to propel themselves to a 65-58 victory in front of 10,542 fans at Moody Center on Sunday. (Texas Longhorns)
COLLEGE BASEBALL: For the second straight night, Texas mounted a comeback to cruise to victory, as the Longhorns (2-1) downed Oklahoma State (1-2) by a score of 14-8 at Globe Life Field on Sunday evening.
The Longhorns clinched the Shriners Children’s College Showdown title with a dominant performance, securing two wins in the final days and boasting a tournament-leading +15 run differential. (Texas Longhorns)
NBA: Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Darrell Armstrong was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He allegedly hit a woman with a gun and threatened to shoot her during an argument.
WNBA: Brittney Griner headlined the 2025 class inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame over the weekend. (KWTX-TV)
Sources say Austin is not likely to get a WNBA team anytime soon. (Austin Business Journal)
The latest episode of PBS’ Texas Parks & Wildlife introduces us to volunteers monitoring bird injuries and mortalities in downtown Dallas and how keeping our lights out during migration can help our feathered friends.
