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.

(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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Now, people who live outside of Round Rock's city limits have to pay $120 annually to receive all the resources the library offers, but nonresidents are still allowed to check out books, access TexShare databases, and be apart of the youth and adult programming.

Sara Bustilloz, a spokesperson for the city, said the city wants to maintain a focus on providing services to its residents who pay taxes. Currently, 48% of the cardholders at the library are nonresident, and the new library is growing in popularity since it opened in 2023.

According to city data, in 2019 the library saw 6,792 new card members, but last year alone, it saw 14,992 new card members. The increase in card holders is putting a strain on resources, especially the books placed on hold, Bustilloz explained.

"The concern is that if you can't place a hold, that potentially you can't access those resources," Bustilloz explained. Bustilloz said if more people want to pay the annual fee, it can buy more books to respond to the demand.

People took to the library's Facebook page to express their frustration with the new fees. Some people commenting have a Round Rock address, but do not live within city limits. They say they don't have access to any other library, and are disappointed by the new required fees.

Bustilloz said the new tier structure the library is working with now still allows nonresidents to check out books, and gives them the option to pay for full access.

"They can still come to the library. There are still a lot of things that this library has to offer for non-city residents that wouldn't come with a fee," Bustilloz said.

Round Rock residents will have to renew their membership every two years, while every nonresident will have to renew their membership every year.

The auto club anticipates 43.8 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the holiday weekend, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. That’s a 4 percent increase from the same period last year and within striking distance of the 2005 record of 44 million Memorial Day weekend travelers.

“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like these in almost 20 years,” said Paula Twidale, AAA Travel’s senior vice president. “We’re projecting an additional one million travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we’re exceeding pre-pandemic levels but also signals a very busy summer travel season ahead.”

Road travelers are expected to hit a record 38.4 million, the highest number since AAA started tracking in 2000. While gas prices are similar to last year at roughly $3.57 per gallon, AAA warned “prices may creep higher,” with fluctuating oil prices being a “wildcard” and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine potentially putting pressure on oil markets.

Another 3.5 million are expected to fly, making it the most crowded Memorial Day weekend in nearly two decades. In 2005, a record 3.6 million travelers flew during Memorial Day weekend as the travel industry rebounded from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

Demand for other methods of transportation including buses, trains and cruises is also recovering from the toll of the pandemic. An estimated 1.9 million people are expected to take one of these other modes of transportation, up 5.6 percent from a year ago.

“This category took the biggest hit during the pandemic with fewer people taking public transportation or not cruising at all,” Twidale said. “Now – five years later – we’re back to 2019 numbers. Travel demand has been soaring, and long holiday weekends create the perfect windows for getaways.”

A new study conducted by Omega Law Group used FBI crime data to reveal that both Louisiana and Arkansas are among the most dangerous states in the United States. The study revealed that the violent crime rate in Louisiana is 67% higher than the national average.

Metrics for the study included data from homicides, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, arson, burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle thefts.

Violent crimes and property crimes were calculated per 100000 people.

The highest violent crime rate in any U.S. state was New Mexico, which also had the second highest homicide rate. Washington state came in at number two on the list of most dangerous states, in large part because they have the worst property crime numbers in the nation.

Louisiana placed fourth on the list, with a violent crime rate that is 67% higher than the national average.

Arkansas was the third highest for violent crimes and the sixth on the list of least safe states to raise a family.

New Hampshire, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, West Virginia, New Jersey, Iowa, Connecticut, and Kentucky are the safest U.S. states to raise a family.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the Nissan sedan was heading south in Mexico at the Pharr International Bridge.

Officers then searched the car and found 14 bundles of cash totaling $247,500 hidden within the vehicle.

Failing to declare more than $10,000 when entering or leaving the U.S. is a federal crime that can result in an arrest and seizure of the money. CBP says individuals may petition to have the money returned, but one must prove that the source and intended use of the currency was legitimate.

"CBP officers conduct outbound enforcement operations to protect against unreported exportations of bulk U.S. currency, which often can be proceeds from alleged illicit activity or currency that funds transnational criminal organizations," said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez of the Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.

CBP officers seized the currency while special agents with Homeland Security Investigations launched a criminal investigation.

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.

The research scientists at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), located in north Austin, have the unique responsibility of bringing boring, unattractive data to life.

