On just the second night of opening East 6th Street to vehicular traffic in an effort to reduce crime, Austin’s third homicide of 2025 occurred in the neighborhood in the parking lot of a gas station.
A single car accident last night injured two people on Ben White Boulevard.
City officials are closely watching a winter storm system that is almost certain to bring freezing temperatures to the ATX beginning Sunday morning with the harder freeze coming Monday into Tuesday and along with it the area’s first chance for accumulating snowfall in several years.
Austin city officials will open overnight Cold Weather Shelters (CSW) tonight, January 18.
Shelters will continue to be available each night through at least Wednesday, Jan. 22. (City of Austin)
Due to anticipated winter weather next week, some Central Texas school districts have decided to close their campuses. Most school districts are already closed on Monday for the MLK Day holiday.
But two area school systems have already decided to cancel classes for Tuesday in anticipation of the approaching weather.
More on the impending winter weather and a look at the extended forecast can be found further down this post in WEATHER.
Texas state fire marshals are investigating a possible home explosion in Bastrop County early Friday morning.
A former Bartlett Independent School District employee was arrested Thursday by police on charges of an improper relationship between an educator/student that happened in August 2024, as well as sexual assault of a child. (KXAN-TV)
An Austin man who was convicted on felony drug charges has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. (KVUE-TV)
The Martin Luther King Jr. community march, scheduled for Monday, has been canceled due to the expected winter weather. (MLK Celebration)
Siete Foods, an Austin-based company saw its $1.2 billion acquisition deal by PepsiCo finalized. (Austin Business Journal)
E2open, a longtime Austin software company, has quietly relocated to North Texas.
Flu cases are on the rise in Texas and Austin. Flu activity has gone from a moderate to high level and schools are starting to be impacted. (CBS Austin)
“Rain and drizzle will first break out along the South Texas coast on Monday. As the moisture expands northward as a storm develops along the coast, areas of freezing rain, sleet and snow will begin to fall over central and northeastern Texas from later Monday to Monday night and continue into Tuesday.”
“As the storm takes an eastward path along the upper Gulf coast at first, snow and ice will continue to press eastward.”
“In Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, ice or a wintry mix will be the primary form of precipitation along Interstate 10. Depending on the storm track, an icy or winter mix may even reach parts of northern Florida.” — AccuWeather
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
Texas is sending disaster recovery personnel to California. The state previously sent firefighters, medics and other emergency management officials to help with the recent wildfires.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to restart workplace immigration raids. What does that mean for Texas? (KUT 90.5)
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge David Newell will not seek reelection in 2026 after serving 12 years on the state’s highest criminal court, he announced Friday. (Austin American-Statesman)
Gov. Greg Abbott has signaled another public education priority this Legislative session: banning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in K-12 public schools.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission announced a significant data breach affecting at least 61,000 individuals, potentially exposing their protected health information and personal identifying details. (KVUE-TV)
An AMBER Alert issued for two missing children from Ingram has been canceled. (Fox7 Austin)
PODCAST: This week’s episode of “Texas Matters” explains that while there doesn’t seem to be much oxygen available for progressives in the 89th Texas Legislature, that’s not stopping organizations with a progressive agenda from showing up and fighting for the bills they want to see passed. (Texas Public Radio)
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Texas Longhorns travel to Gainesville for a big SEC matchup against Florida at 3:00 p.m.
Texas will face its third Top 5 opponent in its last four games. (Texas Longhorns)
Game 18: Texas (12-5, 1-3 SEC) at #5/4 Florida (15-2, 2-2 SEC)
The No. 11-ranked Texas A&M Aggies host the LSU Tigers this evening at 7:30 p.m. (Yahoo! Sports)
NBA: Kyrie Irving scored 25 points, Spencer Dinwiddie and P.J. Washington Jr. added 16 apiece and the Dallas Mavericks beat Oklahoma City 106-98 Friday night. (Yahoo! Sports)
The San Antonio Spurs were handed their biggest defeat of the season in a 140-112 blowout at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies. (Yahoo! Sports)
The Mavericks and Spurs both have the day off while the Houston Rockets travel to Portland tonight. (Yahoo! Sports)
NHL: The Dallas Stars are in Colorado today. The puck drops at 3:00 p.m. (Yahoo! Sports)
NFL PLAYOFFS: Houston Texans fans have invaded Kansas City ahead of today’s NFL Divisional Round Playoff game.
Investigators have uncovered a large-scale counterfeit sports memorabilia operation in a McKinney home.
MSL: Austin FC have agreed a deal to sign Albanian international forward Myrto Uzuni from Granada CF. (Give Me Sport)
Today we’re visiting Laredo. An interesting and historical Texas city on the southern border.
