Austin's COVID hospitalizations continue to climb and are now just short of Stage 5 range, while intensive care capacity in the metro is almost gone - 13 ICU beds available for the entire city as of last night. Austin City Council approves further research into returning cars to busy party nights on 6th Street, and greenlights a new development on city-owned property at IH-35 and St. John's. Austin and Texas renters are shielded from the end of federal eviction moratoriums - for now. It's final - the SEC unanimously votes to invite UT and OU to join their conference. The U.S. Men's National Team advances after a win over Qatar at Q2 Stadium last night to the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup - they take on Mexico this weekend in the final. A huge Lake Travis mansion hits the market, and the radar of the New York Post. A new inhaler-based COVID treatment is progressing under the care of an Austin-based company. A Canadian employment app - the "Tinder for job seekers" - sees its U.S. debut in Austin. And Willie Nelson will perform at the Texas State Capitol on Saturday in support of Democrats fighting Republican-led voting access reform.
