Sunday shooter facing capital murder charges
The accused Sunday shooter is being held in the Travis County jail without bail following a preventative detention order. The Travis County DA Jose Garza has been requesting as such, noting 41 year old suspect, Stephen Broderick had been out on bond from a sexual assault of a child charge from last year.
“Texas law requires that every person charged with the crime be given bail. We have a wealth based system in the state and the result of that wealth based system is that someone like Mr. Broderick who could afford to pay bail can and did”
Broderick is facing capital murder charges in the shooting death of his wife, daughter and an 18 year old. Garza says they have not determined what penalty they’ll seek.
Gun control
And the Austin City Council this week will discuss another resolution surrounding gun control. Item 59 on the agenda calls for the state and feds to take any action necessary to curb gun violence. Resolution also calls on the city manager to find local inroads to gun control. Council Member Alison Alter is one of the sponsors. who since the 2017 mass shooting there in Las Vegas has pushed a handful of local gun control measures at City Hall.
Early voting begins
Early voting for Austin’s May Election has begun and Proposition B is arguably the headliner. Of the eight different propositions on the ballot brough,B would ban public camping in the city. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir tells CBS Austin she thinks that issue will drive the bulk of the voters to the polls.
“I think we’ll end up with about a 30% turnout. That’s a little over 200,000 people that I think are going to vote in this election,” says DeBeauvoir.
She says that’s pretty big for a non presidential election year. Another big item is proposition F. That would overhaul Austin’s government by increasing the power of the mayor over the city council.
Opponents of Austin’s proposition B are being outspent left and right. According to the Save Austin Now political action committee, the groups raised around $440,000 to get the public camping ban reinstated. Meantime, the group Homes not Handcuffs, has raised less than $25,000 in its bid to keep public camping in place.
COVID-19 update
Austin Public Health is reporting 1,109 active cases of COVID in the area this morning. 144 hospitalizations. Those numbers have remained fairly unchanged for the past few weeks, with slight increases and decreases being seen from day to day. But nothing dramatic either way, 81,342 cases confirmed, 79,400 recoveries.
In person classes may return to the Georgetown School district this summer. Superintendent Fred Brent says they’ve also debated lifting the mask requirement on campus, but they’ve decided that should stay in place for now.
“I’ve received requests from parents wanting us to remove face masks and I’ve seen a lot of requests when people want us to keep face masks. And ultimately, it’s about the least disruptive decision to the learning environment,” says Brent.
The school board is working on a plan to resume on campus classes with low student teacher ratios in each classroom. Summer classes begin in June for high school and July for other grade levels.
Removal of confederate memorials
Democrat lawmakers calling for the removal of confederate memorials at the state capital. State Representative Rafael Anchia’s House Bill 1186 calls for the removal of three confederate portraits and four monuments, including confederate soldiers monument on the south capitol grounds. This bill would also end a current state holiday
Carrying a gun without a permit
After winning House approval, a bill that would allow you to carry a gun without a permit looks like it may go no further. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says that bill currently doesn’t have the support to pass in the Texas Senate. 18 other states across the nation do already allow people to carry a gun without the need for a license.
Another bill aimed at violent destructive protesters is being discussed this week by state lawmakers. SB 912 would increase the penalty for any protester causing damage to property during riots right now its a Class B misdemeanor. SB 912 would make that a felony.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-4-20-21
