Quarterback Cade Klubnik runs a keeper defending 6A Division II state football champion Westlake High School at home their home field against Schertz Clemens in their home opener Friday, Sept. 25. The Chaps rolled over Clemens, 53-7 in their first game of the Covid-shortened season.
Defending state football champion Westlake High School kicks off their season with a 53-7 win against Schertz's Clemens High School on Friday. A season like no other for athletes everywhere, COVID-19 safety precautions were taken with limited fans and social distancing in the stands and masks being worn by everyone in attendance.
Here's a look at Friday's game.
(Bob Daemmrich)
Coach Todd Dodge leads his team to the field, as defending 6A Division II state football champion Westlake High School hosts Schertz Clemens in their home opener Friday, Sept. 25.
Westlake Vs. Schertz Clemens
(Bob Daemmrich)
Parent Raleigh Taylor checks tickets at the entry of the Chaparral Stadium. Ticket purchase was limited to four for football parents, two for spirit parents, one for students, and two for season ticket holders and the general public. All tickets were only available online.
Westlake Vs. Schertz Clemens
(Bob Daemmrich)
Hyline dance team parents Russ and Kristi Ray cheer their daughter Rose on as she heads to the field before the start of the game. Seating at the game was on a first-come, first-serve basis with every other row taped off for social distancing.
(Bob Daemmrich)
The Westlake Hyline dance team wears masks in their return to the Friday night lights.
(Bob Daemmrich)
The state champs head to the field in their first home game of the season to face the Clemens Buffalos.
(Bob Daemmrich)
Westlake cheerleaders prepare in anticipation of the start of the game.
Westlake Vs. Schertz Clemens
(Bob Daemmrich)
Quarterback Cade Klubnik runs for yardage on his home field, working toward a win against the Buffalos.
(Bob Daemmrich)
The Westlake band performs in the stands with some pulling their mask down and others playing through a hole in their mask.
(Bob Daemmrich)
Students cheer as their team sweeps the field touchdown after touchdown.
(Bob Daemmrich)
Zane Minors (20) celebrates a touchdown with teammates Luke Nicklos (19) and Jaden Greathouse (9). The Chaps rolled over Clemens, 53-7 in their first game of the Covid-shortened season.
Popular
Homeless residents have set up tents on Cesar Chavez Street near the historic Buford Tower, which caught fire earlier this month after a blaze spread from the neighboring camp. (Emma Freer)
Spearheaded by the political action committee Save Austin Now, Prop B is a direct response to City Council's 2019 decision to overturn a 23-year-old ban on such activities. This is the second time the group has tried to get the issue on the ballot since the first petition was ruled invalid by the county clerk for duplicate signatures and other issues last year. Homeless advocates campaigned against the ban, arguing that it criminalized homelessness and led to citations and tickets that prevented homeless people from accessing housing, employment and other resources. Since then, the city's homeless population has grown in size and visibility.
SAN, advocates and council members generally agree that the situation is untenable, but they disagree about the ban's merit. Austinites who are directly impacted—including people who live near camps, downtown business owners and homeless residents—feel similarly embattled, telling Austonia that, regardless of how they plan to vote, not enough is being done to house the homeless.
Word on the street
Lisa Novak bought a condo in the East Riverside neighborhood in 2013, drawn in by its affordability and Guerrero Park. She attributes the increase in camping along the Riverside Drive median to council's decision to repeal the ban. "It turned into open season," she said.
Novak worries about the recent spate of fires and how camps affect area business owners and incoming tourists. After her husband witnessed a violent exchange between two panhandlers, the couple stopped walking to their neighborhood H-E-B. She will vote for Prop B and disagrees with advocates who say it criminalizes homelessness. "I'm sorry, but as a member of society there are certain rules and regulations," she said.
Kevin Ludlow's Windsor Park home sits right behind a long-time homeless camp along Little Tannehill Branch Creek. He estimates he has spent hundreds of hours talking to city staff, council members, nonprofits and police about trash and safety concerns.
Ludlow is undecided on Prop B. He thinks a ban will address these issues, but he also feels police could be more responsive to reports of theft, vandalism and other crimes without penalizing campers who are otherwise law-abiding. "There's no winning hand, and I feel it's by design," he said.
David Kruger, fourth-generation owner of Kruger's Diamond Jewelers on Congress Avenue, is similarly ambivalent. Although homeless residents often camp out in his entryway, his issue is with city leadership, whom he feels are incapable of developing solutions. "I'm probably going to vote in favor of it, I guess, but I'd feel better if there was another item that addressed the problem," he said, comparing Prop B to trying to put toothpaste back in the tube.
Christopher Carr, a member of the Austin Homeless Advisory Committee who has been intermittently homeless since graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in the 1990s, is more decisive. A poet who loves opera and has bipolar disorder, he camps near the intersection of 15th and San Antonio streets. When the ban was in effect, he was often harassed by police he says. "You felt like you might have a few seconds before the cops showed up (if you sat down on a sidewalk)," he said.
Since the ban was lifted, Carr feels Austin's housed residents have turned against the homeless: "If you don't like seeing all these tents everywhere, why don't you not like the country where this level of indigency exists?"
A stopgap measure
Save Austin Now argues that repealing the ban has adversely impacted public safety, residents and businesses and left homeless people to live in unsafe conditions. Ken Casaday, president of the Austin Police Association and SAN board member, added that the council vote left residents out of the process. "For me, the big issue is 'let the citizens vote,'" he said. "If the citizens vote down Prop B, we'll live with it."
But the May 1 election is likely not the end of this debate. Texas lawmakers are considering a statewide ban on public camping in a clear rebuke of local policy.
Chris Harris, director of Texas Appleseed's Criminal Justice Project and an activist who helped overturn the ban in 2019, argued that the decision has made homelessness more visible, leading to greater investment by the city and nonprofits. "No matter what happens with Prop B or with these bills at the Legislature, our community can't forget about this issue," he said. "We decriminalized homelessness not because we saw it as a solution to homelessness but because we thought it was (an issue of) right-or-wrong."
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