Indeed is letting go of roughly 8% of its staff, approximately 1,000 people, according to a letter shared with employees Monday from CEO Chris Hyams.

A competitive market

An Austin man, who asked us to conceal his identity, was once in that same boat. He was part of the company's layoffs in 2023.

Around this time last year, Indeed laid off about 15% of its staff, citing a decrease of job openings following a recent post-COVID boom.

The man said he was in shock when he got the email. He said no one expected it.

Since getting laid off, he's been able to spend time pursuing travel and hobbies. However, the stress to find a new job kicked in not too long after.

Since March 2023, he's been trying to get a position in the tech sector with no luck.

"The market is so competitive that without a referral, the odds of getting the opportunity to interview are very slim," the man said.

He had this advice for those laid off:

• Work your network for referrals
• Stay frugal with severance
• Be very vigilant about applying to new roles
• Do not spend too much time scrolling LinkedIn
• Have multiple resumes ready for various opportunities

Mass firings after mass hiring

According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Austin saw more mass layoffs last year compared to before the pandemic. It was up by more than 14%.

The study said tech downsizing contributed to that.

The layoffs followed a period of time when the tech sector ramped up hiring during the pandemic.

"Some of these companies that may have added additional labor force are now going back and really just course-correcting to the size of the organization," said Professor at the University of Texas' LBJ School of Public Affairs Steven Pedigo.

In the letter to employees, Hyams said last year's layoffs were for cost-saving measures. Even though it worked, he said the company is still not set up for sustainable growth.

Pedigo said even with the layoffs, tech is still one of Austin's fastest growing industries.

"One of the great things that we could point to in terms of Austin's technology arena, is that it is becoming a bit more diversified," Pedigo said. "We're seeing big investments in Life Sciences, which is a pillar of technology."

'Tight right now for the tech industry'

IT Business Consultant at Workforce Solutions Capital Area Katherine Cariño said the industry is not hiring as much at the moment.

"It's definitely really tight right now for the tech industry. We're seeing much more limited opportunities available with job postings and employers," Cariño said. "Basically, it seems like they're leaning out and trying to do more with less."

Cariño said there are more job applicants than available jobs.

"Even more joining constantly as people are graduating from school or getting their certifications," Cariño said. "Then people who are veterans in the industry, who've been doing this for years, getting laid off by a company."

Workforce Solutions Capital Area encourages tech workers to broaden their job search and look at other industries like healthcare or finance.

"Every company is a tech company," Cariño said. "They're going to need their help desk people. They're going to need data analysts, they're going to need software developers."

Austin's Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) announced the plans for the permanent changes last July, and said the plan was to have the project completed by this summer.

These permanent changes include lighting, fences and a sidewalk extension.

The city already installed "immediate temporary infrastructure" as part of this safety plan in March 2023, a week after friends and family members of people who went missing and/or died near the trail spoke at an Austin City Council Public Safety Committee meeting. These loved ones called for additional safety measures like lighting and surveillance cameras on the trail.

Below is a list of the status of the permanent improvements at Rainey Street, provided by PARD.

• Camera at corner of Rainey and Cummings Streets installed in November 2023.
• Permitting for the lighting installation and sidewalk extension took place this spring
• Installation of lighting along the trail and along East Ave is in progress and slated to be complete by end of June. 
• Contracting for the sidewalk extension work is underway. The work will take place in July.
• Contracting for additional fence improvements is complete and will start in June. The split rail fence that was installed in 2023 will be extended in multiple locations. There will also be a gate added to the top of the stairs across from the Milago.

"We love safety. We're on board with that," said Bob DiPasquale, who we spoke to with his wife Brette McLellan. "Bring on the light, because that makes it safer for us to walk the dogs."

Rainey Street Trailhead project update

The Rainey Street Trailhead project is in a similar area, but run by The Trail Conservancy.

Charlotte Tonsor, executive projects director for The Trail Conservancy, said it should be done by July.

The project includes a revamp of the green space between Cummings Street, East Avenue and the river trail. See the map below.

Brainstorming and public input on the project began in 2019.

"Letting people see a landscape that functions so much better ecologically and to see that and have the beauty of the native grass and wildflowers, and to educate people about that too is just exciting," Tonsor said.

Police say no foul play involved in recent deaths in Lady Bird Lake

This year, crews pulled two bodies from Lady Bird Lake – one near City Hall, and another near the Longhorn Dam. Authorities said the person found near City Hall was a woman. Police, at this point, are not ruling either of them a homicide. Another body was found near the lake.

Eleven bodies have been found in the lake since the beginning of 2022. One case involved a shooting and a car crash that happened near the water, and was considered an isolated incident. Police are not investigating any of the other cases as homicides, and say there is "no connection" between the cases and police have said public murmurings about a serial killer being involved are inaccurate.

Recently, an article has circulated depicting a scenario where a man claims someone pushed him off of the West Sixth Street Bridge in June 2023. The man referred to the individual who pushed him as a "serial killer."

