Monday
September 28, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 99° / 75°The last of the heat before Thursday. Take the evening walk, not the noon one.
- Air quality 52 · ModerateFine for most of us. If your lungs are touchy, take it a little easy.
- Lake Travis 89.6% fullComfortably full, but every dry week takes a little. Down a touch from last week.
- Allergies HighElm and ragweed and grasses are heavy today. Windows closed, meds early.
- Power grid NormalA busy afternoon: demand near 82,800 megawatts, with 103,300 on hand.
- Sunrise 7:22 a.m.Daylight is under twelve hours now, and it keeps getting shorter.
Good morning, Austin. Ninety-nine today, heat index near 104, and this should be the last long stretch of it for a while. Sun up at 7:22, down at 7:19, which puts us under twelve hours of daylight now. Ragweed and elm and the grasses are all running high, so take the medicine before the porch coffee rather than after. Lake Travis is sitting just under 90 percent full. Then Wednesday night the sky opens: a slow Pacific low with tropical moisture behind it, and by Thursday the high is 87 and it rains most of the day.
The Briefing
Two bus systems, one fuel bill
The board meets at noon. CapMetro's directors vote today at their East Fifth Street headquarters on the first system-wide fare increase since 2015, a single local ride going from $1.25 to $1.50 in January 2027 and to $2 in January 2029, with steps of the same shape for commuter and paratransit riders. The agency says inflation in fuel, equipment, maintenance and operations has outrun what it could keep absorbing.
The Austin Independent School District (AISD) is doing the same arithmetic with no fare to raise. It spent nearly twice as much on diesel in the first month of this school year as in the first month of last, and ridership was lower. That is after cutting $1.8 million out of transportation and moving high school students off neighborhood stops onto hubs. Trustees heard Thursday that enrollment landed under what the budget assumed and that roughly $60 million has to come out for 2027-28.
Riders told CapMetro both things. "There's never going to be a good time for a fare increase," said Awais Azhar, chair of the Project Connect Advisory Committee, who backs the proposal anyway. Anthony Rodriguez, out of work and saving for a used car, asked the board in a written comment to find the money somewhere else. The 50% reduced-fare discount for seniors, riders with disabilities, Medicare card holders and eligible military personnel stays either way.
What's next: The CapMetro vote is at noon today; if it passes, the first step lands Jan. 10, 2027. AISD's chief financial officer starts bringing cuts to the board in January. The fare detail is in Money & bills and the district's numbers in Schools.
Sources: CapMetro (the fare table and the vote date), KXAN (the hearing and the rider comments), Austin American-Statesman (the district's diesel and enrollment figures)
City Desk
Money & bills
CapMetro votes today on its first fare increase in eleven years
Directors meet at noon at the agency's East Fifth Street headquarters. A local bus or Pickup ride would go to $1.50 on Jan. 10, 2027 and $2 in January 2029; commuter service goes to $4 then $5, and Access, the paratransit service, to $2.25 then $3.25. CapMetro says fares have not changed system-wide since 2015. KXAN
Also
A monthly local pass would go from $41.25 to $49.50 in 2027 and $66 in 2029; a commuter pass from $96.25 to $110 and then $137.50. CapMetro
Ticket vending machines come out of bus stations and transit centers immediately after any approval, leaving one machine at each rail station, which CapMetro attributes to low use. CapMetro
The Equifare program would fold into the Reduced Fare program, and existing Equifare riders would keep a 50% discount; CapMetro says its Title VI review found no disproportionate burden. CapMetro
"I rely on the bus for my appointments, job, and school," Anthony Rodriguez wrote to the board, saying he is out of work and saving for a used car. KXAN
Jamie McClinton paid $161.30 through the resale site TickPick for two tickets to a Raiders tailgate that turned out to be free and open to the public, she told CBS Austin. CBS Austin
University of Texas athletics staff told the station they see counterfeit tickets at nearly every game, some fake outright and some screenshots of one real ticket resold to several buyers. CBS Austin
Public safety & courts
About 160 people came back to the corner where the shooting happened
A week after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot Wilber Garcés Pérez, protesters filled the intersection of Anderson Square and Research Boulevard in North Austin on Sunday afternoon. Under the overpass was graffiti reading "Free Wilber." A makeshift memorial held candles and flowers. Lucila Carlos, a master's student at the University of Texas at Austin, said it was her first protest. KUT
Also
The Party for Socialism and Liberation organized Sunday's rally; spokesperson Yayo Ayala said the change protesters want would take "hundreds and thousands of people." KXAN
