Saturday
August 29, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 100° / 77°Back to triple digits. Do the outdoor errands before lunch.
- Air quality 54 · ModerateFine for most of us. If your lungs are touchy, take it a little easy.
- Lake Travis 96.3% fullThe lake is all but full, though it gave back a little ground this week.
- Allergies ModerateRagweed and grasses are up. Allergy folks, take the pill before it takes you.
- Power grid NormalA busy afternoon: demand near 87,400 megawatts, with 104,400 on hand.
- Sunrise 7:06 a.m.Just under 13 hours of daylight, and the porch is bearable again after dark.
Good morning, Austin. One night of rain and the sky is done with us again — back to a hundred today, a hundred tomorrow, and a hundred Monday too. Thursday's storms did leave a mark south of here: Luling woke up to split trees and a church missing its roof. Closer in, the weekend has a soft spot for the Queen of Country. Bars and theaters all over town are playing Dolly all weekend, and there is a bedazzled guitar she gave a local drag queen coming out of its case tonight. Get the errands done before lunch. Save the rest for the shade.
The Briefing
Prices are falling in Austin. The bills are not.
Austin home prices fell again in July, down 1.4 percent from a year ago. Rents are off their pandemic peak too. The bills haven't noticed. Eviction filings across Austin and Travis County are at record highs, about 900 filings ahead of last year's pace by the count of Building and Strengthening Tenant Action, a tenant group. Austin Current reports the falling rents have mostly reached people near the median income, not the renters furthest behind.
The budget the council passed this month asks for more, not less: property taxes rise the full 3.5 percent state law allows, fees climb, and the two together cost a household more than $350 next year.
Then there are the schools. Austin ISD planned on a $19 million shortfall and closed the year $105 million in the red. The chart above shows the slide. The district expects to borrow $140 million this fall to make payroll.
What's next: Austin ISD expects to borrow the $140 million in October, the city manager's eviction-intervention recommendations are due to council early next year, and a parks bond goes to voters Nov. 3.
Sources: Austin Current (rents and evictions), Austin Current (Austin ISD deficit), CBS Austin (home prices and taxes)
City Desk
Money & bills
New Texas laws arrive Tuesday
Several Texas laws take effect Sept. 1. Solar panel sellers must register with the state, carry insurance and supervise salespeople under Senate Bill 1036, which also bans deceptive claims. Makers of some electronics must give owners and independent shops the same parts, tools and manuals authorized shops get. Qualifying gold and silver become legal tender that nobody is required to accept. FOX 7 Austin
Also
Austin's park system carries about $700 million in overdue repairs, with neighborhood projects increasingly relying on outside money; a parks bond, the first in eight years, goes to voters Nov. 3. CBS Austin
Public safety & courts
Federal investigation opens into fatal south Austin house collapse
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating Thursday's fatal house collapse on Salvador Street in south Austin. Travis County Emergency Services District 5 said four men were working inside when the entire structure came down, including the second floor; two got themselves out, crews stabilized and lifted the house to free one, and one man died. CBS Austin / FOX 7 Austin
Also
Austin police are investigating a homicide on Timber Heights Drive in northeast Austin; a briefing was planned Saturday night, and few details had been released. KXAN
A school bus and two other vehicles collided Friday morning at West Parmer Lane in northwest Austin, rolling one vehicle; the Travis County Sheriff's Office reported no injuries. KXAN / FOX 7 Austin
Austin police are seeking the driver who hit a person riding an e-bike on Johnny Morris Road on Aug. 22 and left; the rider's injuries were not life-threatening. KXAN
Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies Thursday to stop funding Flock Safety license plate cameras, describing a crackdown underway as cities cancel their contracts. KXAN
A 2023 law adds $1 to every Texas auto insurance policy for cameras: the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority has put at least $30 million into roughly 3,200 of them. The Texas Tribune
A Travis County judge said she needs time to decide whether to block the state's method of testing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp products; a temporary injunction hearing is set for September. KXAN
A window pane fell from a Rainey Street high-rise Friday evening, scattering glass down the block and damaging cars; The Modern Austin Residences confirmed the fall and said no one was hurt. KXAN
A federal judge struck down Senate Bill 12, the 2023 Texas law restricting "sexually oriented performances" in public or in front of minors, stopping civil fines of up to $10,000. The Daily Texan
Growth & infrastructure
Council starts writing rules for data centers
Austin City Council voted unanimously Thursday to direct city staff to develop regulations for data centers, including possibly banning the largest within city limits, with binding rules due back by the end of 2026. "Austin shouldn't have to choose between Big Tech's bottom line and our right to clean water, breathable air, and reliable power," Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said. CBS Austin
State approves 400 miles of new high-voltage lines
The Public Utility Commission of Texas voted unanimously Friday to approve two 765-kilovolt transmission lines running southwest from Bosque County across at least 30 counties, over objections from landowners and calls from some legislators to wait. Commissioners tabled a decision on a third line. "They're about your land," Commissioner Courtney Hjaltman told landowners. The Texas Tribune / KXAN
Also
One new main lane opens in each direction of Loop 360 on Sunday morning, letting drivers bypass the signals at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street; the wider project finishes in late 2026. KXAN
The city, CapMetro and Austin Transit Partnership held an East Riverside open house Saturday on development plans around the corridor's five future light rail stations; an online survey runs through Sept. 7. KVUE
Overheard on Reddit
Has your Google Fiber recently become super unreliable?