KXAN looked into the case, obtaining the CAD call for the incident. It states a man fell off the bridge and that it was "accidental." According to the CAD call, he was conscious, breathing and alert, and initially refused EMS treatment. Austin-Travis County EMS said he was alert and speaking with medics, and the agency ultimately took him to the hospital with serious injuries.

The Austin Police Department said the man did not file a police report related to this incident.

The West Sixth Street Bridge is over Shoal Creek, not Lady Bird Lake.

KXAN has reached out to the man involved in the incident via email, phone and social media. We will update this story if we hear back.

Levi Fox, a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, got invited to testify at the Senate subcommittee on higher education about some examples of antisemitism he witnessed on campus recently. He shared a troubling claim about a professor and explained this happened during a protest last month about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

"He walked up to me and a group of Jewish students, and he said, 'You'll be the next ones they throw into the ovens,'" Fox said. "When I heard that, I was like, OK, that's — wait, did that really just happen? Then when I learned that he was a professor, that was shocking — a history professor, nonetheless. He tried to justify it, and I wasn't — I was also doing another conversation, so I didn't get to hear his full justification. In my opinion, there's really no justification for saying something like that, but to hear that there's a UT Austin professor that holds that belief that teaches young students is terrifying. I hope there's an investigation launched into that."

Fox told KXAN he did not make a formal complaint to anyone at the university about what he said he heard, but he made a promise to two state senators on the subcommittee Tuesday that he would share the professor's name with them in private.

"I didn't want to share it in such a public forum," Fox said. "I don't want to dox him, per se, but I do want to make sure that the correct officials have his information so that they can launch an investigation."

Pauline Strong, an anthropology professor at UT who also serves as president of the local chapter of the American Association of University Professors, heard Fox's claims and expressed skepticism, especially because the alleged remarks he mentioned contained no additional context. She said it's the first time she ever heard about this and reiterated the university has a system for people to report these types of incidents.

"I am concerned that this professor could be targeted for something that the student said that he said," Strong said. "The university has processes in place if a student felt that a professor said something inappropriate, something antisemitic. The student did not say that he had gone through those processes, I believe, so I would ask him to go through the university processes if indeed a professor made an antisemitic remark to him or in his presence."

Texas Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, kicked off Tuesday's hearing, which also included an update on how public colleges and universities are implementing the state's DEI ban, by defending how UT leadership and law enforcement handled the protests.

"Overall, Texas colleges and universities have handled these protests well and maintain their campuses for the overwhelming majority of students, faculty and staff that simply wanted to finish their semester, take exams, enjoy their graduation and walk across campus safely —campuses that are funded by Texas taxpayers," Creighton said. "What we witnessed on college campuses was more than a series of peaceful grassroots protests. It was more than a peaceful demonstration. It was an organized effort to rally comrades from across the state to emulate what was happening at Columbia University and to occupy our campuses and make demands of the taxpayer-funded universities. It was an effort to intimidate Jewish students and faculty."

During protests on April 24, law enforcement arrested 57 people on the UT campus, though the Travis County attorney announced her office would dismiss these cases because they did not have “sufficient probable cause.” However, another 79 arrests happened on April 29, and those cases have been allowed to proceed.

Lt. Col. Freeman Martin with the Texas Department of Public Safety faced questions Tuesday about the agency's response. He explained DPS placed more troopers at UT compared to other universities that experienced protests throughout the state because it had "intelligence" that things could get more unruly there and necessitated the additional officers.

Sam Law is among those still facing a criminal trespass charge from that second round of arrests. He's a Jewish graduate student at UT who came to the Capitol Tuesday to speak against the law enforcement response on campus and refute claims the protests are antisemitic.

"There are people who've been straight up lying, claiming that protesters have said antisemitic things," Law said. "I've been at these protests. I went to a Shabbat service organized on the South Lawn."

He also pushed back against criticism of protesters at times using the phrase, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

"I'm talking about that this sort of peaceful coexistence [and] pluralism, and I think that these are Jewish values," Law said.

However, Courtney Toretto, a policy director with the central division of the Anti-Defamation League, told senators Tuesday that this particular chant could be interpreted as hateful. She said she wanted to provide some history so that students and protesters could understand why some find its use offensive.

"It's a cry for Israel not to exist," Toretto said. "It's calling for a Palestinian state that extends from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, effectively erasing the entire Jewish state."

Texas Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, attended the meeting Tuesday and mentioned it may be worth making more lessons about the history of Judaism and the Holocaust available in schools when the legislature reconvenes for another regular session next year.

Around 8:40 p.m., April 29, the Austin Police Department responded to a shooting at the Villas Del Sol apartment complex on Rutland Drive. That's near Metric Boulevard and West Rundberg Lane.

Officers arrived on the scene and found 39-year-old Lowen Alberto Ordonez Lobo outside with "obvious signs of trauma." He later died at the hospital, according to police.

Jairo Velasquez-Lopez, 22, was identified as the getaway driver in the shooting, the task force said in a news release Tuesday. He was arrested on May 9.

The second person, Giovany Perdomo, 20, was identified as the accused shooter. He was arrested on May 13.

