Wednesday
September 16, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 101° / 79°Triple digits again. Water bottle, shade, and an early start.
- Air quality 78 · ModerateFine for most of us. If your lungs are touchy, take it a little easy.
- Lake Travis 92.1% fullClose to full, which is good for boats and for the water supply.
- Allergies HighRagweed leads again, with elm and grasses behind it. Take the meds early.
- Power grid NormalPeak demand lands late afternoon, near 88,600 megawatts against 101,800 available.
- Sunrise 7:16 a.m.The light goes earlier every week now. An after-work walk still fits.
Good morning, Austin. Another 101 on the way, which would tie the record set in 2019, and no advisory this time — just the ordinary kind of hot. Sun up at 7:16, down at 7:34. Ragweed is running high again. Somebody on the north side spent last night looking for an ordained stranger to sign a marriage certificate before a deployment. Somebody else wanted to know which bookstores they had missed. The lake is still close to full.
The Briefing
Travis County approved 22 psychiatric beds. A median home pays $36 a year.
Commissioners approved Central Health's 6% tax rate increase Tuesday, and the hospital district's budget with it. For the owner of a median-priced Travis County home, Austin Current reported before the vote, that comes to about $36 more a year. Central Health takes roughly 6% of a property tax bill.
The district itemized what the money buys. Twenty-two inpatient psychiatric beds. Ten psychiatric emergency department bays. A crisis care center with a sobering center inside it, and a crisis team of two psychiatrists, two care managers and one counselor. The full commitment to crisis and recovery care is $127.5 million, of which $54 million is new.
County Judge Andy Brown said the money will let the county "divert and deflect people with more serious mental illness to get the care that they need outside of the county jail." Matt Mackowiak, co-founder of Save Austin Now, told KXAN earlier this month that the timing was wrong: "If we continue on this path, Austin's gonna become a playground that only rich people can afford to live in."
At the Capitol the same morning, the House Ways and Means Committee took up the opposite question. Texas school districts collect about $29 billion a year in maintenance and operations taxes, and roughly $8.6 billion of that comes from homesteads, the slice Gov. Greg Abbott wants to stop collecting altogether.
What's next: The city will ask the Legislature for crisis-center money in the 2027 session; the first of five council candidate panels is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the South Austin Senior Activity Center, and the voter registration deadline is Oct. 5 (Vote 2026).
Sources: Austin Current (the $36 figure and the itemized investments), Community Impact (Tuesday's approval and the $127.5 million), KXAN (Judge Brown and Save Austin Now), KXAN (the House Ways and Means hearing)
City Desk
Money & bills
Commissioners give final approval to a $1.015 billion Central Health budget
Travis County Commissioners Court signed off Tuesday on the hospital district's budget for fiscal 2026-27, which its board of managers had adopted Sept. 9. Chief executive Dr. Pat Lee said untreated mental health needs among the county's workforce cost between $1.1 billion and $1.8 billion a year. Central Health pays for care through CommUnityCare Health Centers, Sendero Health Plans and Integral Care. Community Impact
Also
Austin's median home price fell 4.3% in August to $560,000 and active listings dropped 14.5% to 4,554, the Central Texas Housing Report showed; median rent in the city fell to $2,200. KVUE
Texas school districts collect about $29 billion a year in maintenance and operations taxes, the comptroller's office told a House committee, and the homestead share is projected to reach $12 billion by 2032. KXAN
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas approved a six-year contract for chief executive Pablo Vegas on Tuesday, then said it would not sign it after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick objected publicly. Texas Tribune
Public safety & courts
A second child dies after the Sept. 9 crash on the Interstate 35 service road
Abigail Segura, 6, died Sept. 15 of injuries from the wreck at the service roads of Interstate 35 and State Highway 71, the Austin Police Department said. Her 9-year-old sister, Lilliana, died the day it happened. A Jeep Compass carrying a driver and the two children collided with a Tesla Cybertruck. The department's Vehicular Homicide Unit is still investigating. KXAN
Five people treated for suspected overdoses on East Sixth Street
First responders went to the 300 block of East Sixth Street around 2:20 a.m. Wednesday. Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services said five people were treated for suspected overdoses, four of them taken to hospitals in stable condition and one refusing transport. Austin police described the call as multiple instances of suspected overdose. KXAN
Also
Miles Longbine, 19, died after a single-vehicle crash at Northwest Park on Ardath Street. The driver, King Anthony Henry, 19, was arrested on a charge of underage driving under the influence. City of Austin
Growth & infrastructure
SoftBank's energy arm plans a data center on the old 3M campus
SB Energy, a subsidiary of the Japanese investment company SoftBank, is turning the former 3M campus at 6801 River Place Blvd. into what it calls the HighPoint 2222 Campus: 1.1 million square feet of office and lab space on 156 acres, built to support advanced artificial intelligence computing. An Aug. 31 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said the site may need 50 megawatts for its computing load. KXAN
Also
Council Member Marc Duchen, who represents the area, said the city has no data center framework in place yet, so future limits on water, sound or electricity may not reach the site. KXAN
Zilker's lots and roads start closing for the festival load-in
The Stratford Lot closed Sept. 14 and stays shut through Oct. 18. Pecan Grove and the Polo Picnic Lot go Sept. 18, the Rock Garden Lot Sept. 23. The festival grounds and Great Lawn close to the public at midnight Sept. 21, and Barton Springs Road shuts completely from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. Sept. 26, with lane reductions the rest of that day. KXAN
More than 100,000 gallons of sewage spilled from two manholes near 2500 E. Howard Lane on Monday afternoon, Austin Water said; crews stopped it and notified state environmental regulators. City of Austin
The coalition that pushed Austin's council to drop its Flock Safety contract last year is now organizing statewide against automated license plate readers, Council Member Mike Siegel told KUT. KUT
Overheard on Reddit
New Scooters Unveiled on UT Campus
Looks like the next generation of scooters is out on campus.
