Firetruck chase through Austin
A wild chase through Austin ends in Williamson County. Police say a man was seen driving a truck from the Austin Fire Department overnight. When they tried to pull him over, he led them on a near hour long chase into Jarrel. Spike strips were used to stop the truck. The man was arrested, but it did lead to the closure of I-35. As we mentioned in the traffic report, a couple of lanes are still closed up there around exit 275. That man’s name has not been released, and how, exactly he came into possession of that Austin fire truck is still not known.
East Austin hostage situation
One man is dead following a hostage situation in East Austin. APD Chief Brian Manley says the suspect, an unnamed 21 year old man crashed a car into one home, ran away, broke into another and ended up taking a mother in her young child hostage when police arrived.
“And when they entered that home, they encountered the suspect who fired shots at the officers, and one officer returned fire at that point.” says Manley.
Manley says the standoff ensued but later ended when the suspect holding the child revealed himself to police to which one took the deadly shot, ending the hostage situation. Both hostages were rescued.
Two arrested for various crimes
Austin Police believe two men who are now in custody may be tied to a string of crimes stretching from Austin down to New Braunfels. Manuel Huerta and Jonathan Zavala were arrested this week and charged with killing two people late last year. But police think there also behind at least 11 other cases dating back to September, including aggravated assaults and car theft.
Addressing homelessness in Central Texas
Williamson County State Senator Charles Schwertner has filed a bill that would allow for cities and counties to work together when it comes to big issues such as addressing homelessness. This comes as county leaders are blasting the city of Austin for an alleged lack of communication when the city decided to purchase the Candlewood Suites Hotel for homeless housing.
“We need to find a better way forward to address the homeless situation in central Texas, but what has been enacted by the city of Austin through their City Council is not right,” says Schwertner.
There’s a lot of tough talk coming out of Williamson County aimed at Austin right now. County Judge Bill Gravell is still very upset with the city for refusing to communicate about that Candlewood purchase.
“You have stepped over the line without coming to the table and having a conversation. I’m willing to have that conversation. But if you are not, we will take you to a conversation in the local courthouse, and you will not be pleased with the outcome,” says Gravell.
Gravell says only one member of the Austin council has been willing to have any communication, despite the fact that he is the chief executive officer of Williamson County,
UK variant in Hays middle school
The Hays School District says Dahlstrom Middle School is going 100% virtual for the next 14 days due to the discovery of the UK variant of COVID-19 in a student. Due to the increased infectivity of that variant, the district hopes to mitigate any spread by keeping people away for two weeks.
COVID-19 update
This morning, there are 13 fewer people hospitalized for coronavirus as the overall total is nearing the three hundreds. Once again, Austin Public Health says there are 411 hospitalizations today out of the 3,695 active cases. That number of active cases is 151 less than a day ago, 68,576 people have recovered from the 72,972 confirmed cases.
Relief funding proposal
Austin Mayor Steve Adler is hopeful the $1.9 trillion Biden relief proposal wins approval soon. Adler says if nothing changes as proposed, $500 million minimum would be guaranteed for states with counties getting funding based on population.
“If this stays the way that it looked when it came out of the mark up, it would look like Austin. We get about $181 million and Travis County would get $249 million,” says Adler.
He says that would be more than the city and county got in the first round of CARES Act funding.
Cap City Comedy reopens
Longtime Austin business that closed its doors last year will be reopening. Cap City Comedy Club says it’ll begin booking local and national acts again this fall at a new location in the domain. For 35 years, Cap City Comedy Club was in operation near 183 and Lamar.
Bumble goes public
Austin based dating app Bumble is going public today with what’s expected to be a $2.2 billion AIPO. Bumble will plan to sell 50 million shares at 43 bucks apiece. A securities filing says the move could put bumbles value evaluation as high as $9 billion.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-2-11-21