The third person, Nixon Marquez-Martinez, 32, was accused of ordering the murder, according to the task force. He was arrested on May 14.

All three people were booked into the Travis County Jail where they remained as of Tuesday.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department is working to help locate a missing 35-year-old woman who was separated from her twin sister after a night out downtown earlier this month.

APD said it received a request from the Downtown Austin Alliance to help locate Elizabeth Spalding, 35. She's described as 5'5" and 120 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.

The DAA sent a press release saying that according to family sources, Elizabeth and her twin sister were last known to be in downtown Austin the night of Saturday, May 4, and may have been in local bars or nightclubs. 

According to the release, at some point they were at St David’s Hospital emergency room but were released around 4 a.m. Sunday, May 5.  

Elizabeth’s sister arrived home later that morning but has no recollection of Elizabeth’s whereabouts or how or when she and Elizabeth were separated.

Elizabeth is still missing, with no leads on her whereabouts, according to the DAA.

If anyone sees Elizabeth, they should call 911 and reference APD case number 24-5011533. People with information on her whereabouts can contact the APD Missing Person Unit at 512-974-5250.

Among the proposed LDC changes: An Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) overlay on and near the proposed Project Connect light rail line and implementing HOME part two, which could drop minimum lot size requirements from 5,750 square feet to a recently amended 1,800 square feet.

"We have other amendments like an annual impact report, amending compatibility, creating sub districts, civic uses for ground floor activation," said Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool of the work city council did on the proposed changes Tuesday. "These amendments have benefited from the amount of time that we've had since we first introduced HOME a year ago, and then of course we split it into two pieces."

Some Austin groups, like Go Austin Vamos Austin (GAVA) and Community Powered ATX, are against the changes -- even with amendments made this week. They organized outside of City Hall Tuesday.

"We don't feel that Mayor [Kirk] Watson and city council are truly listening, especially not to the most vulnerable residents throughout Austin," said Sol Praxis, an organizer with Community Powered ATX.

As with HOME part one, which allowed more units to be built on a single-family lot, some against the proposals say they're worried developers will take advantage of the less restrictive rules, displacing long-time Austinites.

But Pool said that's not happening.

"Looking at how things have rolled out since HOME opened the doors on Feb 5, we've taken in about 65 applications and that's just a really good pace. And these are individual homeowners, property owners wanting to make some changes on their property which is exactly what I was hoping would happen," she said.

The council will also look at making Austin's compatibility rules less restrictive and making it easier to build electric vehicle charging stations in non-residential areas.

"Thursday we'll have a really robust conversation and hear from folks. I think we've heard a lot of the concerns already and are poised to address them," Pool said.

Clouds will slowly return to the area tomorrow leading to the area's next chance of showers and thunderstorms Thursday. As has been the case for the past few thunderstorm forecasts, there will be a Slight Risk for severe storm. The main threats will come from hail 2+" in diameter, wind gusts exceeding 60 to 70 mph, and an isolated tornado.

A Level 2 of 4 flood threat will be in effect for much of the area (yellow shaded counties) due to brief heavy downpours. However, rain totals at this time are not looking all that impressive.

Some rain and storms may linger into Friday (30%). The weekend is forecast to be bright and hot as highs in many areas reach the low to mid 90s.

Stay up-to-date with the First Warning Weather team

Follow the KXAN First Warning Weather team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our meteorologists' individual accounts for livestreams and a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes:

• @JimSpencerKXAN
• @KristenCurrieTV
• @NickBanninWX

According to a meeting agenda, the Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education began meeting at 9 a.m. to consider a few topics, including the monitoring of the DEI law.

"Examine the implementation of Senate Bill 17, 88th Legislature, which bans discriminatory “DEI” initiatives at institutions of public higher education. Review and report on the progress each institution has made in aligning university policies and procedures with the provisions of Senate Bill 17, ensuring Texas college campuses foster equal opportunity and reward individual merit and achievement

Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education

State Senator Brandon Creigton opened the DEI discussion, a leading advocate to implement to ban of such practices in higher education. Creighton feels DEI practices did more to divide campuses, which is why he drafted legislation to end it.

"These ultimatums escalated, creating significant riffs on campus, targeting anyone who disagreed and many changes were demanded aiming to reshape the university into an institution focused on social justice and equality of outcome," Creigton said. "This was when DEI bureaucracies grew out of control, replacing merit with equity for some."

The senate received updates from both UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken and Texas A&M System Chancellor, John Sharp.

Milliken testified UT's 14 institutions completed internal audits, which led to shutting down 21 DEI offices, getting rid of 311 positions and canceling 681 contracts. Milliken said the UT System reallocated over $25 million.

"I think through the audit process...we may in fact, learn that we haven't addressed everything," Milliken said.

Sharp testified Texas A&M system changes to comply with SB17, were less drastic as it was less involved in DEI efforts before the new law went into effect.

Ahead of the meeting, a group of protesters walked to the Texas State Capitol. Texas Rising, a project of the Texas Freedom Network that supports social justice work and young people of color, organized the walk.

