Following the Texas Lottery’s announcement of a planned ban on courier services, popular lottery app Jackpocket has ceased operations in Texas. Just hours after the Lottery’s statement, Jackpocket notified users via email that it had suspended its lottery courier services.
In a scathing letter to the Texas Lottery Commission, State Rep. John Bucy, III (D-Austin), expressed outrage over the move saying the Lottery Commission doesn’t have the authority to ban lottery courier apps.
”To my astonishment, and that of many of my colleagues in the Texas Legislature, the Commission abruptly decided yesterday that it has the power to not only regulate, but to also outlaw lottery courier operations – a complete contradiction of its own actions, testimony, and requests.” — State Rep. John Bucy III, D-Austin
Bucy introduced legislation on Monday to regulate courier services.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick disagreed that lottery officials had no authority to regulate courier apps and wondered what took the Lottery Commission so long.
Players that used the Jackpocket app speak out on its closing down operations in Texas.
For a $93 million Lotto Texas jackpot in 2023, an entity named Rook TX found a way to spend about $25 million for nearly all the possible number combinations. (KXAN-TV)
Potential measles exposures linked to one person have now been identified in San Marcos, San Antonio, and New Braunfels, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The department also reported a total of 124 measles cases in the Panhandle and Lubbock regions.
Texas measles cases by county:
Dallam: 4
Dawson: 7
Ector: 2
Gaines: 80
Lubbock: 1
Lynn: 1
Martin: 3
Terry: 21
Yoakum: 5
TOTAL: 124
Health officials in Comal County are urging residents to exercise caution after a Gaines County resident, who may have been exposed to measles, visited the Buc-ee’s along I-35.
Health officials are urging everyone to get vaccinated.
Architects revealed the design for Austin’s new convention center at a City Council work session Tuesday morning.
Construction of a new convention center during the next four years means the annual SXSW festival will have to make some changes. (CBS Austin)
Police have arrested a third suspect in connection with the December shooting death of a 17-year-old in a north Austin parking garage. (CBS Austin)
A woman is suing an Austin-area spa chain franchise, claiming she was sexually assaulted during a massage. (KVUE-TV)
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis says that after six weeks of reopening 6th Street to vehicular traffic on weekends has, so far, been beneficial.
Originally, the city planned to continue the pilot program until South by Southwest. However, 6th Street will revert to vehicle traffic during SXSW to manage increased crowds and event activity. (KXAN-TV)
New Braunfels has named Osbaldo Flores as its next police chief. (CBS Austin)
Austin firefighters responded to a chimney fire late Tuesday evening.
CapMetro’s new fare payment system launches next week.
The current CapMetro app, along with the physical and virtual AMP cards, will be going away. In their place, two new apps will launch: the Umo app to pay your fare, and the Transit app to plan your ride.
Later this spring, “tap to pay” will launch. (Fox7 Austin)
Governor Greg Abbott visited Georgetown on Tuesday to rally support for his legislative agenda, with a strong emphasis on school choice.
Abbott addressed the Texas Republicans’ Legislative Dinner.
Due to forecasts of very high to extreme wildfire conditions in Far West and Big Bend, and significant risks in the Panhandle, South Plains, Permian Basin, and parts of the Hill Country, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has activated state resources.
WEATHER
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
Forecasters are monitoring weather patterns into early next week. The likelihood of damaging thunderstorms, some packing severe weather and possibly tornadoes will ramp up over the south-central United States. (AccuWeather)
Scientists say the number of earthquakes in West Texas have been increasing over the past decade and attribute the cause to gas and oil extraction, or “fracking”.
New data reveals that Texas holds the largest number of immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities nationwide. As of February 8th, out of 38,919 people detained across the United States, 10,881—more than a quarter—were held in Texas. (KXAN-TV)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported over 100 arrests during an operation in a large, predominantly Latino housing development near Houston on Monday. However, the agency only disclosed details regarding a single arrest. (Texas Tribune)
Acting United States Attorney Margaret Leachman announced that federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas have handled over 900 immigration and related criminal cases since January 20th. These cases originated from or were supported by federal law enforcement agencies such as Homeland Security Investigations, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the U.S. Border Patrol. (My Texas Daily)
A 21-year-old was arrested Monday for making terroristic threats against the Corpus Christi Police Department. The arrest followed online threats, with the FBI’s Corpus Christi office reporting on X that the individual planned an attack mirroring the 2016 Dallas ambush that resulted in the deaths of five police officers.
An East Texas teacher and her boyfriend have been arrested on child pornography charges. (Texas Scorecard)
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas is in hot water with GOP colleagues and fans of Tucker Carlson after allegedly getting caught on a hot mic threatening to “f–king kill” the Trump-allied, conservative podcast host. (Houston Chronicle)
As Elon Musk veers right, some Tesla drivers in Texas are saying ‘hell no’. (KUT 90.5)
A lawsuit by a Dairy Queen franchise owner revealed more details about what may have led to the closure of 25 Texas restaurants recently.
North Texas could be getting a nearly $1 billion waterpark resort.
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Texas Longhorns (16-11 overall, 5-9 SEC) travel to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas (also 16-11 and 5-9) tonight at 8:00 p.m.
Tonight’s contest marks the second matchup in the last 21 days between the two former Southwest Conference rivals. The Razorbacks will play host to the Longhorns in Fayetteville for the first time since the 2009-10 season. (Texas Longhorns)
12th-ranked Texas A&M hosts Vanderbilt tonight. (Yahoo! Sports)
NBA: Luka Doncic had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists in his first game against the Dallas Mavericks since they traded him to the Lakers, leading Los Angeles to a 107-99 victory Tuesday night. (Yahoo! Sports)
Luka Doncic spoke to the media after posting a triple-double in his first game against the Dallas Mavericks as a member fo the Los Angeles Lakers.
Trey Murphy III scored 24 points, Zion Williamson added 18 and the New Orleans Pelicans completed a two-game home game sweep of the San Antonio Spurs, 109-103 on Tuesday night. (Yahoo! Sports)
Bexar County commissioners on Tuesday voted to move forward on hammering out a memorandum of understanding with the city and San Antonio Spurs for a proposed downtown home for the NBA team. (Texas Public Radio)
Jalen Green had 25 points and Alperen Sengun added 23 to lead the Houston Rockets to a 100-97 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night in a game where Amen Thompson was ejected for a hard foul on Giannis Antetokounmpo. (Yahoo! Sports)
The Spurs are in Houston tonight. (Yahoo! Sports)
NHL: Kirill Marchenko scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Dallas Stars 6-4 on Tuesday night. (Yahoo! Sports)
Pope John Paul II made history when he visited San Antonio on Sept. 13, 1987, as part of his nine-city tour of the United States. Here is a look back at his visit.
