Thursday
October 22, 2026
Today at a glance
- Weather 87° / 59°About as nice as Austin gets. Get outside.
- Air quality 30 · GoodClear air. A great day to be outside.
- Lake Travis 94% fullThe lake is close to full — good for boats and for the summer water supply. Down a touch from last week.
- Allergies ModerateRagweed and elm and grasses are up. Allergy folks, take the pill before it takes you.
- Power grid NormalDemand peaks near 64,900 megawatts; ERCOT has 91,600 ready and room to spare.
- Sunrise 7:37 a.m.The sun is up for 11 hours and 15 minutes today, and down by 6:52 p.m.
Good morning, Austin. Sunny and warm again, with a high near 87 and a low around 59 tonight. The air is clean and pollen is down to moderate. Race weekend starts today, so give yourself extra time near downtown and the airport.
The Briefing
Eviction help returns to a Council that is checking what its social service money buys
Two items share one question.
Item 22 on this morning's Council agenda would add $2.25 million to the City's contract with El Buen Samaritano for I Belong in Austin. The program began in 2023 as emergency rent help. After Council trimmed its budget from $4 million to $3 million last year, City staff focused it on legal partners who negotiate settlements in eviction cases, KXAN reported. El Buen's chief executive, Rosamaria Murillo, said up to 1,600 residents could lose rental support without the money. The City told KXAN that 74% of participants kept stable housing. The item sits on the consent agenda.
Council also considers a proposal to add geographic data to the City's social service reports, the Austin Chronicle reported. It follows a September 24 vote extending 14 nonprofit contracts worth about $4.1 million; a staff memo noting compliance concerns at five of the groups reached Council nine minutes after that vote.
Mayor Kirk Watson ordered a review this summer of the more than $100 million the City spends on social services each year. "Contracting something out doesn't contract out our responsibility," he said, Community Impact reported. Working groups are due to finish before January.
What's next: Council meets at 10 a.m. today at City Hall; the social services review is expected to shape the 2027-28 budget.
Sources: KXAN (I Belong in Austin), City of Austin (October 22 agenda), Austin Chronicle (contract vote), Community Impact (social services review)
City Desk
Money & bills
Austin ISD will stop paying into employee health savings accounts
Austin Independent School District (AISD) will end its $133 monthly contributions to health savings accounts in January 2027 for the 5,274 employees on high-deductible, employee-only plans, KVUE reported. The district says the change saves $9.2 million toward its budget deficit while it absorbs higher medical costs. Trasell Underwood of Education Austin, the employees' union, said some staff fear losing care they receive now. KVUE
Also
Council votes today on item 22, which adds $2.25 million to El Buen Samaritano's contract running I Belong in Austin, a program that helps renters facing eviction reach settlements. KXAN
Public safety & courts
One person killed in an east Austin motorcycle crash
One person died after a motorcycle and another vehicle collided at 7800 Farm-to-Market Road 969 (FM 969) in east Austin about 6:21 p.m. Wednesday, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services said. Medics tried to resuscitate an adult, who died at the scene. Both directions of FM 969 near Rogers Loop were closed Wednesday evening and have since reopened. The person's name has not been released. KXAN
Also
The owner of the Halal Time food trailer at East Sixth and Onion streets is recovering from second-degree burns after a generator powering the trailer exploded on October 9. FOX 7
Police are looking for a black Dodge Ram 1500 pickup linked to copper wire stolen from electrical boxes around Mueller and 51st Street in recent weeks. KXAN
KXAN saw a shackled man put on an apparent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bus at an Austin business park; its owner gave no permission, and Homeland Security said ICE acts lawfully. KXAN
KUT obtained court audio of an ICE agent's body camera recording from the traffic stop and chase that preceded last month's shooting of Wilber Garces Perez in north Austin. KUT
Growth & infrastructure
Council takes up Austin's requests for Parmer Lane today
A preliminary recommendation presented to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) would turn Parmer Lane, from MoPac (Loop 1) to Whitestone Boulevard, into a highway with frontage roads. Council Member Krista Laine's resolution, item 44, asks the City to press for walking, biking, transit and safe crossings instead. CAMPO consultant Eric Busker called the recommendations "bold and tough to implement" and said they are not final. Austin Current
Also
Council also votes on item 27, adding $224 million to Sundt/Archer Western's contract for utility work across the airport campus, for a total of up to $344 million. City of Austin
A public hearing today, item 49, asks Council to let about 121,156 square feet of the Country Club Creek West Greenbelt be used for a road. City of Austin
Overheard on X
The Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix returns to Austin Oct. 22-25. 🏎️
🚐 Pre-paid shuttle service locations: Waterloo Park & Travis County Expo Center.
