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(Baylor Scott & White Health/Facebook)
Austin Public Health officials held a moment of silence at a press conference Friday after the city tied for its record-high number previously set on July 24, 2020 with 12 COVID deaths. The city also saw 36 Austinites lose their lives to COVID this week, the highest of this summer's surge.
The single-day death toll was the highest since July 24, 2020, while the weekly deaths for the week of Sept. 3 nearly doubled from a week prior, when 19 residents lost their lives to COVID. The first surge spiked to 38 deaths in the week of July 23, 2020.
Weekly death rates are now higher than the same time last year as one child (with previous health conditions) died from COVID in the Austin area for the first time. The week of Sept. 4 saw nine deaths in 2020.
Austin Public Health officials said they were "cautiously optimistic" as cases and hospitalizations dipped for the first time in the third summer surge, but deaths and pediatric cases remain a concern as Austin public schools work to curb the surge in their in-person classrooms.
At the press conference, Austin Public Health officials said schools and large events with both unvaccinated and vaccinated people, including the University of Texas' first home football game on Saturday, could continue to add to the surge.
"The tailgating and parties are the places where we're really, really concerned that there may be some transmission, because those are situations where people will be close together in close contact congregating likely en masse and for long periods of time," Austin Public Health Authority Desmar Walkes said. "We want this to be a successful game for UT fans and that mask is really going to make a difference."
Austin Public Health officials reminded Austinites to stay safe during Labor Day weekend festivities, especially if unvaccinated, and do some "self-care" by wearing masks and getting vaccinated.
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Popular
(Bob Daemmrich)
After months of speculation, a new report says political personality Beto O'Rourke is mulling a run for Texas governor that he will announce later this year.
Sources tell Axios the former congressman is preparing his campaign for the 2022 election, where he will likely vie for the position against incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott. The only other candidate that has announced he will take on Abbott for governor is former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West—no Democrats have announced they are running as of yet.
"No decision has been made," Axios reports David Wysong, O'Rourke's former House chief of staff and a longtime adviser, said. "He has been making and receiving calls with people from all over the state."
A new poll from The Dallas Morning News and University of Texas at Tyler shows O'Rourke is narrowing the gap between himself and Abbott's prospects for governor. In the poll, 37% said they'd vote for O'Rourke over Abbott, while 42% said they'd vote for Abbott.
Abbott has been in the hot seat due to his handling of COVID-19 and the signing of landmark legislation into law, including new abortion and voting rights laws; 54% of poll respondents voted they think the state is headed in the "wrong direction." Still, Texas hasn't had a Democrat as governor since the 90s.
O'Rourke's people-focused approach to the 2018 Senator race, which he lost to Sen. Ted Cruz, gave him a widespread following and many hoped he'd throw his hat into the ring since he said he was considering it earlier this year.
"We hope that he's going to run," Gilberto Hinojosa, the state chair of the Democratic Party, told Axios. "We think he'll be our strongest candidate. We think he can beat Abbott because he's vulnerable."
Jordi is an Austin-based rapper who represented Texas at the 2021 Red Bull Batalla. (Esparza)
Austin rapper Jordi Esparza may not have won the 2021 Red Bull Batalla, the world's largest Spanish freestyle rap competition, but for a spirited two rounds, the 22-year old Mexican native looked like he had every right to.
On Saturday evening in Los Angeles, the event itself looked like Cobra Kai meets Star Search with graphics adding a very Batman Beyond aesthetic. Over a dozen rappers hoping to represent the U.S. in the international round of the competition took to the stage with in-your-face jabs at accents, sexual orientation and odors, among other things.
This was Esparza's second rodeo; he had placed third at the 2020 National Finals, automatically securing him a spot this year.
However, things were different this year. He was not nervous about the contest. Unlike in 2020, when he made his Red Bull Batalla debut, the anxiety of the event led him to "feeling so bad."
Affecting a casual calm, the locally-based landscaper said he just felt "so relaxed, so happy" and primarily wanted to "enjoy everything."
Choosing his first-round opponent, Esparza, whose stage name is Jordi, elected to go against LA-based Boss.
Esparza freestyled an attack on his opponent's weight and cholo style of dress.
Boss—bracketing his Latin freestyle with English appeals to the crowd—mocked Jordi's lack of education, made fun of how clean Jordi's shoes looked and suggested that Jordi just came back from a Footlocker.
That first round went to Jordi.
But his next opponent Eckonn would prove to be his undoing.
Eckonn compared Jordi to Hannah Montana, while Jordi soulfully explained that he had learned from the best.
Esparza's verbal dexterity is matched by a rattling rhythm and a game face that is as mawkish as it is mockish. The overall effect is that of an underdog with bite.
Eckonn beat Esparza in that round with the overall championship going to Palm Beach-based rapper Reverse.
However, Esparza was just happy to be there. He recently told Austonia going to the finals again was a dream come true—a pinnacle that he said he won't know how to top.
With his nimble jabs and sneaky prowess, honed from pop culture and the swagger of a young working man hungry to be more, Jordi Esparza is just getting started.
