Austin Public Health had a minor meltdown of its vaccine appointment website last night, and will try again Tuesday evening. A new COVID variant surfaces on the UT campus. Texas ranks very low in percentage of fully vaccinated residents, and Travis and Williamson counties rank at the bottom of the most-populous Texas counties by the same measure. The Texas Senate rams through a bill to force ERCOT to lower billions in energy charges during the winter storm, during which at least 57 Texans lost their lives. New help has arrived for Austin renters struggling to keep up. LCRA advises that dogs be kept out of all of the Highland Lakes due to toxic algae. And the first - and hopefully the last - fully virtual SXSW starts today.