Construction on three Burnet Road segments now runs through December 2028, and weather delays pushed the Spicewood Springs Road widening from late 2026 to summer 2027. Community Impact
City Hall & county
About 151,000 Travis County voters sit on the suspense list
That is roughly 16% of registered voters, and it means election officials are not certain an address is current, usually after election mail came back undeliverable. County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado said those voters can still cast a ballot: "There will be an additional form they have to fill out." The registration deadline is Oct. 5. CBS Austin
Overheard on Reddit
Heads up — Texas SOS "Am I Registered?" voter lookup is throwing 503s right now
Tried checking my registration status on the Texas Secretary of State's voter lookup this morning, and the page hangs on submit. Opened dev tools — the XHR is coming back "503 Service Unavailable", so it's a server-side failure, not a form validation issue on my end. Not claiming anything sinister.…
Also
The Texas Secretary of State's office said Tuesday that trouble with its voter registration lookup tool had been fixed, after Texans reported problems checking their status. KXAN
The city, its Ethics Review Commission and the League of Women Voters Austin Area are holding candidate panels for the five contested council districts, starting Thursday at the South Austin Senior Activity Center. Community Impact
Schools
Austin Independent School District launched a public dashboard Sept. 15 tracking teacher vacancies, certification and student performance at 29 campuses the Texas Education Agency rates unacceptable. Community Impact
Superintendent Matias Segura said that if a majority of Burnet and Webb families sign a petition to close the two middle schools, the state will let the district submit a closure plan. FOX 7 Austin
A mother outside Burnet Middle School said the choice belongs to families: "I think the opinions should be based on parents, parents' involvement, and students." FOX 7 Austin
The University of Texas at Austin began a multi-year Wi-Fi overhaul this month, starting with a survey of which buildings need new cabling before the equipment goes in. The Daily Texan
Business & street life
Two Austin bars set their last dates, one of them for the light rail
Valhalla, the Red River Cultural District venue that opened in November 2009, has announced it closes Oct. 26. The city's dedicated women's sports bar, 1972 Women's Sports Pub, has already shut; co-founders Debra Hallum and Marlene du Plessis said construction for Austin's light rail project is forcing the move, and a new address is not set. Community Impact
Also
Mo Bamba, the former Longhorns center, has opened a trading card shop in West Campus carrying sports cards alongside Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering. Community Impact
Overheard on Reddit
Newer Austin bookstores that I might have missed
I can't seem to stay on top of my bookstore game. What's your favorite store and why? I'm currently on a sci-fi kick; I like cookbooks that you can read, i.e. more than recipes, like Diane Kennedy's books; women authors, especially Asian; and detective mysteries set in other countries. Anyone have a favorite bookstore in one of those categories?
Austin Sports Club, from Lobos Hospitality and Boardroom Hospitality, has opened downtown, and The Watershed has brought a coffee and wine bar and a food truck to one property in Clarksville. Community Impact
1 Hotel Austin has opened with 252 guest rooms, 60 of them suites, plus restaurants, a spa and more than 10,000 square feet of event space. Community Impact
Overheard on Reddit
Seeing Tricky at Mohawk Outdoors on Monday (9/21)
I’ve got an extra ticket if anyone wants to go (preferably a big fan). The ticket is GA so we don’t need to sit together or anything. Lmk!
The Vortex, the East Austin theater founded by University of Texas graduate students, is handing its stage to young Austin performers. The Daily Texan
Weather
Today: mostly sunny, with a high near 101 and heat index values as high as 109. South-southeast wind 0 to 5 miles per hour. Tonight: partly cloudy, low around 79. No weather alerts are active this morning. National Weather Service
A high of 101 would tie the daily record set in 2019, KXAN's meteorologists said, and the heat index should run four to five degrees above the air temperature. KXAN
Thursday carries a 20% chance of showers between 1 and 4 p.m. with a high near 100, and Friday and Saturday are sunny and 99. National Weather Service
Thursday is the work week's best rain chance, though most of the area stays dry, and a cold front may bring a low chance of storms early next week. KXAN
The Back Page
19 days until the voter registration deadline · Texans must be registered by Oct. 5 to vote in the Nov. 3 election; early voting runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30.
Eighty Austin police officers spent part of Tuesday getting fitted for running shoes. The Central Texas Public Safety Commission is starting something called Miles for Mental Health in October: one mile a day, every day, for thirty days, done as a group rather than alone. Fleet Feet Austin handled the shoes. The American Heart Association ran health screenings alongside. Ashley Copeland, the commission's chief operating officer, said officers carry heavy physical and mental demands every day, and that supporting their wellness is part of supporting the people who serve. There is something plain and likable about the shape of it. A mile is not far. Thirty days is not long. The whole point is that nobody has to do it by themselves. Somewhere out on the trails this October, in the last of the heat, eighty people will be keeping each other honest. FOX 7 Austin