Sunday
September 6, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 97° / 78°A 40 percent chance of showers, then a heat index near 106. Go early.
- Air quality 35 · GoodCleanest air in days. The heat, not the air, is what limits you today.
- Lake Travis 94.4% fullStill close to full, down a touch from last week. Good news for the fall.
- Power grid NormalA busy afternoon: demand near 84,500 megawatts, with 107,500 on hand.
- Sunrise 7:10 a.m.Daylight holds until nearly eight. There is an evening in there after the heat breaks.
Good morning, Austin. There is a real chance of a shower before lunch, which in September counts as an event around here. Take it if it comes. After that the heat index climbs back toward 106, and Monday looks hotter still, so whatever outdoor plans are left in this long weekend belong to the early morning or the hour after sunset. The lake is nearly full. The air is about as clean as it has been all week. Everything else can be done in the shade.
The Briefing
Tesla certified its own car. The council asked for a plan.
Dozens of gold Cybercabs began carrying passengers on Austin streets Thursday. They have no steering wheel, no pedals, no mirrors. Federal safety rules assume all three, so Tesla certified the vehicle itself, treating some of those standards as inapplicable. Late that night the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would audit how the company reached that conclusion, in a query covering about 1,000 vehicles. The service kept running. Tesla shares fell nearly 6 percent Friday.
Zoox, a competitor, asked for and won an exemption before it started commercial rides. Tesla did not. Three other federal investigations into Tesla's driving software were already open, one involving a crash that killed a pedestrian.
The other transportation decision Austin made this week was quieter. On Aug. 27 the City Council passed a resolution on the Lakeline commuter rail station, open since 2010, directing the city manager to study infrastructure and public uses on the vacant land around it. Council Member Krista Laine, who sponsored it, said 15 years have passed with a significant amount of that land undeveloped. A cost and a timeline for the work are not yet known.
What's next: Austin City Council's next regular meeting is Thursday, Sept. 10; speaker registration opens Monday at 10 a.m.
Sources: Austin American-Statesman (federal audit, fleet counts), FOX 7 Austin (Cybercabs registered), KXAN (Lakeline resolution), City of Austin (council calendar)
City Desk
Money & bills
Gov. Greg Abbott said in Lubbock on Friday he wants a limit on how much home values can rise each year for tax purposes and a two-thirds vote to approve property tax increases. KXAN
Texas drivers paid an average $3.68 a gallon Friday, about 92 cents more than a year ago, the American Automobile Association said; diesel averaged $5.46 across the state. FOX 7 Austin
Overheard on Reddit
Does anybody know where I can get a trim for less than $60?
I literally need an inch cut off of my hair no layers or anything else, it’s absurd how most places are charging $75 for this. Edit to add: I’m female and my hair is long, stops right around my waist
Public safety & courts
One killed in a single-motorcycle crash on Capital of Texas Highway
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services said a collision involving a single motorcycle happened near the 1400 block of South Capital of Texas Highway in West Austin at around 10:50 p.m. Friday. One adult was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials said traffic delays were in place because of the crash. CBS Austin
Also
Austin police sent tactical officers and hostage negotiators to the 5700 block of Sunset Ridge before 11 p.m. Friday; the woman inside left safely and the man was located by 3:30 a.m. CBS Austin
A teenager was shot near the 1800 block of South Interstate 35 frontage road shortly before 4:30 a.m. Friday and taken to a hospital; police are still looking for a suspect. KVUE
A 72-year-old man last seen in west Austin on Friday was found safe, Austin Police said. KXAN
Overheard on Reddit
Two APD cruisers stopped at red light, car ignores red, they do nothing
This is why people run red lights, because there is no enforcement of traffic laws by APD. Waiting at red light at Manor and 51st, I get green, 2 seconds later guy ignores red light. Two APD cruisers stopped at same light do nothing. If you look closely at the start of the video you can see APD cruisers stopped at the left turn on 51st (left side of the video).
Three women banned from the Texas Capitol after an anti-redistricting protest sued the State Preservation Board; Gov. Greg Abbott moved Monday to dismiss, arguing their one-year trespass notices expired Aug. 19. KXAN
The Texas Supreme Court declined to revive an appeal over Major, a Belgian Malinois held nearly 17 months in an Austin shelter isolation kennel, leaving an order to euthanize him in place. Austin American-Statesman
Growth & infrastructure
Tesla's steering-wheel-free taxis start work in Austin
The company put gold two-seat Cybercabs into service in a limited area of the city Thursday, hailed through its Robotaxi app. Donald Slavik, a lawyer who represents people in crashes involving Tesla's driver-assistance systems, said camera-only sensing is not an accepted method across the rest of the industry. Austin resident Adrian Marquez said he is all for the cars, and that friends of his already use them. FOX 7 Austin
The council asks for a plan around a rail stop that opened in 2010
Austin City Council passed a resolution Aug. 27 directing the city manager to evaluate infrastructure investment and public uses on the land around CapMetro's Lakeline commuter rail station in northwest Austin. Council Member Krista Laine, who sponsored it, expects the work to involve Williamson County and the Lower Colorado River Authority, which holds easements nearby. KXAN
City Hall & county
Austin's oldest known Black cemetery becomes a city landmark
City Council designated Bethany Cemetery on Springdale Road a City of Austin Landmark at its Aug. 27 meeting, following a January recommendation from the Historic Landmark Commission. City documents show the case was first opened in 1977 and stalled through a series of postponements, then returned in 2024 and timed out over missing materials. Preservation Austin brought the nomination forward with the cemetery association. KXAN
Also
Austin Public Health holds its free Fiesta de Salud health fair Sept. 19, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, with screenings and live entertainment. City of Austin
Montserrat Garibay, who came to the country undocumented and without English, is running in Texas House District 49, which covers downtown Austin and the University of Texas at Austin campus. The Daily Texan
Overheard on Reddit
Has Anyone Volunteered at CASA of Travis County?
