Free Republic

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a group of City Council members urged Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx Monday to reconsider prosecuting five suspects in a deadly gang-related shootout last week in Austin after they were released when prosecutors rejected charges against them. Chicago police sought to charge all five suspects with murder and aggravated battery after they allegedly engaged in a Friday morning gunfight between two factions of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang, the Chicago Sun-Times first reported. The state’s attorney’s office, however, declined to charge any of them, calling the evidence insufficient. A police report further noted that...

Police officers in one of the largest cities in Texas are no longer responding to calls that are deemed non-emergencies as of Oct. 1. In situations including when there is no immediate threat to life or property, residents and others in Austin are being told to submit a report online or call 311 because a call to 911 will not yield a response. The change in policy stems from recommendations from the Reimagining 911 and Non-Police Crisis Response, interim Austin Chief of Police Joseph Chacon told a briefing this week. He also cited concerns about COVID-19 exposure for officers and...

With uncharacteristic restraint, Tucker Carlson referred to Mark Milley as a "national disgrace." In his 12.5 min video, Tucker Carlson ripped into the dishonest, dishonorable, and incompetent conduct of Mark Milley, Ken McKenzie, and Lloyd Austin, and also what the Department of Defense is doing to Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller.Carlson did admit it is likely that Austin, Milley and McKenzie will not receive justice for their wicked actions, and will likely be rewarded by the military-industrial complex for what they did.

Several friends and fans contacted me urgently this week: "TxDOT's going to bulldoze the Chronicle! You're in danger!" As part of its current "virtual public meeting" at a computer near you, the Texas Department of Transportation released schematics – big long aerial views of the corridor – for its three alternatives, one of which it has abandoned already, for rebuilding I-35 through Central Austin: what the agency calls the Capital Express Central project. And sure enough, there we are, under layers of proposed new concrete and asphalt at the address formerly known as 4000 N. I-35, where we've been since...

In a year where attendance on campus or virtually has turned into a discussion for lawmakers, every student counts for districts. The Austin Independent School District anticipated hitting more than 77,000 students this year but just shared enrollment is below 74,000. District leaders are tracking attendance in a way that’s alarming some parents of faith. “I was shocked and disappointed,” said Lisa Shapiro. “I think it’s an absolute intrusion by government into religion.” Shapiro is talking about a form that went out to parents and their students recently about celebrating Rosh Hashanah. The letter asks for the date the holiday...

The Model Y is Tesla’s newest available vehicle and also the company’s most popular car in several markets, including the United States...In February, Tesla officially filed to have the spring structure made permanent by filing with the City of Fremont to add a 64,000 square foot expansion to the factory. In July, Tesla officially started making GA 4.5 a permanent part of the company’s production facility by adding underground sewer connections for plumbing and creating foundational work for the spring structure to sit on...Tesla has been making tremendous strides toward improving GA 4.5, especially as demand for the company’s vehicles...

Beginning this September and occurring twice per year, Austin ISD employees’ social media accounts will be screened for inappropriate content including “illegal activity; violent, threatening, or sexually explicit posts; or racist, bigoted, or discriminatory behavior.”

she said she nearly cried when her apartment complex offered her a lease renewal for next year with a nearly 35% increase in price. “It was up over $400 — just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “My income is not going up 400 dollars a month!” KXAN Investigators have received several tips over the last month, detailing rent hikes as high as 30% and 40%. One viewer said their apartment downtown was asking for $1,200 more a month — a nearly 47% increase from last year. Experts with the Texas Real Estate Center at the University of Texas...

Lloyd Austin said in an interview that aired Sunday that some intelligence assessments predicted the Taliban would gain control of Afghanistan within months of a U.S. troops withdrawal – in stark contrast to President Biden's July claims there were no such reports. 'I know the president has said that the intelligence absolutely did not show that anybody – that the Taliban could take over in 11 days. What's the earliest you were aware that that could happen?' ABC News' Martha Raddatz asked the Defense secretary in a pre-taped interview. 'There were assessments that ranged initially from one to two years...

WASHINGTON, DC—Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explained to the press that the world's greatest military superpower will simply have to cross its fingers that Americans can get out of Afghanistan alive because we don't have things like planes or guns to help get people out. "The military would really love to help, but we just can't," said Secretary Austin. "Fighting terrorists, securing safe passage to airports, flying planes—that's just not our thing. We're more into diversity training and free gender transition surgeries, to be honest. That's the stuff that's more in our wheelhouse." According to sources, the government is still...

