100% Austin news, info, and entertainment, straight to your inbox at 6 a.m. every morning.
In five minutes, you're fully informed and ready to start another great day in our city.
Featured
austonia newsletter
Most viewed
Travis County GOP fundraiser under investigation after complaint it violated COVID orders
Local officials are investigating a complaint that a fundraiser hosted by the Travis County GOP on Friday violated area pandemic orders.
The Ronald Reagan Gala was held at Star Hill Ranch in Bee Cave and attended by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Reps Dan Crenshaw and Chip Roy.
The @TravisGOP is fired up to fight. To #StandUpForAmerica. To #KeepTexasRed. And to win! #TX21 https://t.co/BNIH2fg06c— Chip Roy (@Chip Roy)1598056599.0
Tex. Sen. Dawn Buckingham, who represents parts of Travis County, also attended the event as an honoree.
Thrilled to be at the @TravisGOP Reagan Gala this evening with so many #conservatives fighting to make sure… https://t.co/HINS15um8D— Dawn Buckingham (@Dawn Buckingham)1598057116.0
The Houston Chronicle reported on Wednesday that North Austin resident Kevin McKay filed a complaint after seeing photos of the event online that showed groups of people gathered and unmasked.
Travis County spokesperson Yoojin Cho confirmed to Austonia that the county is investigating the complaint and coordinating with the city of Bee Cave, which is within the county limits, to determine jurisdiction.
The county recently extended an order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people and requiring every person to wear a mask when in an outdoor public space and unable to social distance. The order authorizes the county sheriff's fire marshal's office to enforce it and allows for fines of up to $1,000
Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak told the Chronicle that social distancing was enforced at the event and attendees wore masks, except while eating, drinking and taking photos. "If social protests are acceptable, safe events like this should be also," he said in a statement to the paper.
- Andy Brown is the Democratic nominee for Travis County judge ... ›
- Republican National Convention 2020 eyes DFW, but not Austin, as ... ›
- Houston mayor announces in-person Texas GOP convention is ... ›
- State GOP leaders threaten legislation to freeze property tax rates ... ›
- Texas Supreme Court denies GOP appeal to hold in-person ... ›
Popular
(Charlie L. Harper III)
After reaching Stage 4 last week of Austin Public Health's risk-based guidelines, Austin-Travis County is now at the Stage 5 threshold with a seven-day average of 50 hospitalizations and dwindling ICU capacity.
While unenforceable under Gov. Greg's Abbott order against local mandates, vaccinated individuals are asked to choose drive-through and curbside options, outdoor activities, social interactions with limited group sizes, as well as social distance and wearing masks indoors. Partially or unvaccinated individuals are asked to avoid gatherings, travel, dining and shopping, choose curbside and delivery options, as well as wear a mask on essential trips.
Flashing back to early-pandemic times, hospitals are at critical capacity—the 11 county Trauma Service Region of 2.3 million people is fluctuating at 16 staffed beds, according to APH.
In a statement on behalf of Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David's Healthcare, a spokesperson said that hospitals are asking residents to "help us and each other" by getting vaccinated and continuing to utilize safety practices to slow the spread of the virus.
According to the statement, a "longstanding" nurse staffing challenge combined with the recent COVID-19 spike is putting "extraordinary pressure" on hospital systems.
Along with the unmitigated spread of the virus in unvaccinated, the more contagious Delta variant is also to blame for the spike in cases. The seven-day moving average of COVID hospitalizations in the Austin area reached the Stage 5 threshold of 50 on Friday, triggering local health officials to ask residents to take action.
Local hospitals have a "surge plan" that includes utilization of "all available patient care space and employees within our hospitals and in other settings" that will go into effect when capacity is hit, according to the statement.
The hospitals are working on sourcing supplemental staff and emphasized that emergency care will still be available but it may involve patient transfers "in order to provide the most appropriate care."
Healthcare systems have hit this threshold previously during the pandemic: the city held an alternate care site at the Austin Convention Center from January to March of this year.
"Our responsibility during this pandemic continues to be balancing our readiness to care for patients with COVID-19, while making sure patients who depend on our hospitals receive needed and timely care," the statement said. "We do not want to see necessary non-COVID care delayed as it was during the early stages of the pandemic."
This story has been updated to after publication to include that Austin has reached the Stage 5 threshold.
- Everything you need to know about breakthrough cases in Austin ... ›
- Vaccine demand follows Austin ZIP codes with most COVID cases ›
- Delta variant, unvaccinated fuel rise of Austin COVID cases - austonia ›
- Austin bars, restaurants respond to Abbott's reopening order - austonia ›
(Tito's Handmade Vodka)
Ingredients:
- 1 1/12 oz sweet pepper-infused Tito's Handmade Vodka
- 3 oz soda water
- 1 oz grapefruit juice
- 1/2 oz lime juice
- 1/4 oz simple syrup
(Beto O'Rourke/Twitter)
Austin legend Willie Nelson will perform at the Texas Capitol today, his first large performance since the pandemic began, closing out a four-day long march across Central Texas to build support for federal voting protections.
Organized by The Poor People's Campaign, the march began in Georgetown on Wednesday and will end with a 10 a.m. rally at the Capitol featuring appearances from former U.S. Congressman Beto O'Rourke and Rev. Dr. William Barber.
Willie Nelson (with Charlie Sexton & friends) will play a free concert at the Poor People's Campaign march for democracy & justice in Austin this Saturday! https://t.co/zZSA0BpbWA
Sign up to join us and see Willie at 10am Saturday: https://t.co/KrDPIFIvST
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) July 29, 2021
The rally calls on Congress to "stop attacks on democracy" by ending the filibuster, pass all provisions of the For the People Act, restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act, raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and pass permanent protections for all 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Nelson denounced election law proposals gaining traction in red states, such as Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 3 in Texas, which 55 House Democrats foiled by fleeing to Washington, D.C., on July 12.
The bills would require additional ID verifications for mail-in ballots, allow partisan poll watchers "free movement" and prohibit elections officials from sending absentee ballot applications to voters who didn't request one.
"Laws making it more difficult for people to vote are unAmerican and are intended to punish people of color, the elderly and disabled," Nelson said. "If you can't win by playing the rules, then it's you and your platform–not everyone else's ability to vote."
The march is in the spirit of the Selma to Montgomery March of 1965, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which protested the blocking of Black Americans' right to vote by Jim Crow laws.
