Monday
August 31, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 101° / 78°Triple digits again. Water bottle, shade, and an early start.
- Air quality 21 · GoodClear air. A great day to be outside.
- Lake Travis 95.8% fullThe lake is close to full — good for boats and for the summer water supply. Down a touch from last week.
- Allergies ModerateRagweed and grasses are up. Allergy folks, take the pill before it takes you.
- Power grid NormalA busy afternoon: demand near 89,400 megawatts, with 112,700 on hand.
- Sunrise 7:07 a.m.The sun is up for 12 hours and 48 minutes today, and down by 7:55 p.m.
Good morning, Austin. Tomorrow is September, which here is a technicality: it is 101 today and the shade rules still hold. Something is turning in the Gulf, though, and by Tuesday there may be rain on a roof somewhere in town. Worth listening for. School traffic is back on the arterials, so leave a few minutes early. And if you were out late enough to catch that low orange moon over the east side, you already had the best part of the day.
The Briefing
Two years and $51 million into the childcare tax
Travis County voters raised their own property taxes in November 2024 to pay for childcare and after-school programs. About $75 million a year. Austin Current reported Monday on what that money has done: more than $51 million allocated, 7,500 children in after-school and summer programs, 1,000 new early childhood scholarships, monthly payments to about 150 providers.
The system underneath is still bending. Childcare costs more in Travis County than anywhere else in Texas, and a 2025 United Way for Greater Austin survey found providers could not fill classrooms or keep teachers. "Raising Travis County has stopped the bleeding," said Krista Anderson-Hill of Open Door Preschools, where the county money paid for a 2 percent raise this year. Workforce Solutions Capital Area expects federal cuts to take 530 subsidies out of the county's supply by 2027.
The next asks are already scheduled. Central Health, the Travis County Healthcare District, has proposed a 2026 tax rate higher than the rate that would raise the same revenue from the same properties as last year, and it takes public comment this week. A $260 million parks bond and the Austin school board races go to voters Nov. 3.
What's next: Central Health's board holds its public hearing and votes on the rate Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at 1111 E. Cesar Chavez St.
Sources: Austin Current (Raising Travis County), Travis County (Central Health rate notice), CBS Austin (parks bond), Community Impact (school board races)
City Desk
Money & bills
The University of Texas System adds $65 million to its tuition promise
The University of Texas System will put another $65 million into Promise Plus, which covers full tuition for Texas undergraduates whose families earn up to $100,000 and part of tuition for families up to $125,000. Board chairman Kevin Eltife said the money holds the current income limits rather than lifting them, and that raising them is the goal. The Daily Texan
Also
The University of Texas System's academic institutions expect about $9.7 billion in revenue in 2027, up from roughly $9 billion this year, with the Austin campus at about $5.1 billion. The Daily Texan
Travis County Treasurer Dolores Ortega Carter told a legislative subcommittee that 19 percent of the county's property tax payments last year came in cash, as the end of penny production complicates making change. KXAN
Public safety & courts
A man was killed Sunday afternoon in southeast Austin, and the suspect ran
Austin police were called to Briar Hill Drive and Woodland Avenue at 2:58 p.m. Sunday and found a vehicle crashed into a fence, a man dead inside. Police said witnesses saw a suspect leaving shortly before officers arrived, and described him as a Hispanic man in his late teens or early 20s, about 5-foot-6. It is Austin's 39th homicide of 2026. City of Austin / KXAN
Also
Alexander Bangert, 30, has been missing since Aug. 9, when his work truck was found abandoned near his Austin apartment complex; Texas EquuSearch crews and drones have searched local greenbelts. FOX 7 Austin
Brian José Morales García, an Austin man deported to Mexico in April despite saying he was born in Denver, returned Sunday after the federal government agreed to let him enter while his lawsuit proceeds. KXAN
KXAN's investigators said most Texas counties rely on elected justices of the peace rather than medical examiners to rule on unexpected deaths, a system lawmakers may revisit before the 2027 session. KXAN
Growth & infrastructure
A padel club will take the convention center garage roof
The city is finalizing a lease with San Antonio's Slice Padel Co. for the 42,000-square-foot rooftop of the Austin Convention Center parking garage, about 118 spaces that see little use during the center's rebuild. Slice will spend $500,000 on six courts, a clubhouse and a cafe and bar, and pay the city $3,000 a month at first. Council approved the lease plan Aug. 27. Community Impact
Overheard on Reddit
Waymo, You So Crazy
First, a little throat clearing: I love Waymos. I take them often, and I'm definitely going to take them again. They're the safest option out there. But sometimes, they take routes that make no damn sense. Tonight's route wasn't the worst, but it was representative. Note that my Waymo could have gone south on First Street but decided to go too far west and take Lamar instead. Note also how it zigg
Overheard on Reddit
why is it so hard for this city to have basic respect for disabled people
i am done being nice. tell me why, multiple times a week, i am forced to see people without disabled plates or placards parking in disabled spots. where did decency go? it is not hard to have basic respect and consideration for others, especially if you are old enough to have a driver's license. this behavior is embarrassing. no, i do not care if you are "just going to be two minutes" or are "just
City Hall & county