Over the past few months we’ve had more outages than over the past 10+ years. We’re in far south Austin and there’s a ton of road work happening in Slaughter, plus water and sewer projects in some surrounding neighborhoods, so maaaaybe that’s the issue? But it’s been several times a week, which for someone who works at home is reason enough to start shopping alternatives. Since Google has sold its
Overheard on Reddit
The absolute, unadulterated, and frankly inexcusable nerve of Apple Maps asking if construction is “still here” on I-35 sends me into a white-hot, blind rage.
City Hall & county
About 1.2 million Texas voters are on the state's suspense list, which the secretary of state's office says usually means a registration card came back undeliverable; status checks are at VoteTexas.gov. FOX 7 Austin
State Rep. James Talarico is airing his first negative TV ad against Ken Paxton in the Senate race, calling him corrupt; Paxton's campaign says Talarico is hiding a "far-left record." The Texas Tribune
Schools
McCallum High School collected 23 donated fans after air conditioning failed in several classrooms; the principal said repairs to damaged rooftop power cables and ductwork were expected to finish Saturday. KXAN
Community Impact published questionnaires from the candidates for Austin ISD's At-Large Position 9 ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Community Impact
Business & street life
SXSW's founders sell the rest of the festival to Penske
Penske Media Corporation will become the full owner of South by Southwest. Co-founder Nick Barbaro said he and the 29 other shareholders in SXSW Holdings are selling their stake and winding up the firm. Penske became a partner in 2021 after the cancelled 2020 event, in a deal that carried a five-year option. "Basically they had operating control," Barbaro said. The Austin Chronicle
Valhalla will close after 17 years on Red River
The punk venue Valhalla will close by late October after 17 years, its owner announced Saturday: the building at 710 Red River St. sold, and the new owners invoked the lease's termination clause. "It's hard to write one's own obituary, but in this rare case I have that opportunity," the owner wrote. The last day is set for Oct. 26. KXAN
Also
Austin video game workers are pressing Microsoft for a first union contract three years into bargaining, with guardrails on artificial intelligence a pillar of the talks. KXAN
Levitation moved three days of shows from Radio East to The Far Out Lounge after a permit was not approved; lineups are unchanged for the Sept. 10-13 festival. KXAN
Goodwill Central Texas finished major renovations at 11 area stores, introduced artificial-intelligence pricing software, and says it plans to transform nearly 40 locations by the end of 2028. KXAN
Austin spends the weekend on Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at 80: a free drag hoedown Saturday at Stoney's Good Time Ranch, a video-store tribute Sunday, and Dolly karaoke at Hole in the Wall. KXAN
Preservation Austin named the ten businesses it will feature in October's Legacy Business Month, from Boggy Creek Farm to The Tavern, which opened nearly a century ago. KXAN
Overheard on Reddit
If we're the live music capital of the world, why don't more rock and metal bands come here when they tour?
This is something that's been bothering me for years. I listen to a lot of rock and metal, but whenever the bands I like go on tour, they almost never come to Austin. Maybe if I'm lucky they'll go to San Antonio, but that's still a pretty long drive, at least by my standards. Look, I understand that Taylor Swift didn't come here during the Eras Tour because we don't have a venue big enough for her
Overheard on Reddit
Early mornings at Barton Springs are the best!
Before I got in (about 6:30am) and after I finished (8:30am) this morning. It really wasn't too busy. As the sun came up it created a bad glare though...I chatted with another swimmer and we were just kind of hoping we wouldn't run into anyone as we swam toward the dam (I was able to see underwater, but barely above).
Weather
Today: sunny, with a high near 100 and heat index values as high as 105, on a south-southeast wind around 5 mph. There are no active alerts for Travis County. Tonight: mostly clear with a low around 78. Sunday is sunny and near 100 again with heat index values as high as 106, and Monday stays near 100. National Weather Service
Thursday night's storms did real damage in Luling, about 45 miles south of Austin. The National Weather Service damage report recorded gusts near 97 mph, which moved several empty shipping containers, rolled a trailer and pushed a mobile home off its blocks. Large trees split at the trunk, roofs were torn off houses and a church, and shingles came off the historic William Johnson Cabin in Blanche Square Park. KXAN
Overheard on Reddit
Anyone actually grilling through Austin summers or do you just give up until September
Been out on the patio every weekend trying to keep the grill routine going and it's genuinely becoming a test of will. Saturday hit 104 and I was out there doing brisket at noon like an idiot. I have a pretty solid setup with a wireless thermometer so I can monitor from inside, but you still end up going out every 20 minutes to check the fire, and each time you step outside it just punches you in
Austin has reached 100 degrees more than 2,000 times since Camp Mabry's records began in 1898. The yearly average across the whole record is about 16 triple-digit days, but the current 1991-2020 normal is 29. The record belongs to 2011, with 90 days at or above 100, including a 112-degree reading on Aug. 28 that still ties the hottest temperature ever measured in the city. KXAN
The Back Page
7 days until Texas football · Texas State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (DKR), Sept. 5, 2:30 p.m.
Three of Austin's Shakespeare companies got together to out-charm one another. The Great Austin Shake Off was dreamed up by Stephanie Crugnola, artistic director of Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project, and her husband Mike, who is also with the company; a performer from The Baron's Men supplied the name. They had briefly considered a pro-wrestling-style showdown before landing somewhere gentler. "This is essentially a monologue competition inspired by the wholesome, friendly nature of the Great British Bake Off," Crugnola said. The Baron's Men, Austin Shakespeare and Walking Shadow each sent a performer out for a monologue in every round, and the audience bought votes and spent them on whoever moved them most. KUT