Files charged against Cedar Park standoff perpetrator
Multiple charges have been filed against the man accused of shooting three Cedar Park cops. He’s been identified as Joseph Desean Taylor. Cedar Park Police Chief Mike Harmon says about 50 rounds were fired between Taylor and the three officers who responded to the 911 call Sunday afternoon.
“Officer Jacqueline Quiles, she has been with the department for four years; officer Chris Hester is a 10 year veteran, and officer Nik Anderson has been on officer with us for eight years.” says Harmon.
All three were shot, but all three are recovering. One of them did undergo surgery yesterday. Taylor, meantime, faces three charges of aggravated assault on a public servant and three charges of aggravated kidnapping for allegedly holding his family hostage during that near 18 hour standoff.
Reimaging Public Safety Task Force
Those living in Austin can have a say on how the city will reshape the police department through the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force. Greater Austin Crime Commission’s Cary Roberts says the group is reassured in the task force process because average residents can help direct the conversation over the next six months.
“In the same time period as that, we’ll have five council seats that are up for reelection. So as we look to major budget adjustments, it’s a possibility that there could be other members of the council,” sats Roberts.
While he doesn’t see major changes on council, he notes the task force will help decide what duties APD keeps and what efficiencies could be brought into public safety.
Austin council seats being challenged
The Austin council’s numerous controversial decisions in recent years have led to a huge field of challengers this year. Two people have filed to unseat Greg Casar in District four. In District six, three candidates are hoping to oust Jimmy Flannigan. The field is most crowded in District 10 where six people are trying to replace Alison Alter. In total, 20 council candidates are looking for a seat this November.
COVID-19 relief
The city of Austin is launching a new program to help the local creative sector. Mayor Steve Adler explains the new Creative Worker Relief Grant programs.
“It’s a $3.5 million fund providing $2,000 grants to help Austin’s creative sector workers offset expenses, like rent and bills and groceries,” says Adler.
In addition to that, all Austin renters impacted by COVID-19 can apply tomorrow for the second round of the Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants Assistance Program (RENT). People will be chosen at random, but they can get up to three months of rent paid for by the Austin taxpayer.
COVID-19 update
ICU beds and ventilators in Travis County are slowly but steadily freeing up as the number of total coronavirus patients in the hospitals is also falling. Today, there are 236 people hospitalized, 83 of whom are in the ICU. Of the 24,409 confirmed cases within the past five months, 23,144 are people who have made a recovery.
767 more coronavirus recoveries have been added to Williamson County’s tally, bringing the total there up to 6,663. 730 cases are still active, and that number has plunged by 704 from just one day ago. 69 of those active cases involve someone who is in the hospital. A grand total of 7,482 cases have been found since March.
Round Rock online school begins
Classes began Thursday in the Round Rock School District. While kids will be working exclusively online for a few weeks. Some teachers are already back in the classroom. Terra Vista Elementary teacher Stephanie Stoebe tells CBS Austin she’ll be teaching from that empty classroom.
“I felt kind of lost when I came back to the classroom to prepare for this upcoming school year because everything was the same, but everything was different,” says Stoebe.
The district is hopeful in-person classes can resume next month.
San Marcos police officer recovered
After a long road to recovery, San Marcos police officer Claudia Cormier is back at work this week. She was hit by a car last year while responding to a call on I-35 and she lost her leg in the process. She spent three months recovering in the hospital.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-8-18-20
