Violence downtown
Austin police are investigating more violence overnight in downtown. Police say they were called after reports of gunfire from under a bridge at East 7th and IH-35. As they were working that scene, another call came in about a shooting at 18th and Colorado where a man and woman were both struck by bullets. The woman has reportedly died. The man has been hospitalized but is expected to survive. The police haven’t really elaborated, but they say they do believe these two incidents could be connected.
Masks at UT
Effective immediately, masks are no longer required on the UT Campus, either indoors or outdoors. This puts the school in line with Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order that will take effect tomorrow. Spencer Fox with the UT Modeling Consortium tells CBS Austin masks will still be optional.
“What we don’t know right now is actually how the public will change their behavior based on the Governor’s new order,” says Fox.
UT President Jay Hartzell says after commencement ceremonies are complete, the university will provide more details on the next phase of the return to campus plan.
COVID-19 update
The free fall of active COVID cases in Travis County continues for another day as Austin Public Health says that number is now down to 513. That’s a drop of 30 from a day ago and a drop of more than 60 over the past 48 hours. It continues a day to day trend that has been seen recently. Hospitalizations remained low 91 overall and nearly 82,100 people have recovered.
ACL Fest
The signs of pre pandemic life are beginning to pop up at a faster rate. Further evidence of that has come this week with the announcement that the Austin City Limits music festival will be back for two weekends in October. It was canceled last year along with every other major event. This will mark the festival’s 20th year and the lineup will be released today.
Esther’s Follies
On a similar note after having to shut its doors last year for the first time in 4.5 decades, iconic downtown Austin comedy theatre Esther’s Follies will be reopening next month, shows will resume their June 17 and tickets will be available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows.
SAFE Alliance
The Austin City Council will consider today spending millions on a few homeless related items. One item is specifically targeting victims of domestic abuse. The city could spend $8.1 million on hiring the SAFE Alliance to run a new family violence shelter council member, Kathie Tovo says domestic abuse victims are faced with difficult choices.
“Individuals and especially women often have to stay or return to violent relationships and many also experienced the trauma of homelessness,” says Tovo.
The city will also consider spending more than $16 million on providing permanent, supportive housing for the chronically homeless.
Just over 2,000 people have now signed a petition demanding that the Austin City Council funneled millions into homeless housing. The Austin Justice Coalition is behind this push for the city to pump $100 million in housing, along with another $100 million from Travis County. The petition calls on for 5,000 people to be housed over the next three years.
Leander bond election
Tonight, the Leander school board will discuss a November bond election that could ask voters to approve the borrowing of some pretty big bucks. The district has identified $1.5 billion in needs to address the thousands of students who are projected to enroll over the coming years. It’s estimated the board could seek between $600 million and $1 billion from voters this Fall.
Abbott signs anti abortion bill
Governor Greg Abbott has signed one of the strictest anti abortion bills in the nation into law. It would restrict abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy. Governor Abbott, surrounded by dozens of state lawmakers, went on facebook live to officially make abortions illegal in texas after the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
“They worked together on a bipartisan basis to pass a bill that I’m about to sign that ensures that the life of every unborn child who has a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion,” says Abbott.
The law also includes civil penalties for abortion doctors and those who assist in abortions, opponents say they’ll fight it in court. The ACLU releasing a statement saying abortion is legal and the governor’s swipe of a pen can’t change the constitution.
Construction in Kyle
Construction is officially underway on Phase 1 of Kyle’s 138 brick and mortar district, which will become a mixed use development in the Plum Creek area. When complete, it will have 2,500 homes, 150,000 square feet of retail in 250,000 square feet of office space. The city is investing $13 million into phase one.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-5-20-21