I'm considering signing up and I have a few questions if anyone is open to DMing!
Schools
Two nonprofits cover what the school district's budget cannot
Communities In Schools of Central Texas closed its Refuse to Lose campaign Aug. 31 with more than $354,200 raised, and Austin Ed Fund began delivering $350,000 to 48 teacher-led projects across Austin Independent School District campuses on Sept. 2. The district is working through a $205 million reduction package for 2026-27. Chief executive Sharon Vigil said 19 of the group's 110 campuses faced funding gaps. Community Impact
Also
University of Texas at Austin researchers have joined a climate network with universities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to study hurricane risk, landslides and farming there. The Daily Texan
Business & street life
Austin Pets Alive took in about 15 dogs and all 20 cats from a Livingston shelter wrecked by Tropical Storm Edouard flooding, and says kittens and small dogs still need foster homes. CBS Austin
Neko Yubu, a Dallas restaurant serving Korean and Japanese-inspired stuffed tofu skins, opened its first Austin location Aug. 1 at 1910 Guadalupe St. in West Campus. Community Impact
Terrible Love Coffee owner Brian Knowles opened a neighborhood wine bar Aug. 1 at the shop's Hyde Park address, 3908 Ave. B, pouring classic and natural wines alongside the day's espresso. Community Impact
Overheard on Reddit
What Austin clubs / groups are actually worth joining? (Question & my recommendations)
Hey everyone! I am a big clubs, classes, and activities person. I think they’re one of the best ways to socialize, and right now I’m looking to expand my roster of recurring activities to meet more people. I’m looking for something with a friendly group where you see the same people regularly. Ideally, it’s large enough that you’re meeting a good number of people, but not so large that it’s overwh
El Alma, the Mexican restaurant chef Alma Alcocer has run on Barton Springs Road for 15 years, has spent the last three years building a second audience in South Austin. Community Impact
Austin filmmaker James Ross II's first feature, the horror film Parasomnia, is streaming on Shudder ahead of a screening at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar on Sept. 11. Austin Chronicle
Overheard on Reddit
Trying to find an old Austin newspaper photo of my dad from the late 1970s/early 1980s
This is a long shot, but I'm hoping someone here who has access to old Austin newspaper archives might enjoy helping me solve a little family mystery. My dad grew up around Holly Street in East Austin. When he was young, he rode his bicycle all over Austin, and he did something pretty unusual for the time: he carried a spare bicycle tire with him on his bike. At some point, a newspaper photographe
Weather
Today: partly sunny, high near 97, heat index as high as 106, with a 40 percent chance of showers before 1 p.m. and of showers and thunderstorms after. South-southeast wind under 5 miles per hour. No active alerts for Travis County. Tonight: mostly clear, low around 78. Labor Day is forecast mostly sunny and near 99, with a heat index up to 109, and Tuesday sunny and near 101. National Weather Service
Rain chances stay low, around 20 percent, KXAN's forecasters say, with widely scattered showers and storms possible in the middle and late afternoon. They put Labor Day near the century mark, with rain chances around 10 percent and mostly east of Interstate 35 through the workweek. KXAN
Meteorological summer finished 11th hottest on record in Austin, averaging 86.3 degrees, 1.2 degrees above normal. August did most of the work: it was the fifth hottest August on record, with highs of 100 or better on all but two days. The season also came in 25th wettest, at 11.14 inches. KXAN
The Back Page
25 days until private planes start paying to land · Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's $50 fee for noncommercial aircraft can take effect as early as Oct. 1.
Sunday Paper: Three pieces from this week worth the long read. The Austin American-Statesman put a price on the city's first months of encampment management. KUT looked at what Texas data centers take from the water and power supply. And in a column, the Austin Chronicle's Michael King worked through the national profiles of part-time Austinite Joe Lonsdale and his homelessness lobbying.
The Austin Chronicle turned 45 this week and decided not to make much of it. No blowout issue, no long look back — they are saving that for 50. Instead the paper ran yearbook photos of its own staff, shot by a photographer the publisher found because the line for her camera at a book fair was too long to ignore. The mission statement is the one from 1981: still free, still independent, still progressive, still a community newspaper. In the same issue the Chronicle published a newsroom policy on artificial intelligence, promising its editors will not use it to write stories or headlines and its production department will not use it to make photographs or illustrations. "As a paper that's always valued creativity and artists' rights, we were always going to come down on the side of humans," Kimberley Jones wrote in the column. Forty-five years of a free weekly that a city actually picks up is not nothing. Austin Chronicle