Just over 8% of registered voters in Central Texas went to the polls Saturday to vote to approve or reject several school bond proposals as well as municipal and utility bonds.
There were also local races for Mayors and City Council positions in cities like: Hutto, Cedar Park, Bastrop, Burnet, Blanco, West Lake Hills, and others.
Some races of note:
According to complete but unofficial results, a 20-year Pflugerville school board trustee has been unseated.
Claudia Yañez unseated longtime board member Vernagene Mott.
In Eanes, Catherine Walker unseated incumbent Heather Sheffield. Walker got 63% of the 4,982 votes, according to complete but unofficial results.
In Bee Cave, residents overwhelmingly supported a plan to construct a $31 million public safety building that will house both the city’s Police Department and Lake Travis Fire Rescue Station 603. Officials said the construction would not raise city taxes.
Dripping Springs voters overwhelmingly approved a $402.3 million bond, which will build a second high school, renovate schools, buy school buses with seat belts and upgrade technology.
Hays school district voters approved $962.3 million in bond projects for local schools, including building a fourth traditional high school for the growing area and the purchase of 30 new school buses with seat belts.
Ishmael Harris and Willie DeLaRosa are headed for a runoff election for Bastrop mayor after Harris came up just short of winning 50% of the vote in a three-way race.
Meanwhile, the Texas Legislature is considering a bill that would make it harder for local officials to put bond proposals on the ballot.
A beautiful day on Lady Bird Lake has apparently turned tragic.
An off-duty Austin Police officer died Saturday in a motorcycle crash in San Marcos.
Chief Lisa Davis informed the Austin Police Department via email that Detective Israel Garcia died in an accident. He was pronounced dead at a San Marcos hospital. The details of the crash are currently unknown and the incident remains under investigation. (Austin American-Statesman)
A person was struck and killed by a vehicle early Saturday morning in southeast Austin near an elementary school, according to the Austin Police Department.
The incident happened around 3 a.m. near Ross Road and Pearce Lane, close to Del Valle Elementary School.
It remains unclear whether the crash was a hit-and-run. (CBS Austin)
An 18-year-old man wanted in connection to a May 2024 murder in Austin was arrested at the Texas-Mexico border.
Aden “Jeremiah” Munoz was one of three people charged in the May 2024 murder of 38-year-old Nicholas Taylor.
Taylor was shot and killed in the area of Colony Creek Drive in North Austin in what was the city’s 24th homicide of 2024. (Fox7 Austin)
A recent study showed the rent prices in Austin dropped when compared to 2024, and the city took the No. 2 spot for where rent decreased the most in the U.S. (KXAN-TV)
Austin continues to be a popular moving destination in the U.S., ranking ninth on Penske Truck Rental’s latest annual list of top locations.
The Pennsylvania-based company compiles this list based on its highest volume of one-way customer truck rentals, with the 2024 data placing Austin one spot lower than the previous year. (Austin Business Journal)
Apartments in the city of Austin’s Repeat Offender Program, which tracks and penalizes rental properties routinely found in violation of city code, finds the Alma North Plaza I apartment complex on East Rundberg Lane and Creeks Edge Apartments on Rutland Drive in North Austin, among others, in violation.
Despite a full overhaul being recommended by city auditors in October 2020, key changes to the program remain on hold nearly five years later due to litigation from a property owner on the list, according to city code department officials. (Austin American-Statesman)
A major tenant is slashing its office space in downtown Austin’s The Republic office building ahead of the high-rise tower’s anticipated completion later this year.
The tech investment firm Vista Equity Partners is seeking a subtenant for 79,464 square feet of space across the 41st, 42nd and 43rd floors in the tower. (Austin Business Journal)
ATX TV Festival 2025 is coming up at the end of the month and it has been announced that audiences will get a preview screening of Duster, the new show for Max from co-creators/executive producers/writers LaToya Morgan and J.J. Abrams.
There will also be a special panel presented by HBO and Max about The Gilded Age, with stars Carrie Coon, Christine Baranski and Morgan Spector discussing the glamour and betrayal of the show and previewing season 3.
Jon Hamm will also appear at the 2025 fest for a Mad Men retrospective timed to the 10th anniversary of the show’s finale. (Austin Chronicle)
WEATHER
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
The El Paso and greater Borderland area felt a series of earthquakes last night that originated about 200 miles east in West Texas.
After a decade of contentious debate that shaped Texas politics, Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation into law on Saturday establishing a private school voucher program.
Senate Bill 2 will allow families to use public taxpayer dollars to fund their children’s education at an accredited private school or to pay for a wide range of school-related expenses, like textbooks, transportation or therapy. The program will be one of the largest school voucher initiatives in the nation.
Residents near SpaceX’s South Texas rocket facility voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to incorporate as the City of Starbase. Cameron County officials confirmed the decision shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m., citing strong early voter turnout.
It’s not clear if Elon Musk, whose primary residence is here, cast a ballot. (KUT 90.5)
Former U.S. Air Force Under Secretary Gina Ortiz Jones and former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos have advanced from a crowded field of 27 candidates to a runoff in the race for mayor of San Antonio. (Texas Public Radio)
Voters in Mansfield Independent School District (ISD) overhauled the school board in their election yesterday, with challengers unseating conservative incumbents—including the board president and secretary—in all three contested races. (Newsweek vis MSN)
Houston Mayor John Whitmire has finalized a contract agreement with the Houston Police Officers’ Union to raise the salary of first-year police officers to $81,000. (Houston Chronicle)
One Texas lawmaker says the Texas Lottery is on “life support”.
One person is dead and fourteen others injured after a shooting last night in Houston.
Is the rate of measles infections in Texas starting to level off?
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASEBALL: It was a clean sweep for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
In a game that featured eight home runs, No. 1 Texas fell to No. 11 Arkansas, 13-8, Saturday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium, completing a three-game series sweep. (Texas Longhorns)
The Longhorns (38-8 overall and 19-5 in SEC) return home to face in-state foe Lamar for their final midweek contest of the year on Tuesday.
MLB: Jake Meyers homered twice on his way to a career-high seven RBIs in an 8-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Batting ninth in the lineup, he went 4 for 4 and scored three times while matching a franchise record with 13 total bases. (Yahoo! Sports)
Rowdy Tellez hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 on Saturday night for their sixth consecutive victory. (Yahoo! Sports)
A miracle comeback in Dallas last night.
NHL PLAYOFFS: Mikko Rantanen assisted on Wyatt Johnston’s tiebreaking power-play goa l with 3:56 left before completing a third-period hat trick with an empty-netter as the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in Game 7 on Saturday night to wrap up the first-round Western Conference playoff series. (Yahoo! Sports)
NBA PLAYOFFS: The decisive Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors is tonight.
MLS: Austin FC fell 3-0 against Minnesota United on Saturday night at Q2 Stadium. (Austin FC)
Up next:
NASCAR: Kyle Larson took the lead on the restart of the second overtime and went on to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The victory is his second of the season in the Xfinity Series. (MSN)
We’re stepping in to the Wayback Machine today and going back 55 years to 1970.
A look at several intersections around Austin in 1970 including 8th and Red River, 38th and Lamar, 19th and Guadalupe, 12th and Lamar, Highway 183 and 81 and people walking around in the rain in downtown Austin.