Members from Texas Rising, TXS4DEI, Texas AFT, the Legal Defense Fund, and other youth advocacy organizations will testify in opposition to SB 17’s implementation.

"SB 17 was passed during the 2023 legislative session and prevents public colleges and universities in Texas from having diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices or policies. Since going into effect, campuses across Texas have laid off employees and closed departments potentially affected by the bill, with the University of Texas in Austin laying off 49 employees in April and UT Dallas completely shutting down the campus DEI office, laying off around 20 employees. 

Texas Rising

The Texas Legislative Black Caucus, the Texas State Conference of the American Association of University Professors and the Texas State Conference of NAACP Branches, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, along with other partner organizations, students and staff will also hold a press conference speaking out against the DEI law on Tuesday.

The Longhorns will kick off the season at 2:30 p.m. CT, Aug. 31, against the Colorado State Rams, the school announced Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

The Rams finished 5-7 and 3-5 in the Mountain West Conference in 2023.

It's the second game on the Longhorns' schedule with an assigned start time. When Texas travels to Ann Arbor to take on the defending national champions Michigan Wolverines, that'll be at 11 a.m. CT, Sept. 7, and air as part of FOX Sports' Big Noon Kickoff broadcast.

Texas will play UTSA and Louisiana-Monroe in nonconference play before making their debut in the Southeastern Conference at home Sept. 28 against Mississippi State.

Recently, consumer finance outlet FinanceBuzz analyzed data from the civil aviation database Planespotters.net to determine which airlines currently have the oldest and newest planes. In addition to Planespotters data, we cross-referenced fleet age information from air traffic tracker/database Flightradar24.

Using this data, FinanceBuzz found that United Airlines has the oldest planes on average, with the average age of its fleet being 19.4 years. Though United has many brand new planes, Planespotters data showed 49% of the airline's fleet is 20 years old or older. Meanwhile, Flightradar24 shows that of United's 1,440 aircraft, its oldest planes are four Boeing 767s, which boast 33 years each.

Here's how several other airlines fared, per Planespotters' data:

Interestingly, several "budget" airlines were found to have the newest planes. This includes airlines like Spirit and Frontier, which boast average fleet ages of 6 years and 4.7 years, respectively.

The airline with the lowest average plane age is the Utah-based budget airline Breeze Airways, with an average plane age of 2.1 years. Seeing as how Breeze Airways is a newer operation (began business in May 2021), this isn't all that unusual. Flightradar24 data shows that of Breeze Airways' 39 aircraft, its oldest plane is an 18 year-old Embraer E190 jet, in addition to several of the same type that are 17 years old.

With all this information, you might be wondering how much age of a plane actually matters. And it does — but there are also many other factors that determine an aircraft's longterm viability.

Back in 2020, Flightradar24 published an article titled "Aircraft age explained," which helped illuminate why years might not be the best gauge of determining aircraft wear and tear. Because while a 30 year-old plane might be 30 years old, if it's flown fewer total hours and pressurization cycles than a 5 year-old plane, the 30 year-old veteran might actually be in better shape.

Aviation news outlet Simple Flying explains that a pressurization cycle occurs when an aircraft takes off and its cabin is pressurized to allow everyone on board to be able to breathe normally at a high altitude. But Simple Flying says the process is harsh on a plane's metal frame, causing what's called "metal fatigue."

With this in mind, aircraft manufacturers set a maximum pressurization cycle number, which dictates how many cycles a plane can go through and still be safe and/or repairable. Flightradar24 reports Boeing previously said its 747 aircraft are able to weather 35,000 pressurization cycles.

All in all, most contemporary commercial aircraft are designed to last between 25 and 35 years, according to Simple Flying. That equals about 30,000 pressurization cycles.

Organizers of the Maui Invitational announced the Longhorns will be part of the 2025 field that will compete Nov. 24-26 at Lahaina Civic Center. The last time Texas played in the Maui Invitational in 2020, head coach Shaka Smart led the Longhorns to the title with a 69-67 win over North Carolina when the tournament was played in Asheville, N.C., due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Texas will be the lone representative of the Southeastern Conference at the tournament, joining former Big 12 rival Baylor along with the Oregon Ducks, UNLV Runnin' Rebels, Southern California Trojans, 2024 Final Four team North Carolina State Wolfpack, 2024 NIT champion Seton Hall Pirates and the hosts Chaminade Silverswords.

Texas has played in the tournament five times — 1993, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2020 — with a 10-5 record.

The 2024 tournament makes the return to the Lahaina Civic Center after wildfires ravaged Maui in 2023, destroying more than 2,200 structures and causing more than $5 billion in damage. The tournament was played in Honolulu in 2023 with Purdue claiming the championship 78-75 over Marquette.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Fire Department crews rescued three cats and one person from a house fire in east Austin late Monday night.

AFD posted on X at 11 p.m. that it was responding to a residential fire in the 3100 block of Garwood Street. The post said one person was injured and being treated by Austin-Travis County EMS.

AFD said in an update that three cats had been rescued, and one of them was revived by fire crews.

