The Austin Daily Drop

Following the lead of cities including Austin and Denton, officials in San Antonio and Dallas are considering local ordinances that would decriminalize abortion . A similar measure in El Paso recently failed on the tie-breaking vote of its mayor. As drought persists, levels in Lake Travis have dropped near 50% , leading to concerns about boating safety. Meanwhile, swimming has been declared off-li...

The end of July marks the hottest July in Austin history - following the hottest June, and the hottest May - marking the first time that's happened three months in a row in our recorded history. This summer (which isn't over yet) now ranks 7th-ever in days over 100 degrees . A severe lack of rainfall has led to impending use restrictions in the Texas Hill Country . Longtime and legendary KUT/KUTX...

Weekly CDC COVID risk levels are released: Blanco County is upgraded to High risk, joining Milam, Fayette, Caldwell and Lampasas Counties, while the rest of the area remains at Medium risk, including Travis and Williamson. COVID-related hospitalizations have continued to slowly rise to 188, up from 170 one week ago. Meanwhile, monkeypox cases have continued to climb, and Austin Public Health confi...

Amidst ongoing drought conditions, wildfires have been popping up all over the area, and Jacob's Well in Wimberley has stopped flowing, for only the fourth time in recorded history. Day two of the Alex Jones Sandy Hook trial ended with lawyers for the opposing sides squaring off over video evidence from Jones' InfoWars show, resulting in the jury being dismissed early. Austin's residential real es...

With the official judgement by the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturning Roe v Wade, the 30-day countdown to a full abortion ban in Texas begins: that ban will become effective on Thursday, August 25. Alarming drops in lake levels are accompanying the ongoing drought, with Lake Travis now down to 54% of its capacity. Alex Jones calls the first day of his trial to determine damages he owes fami...

Both KUT and veteran Austin TV reporter Fred Cantu are out with updates on the current COVID scenario in Austin, which officially remains at Medium risk according to CDC guidelines. Local COVID hospitalizations have continued to edge upwards - last night's count was 192, over double the count of 93 one month ago. Even with gas prices dropping, they're still very high considering the price of crude...

As monkeypox concerns continue to mount, Texas finds itself short on vaccine doses compared to demand. The unionizing trend amongst Austin businesses continues as employees of Tiff's Treats are organizing and asking for higher wages. A Texas Tribune article points to low wages, overwork, substandard benefits, pandemic concerns and political polarity as reasons for the shortage of teachers in Texas...

Our historic scorcher continues through this weekend, though a possible pattern change could spell at least moderate relief. Meanwhile, the Texas electric grid hit a new all-time demand record on Wednesday, crossing the 80,000 megawatt threshold for the first time ever - that's more demand than the states of California and New York on the same day, combined. The Austin City Council voted yesterday...

While 47 U.S. congressional Republicans voted with the unanimous Democrats to codify same-sex marriage into federal law on Tuesday, the only one from Texas was Tony Gonzales of San Antonio - the rest, including the several who represent gerrymandered slices of Austin , voted against. Kaitlin Armstrong had her first court appearance yesterday, during which she entered a plea of not guilty. She's ch...

Austin's hottest summer ever plows on: high temperatures threaten daily records every day for the rest of this week, while July could become the first month in Austin with no measurable rainfall since 2015. Meanwhile, the struggling Texas power grid has created a dangerous feedback loop : as power generators are allowed to violate emissions standards to stay online longer, ever more greenhouse gas...

Several Uvalde developments over the weekend: The special House committee assigned to investigating the Robb Elementary shooting released its findings on Sunday, finding widespread "systemic failures" and "egregiously poor decision making" in the police response, while the New York Times has acquired a document indicating intent by local law enforcement in Uvalde to steer the "narrative" on the sh...

It's official: we've just completed the hottest week in Austin's recorded history . Austin Public Health finds itself not only battling the spread of monkeypox , but also the spread of misinformation about the disease. Meanwhile, Hays, Caldwell, Gillespie and Mason Counties have been upgraded to High COVID-19 risk level . CNBC's annual "Top States For Business" poll finds Texas to be the fifth-bes...