SEC AUSTIN: "We don't have the capability to go out and collect large numbers of people." https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1428085308722196481

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin restaurants Launderette and Fresa’s will no longer require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for indoor dining after being contacted by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Earlier this week, the two restaurants announced intentions to require vaccination proof at its restaurants but backtracked after communication with TABC. TABC says managers at the Austin restaurants “weren’t aware of the full requirements of the law and immediately took steps to comply.” Launderette confirmed on its Instagram page vaccinations are not required, but guests are required to “wear masks indoors when not seated at a table.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin and Travis County will require face masks for residents in city and county buildings and public schools — in direct opposition to a ban by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown announced the decision Wednesday evening, with Brown saying: “Mayor Adler and I signed orders requiring masks in public schools and county/city buildings. With our kids back in school next week, our community & public health officials have called on us to take this reasonable measure. This will protect countless lives & keep us safe.”...

Health officials in Austin issued an emergency alert over the weekend that the COVID-19 situation in the city was “severely worsening” and has reached a “critical” point. The “Warn Central Texas” alert system was designed for use during a disaster, which health officials say the city is experiencing. The alert was distributed on Saturday by text, phone calls and email to residents in Austin and nearby areas of Travis County. “Our hospitals are severely stressed and there is little we can do to alleviate their burden with the surging cases,” Austin-Travis County Health Authority’s Desmar Walkes said in a statement....

Can we now admit Rogan's great "Austin Migration" was a flop? The hype surrounding a mass arrival of comedians to Austin has been legendary.. and completely non-factual. Since late 2019, Joe Rogan announced to the world he would lead the relocation of the stand-up industry to Austin, Texas. As we evaluate the current situation, it becomes clear this project hasn't quite worked out like Joe, Austinites or his fans may have expected. In all fairness it hasn't been complete love with Rogan rocking the boat in Austin either.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A homicide investigator with the Austin Police Department has accused the Travis County District Attorney of forcing him to alter his testimony to a grand jury in the case against a man accused of shooting and killing an Austin protester. In a sworn affidavit, Detective David Fugitt wrote, “I firmly believe the District Attorney’s Office, acting under the authority of José P. Garza, tampered with me as a witness.” However, a district judge reviewing these claims said he didn’t see any behavior in this case rising to the level of criminal conduct by the D.A. Fugitt’s affidavit...

A new antibody-based treatment could not only help treat COVID-19 symptoms in those already affected but potentially prevent new infections from occurring. The treatment comes in the form of an inhaler. A researcher at the University of Texas at Austin first developed the technology, and now an Austin-based pharmaceutical company is trying to get it on the market. When it comes to treating infectious disease, the vaccine is the “gold standard.” However, prior to the vaccine coming on the market, scientists developed treatments for the virus, helping protect high-risk communities from COVID-19. Current treatments require patients to get an infusion...

...parents in Dallas just got a wake-up call. The local Black Lives Matter group Dallas Justice Now launched a new campaign, urging white parents in wealthy Highland Park to sign a pledge to keep their children back from America’s top colleges — in the name of “equity.” The organization’s letter to parents lays on the guilt thick. “We are writing to you because we understand you are white and live within the Highland Park Independent School District and thus benefit from the enormous privileges taken at the expense of communities of color,” Dallas Justice Now writes to parents in the...

Austin-Travis County's top health authority on Friday requested that residents return to wearing masks as the area moved back into Stage 4 coronavirus guidelines, a sign of worsening pandemic conditions in Central Texas due to the presence of a highly contagious variant known as delta. Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County's health authority, announced the stricter recommendations after the weekly average of daily hospital admissions reached 35 Thursday night, the highest it had been since late February. "In just five months, we have evidenced four new variants of this virus," Walkes, who was joined by five other local doctors during a...

WASHINGTON - A member of the Texas Democratic delegation has returned to Austin from Washington, D.C., to negotiate with Republicans over their voting legislation, h. Rep. Philip Cortez, D-San Antonio, made the announcement Wednesday on Twitter, saying that he intended to "engage in good-faith dialogue about the aspects of the bill that I, and others, think are harmful." **SNIP** Other members, however, question how his decision was made, who he had spoken with or what his mission is. "To be clear, he is not negotiating on our behalf," tweeted Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, in response. "He made the decision to...