Investigators responded to the scene to determine the cause and damages.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Organizers behind the 2024 Austin City Limits Music Festival gave festivalgoers a closer look at which artists are playing each day of the two-weekend event this fall. The festival returns Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13.

Headliners Chris Stapleton, Blink-182 and Leon Bridges will kick things off Friday evening. Other artists slated to play Friday include Norah Jones, Carin León, Foster the People, Fletcher, Jeezy and Dasha.

On Saturday, Dua Lipa, Pretty Lights and Khruangbin headline the evening, supported by artists like Reneé Rapp, Teddy Swims, Jungle, Chappell Roan and Vince Staples.

Wrapping things up on Sunday include headliners Tyler, The Creator and Sturgill Simpson. Other artists slated for the Sunday lineup include Kehlani during Weekend 1, Dominic Fike, Caamp, Orville Peck and Cannons.

One-day tickets for the festival go on sale Wednesday at 12 p.m. CT, beginning at $165. A closer look at the daily lineup breakdown and more details on tickets are available online.

Just days after the business missed a self-imposed reopening date that had been set by husband-wife owners Miguel and Modesty Vidal, a red "For Lease" sign has appeared in the front window of the business at Buda Mill & Grain Co. at 308 S. Main Street.

On May 14, two notes remained taped to the door that informed passersby of default on the restaurant's lease agreement, which were originally posted in late April.

Read the full article on Austin Business Journal.

The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft is coming off a record-setting college career at Iowa.

Game: Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun
Time: 6:30 p.m. CDT, May 14
Watch: ESPN2, ESPN+, Disney+

“This is what you’ve worked for and dreamed of. Now you get to put your jersey on for the first real time and go out there and play,” Clark said. “We get to play on the biggest stage, there’s gonna be a lot of people there, it’s gonna be loud. But you only play your first WNBA game once. I think I just want to enjoy it. It’s gonna be competitive. They’re really good, so you’ve got to prep the right way, too. More than anything, we’re ready for the challenge.”

Even before playing a WNBA game, Clark has left her mark in the pros. The league's draft had record viewership, and her No. 22 Indiana Fever jerseys have been flying off the shelves.

Three WNBA teams have already moved their games to bigger arenas to keep up with the demand for tickets to watch her play. Her debut in Connecticut is sold out — the first sellout for the Sun in a season opener since they played their inaugural game at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2003 after moving from Orlando. There's also a huge media turnout with nearly four times the number of credentials issued for this game than a normal Sun contest.

Clark's home debut will be Thursday when the Fever hosts the New York Liberty.

Clark and her teammates took the court in a morning shootaround at the empty arena. She said afterward that she planned to watch more film during the day in her hotel room.

“I don't feel nervous or really anxious,” she said. “I think I'm just excited more than anything and just embracing it."

Clark said she's not going to get too caught up on her play in her first game.

“If something isn't perfect, my life's not going to end," she said. "If, you know, we lose the game tonight, my life's not going to end. I'm just going to learn from it and come back on Thursday and try to help us win.”

This will be the second sold-out crowd Clark will play in front of in her extremely young WNBA career. Her preseason game in Dallas was sold out, too. More than 13,000 fans also turned up for her only home preseason game.

A study from Austin-based travel company Upgraded Points calculated the most and least expensive cities for a weekend trip to see a concert. The study, released Tuesday, measured concert costs in the 50 largest US cities.

Concert ticket prices ranked highest in Austin at $279.03 on average, according to the study. Average tickets in Las Vegas, San Francisco and New York followed at $260.52, $244.33 and $231.06, respectively.

But the cost of concert tickets was just one part of the study. Austin also ranked among the most expensive cities to travel to for a concert when flight, meal, rideshare and other costs were totaled.

On average, it costs $1,331.73 per person for a weekend trip to Austin for a concert.

The study calculated the total costs based on eight cost factors: concert ticket cost, airfare cost, Airbnb nightly price for two nights, rideshare costs for two rides, cost of beers inside the venue, cost of alcohol outside the venue, meal costs for five meals and the close of a tour t-shirt.

Austin also ranked as the city with the third most expensive parking costs behind San Francisco and Los Angeles. Parking passes were about $66 on average.

Here are the top 10 most expensive cities for a weekend concert trip, according to the study:

• New York, New York: $1,792.94
• San Francisco, California: $1,691.80
• Los Angeles, California: $1,516.37
• Boston, Massachusetts: $1,453.77
• Seattle, Washington: $1,406.86
• San Diego, California: $1,364.86
• Washington, DC: $1,351.38
• Virginia Beach, Virginia: $1,348.94
• Chicago, Illinois: $1,334.06
• Austin, Texas: $1,331.73

These are the least expensive cities on the list:

• Lexington, Kentucky: $1,037.05
• Cleveland, Ohio: $1,073.19
• Cincinnati, Ohio: $1,096.84
• Memphis, Tennessee: $1,123.31
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: $1,127.82
• Baltimore, Maryland: $1,129
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: $1,139.66
• St. Louis, Missouri: $1,140.02
• Louisville, Kentucky: $1,140.79
• Orlando, Florida: $1,141.11

The full study with a cost breakdown is available online.

Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, turned in 245,572 signatures to the Texas Secretary of State’s office on Monday, more than double the number required for access to the Lone Star State presidential ballot, his campaign said.

“It's official. Kennedy-Shanahan on Texas ballot! By collecting nearly a quarter of a million signatures in just two months, the campaign has shown it can overcome the most difficult ballot access requirement in the country,” Kennedy’s campaign press secretary Stephanie Spear wrote Monday on the social platform X.

The Texas Secretary of State's Office confirmed it received the petition but could not confirm the number of listed signatures. 

Texas, which has the second-highest number of electoral college votes with 40 votes, is the 14th state where the independent candidate has claimed ballot access so far. That list also includes California, which has the most electoral college votes in the country with 54 votes.

He is the first independent presidential candidate to gain access to the Texas ballot since Pat Buchanan ran for the Oval Office in 2000, Kennedy’s campaign said.

While Kennedy, who switched from the Democratic party to an independent last fall, is vying for access to all 50 states, political strategists predict he likely only needs a few significant states to create a “spoiler” effect.

Spear told The Hill last week that Kennedy’s campaign is seeking to “pull votes away from disenfranchised votes of both President Biden and President Trump.”

RFK Jr. is currently polling at about 8 percent of the national vote, while Trump has just more than 41 percent and Biden has about 40 percent, according to a polling index by Decision Desk HQ/The Hill.

In addition to Texas and California, the environmental lawyer said he has made the ballots in Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah. Of the 14 states, Decision Desk HQ has confirmed the candidate has access to Michigan, Oklahoma and Utah.

Updated at 3:34 pm.

The crash happened Sunday, April 7 on Interstate 35 near Howard and Parmer Lane. Austin police said the call for the crash came in at 4:41 a.m.

Burrell, 19, faces a charge of collision involving injury (failure to stop and render aid), which is a third-degree felony, according to an affidavit obtained by KXAN. As of Monday morning, court records show Burrell has not been arrested.

The affidavit said Sweat, 22, was driving the victim's vehicle -- identified in a separate affidavit as a 2023 orange Ford Bronco -- when another car crashed into the back of the Bronco. The crash caused the Bronco to roll over and land on its side.

The suspect vehicle was identified as a blue 2020 Dodge Charger. According to the affidavit, police identified Burrell as the driver of the Dodge through witness statements and a previous oil change receipt for the car with his name listed as the customer.

According to the affidavit, a witness who was in the Dodge's front passenger seat at the time of the wreck told police Burrell was in the middle lane following Sweat's vehicle when Sweat began braking, and Burrell tried to change lanes but hit Sweat's vehicle. The witness said the airbags in the Dodge "exploded," blocking visibility, and that the witness believed Burrell fled the scene because he was drunk, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, Sweat suffered from minor injuries for several days.

Burrell announced on X April 11 that he had entered the transfer portal. Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said on April 10 Burrell was indefinitely suspended from the program.

According to his 247Sports profile, he has not yet officially transferred to another team.

Earlier this month, the council set the hearing for Monday to discuss and decide if Sullivan should be dismissed.

The vote stemmed from a complaint that said Sullivan failed to carry out his duties because he did not sign off on a resolution dealing with Federal Aviation Administration funding for the Rusty Allen Airport.

James Peck, the current President of the Rusty Allen Airport Property Owners Association, Inc. (RAAPOA), filed the complaint back in April.

"It's a lack of leadership to not go along with what council has approved when the charter explains that you should," Peck said.

While the vote represents the council's disapproval of the mayor, the city attorney said the language of the censure is still being worked on. Council members presented a couple options Monday night of what it could say; one of them including language that Sullivan acknowledges he broke away from the city's charter and in the future will sign all resolutions the council passes.

Sullivan brought a prepared statement to the meeting, beginning by admitting he violated the charter.

"In the hopes of saving time, I'm going to admit, I violated the charter," he said. "That's a serious problem, and I want to use the balance of my time to why I did it... and why I believe no punishment is necessary tonight."

Sullivan also provided background on the resolution, noting that resolutions are typically written by city staff, but the resolution in question was written by "airport POA people." He also said that he provided a lot of input and concern when the resolution was first introduced April 4, saying he believed there significant errors and inaccuracies.

"Not a single question was asked about my concerns, and we didn't walk through the document line by line," Sullivan said. "Instead a motion was offered to limit debate and end discussion on the item entirely."

The final version of the censure will be read and approved at the next city council meeting. It's unclear at this time if the council is taking action to remove Sullivan from his position.

Project planning started over a decade ago, according to Travis County. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority shared updates on the project with county commissioners Tuesday. 

The environmental assessment process started in 2015 but was paused for a legal review, according to the county. The 8-mile project could add up to two express lanes in each direction between Cesar Chavez Street and Slaughter Lane.

Earlier this year, a CTRMA traffic forecast estimated peak travel times could increase between 30% and 42% by 2045.

