The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: March 12-18

Private School Voucher Deadline Extended: On Tuesday, March 17, Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock announced that the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program’s deadline has been extended through March 31, following a lawsuit from Muslim parents and Islamic private schools due to the program’s total exclusion of Islamic private schools. U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett ordered the state to extend the deadline to allow Islamic schools to register for the program; however, there is no requirement for the state to approve them. This comes just a day after Hancock announced that the $1 billion program had received over 200,000 applications, though the funding can only accommodate about 100,000 students. Applications opened Feb. 4 and were originally set to close on March 17, with most approved families to receive a little under $10,500 annually.

More Autonomous Vehicles in Austin: Despite all of the recent issues with Waymo’s autonomous vehicles – illegally passing AISD school buses that were in the process of picking up and dropping off students and most recently blocking an ambulance responding to the West Sixth Street shooting – the rollout of autonomous vehicles continues to touch Austin. Einride’s autonomous freight trucks will soon be driving through a 41-mile portion of State Highway 130 from Austin to Seguin. Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli said that the trucks have operated in Sweden since 2020 before expanding to the States in 2022. In a statement, SH 130 Concession Company said that they believe the launch of the driverless vehicles is “a strategic opportunity to accelerate innovation while still maintaining our strong commitment to safety and reliability.”

Body Found in Lake Austin: On Tuesday, March 10, the Austin Police Department, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Austin Fire Department responded to reports of a deceased individual in Lake Austin. First responders located and removed the individual from the lake, yet did not release the person’s identity. While the investigation is ongoing, the death is not being investigated as a homicide, according to Statesman reporting.

Credit: Getty Images

Civil Rights Leader Cesar Chavez Allegations: Allegations of having sexually abused young girls and women are shaping how individuals view the legacy of late farmworker organizer and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, who died in 1993. The allegations were brought to light through interviews with former insiders and a historian who has studied the movement, according to San Antonio Express-News. Following decades of silence, his organizing partner Dolores Huerta said that Chavez raped her and pressured her into sex in the Sixties. With Cesar Chavez Day just a couple of weeks away, organizations around the country that were originally set to celebrate are now canceling public marches and events. In Austin, organizers have canceled the March 28 parade, with community members now calling for the renaming of Cesar Chavez Street. In an attempt to minimize backlash, the family of Chavez has been requesting some of these cancellations, such as San Antonio’s Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice that has been held annually since 1997. United Farm Workers, a farming union that was co-founded by Chavez, is another one of the many organizations that has announced that it will not be participating in Cesar Chavez Day, stating that the “allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing.”

Assault at the Central Library: On Wednesday, March 11, a meeting between Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis and library staff on security protocols was interrupted when 30-year-old Daniel Vazquez struck a library patron on the head while he was using a computer, ultimately knocking the victim from his chair and onto the floor, where Vasquez allegedly stomped on his head while he was unconscious. According to the Statesman, Davis detained the suspect before other officers arrived, while Austin-Travis County EMS treated the victim and transported him to the hospital, having sustained life-threatening injuries.

Three Injured in CapMetro Stabbing: A stabbing took place on a CapMetro bus on Friday, March 13, leaving three individuals injured – one with life-threatening injuries. The Austin Police Department responded to the report in the 2000 block of South Lamar, detaining a man who was also taken into the hospital for evaluation, according to the Statesman. 

Credit: John Anderson

City Hall Lobbying Changes: After City Council approved a shift in lobbying rules, lobbyists will now be mandated to disclose when they have any interactions with city officials, rather than just scheduled meetings, according to the Statesman. Lobbyists are also now required to provide a method to report these interactions, previously a requirement of city departments. Along with these new requirements, lobbyists will no longer have to report if they receive compensation or disclose their meetings in writing to city departments. Council members Vaness Fuentes and Ryan Alter both voted against the changes. “At a time when trust in government is already fragile, scaling back transparency is the wrong choice,” Fuentes said. “Our focus should be on strengthening public trust, not eroding it.”

Casar vs. Cornyn at AUS: Amidst the Department of Homeland Security funding crisis that has left Austin-Bergstrom International Airport TSA employees without paychecks while also dealing with heightened traffic due to South by Southwest and spring break travelers, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar confronted Sen. John Cornyn on Monday, March 16, outside of the airport. Cornyn was on his way to a press conference when Casar began to question why he refuses to vote to fund TSA. Republicans and Democrats remain at a standstill on the DHS shutdown, as Democrats want to reel back ICE operations and funding. Republicans, including Cornyn, have blocked Democratic bills that would fund TSA and other agencies within DHS, excluding ICE. When Casar asked if he would support a bipartisan bill to strictly fund TSA, Cornyn said that is “not acceptable,” and used the recent Sixth Street tragedy as reasoning for his stance. “How about all the terrorist attacks like we see down on Sixth Street? You want those to continue?”

Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn Credit: Jana Birchum

GOP Continues to Use AI in Ad Campaigns: Back in January, Ken Paxton launched an AI-generated ad that depicted Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett dancing together after Cornyn referred to Crockett as a “dance partner.” And GOP members aren’t stopping there. Last week, the Senate Republicans X account posted a video that showed an AI-generated James Talarico reading old posts that he published on X. On Tuesday, March 17, Cornyn released his own artificial intelligence ad against Ken Paxton, showing the attorney general driving to his “Love Shack” with AI-generated women depicted to be mistresses of his. In response to the attack ads against him, Talarico said, “They’re scared of the movement we are building. They’re gonna throw everything they have at us. … We are a threat. We’re a threat to their corrupt system.”

Service Workers Impacted by New Licensing Requirements: Now that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation requires applicants and license-holders to show proof of legal status in the country, potentially thousands of service providers – barbers, electricians, estheticians – could now be ineligible to secure or renew licenses in their lines of business, according to Statesman reporting. TDLR has said that these changes were brought forward in order to comply with a 1996 federal law that prohibits states from providing beneficial resources to individuals who lack legal status, with certain state exceptions. Critics have said that these new requirements follow the political climate in the country where immigrants are continuously being pushed out of local communities, whether through ICE deportations, or now, by removing them from the workforce.

Two Austin Physical Therapists Arrested: In a March 16 press release, APD announced the arrest of two local physical therapists on sexual assault charges. Police are now asking any other victims of the perpetrators, Paul Lietz and Manuel Rangel, or other physical therapists in the area to come forward and contact its Sexual Crimes Unit at 512/974-5095 or email [email protected]. Lietz was employed in the Mueller area, while Rangel worked in the Medical Parkway area. While the two cases do not appear to be related, law enforcement is hoping to get further information for both as it continues its investigations.

New Affordable Housing Community Opens: The city opened a new 70-unit affordable housing complex, Red Oaks, in Anderson Mill on Wednesday, March 18, aimed at providing affordable and energy-efficient units for working families, according to a city press release. The city held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the complex that afternoon, which featured speakers from the Austin Housing Finance Corporation, the Housing Trust Group, AM Affordable Housing, and Council Member Krista Laine, among others. The $26 million development was funded through private and public investment from programs like Austin’s Rental Housing Development Assistance Program, which helps cover financing for income-restricted developments to support low-to-moderate-income buyers. “In a housing market as competitive as Austin’s, projects like Red Oaks Apartments are essential to ensuring Austinites of all income levels can continue to live and thrive in our city,” said Deletta Dean, director of Austin Housing.

Old Lampasas Dam Status: Austin Capital Delivery Services gave a project update on the status of the Old Lampasas Dam modernization last Friday, March 13. The estimated $14.9 million project has been ongoing since late 2024 after the city determined that the dam could potentially fail if a large enough storm were to pass through, which would cause significant flooding challenges. In the update, the city said that it has completed the installation of a new slide gate that will help control water flow. Current construction consists of ground anchor installation and casing, inlet and outlet structure concrete, and upstream face construction. In an October 2025 update, the department stated that it anticipates reaching “substantial completion” by this spring.

City Asks for Feedback on Housing Administration: As part of ongoing work to improve development processes, Austin Development Services is “working to identify and address barriers to building housing” and requesting feedback from the community on administrative rules that they would like the Technical Advisory Review Panel to consider. The department is hoping that this process will “make these rules clearer, more consistent, and easier to follow during design, review, and inspection. The department asks that feedback is submitted online by April 8.

City Launches New Website: Today, March 19, Austin launched a new city website with a more modern look and better functionality, which comes as part of a larger project to improve its digital services, according to the press release. The website’s design will maintain a consistent style between departments, with updated search capabilities through additional filtering options. In the coming weeks, the city asks for additional feedback from community members using the site, which will help direct ongoing improvements. If technical difficulties arise, the city will return back to the previous site. “The launch of the new and improved AustinTexas.Gov has been a long time coming. … We have worked hard to make everything on the site easier to find and navigate – whether that’s adopting your next pet, viewing your recycling schedule, or paying your utility bill,” City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in the release.

Credit: casar.house.gov QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Instead of bringing people burgers, he should bring them their paychecks, which involves funding TSA. He’s refused to fund TSA, so he’s bringing up burgers.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar on Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s refusal to fund TSA amid DHS shutdown

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