Homicide on East Riverside
The Austin Police Department is currently working on a homicide scene. According to the APD’s Twitter account on the 2400 block of East Riverside officers responded to a shooting near South Pleasant Valley Road. 2 male victims were found with gunshot wounds. Police immediately began administering life saving measures until EMS took them to a local hospital. One victim died in the hospital and the other is in critical condition.
Final week of early voting
Today begins the final week of early voting in Texas. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday. There will be a few mega voting sites here in Travis County open until 9 p.m. later this week. Election Day is a week from tomorrow, November 3.
Javier Ambler case
The family of Javier Ambler, a black man who died in the custody of Williamson County sheriff’s deputies last year, has filed a federal lawsuit against Williamson County, according to the Austin American Statesman. The Statesman reports the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for Ambler’s family. It claims to deputies used excessive force on Ambler and violated his civil rights. The lawsuit’s been joined by civil rights attorney Ben Crumb, one of the lawyers who also represented George Floyd in connection with his death in the custody of Minneapolis police earlier this year. The Ambler incident was allegedly caught on video by the crew of the now canceled show Live PD, but producers say that video was destroyed.
University of Texas dorms burglarized
More than half a dozen UT dorm rooms were burglarized over the weekend. UT’s campus Police Department reports seven dorm rooms at the on campus San Jacinto Residence Hall were burgled over the weekend. They remind students to lock their dorms every time they leave. This weekend’s incident follows a pair of reported armed robberies of students in their dorms on West Campus earlier this month and a noted increase in motorcycle and scooter thefts.
Housing stock shrinking
The Austin/Round Rock area’s third quarter housing report shows an even worse supply of new homes. The Texas Realtors Cindi Bulla says the metro had a very robust third quarter.
“Your median price is at 10.1% over last year at this time. Your close sales are up 20.5%,” Bulla says.
While the median price rose to $350,000 for Q3, the area’s housing stock shrunk by more than 50% as compared to last year to 1.2 months of inventory.
COVID-19 update
140 new coronavirus cases were reported in Travis County over the weekend. 82 on Saturday and another 58 on Sunday. Hospitalizations remain stable, but the average is still the highest level since August. There was one new death reported in Travis County over the weekend.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler cites a recent study that shows how much the practice could benefit the country.
“Modelers took a look at masks and said that if the United States would wear masks-if 95% of Americans wore masks in public, then the models demonstrated that our country would save 100,000 lives,” Adler says.
That’s just between now and February. He adds you should think of this as a way to ensure that our schools and businesses can stay open.
Fatal shooting on 11th St.
Austin police are still searching for information and witnesses to a fatal shooting early Sunday morning. It happened in the 1100 block of East 11th Street, where police say a large social gathering was taking place.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-10-26-20