According to CTRMA, drivers could spend up to 35 more minutes driving through the corridor by 2035 if the traffic congestion is not addressed.

James Bass, the CTRMA executive director, said it takes 17 minutes to drive the corridor during the evening rush hour. If express lanes are added, it would take general lane drivers the same time to drive it, and express lane drivers would only spend 8 minutes driving the corridor.

What's next?

Bass said there are technical work group meetings planned in May and June to discuss parts of the project like utilities, schematic, air quality, water quality/quantity, cultural/historic resources, bike/pedestrian and parkland. Input would come from groups like Austin ISD, the city of Austin, Travis County, Austin Parks Foundation, Preservation Austin, Save Our Springs, the Wildflower Center and other organizations.

Bass said they plan to host another open house for public input in the fall. In 2025, a draft environmental assessment would be ready with another public hearing scheduled that year.

(NEXSTAR) – Red Lobster locations across the country started closing abruptly Monday, surprising residents and, at least in one case, a city official.

As of Tuesday, 90 locations in 27 states were listed as "closed" on the restaurant's website.

Residents in Florida, New York, Iowa and Illinois, among others, found the stores suddenly shuttered.

“I was just notified by one of our local Red Lobster managers that after 31 years of serving our community, without notice, their parent company laid off the entire crew and closed the restaurant effective immediately,” Danville, Illinois Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. wrote in a Facebook post. “This is despite the fact that they were rated number 15 out of over 600 stores for customer service & satisfaction last year.”

The beleaguered seafood chain will be auctioning off the contents of 48 locations, according to a TAGeX brands, a restaurant supply liquidator. It's not clear if there are any plans to reopen the restaurants not listed.

Nexstar reached out to Red Lobster for more information about the closures but didn't receive a response as of publishing time.

Red Lobster owner Thai Union Group announced in January 2024 that it was looking to sell its stake in the brand, citing the impact of a "combination of [the] COVID-19 pandemic, sustained industry headwinds, higher interest rates and rising material and labor costs" on profits.

Back in April, Bloomberg and CNBC reported that the seafood chain, which has been a staple of the American restaurant scene for decades, considered filing for bankruptcy. Though, Red Lobster has not publicly confirmed this. The report noted that people who were familiar with the matter said Red Lobster was looking for restructuring advice to address leases and labor costs.

The company has faced some financial and internal challenges within the past few years. Between 2021 and 2022, the company welcomed a fresh lineup of executives, including a new CEO, chief marketing officer, chief financial officer, and chief information officer, according to CNN. All of them reportedly left within two years.

Then, there was the endless shrimp fiasco. In June 2023, the company offered its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” — typically a limited offer — on their regular menu for $20. The attempt to get more people into the store worked, but it came at a cost.

Red Lobster posted an operating loss of more than $11 million in Q3 of that year, according to Restaurant Business. It’s a loss that parent company Thai Union Group said the endless shrimp deal was a “key factor” in creating.

These are the locations that appear closed, according to the Red Lobster website:

Alabama

Auburn

Decatur

Huntsville

Arizona

Oro Valley

California

Redding

Fremont

Montclair

Rohnert Park

Sacramento

San Diego

Torrance

Colorado

Denver

Lakewood

Lone Tree

Wheat Ridge

Florida

Altamonte Springs

Daytona Beach Shores

Gainseville

Hialeah

Jacksonville (Commerce Center Drive)

Jacksonville (Baymeadows Road)

Jacksonville (City Station Drive)

Kissimmee

Largo

Leesburg

Orlando (E. Colonial Dr.)

Orlando (W. Colonial Dr.)

Orlando (Golden Sky Lane)

Sanford

Tampa (East Busch Blvd.)

Tampa (Palm Pointe Dr.)

Georgia

Athens

Roswell

Dublin

Idaho

Lewiston

Illinois

Bloomingdale

Danville

Indiana

Indianapolis

Elkhart

Iowa

Council Bluffs

Waterloo

Kansas

Kansas City

Olathe

Louisiana

Bossier City

Maryland

Gaithersburg

Columbia

Silver Spring

Laurel

Michigan

Fort Gratiot

Mississippi

D'lberville

New Jersey

Ledgewood

Bridgewater

East Brunswick

Lawrenceville

New York

Amherst

Buffalo

Lakewood

Nanuet

Poughkeepsie

Scarsdale

Stony Brook

Williamsville

Kingston

Rochester

North Carolina

Burlington

Cary

Durham

Rocky Mount

North Dakota

Grand Forks

Oklahoma

Lawton

Oklahoma City

Stillwater

Pennsylvania

Erie

South Carolina

Myrtle Beach

Tennessee

Memphis

Texas

Dallas (E. Technology Blvd.)

Dallas (Vantage Point Dr.)

Houston

Lufkin

Pasadena

Tyler

Lake Jackson

Longview

San Antonio

Virginia

Colonial Heights

Williamsburg

Newport News

Washington

Silverdale

Wisconsin

Wawatosa

La Crosse

Created by Bill Darden, the first Red Lobster opened in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida, advertised as fresh seafood for people of all walks of life. As of Monday, the website claims that there are over 700 Red Lobster locations around the world.

