Another excessive heat warning today, as the moment that those of us who shivered through the multi-day statewide power outage in February of 2021 had feared: that experience appears primed for a possible, and potentially much more dangerous repeat as ERCOT urges Texas energy consumers to cut back today - a situation that's likely to become familiar over the rest of the summer. Sunday, the hottest July day ever recorded and the third-hottest day overall historically for Austin, saw two major local power outages due to system issues suffered by Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative.
Governor Greg Abbott pledges to "look into" whether Austin is violating a new state law that penalizes cities for reducing law enforcement budgets - the Austin Police Department's budget is the highest it has ever been, at $443 million annually.
Investigators are looking into a weekend fire that destroyed the historic home of a Taylor civil rights pioneer, which was being renovated into a museum.
Murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong faces a new charge: using another person's passport to leave the country.
Austin's monkeypox case count climbs: we now have six confirmed local cases, and three others presumed to be monkeypox.
Alamo Drafthouse faces a potential union conflict after the firing of an employee which is being construed by its union members as retaliation.
Austin FC comes off a shutout win at Atlanta United to return home for a Tuesday night match at Q2 vs the Houston Dynamo.
Again, an excessive heat advisory is in place today as we expect afternoon highs to climb into the upper 100's, perhaps 107, with similar weather (and potentially, similar power grid strain) likely for Tuesday and Wednesday. Highs back down into the 100-102 degree range as of Thursday.