Community Impact published questionnaires from Greg Casar and Lauren B. Peña, the candidates in the U.S. House District 37 race, ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Early voting runs Oct. 19-30. Community Impact
Schools
A takeover decision is coming, and the evidence points both ways
Burnet and Webb middle schools hit a fifth straight failing rating this month, which can trigger the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to replace the Austin Independent School District (Austin ISD) board with appointed managers. Commissioner Mike Morath said state intervention has consistently raised school quality; researcher Melissa Arnold Lyon told the Austin American-Statesman that on average takeovers have not raised performance. Austin American-Statesman
Also
The State Board of Education takes up final revisions to high school history, government and geography standards Monday, with final votes expected Friday; K-8 standards were approved in June. The Texas Tribune
Community Impact published questionnaires from Edward M. Bradfield, Tricia Mitchell Kim and Jessica Neufeld, the candidates for the Austin ISD District 4 trustee seat, ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Community Impact
Community Impact published questionnaires from Laurie Solis and Jimmy Counihan, the candidates for the Austin ISD District 7 trustee seat; early voting for that race runs Oct. 19-30. Community Impact
Erika Chia-Yu Lin, a doctoral student at the Butler School of Music, took second prize in July at the Universal Marimba Competition in Belgium, one of the field's most prestigious contests. The Daily Texan
Business & street life
Artists are painting the library garage, with paid help from people without housing
Four of 43 planned murals were being painted Sunday at the Central Library parking garage downtown, part of Art for All, a city program run with the nonprofit Raasin in the Sun. Since July, artists have worked during the library's off hours alongside assistants who are experiencing housing insecurity and are paid the same day. Council set aside $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan money for the work in 2021. KVUE
Overheard on Reddit
New Austin Kids TV Show!
Hi y’all! My sister and I are local Austin filmmakers and we recently directed a new kids tv show called All Aboard with Ms Kelly and the first episode premiered yesterday on Austin Public & YouTube! All Aboard is a social-emotional learning show for preschool aged kids between the ages of 3-6, I always say it’s a sweet mix between Mr Roger’s & Magic School Bus :) I’m just trying to get the word o
Also
C3 Presents holds its third Austin City Limits career fair Sept. 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Austin Community College's Highland campus, covering security, food, production and hospitality work. KXAN
The 36th Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival moved to Radio/East this year; Tasty Amy's Hot Salsa took first among commercial red sauces, ahead of Fantastic Fuego and Jaime's Spanish Village. The Austin Chronicle
Goodwill Central Texas said it has finished remodeling 11 area stores, with nearly 40 planned by the end of 2028, and has started using artificial intelligence software to price donated goods. KXAN
Olivia Dean played the Moody Center on Friday on her "The Art of Loving" tour, her first Austin show since her 2025 Austin City Limits set. The Daily Texan
Gabriel Gloria, a musician who records under the stage name Gabo and has played West Campus co-ops and Paper Tiger in San Antonio, released an 11-track concept album, "Digytal Mayne," on Thursday. The Daily Texan
Overheard on Reddit
Anyone taken Beginner Spanish at the Pleasant Hill Branch library? Looking for reviews / what to expect!
I'm trying to learn Spanish and saw that the Austin Public Library offers Beginner Spanish classes over at the Pleasant Hill Branch (on E William Cannon Dr). This branch is a bit of a drive from my place. So before signing up/showing up, I wanted to see if anyone here has taken them recently? - How are the classes structured, and what's the general vibe/teaching style? - What does the typical c
Weather
Today: mostly sunny, with a high near 101 and heat index values as high as 106, on a south-southeast wind of 0 to 5 mph. There are no active alerts for Travis County. Tonight: mostly clear with a low around 78. Tuesday and Wednesday are both near 100. National Weather Service
A tropical system in the northern Gulf has high odds of organizing over the next day or two. KXAN expects spotty rain to spread over Interstate 35 and the counties east of it Tuesday into Wednesday, most places seeing a quarter-inch or less. KXAN
The Austin American-Statesman's meteorologist, Justin Ballard, put the local odds lower: the best chance of showers stays nearer the Coastal Plains, and most of the area likely stays dry through midweek. He said a broader pattern change is possible next weekend. Austin American-Statesman
Overheard on Reddit
Cool looking moon tonight
What a beauty. Low & a nice orange hue.
The Back Page
5 days until Texas football · Texas State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (DKR), Sept. 5, 2:30 p.m.
Hudson Purma is 15, and he programs a film club. Austin Flick Clique shows mostly pre-1970 movies at Sekrit Theater — Hitchcock, Shakespeare adaptations, a run of monster pictures that closed with "Night of the Living Dead." His dad works the projection booth. The family stops at H-E-B on the way for concessions, and hands out notes with historical context and trivia at the door. Jane Long, 18, draws the posters in graphite and finishes them digitally. Twenty to sixty people turn up, not all of them teenagers. "You don't hear anyone talking about these films, especially new people, and if they're not talked about or watched or enjoyed, then they're gonna die off," Hudson said. "We're trying to keep them alive." Someone once came up after a screening and told him that for an old movie, it was actually kind of good. He is still turning that one over. KUT