Nexstar’s Bill Shannon and Brian Farrell contributed to this story.

According to a press release from Sheppard Air Force Base, the victim was an Air Force instructor pilot with the 80th Flying Training Wing.

On Monday, May 13, 2024, an emergency response was called on base when an ejection seat in a T-6A Texan II activated during ground operations, injuring a pilot.

The incident happened just before 2 p.m. Monday, and the pilot was hospitalized at United Regional for their injuries.

The Base confirmed the pilot passed away early Tuesday morning, May 14. The pilot's name will be withheld until 24 hours after next of kin has been notified.

SAFB officials are investigating the cause of the incident.

The SEC announced opponents and sites for their women's basketball teams, and the Longhorns will play a home-and-home series with the defending national champions South Carolina Gamecocks and one away game against Vic Schaefer's former team, the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

South Carolina is the only team Texas will play twice in their inaugural SEC season. The schedule is 16 games long with a single round-robin to make 15 games. Each team in the conference will play one other team twice to complete the 16-game slate.

Texas will host Louisiana State, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri and Vanderbilt along with the Gamecocks. The Longhorns will travel to Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

Game times and dates will be announced as the season approaches.

When Myers coached baseball at Yavapai Junior College, Scott Woodard was on the team. A few years later at Central Arizona Junior College softball, Ricci Woodard was a member of the Vaqueras.

For years, Scott and Ricci have been in coaching themselves. Ricci helped lead softball programs with Scott in both baseball and softball. They've long had the idea of coaching together.

"The opportunity finally happened three years ago," said Scott Woodard about coaching with his sister Ricci. "She was like if we're going to do it, we better do it. And I said, 'You're right.'"

Ricci is in her 24th season coaching softball at Texas State. There's been a lot of success over her time in San Marcos.

Now she does so with her older brother Scott, who is in his third season with the Bobcats. The adjustment to working with your sibling on staff is real, but a manageable one.

"I think it took us a little bit to figure out each other and how we were going to do this together," said Ricci. "But it's been a great addition to my staff because of his knowledge."

When Texas State is at the plate, Ricci coaches third base with Scott over at first. To say there is a good connection between the two seems to be an understatement.

"Our personalities and how we go about business are identical," said Scott.

"Well we're so much alike that we both probably know what the other one is thinking," said Ricci. "So we could just look at each other and both know we're thinking the same thing."

The Bobcats are having a fantastic season and claimed the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship, beating Louisiana 9-5. Texas State earned the No. 2 seed in the College Station regional in the NCAA tournament.

"The opportunity to work with her has been awesome," said Scott. "I think it's been a great situation and I love having all the family from here to Austin."

Austin Water said the overflow has not affected the city's drinking water supply, and officials with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality were notified.

The overflow was discovered at 9:26 a.m. Monday, May 13 and was stopped at 9:40 a.m., according to Austin Water. It happened at a lift station located at 11303 Rock Harbour Drive 1/2.

Austin Water officials urge residents to do the following:

• Persons using private drinking water supply wells located within 1/2 mile of the overflow site or within the potentially affected area should use only water that has been distilled or boiled at a rolling boil for at least one minute for all personal uses including drinking, cooking, bathing and tooth brushing. Individuals with private water wells should have their well water tested and disinfected, if necessary, prior to discontinuing distillation or boiling.
• Persons who purchase water from another public water supply may contact their water supply distributor to determine if the water is safe for personal use.
• The public should avoid contact with waste material, soil, or water in the area potentially affected by the overflow.
• If the public comes into contact with waste material, soil, or water potentially affected by the spill, they should bathe and wash clothes thoroughly as soon as possible‎.

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense released its report, The National Blueprint for Biodefense, outlining 36 recommendations and 185 action items to defend against biological threats.

“We've got to be prepared, no matter who's the president, no matter who the administration is, or the Congress,” former congressman Fred Upton said. “We have to be prepared, ready for the next case.”

Dr. Raj Panjabi, also on the commission, explained how the recommendations are especially important with the recent cases of bird flu in Texas.

“It's infecting farm animals which then could mean that it could spill over into humans if we don't take the right precaution,” Panjabi said. “If it were to happen and spread from human to human, that could be the beginning of the next pandemic influenza outbreak. We worry about that in particular.”

The report also addresses a plan to reduce the spread of infectious diseases that linger in the air like COVID-19.

“We are calling for a new research and development plan to keep buildings, our schools or offices or airports, safe by disinfecting the air by cleaning it from the inside out,” Panjabi said. “We already take care of our buildings and try to make them resilient to fires, floods [and] earthquakes. Why couldn't we do that with pandemics? We believe we could.”

Upton plans to be on Capitol Hill to encourage lawmakers to make the report a priority.

“So hopefully we get some hearings scheduled in the near future. But this needs to be a priority because it's going to happen again. We need to be prepared for it and take those preventative steps. This report details quite a few of them,” Upton said.