"I use color, shape, form size, to help direct attention where the scientist needs it, but also maintain the complexity that they want to see," said Francesca Samsel. "I'm probably the only research scientist that has a master's in fine arts as opposed to a PhD in computer science."

Francesca got her start in traditional art. Painting "on the sides of buildings" and working "printshops", before she found her home at the TACC's Visualization Lab.

Alongside her husband, Greg Abram, Francesca has created visualizations, artistic interpretations of data, for the University of Texas (a second lab is located on campus while the primary is based out of the J.J. Pickle Research Center), Los Alamos Research Labs, and the National Science Foundation.

That last bit is important. This week, TACC unveiled its latest supercomputer, sponsored by the NSF. This supercomputer will allow the team to interpret even more data, generate larger animations and dabble in augmented reality.

Supercomputers and data

The amount of data we're talking about is staggering. The team frequently creates visualizations for climate models, for instance. These models can contain a data point for every spot on the surface over the ocean, across a 5km square mile area, all the way to the seafloor. A lot of data.

"That is a breakup of the Earth into billions of individual cells," Greg said while pointing towards one of the visualizations. "And generating the picture of it means you have to accumulate all those billions of cells into a single image."

This is where the team's new supercomputer, named the Stampede3, comes in.

"You use a supercomputer because you have such a vast model that you need to have enormous amounts of memory and enormous amounts of processing power," Greg said.

Symphonic data displays

Interpreting this data is just as important as putting it into an animation. Francesca said the first thing she does is ask scientists what is most important with their work. Are they trying to focus on algae data? Wind speed? Warm water? Those points will get greater emphasis.

"I often say it's like a symphony, you know, and you've got a lot of instruments, you've got a lot of variables, but you can't hear them all, if they're all playing at full volume. So I listen to what the scientists needs to hear, needs to see. And I adjust the volumes of the encodings to suit their needs," Francesca said.

One animation on display showed plant and animal life living underseas in the Gulf of Mexico. Currents rippled through the map, filled with little shapes. Each of those shapes was actually made by hand and then scanned into the system.

Francesca said this handmade quality provides scientists and the general public an easier pathway to connecting with the information on display.

Through a window

Visualizations are not limited to animations in a computer. "When you're looking at these things on computer screens, you're looking at data that's sort of beyond a window," Greg said.

3D-printed models on one wall help show the undersea floor. Glass on one table is shaped like a glacier in Antarctica, giving a person an idea of not only the shape of a field of study but its very texture.

"It's like, if you go into a doctor's office, and they have a model of the heart, it's like all of a sudden, no, that makes more sense. It's an entry point," Francesca said.

One of the latest projects they're working on is augmented reality. The team showed a 3D-printed model of the land beneath Antarctica. Made of a blue rubber, this model could be laid atop a touchpad.

While a scientist wears special glasses, they can press on different points of the model with their fingers. Suddenly, little animations representing real data of the site would hover over the model.

"Instead of flipping through, like hundreds of images, it enables (the scientists) to come up here and say, 'Okay, this ridge, I wonder how this ridge is contributing to the ice shelf melt'," Francesca said.

How visuals help scientists make discoveries

These advances are helping bring science to the masses in unique ways, but also helping provide revelations for scientists.

One example the team showed was of an asteroid impacting the ocean. Researchers wanted to know how big an asteroid needed to be to generate a tsunami. Once all the data was put into the system, they discovered that tsunamis weren't really a threat.

"What we found when we visualize the pressure in the water was that it canceled each other out, and they didn't have to worry about tsunamis at all," Francesca said.

However, the visualization showed water vapor exploding into the atmosphere. A greenhouse gas, water vapor could lead to devastating global warming. This moment became an "oh wow" moment for the scientists.

"It was like, oh, wait a minute, that is water vapor going up into the stratosphere," Francesca said.

These moments are common. By seeing data, scientists not only get to better understand their discoveries but may make new discoveries themselves.

With the freestyling, footwork, head spins and countless other moves, the sport is artistry and athleticism.

Houston — a city known for its diverse culture — might have produced its first Olympic break dancer.

His name is Jeffery Louis, and he is known in the breaking world as B-boy Jeffro.

How does breaking work?

It's an emerging sport based on a judge's subjective point of view of how they think an athlete performed. Sounds fun, right? Jeffro said it's thrilling.