🚧 E. 10th St. & Red River St. will experience lane reductions & closures for shuttle services.
More info 👉 https://t.co/G5LbwI9wtL pic.twitter.com/naioQ815TI
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport asks travelers to arrive at least 2.5 hours early as the Grand Prix, Texas football and a Spurs game at the Moody Center fill the weekend. CBS Austin
New street signs went up October 14 renaming Plantation Road as Tommie Lee Wyatt Lane, for the late co-founder and publisher of East Austin's The Villager newspaper. KXAN
CTXGO, a free app from the City, the Texas Department of Transportation and other agencies, lists closures across Central Texas and pays $2.50 for eligible bus, bike or walking trips. Daily Texan
Overheard on Bluesky
One of Texas’ largest event is upon us and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said it expects high volume traffic this weekend. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-airport/austin-airport-f1-weekend-tsa-times/
City Hall & county
Early voting holds near 40,000 a day in Travis County
Travis County had received 131,689 ballots through Wednesday, 13.88% of its 948,575 registered voters, the County Clerk's unofficial totals show. That counts 120,626 votes cast at early voting sites, 10,816 mail ballots and 247 limited ballots. In-person turnout was 40,777 on Monday, 40,359 on Tuesday and 39,490 on Wednesday. Early voting runs through October 30. Travis County Clerk
Overheard on Bluesky
Travis County posting big early voting numbers, will have to see how much is pull forward vs higher turnout overall
@traviscountyclerk.bsky.social
Also
Council considers a proposal today directing City Manager T.C. Broadnax to add geographic data to social service reports, after a compliance memo reached Council nine minutes after a September 24 vote. Austin Chronicle
Schools
The University of Texas at Austin will create a University College to run a new core curriculum from fall 2027, President Jim Davis said; a faculty group said course selection lacked transparency. CBS Austin
Austin Ed Fund, a nonprofit that supports Austin ISD students and teachers, raised a record $700,000 at its luncheon on Tuesday. KXAN
Austin has 17,000 fewer residents under 18 than five years ago, about 9%, KXAN reported; a privately funded City initiative aims to make Austin the best U.S. city for kids. KXAN
Business & street life
Mayor Kirk Watson and Council Member Zo Qadri formed a Task Force to Save Red River, led by Downtown Strategy Officer Jonathan Stone, after several of the district's music venues closed. KXAN
Overheard on X
City of Austin task force to make plans to protect Red River music venues https://t.co/KUsJXUMYyw
Kingdom, a Red River nightclub, is going phone-free: patrons keep their phones but get stickers to cover the cameras and are asked not to record. KXAN
Circuit of the Americas founder Bobby Epstein projects the Grand Prix will bring well over $1 billion from out-of-state visitors; the Fairmont Austin expects to sell out its 1,048 rooms. CBS Austin
The Mercedes Formula 1 team runs a fan hub at 400 Congress Ave. through Sunday, with simulators, a show car and food from local vendors. KXAN
E4 Youth opened the What Once Was Heritage Center, on Black history and digital storytelling, at 1141 Chicon St.; it is free Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Community Impact
Paradigm Treatment Austin, a residential mental health center for teenagers in southwest Austin, added 16 beds, raising its capacity to 40. KVUE
Andie Flores's one-person show, an absurdist comedy about growing up as a girl, runs through Saturday at Stage Austin. KUT
Weather
Sunny today with a high near 87 and light winds, mostly clear tonight with a low around 59, and sunny Friday with a high near 86, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. No alerts are in effect for Travis County. National Weather Service forecast
KXAN's forecasters expect highs in the low to mid-80s through the weekend, more clouds Sunday, and rain chances of 10% to 20% Monday through Wednesday. KXAN
Sources: National Weather Service forecast, Travis County active-alert snapshot, KXAN
The Back Page
Early voting is open October 19 through 30; Election Day is November 3. Check official registration and election links.
One Good Thing: A Dove Springs car wash is turning into an outdoor gallery. Hive Mind Studios, on a family property that also holds a working car wash, is having 13 walls painted for its Create Art Car Wash Mural Fest, October 24 through November 22. KUT