Misael Ramos, the District 1 council candidate arrested Saturday on a riot participation charge and released the same day, was at Sunday's protest. KUT
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a post last week that ICE "will not be slowing down operations in Austin" and that it does not choose which laws to enforce or where. KXAN
DHS said Garcés Pérez's work permit expired in 2025, that a permit alone confers no legal status, and that he has had around-the-clock medical care including pain medication. KXAN
Garcés Pérez, 28, is Venezuelan and was working as a food delivery driver the day he was shot, said Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the Austin immigration attorney representing him. KXAN
The consultants told the city to keep 911 inside the police department
Mission Critical Partners told a Tuesday meeting that Austin should hire civilian leadership for the existing center rather than build the separate Office of Joint Emergency Communications the City Council began planning in August. Vice President Bonnie Maney said the Austin Police Department (APD) sits in the top 5% nationally for response times. Austin Police Association president Michael Bullock said a new center would add bureaucracy. The Daily Texan
Council Member Marc Duchen of District 10 called a separate department "a more expensive way" to improve the call center, citing coordination and records problems. The Daily Texan
Rebecca Webber, speaking for the nonprofit Equity Action, said she is suing Austin police over a deaf client she says was wrongly prosecuted after a 911 ambulance call brought an officer. The Daily Texan
Growth & infrastructure
A right-of-way permit renews full-lane closures around the convention center site from Oct. 1 through March 31, 2027, taking northbound Trinity Street, eastbound East Third and westbound East Fourth. Roadway Work Zones (qyfh-gwei)
The permit describes a 45-foot excavation across six city blocks and about 100 trucks a day hauling through April 2027, down from 400 to 570 a day this past year. Roadway Work Zones (qyfh-gwei)
Overheard on Reddit
Touchless Pre Check at Bergstrom
I assumed it would be faster. It often seems slower as Bergstrom TSA has many lines for regular Pre but one queue for touchless (and it seems to be out a lot). What has been your experience?
Overheard on Bluesky
ATX is off the hook in apartment names. One of my grad students literally lives in “The Outlaw”.
City Hall & county
Paige Ellis has spent a month working out how she lost by 62 names
The District 8 council member turned in her third-term petition at 4:19 p.m. on Aug. 17, 41 minutes before the deadline, with 365 more signatures than the 3,044 she needed. A week later the city clerk rejected it. The office counted 3,317 names and struck 335 for duplicates, missing birthdays, addresses outside the district and other reasons. Candidates have no role in that review and no appeal. Austin Current
Also
Ellis started collecting Feb. 17, believing a 180-day window applied; she learned in January there is none. "I could have started in June of 2025 if I had known that," she said. Austin Current
Kathie Tovo, the only council member to win a third term in the last decade, turned in 4,700 signatures against a 3,500 threshold in 2018, after six months and about 80 volunteers. Austin Current
Ellis's husband, political strategist Ed Espinoza, said he found at least 26 struck names he believes were valid, rejected over two-word street names, nicknames and handwriting. Austin Current
The District 8 seat Ellis cannot defend has two candidates and a mood
District 8, which runs from Barton Creek down through Oak Hill to Circle C, is open for the first time in eight years. Selena Xie, an Austin-Travis County EMS commander and former Austin EMS Association president, faces Jeffery Bowen, a construction manager and spending watchdog. Consultant Mark Littlefield, a resident for 23 years, said this will be "the toughest election for incumbents on Council." Austin American-Statesman
Six District 8 voters interviewed by the Statesman raised property taxes, city spending and growth; the district has met about 20% of its affordable housing goal under the city's Strategic Housing Blueprint. Austin American-Statesman
The last day to register for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 5, and Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Celia Israel said her office is working nights and weekends to keep up. KUT
Israel said the office took in 1,000 applications from would-be volunteer deputy registrars in a single morning, and that primary voting this year was up 30%. KUT
Anyone registering on the deadline should drop the form at the voter registrar's office rather than mail it, Israel said, because postmarks can lag by days. KUT
Early voting in Travis County runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30; the Bulletin's Vote 2026 page carries the official registration and polling links. Travis County Elections
