Baby found abandoned in northeast Austin
A newborn baby girl was found abandoned in northeast Austin. APD Sergeant Michael Crumrine says the baby girl was found by a good samaritan next to a community mailbox near the corner of Braker and Dessau. Crumrine says the child is in stable condition at an area hospital. Now they’re looking for the mother.
“A child has come into this world, and we know absolutely nothing about the family. We don’t know anything about the mother or the father of this child, and we’re very, very concerned,” says Crumrine.
They believe the child was born outside of a hospital and are worried about what that could mean for the mom.
Protests and arrests continue in Austin
Austin police have released the list of people arrested over the weekend during a protest in support of Jacob Blake. He’s the man who was shot recently by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Police say eight people were arrested in downtown Austin and charged with various offenses, such as evading arrest, resisting arrest and obstructing the highway.
One man is dead after allegedly crashing a stolen car and then getting into a fight with Bastrop County deputies. The Sheriff’s office got a call that a car crashed and the driver had been ejected on Highway 290 near Elgin. When they arrived, the driver got very combative. He was tased but kept on fighting, and ultimately two deputies were injured. That man was taken to the hospital and later died with what are believed to be heart complications.
Election Day
Election Day is just two months away, and Travis County is gearing up for a very expensive election year. County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir expects a major turn out.
“We do plan to have 35 early voting locations and 200 election day centers,” DeBeauvoir says.
The cost to pay extra staff, extend early voting, print mail-in ballots and provide protective equipment for all workers will cause county taxpayers more than $900,000. Overall, she expects the total cost for this year’s election to be about $3 million more than any typical election year.
COVID-19 update
Travis County’s overall number of hospitalized coronavirus patients falls once again, although not quite as sharply has been seen in previous weeks. 133 people hospitalized this morning That’s down by three from a day ago. Ventilator usage is below 30 for the first time in many weeks. For yet another day, the gap between total cases and recoveries has narrowed even more. 26,563 cases found since March, 25,434 are now recoveries.
There’s been a slight rise in active cases in Williamson County. The numbers at 128; that’s four more than a day ago. The county saw a decline in its overall hospital patient count by only one, taking that number down to 75, as of today. Much like in Travis County, Williamson County’s gap between confirmed cases and recoveries is getting smaller. 7,969 cases found and 7,841 are recoveries.
The Travis County health authority is calling into question a CDC report claiming COVID-19 deaths are being over reported. Dr. Mark Escott tells county commissioners he’s trying to clear the air.
“There has been a lot of discussion in the media and social media regarding the assertion that only 6% of COVID-19 deaths reported are actually COVID-19. This is absolutely false,” Escott says.
The reports as other health factors contributed to the death. Escott says what the report means is that there are only 6% of cases where COVID-19 was the only reason for death. But, that doesn’t make it any less of a factor in the other 94%.
UT athletics suffers financial hardship
The UT athletics department is suffering a big financial upheaval due to coronavirus. Athletics director Chris Del Conte says 35 staffers have been let go, 299 are having to take pay cuts which does include some coaches. Almost a dozen others are now furloughed. Del Conte says more than $13 million is being saved by making these difficult personnel decisions.
City council meeting
Along with the city’s vision to upgrade public transit in Austin, this week the council will also vote on funding to assist people who may be impacted by that construction. Mayor Steve Adler says they plan to go big.
“We’re going to make sure that we have $300 investment associated with that for any displacement strategies,” says Adler.
That will be part of the proposed $7.1 billion project connected Austin voters will decide on this November. Adler says affected neighborhoods will be given a seat at the table to dictate how some of those changes will be made.
Williamson County settlement
Williamson County agrees to a $75,000 settlement for a former deputy sheriff deputy, Valerie Adams, who says she was subjected to discrimination and retaliation during her time at the department. Neither Adams nor the sheriff’s office is elaborating. It’s actually the second time this summer, the county’s approved a pay out to a former deputy over similar claims.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-9-2-20
