COVID stats continued tracking skyward as of Friday evening's numbers - hospitalization rate has risen past the peaks of both the first and third waves, over the summers of 2020 and 2021. Local school districts face staffing dilemmas caused both by teachers abandoning the profession altogether, and remaining staff suffering high degrees of COVID outages. Lines were long at AISD's vaccine clinic on Saturday, and a man was arrested after threatening attendees of a testing facility in Tech Ridge last week. A protest by Via 313 Pizza workers on Saturday at the chain's Guadalupe location draws about 40. Early voting starts today in the special election to replace outgoing District 4 Council Member Greg Casar - candidates will participate in another forum tonight. A TXDOT memo details new nuances to in-progress plans for the expansion and redesign of IH-35 in central Austin, while APD Chief Joe Chacon outlines his priorities for improving safety in the East Sixth Street bar district. Facebook parent company Meta has leased the entire commercial component of the still-incomplete Sixth And Guadalupe tower, which will be Austin's new tallest building once complete. The family of Rachel Cooke marks 20 years since her disappearance in January of 2002. Outgoing Huston-Tillotson University President Colette Pierce Burnett is named the Austin Chamber of Commerce's Austinite of the Year for 2021. Bon Jovi will play the new Moody Center at UT on April 23, tickets go on sale Friday. The Dallas Cowboys host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday as NFL playoff action begins. Austin's Buddy's Burger plans to expand to Round Rock later this year. The third annual Bloody Mary Festival happens February 27th at Fair Market, to benefit The Boneshaker Project. A PBS reality show features a New Braunfels-area beekeeper. And cool weather continues thru tomorrow before a warmup to the 70's by Wednesday.