Adding insult to injury, the current historic heat wave has also resulted in the worst air quality in Central Texas in a decade . Meanwhile, ERCOT's chief is concerned about the ability of Texas' older power generators to keep up with the ongoing record demand for power this summer. Austin Public Health declares that monkeypox has achieved community spread in Austin. Meanwhile, COVID-19 risk remai...

The release of hallway surveillance video from last month's shooting incident at Robb Elementary is being criticized by community leaders in Uvalde, while families and residents criticize those same leaders for a lack of transparency. Our historically horrible heat wave continues, with temps expected to remain over 100 each afternoon as far forward as the forecast goes - but there is a decent chan...

Blistering heat continues - but, no official calls for conservation from ERCOT as of this morning. However, we should expect those calls to become common throughout the summer. A mental patient who escaped from an institution in North Texas two weeks ago has been apprehended in Austin, where he killed his father years ago, but was acquitted on an insanity defense. A new local poll finds that lack...

Another excessive heat warning today, as the moment that those of us who shivered through the multi-day statewide power outage in February of 2021 had feared: that experience appears primed for a possible, and potentially much more dangerous repeat as ERCOT urges Texas energy consumers to cut back today - a situation that's likely to become familiar over the rest of the summer . Sunday, the hottes...

Almost the entire state of Texas is now in a state of drought , with about 16% now in exceptional drought, including the the Hill Country and watershed areas critical to replenishing the Colorado River. Confirmed monkeypox cases in Texas have climbed to 20. Meanwhile three local counties - Blanco, Lampasas and Milam - have risen to High risk status for COVID-19 spread according to the CDC. Local h...

Demand on the Texas power grid has already surpassed the projected summer peak , about a month earlier than expected, with another all-time high of 77,460 megawatts set on Tuesday. Restrictions including a GPS tracker and passport surrender are being discussed as part of bond terms for murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong . The real story here though, is that her release, after six weeks on an interna...

Murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong is back in Austin. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez and Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin say that families of the Uvalde shooting victims are suffering delays in getting compensation benefits from the state, and that the compensation payments have been insufficient. Austin gas prices , while still flirting with record highs, have taken a dive of over 15 cents per gallon over...

As shootings mar Independence Day celebrations across the nation, we had local trouble as well: Austin Fire Department crews were dispatched to as many as 90 fires between 8pm and midnight Sunday. Trouble on the water as well as three water incidents resulted in a drowning, a missing swimmer and one hospitalization for drowning. An attendant at a fireworks stand in northeast Austin shot at two men...

Kaitlin Armstrong , suspected of the murder of pro cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson, has been caught after six weeks on the run in Costa Rica. Travel advisory: holiday weekend backlog has begun to stack up at Austin Bergstrom International Airport , with long lines, delays and cancellations. Members of the Texas State Board of Education are recommending that social studies curriculum for 2nd graders ref...

Four men are facing federal charges in connection to the mounting count of 53 migrants who died of heat exhaustion after being abandoned in a tractor trailer near San Antonio this week - including the driver of the truck, who tried to pass himself off as a migrant himself when confronted by police. The first Texas city on record saying it will not enforce new abortion restrictions in Texas isn't A...

COVID numbers are on the rise once again - including hospitalizations, as Travis County remains at Medium risk level. Meanwhile, monkeypox has achieved a limited degree of community spread in Austin. A Harris County judge has issued a temporary restraining order that suspends a 1925 law banning abortions - thus, Texas clinics can resume performing the procedure under recently-imposed limits. The d...

In the wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade, several companies with presences in Austin have announced that they'll cover travel costs for employees seeking abortion care . Travis County DA Jose Garza has announced that his office will not prosecute abortion-related cases, and Austin City Council Member Chito Vela is spearheading a resolution discouraging Austin police from investigating allegati...

In the wake of Friday's decision from the U.S. Supreme Court announcing the overturning of Roe v Wade , thousands of Austinites spent their weekend protesting and demonstrating for reproductive rights . A push to force all ten Austin City Council Members to stand for re-election this year has been ended by the Texas Supreme Court. The Austin Fire Department has deployed firefighters and equipment...