A heated confrontation erupted between Austin City Council member Natasha Harper-Madison and attendees at a joint budget town hall Saturday.
Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax proposed a $6.3 billion budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which addresses a projected $33 million shortfall. The balanced budget includes money for public safety, homelessness, park maintenance and the new infrastructure academy — but also includes an increase of fees and cuts to overtime. The proposal includes a 4% wage increase for City of Austin employees and increased funding for key services, with final approval expected later this month following public comment sessions and town halls like the contentious one yesterday.
In a newsletter to residents, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Sally Hernandez address the county’s response to the deadly July 5 flooding disaster in the northwestern area of the county.
“Our worst fears were realized when at 1:00 am, our 911 dispatchers received 49 flood-related calls. By 3:00 am, that number jumped to 112.
We could get to many of the callers, but we were completely stranded from some by the raging flood. By daylight, there were more than 30 calls in queue, waiting for us to be
able to physically reach them. Our deputies made their way to every last one of them. By day’s end TCSO received more than 600 calls above its normal call volume.
In the days and weeks that followed, TCSO has dedicated every resource possible to assist Travis County and Texas Department of Emergency Management in unified
efforts to respond to the disaster.” — Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez
Travis County’s Transportation and Natural Resources Department deployed contractors to collect flood debris from severely impacted northwest neighborhoods, focusing on streets like Long Hollow Loop.
The flooding washed out two critical bridges – one on FM 1431 and another leading into the Sandy Creek neighborhood near Leander, completely cutting off communities.
Federal disaster assistance became available after declarations by Governor Greg Abbott were expanded to include Travis County.
As cleanup efforts and debris removal continue, volunteers in the area say people have requested the need for power tools, hand tools and lawn mowers and weedwhackers, which can be hard to come by.
Austin police are investigating a homicide that happened early Saturday morning near the police headquarters.
Police did not say how the man was injured and the victim’s identity has not been released. The name of the person in custody was not released.
From the crime blotter early this morning…
1728 Colony Creek Drive
No other information was provided at press time.
An 89-year-old man who was previously reported missing was found safe Saturday afternoon, according to the Austin Police Department. (KXAN-TV)
In Austin on Thursday, what looked like a large-scale immigration enforcement operation took place near a construction site. A video posted by Reporte Austin showed officers arresting at least five men on the 1100 block of Town Creek Drive, outside the new Grayco South Shore apartment building. The footage showed several officers wearing masks, with one officer’s vest marked with “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.” Two Texas state troopers were also present.
There’s a new app that lets people track immigration and customs enforcement sightings in their communities.
A church in south Austin was vandalized, including having its displayed Pride flag torn down.
“Today, our church building was vandalized and our Progress Pride flag was torn down. This act was meant to threaten the mission we hold sacred: offering the radically inclusive love of God in Christ for the health and wholeness of mind, body, and spirit. Sadly, this is not the first time hateful rhetoric has appeared on our walls. And it comes at a time when our city is already hurting. Just days ago, a transgender woman was assaulted at Barton Springs. These are not isolated events. They are part of a growing pattern of violence and dehumanization targeting LGBTQIA+ people and other marginalized communities.” — Pastor Glenn Luhrs, Life in the City church
Life in the City church says a person spray painted “Pride was the 1st sin” on the walls of their building in Travis Heights on Friday. (CBS Austin)
An 89-year-old man who was previously reported missing was found safe Saturday afternoon, according to the Austin Police Department. (KXAN-TV)
The Stassney Lane Bridge remains closed today as part of the larger I-35 Capital Express South project.
Austin is updating its density bonus programs that encourage affordable housing in real estate projects but a city leader warns a new state law will complicate that effort. (Austin Business Journal)
Austin ISD is planning for staff cuts even after finding out federal funding is on the way. The uncertainty over the federal education grants has the school district re-evaluating how it moves forward.
WEATHER
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
The Texas House Redistricting Committee has passed HB 4, including the proposed redistricting maps.
How will redistricting in Texas impact the country nationwide?
Nationwide, Democrats plan to fight back.
Texas Republicans are betting that gains with Latino voters will persist. (Texas Tribune)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a full federal appeals court to reconsider its decision to uphold a ruling that prevents the state from enforcing a 2023 law that would allow local police to arrest people they believe crossed the Texas-Mexico border illegally. (FOX 7 Austin)
After visiting the controversy-plagued Karnes County Immigration Processing Center on Friday, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro called out the Trump Administration for manufacturing an environment for the tour that felt “very staged”. (San Antonio Current)
(Video mostly in Spanish)
Temple police are mourning the loss of one of their officers who reportedly drowned in Belton Lake.
The Texas Lottery Commission will pay nearly $46 million to a woman who was denied her winnings for months amid investigations and controversies that tied up her payout.
New numbers from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice project 18,000 new air-conditioned beds as a result of recent state funding in the first step towards full A/C coverage. (FOX 7 Austin)
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals remanded David Leonard Wood‘s case back to trial court after granting him a stay of execution just two days before he was scheduled to be put to death in March 2025. Wood, known as the “Desert Killer,” was convicted in 1992 for killing six girls between ages 14 and 24, burying their bodies in the desert northwest of El Paso.
A Mississippi man has been sentenced to a decade in prison for smuggling more than a dozen illegal immigrants in a cloned delivery truck. Cezanne Megel Patterson, a 29-year-old from Jackson, Mississippi, was sentenced to ten years of confinement.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Patterson was arrested on August 30, 2024, after a DPS trooper stopped what appeared to be a Lowe’s Home Improvement Store delivery truck along US-277 outside of Del Rio. During the search, 17 illegal immigrants were found crammed inside a three-foot-wide false compartment with no air ventilation. (My Texas Daily)
A new 146-acre park project is set to reshape the Northeast side of New Braunfels.
Also in New Braunfels, a 150-acre sports park to serve local youth leagues in baseball, softball and soccer will open next year. (My San Antonio)
(Episode from June 27, 2025)
(Episode from January 7, 2025)
SPORTS
MLB: The Houston Astros continue their struggles, losing six of their last ten games including last night’s loss in Boston.
Romy Gonzalez homered over the Green Monster on the first pitch faced by a Boston batter, Trevor Story added a two-run shot, and the Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 7-3 on Saturday. (Yahoo! Sports)
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers are pushing for a postseason spot.
Wyatt Langford hit a tiebreaking single in the 11th inning, and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Saturday. (Yahoo! Sports)
ON THE SCHEDULE
AL WEST STANDINGS
Star edge rusher Micah Parsons requests a trade. Dallas owner Jerry Jones responds, framing it as part of negotiations. Tensions rise as uncertainty looms.
Who Is Going To Step Up For The Houston Texans In 2025?
San Antonio native and conjunto legend Flaco Jiménez died on Thursday at the age of 86.
Two of the songs you hear Flaco Jimenez play in this Tiny Desk Concert are traditional German polkas; they were popular in the mid-1800s as German immigrants settled in Texas before it became part of the U.S. almost 20 years later. Over time, the two-step stayed the same, but the German lyrics were replaced by the Mexican storytelling song form known as corridos.