Schools
Austin ISD has fewer students than it budgeted for, and a bigger hole next year
Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery told trustees Thursday the district had 65,951 students enrolled as of Sept. 18 against the 68,329 it projected. About 69,000 were enrolled last year. The district needs to cut about $5.7 million this year, or up to $14.8 million if no more students arrive, and roughly $60 million for 2027-28. Austin American-Statesman
Also
The district spent $364,369 on diesel in the first month of school, against $186,447 in the same month last year, and Montgomery expects the year's diesel bill to run $1.9 million higher. Austin American-Statesman
That came after the district cut about $1.8 million from transportation, including moving high school routes to a hub model instead of neighborhood stops, and ridership is down. Austin American-Statesman
Board President Lynn Boswell said the district cut $205 million for this school year and has less left to cut: "It's a much bigger problem than it was last year." Austin American-Statesman
Superintendent Matias Segura expects more enrollment over the next month; the official count is taken on the statewide Snapshot Day in late October. Austin American-Statesman
Business & street life
The Austin City Limits Music Festival returns to Zilker Park for its 25th year on Oct. 2-4 and Oct. 9-11, gates at noon and music from 12:45 p.m. Austin American-Statesman
Charli XCX and Skrillex headline Friday, Rüfüs Du Sol and Lorde take Saturday, and The xx and Twenty One Pilots close Sunday; Kings of Leon headline opposite Charli XCX on the second Friday. Austin American-Statesman
Three-day passes are sold out at the box office, leaving the waitlist and resale; single-day Sunday general admission was still listed at $170. Austin American-Statesman
Overheard on Reddit
Late summer Ant problems 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜
Early in the summer I had a problem with tiny ants in my kitchen. I laid out terro liquid ant bait (per resounding recommendation here) and that got rid of them in a matter of days. Now I see the ants are back, and this time there are 2 kinds: small ones as before and bigger ones about 3 times the size of the first.
Overheard on Reddit
SHOPPING HELP: Does anyone sell short cotton robes in Austin?
Sorry to bother y'all with my shopping crisis, but I thought I would try this just in case it works. I live abroad and need to get those short bridesmaids robes for my sister's wedding this weekend. She wants them cotton and burgundy, and then a white one for her.
Weather
Today: mostly sunny, high near 99, heat index values as high as 104, southeast wind 0 to 5 miles per hour. Tonight: partly cloudy, low around 75. No alerts are active this morning. National Weather Service
Tuesday holds in the mid-90s with a 20% rain chance after 1 p.m. and south gusts to 25 miles per hour; Wednesday brings a 60% chance and gusts to 30. National Weather Service
Thursday is the break: showers and thunderstorms, a 90% chance of rain, some storms capable of heavy rain, and a high near 87. National Weather Service
KXAN's forecasters say tropical moisture meeting a slow-moving Pacific low will bring several inches of rain and a flash flood risk from Wednesday into the weekend. KXAN
Forecasters differ on totals: the Statesman's outlook puts 4 to 6 inches on the Austin area through early Sunday, while KXAN meteorologist Kristen Currie posted 1 to 3 inches likely and 2 to 5 or more possible. Austin American-Statesman
Overheard on X
HEADS UP: a significant pattern change is expected late week with widespread heavy rain prompting flash flood concerns.
TIMING: late WED through this weekend
TOTALS: 1-3" likely, 2-5+" possible
FLOOD RISK: 3 out of 4#TXWX #ATX #Austin pic.twitter.com/DwQnviNs61
The Back Page
4 days until the Austin City Limits (ACL) Festival's first weekend · The Great Lawn at Zilker Park is closed for build-out; the festival runs Oct. 2-4 and Oct. 9-11.
About ten years ago a man named Ali Alkhafaji put on a small film festival at Lone Star Court, mostly so that the people who make movies in this town would be in one room together. This weekend the tenth one filled the Austin Film Society Cinema with filmmakers, actors and screenwriters, with audience question-and-answer sessions after the shorts and an awards ceremony at the end. Twelve judges pick the program, and a film only gets in if every one of them rates it at least eight out of ten. One of those judges, the actor Chad Mundo, said the best part is running into somebody you once shared a set with. Riley Engemoen, who studied radio-television-film at the University of Texas and now makes documentaries here, showed a short called "Butch & Mandalin: The Search for the Golden Morral." His advice to anyone starting out was to go to the Austin Film Society, go to Hyperreal Film Club, go support other artists: those people become your friends and your network. "We're focusing on story first and execution second," Alkhafaji said. The Daily Texan