"The DJ plays whatever song they want to throw out," Jeffro said. "It is your job to perform to it. They're judging you on five categories: musicality, originality, technique, execution and vocabulary."

Jeffro said it comes naturally to him.

“My style is a vibe of explosions," he said. "It captures people and you're able to just go with it, even if you don't understand it.”

Haiti roots in Houston

Jeffro's parents immigrated from Haiti when he was young, planting roots in Houston. He never imagined taking breakdancing as an elective in middle school would lead him to live a less traditional life in the limelight.

"They sacrificed a lot," Jeffro said. "I want to make my parents proud, and I want to do things and provide, but I'm going to do it in a different way ... I changed my degree plan to sports administration — more of a business sport route — and I created my fitness program."

Competing in breaking has carried Jeffro all around the world over the past 17 years, even providing him with a brand deal with Monster Energy. And he's evolving in the sport with every regional experience.

“It's a universal language that everybody speaks," Jeffro said. "It doesn't cost anything. I don't need a racquet, I don't need certain type of shoes, I can literally just go out here and just dance right now.”

A more inclusive sport

The sport also sets itself apart from other more traditional ones as it doesn't have many barriers to anyone who wants to try it. 

Jeffro trains at a gym called Break Free Worldwide in Houston. It was founded and is owned by a well-respected, longtime breaker, Moy Rivas.

“Growing up in the early 90s and trying to find somewhere to dance, we couldn't do it," Rivas said. "We'd get kicked out because people thought that it was street-related or was gang-related ... As a kid I grew up bottling up a lot coming from the neighborhoods that I come from ... and just seeing that opportunity to find something to fully express myself [with break dancing] ... a positive alternative, it just really changed my life."

His own story is why Rivas opened Break Free Worldwide. And he's been mentoring kids ever since. Rivas sought out Jeffro about seven years ago when he saw his evolving talent at events. This helped Jeffro get the Monster Energy brand deal, ultimately helping elevate Jeffro's name.

“He's one of the very few dancers that can dance 100 miles per hour, and still connect with the music," Rivas said. "He makes it look so easy."

Breaking through to Paris

Jeffro said he feels his journey to where he is now, has been fueled by always feeling the need to prove himself.

Now that he's one of the top breakers in the country, he's trusting who he is will shine through, and that he’ll get to represent Team USA.

"It took a while but I realized I actually belong here," Jeffro said.

Breaking’s Olympic qualifying event is coming up in June. Thirty-two athletes,16 b-boys and 16 b-girls, will compete in Paris for the first time on the Olympic stage.

You can connect with Nexstar Olympic Correspondent Jala Washington on X, Instagram or Facebook if you have Texas athlete you think she should feature.

The 13-week-old pups, a mix between a Bernese mountain dog and a poodle, had just been purchased from a breeder.

A security guard saw the puppies in distress inside a hot car in a parking garage. First responders arrived to find one puppy unresponsive. Despite life-saving measures, the puppy died.

According to the Orange County Animal Services (OCAS), the puppies were left in the car for about 90 minutes.

OCAS said the owner had just recently purchased the puppies from a breeder and stopped to have dinner with family at Disney Springs, and assumed that since they were in a covered parking garage and had the windows cracked, things would "be okay for the dogs."

"Every summer we deal with cases like this, where someone runs into a store, the mall, or similar venue and opts to leave their pet in the car, assuming it’ll be a short trip. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating for our staff and animal-loving community when pet owners make this mistake as preventable tragedy can and does occur," Orange County Animal Services Director Diane Summers said.

The three remaining puppies have recovered and were adopted by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s Fire Department staff.

Summers said even in the shade or with the windows cracked, animals should never be left in cars, especially during the summer.

"People have this misconception that shade or cracking the window will alleviate any concerns of overheating. It’s simply not the case. An animal should never be left in a car, especially during the summer months of Florida," she added.

Just two weeks ago, Animal Services dealt with a similar incident at a Goodwill in Orlando when a 7-month-old Shih Tzu was left inside a car.

When Orange County Fire Rescue rescued the puppy, the car's temperature was 140 degrees. Fortunately, the puppy was able to recover at one of OCAS’ local partner veterinary emergency clinics and was released to a rescue group.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office is investigating both incidents. Agricultural Crimes Unit investigators believe they will have probable cause for felony animal cruelty charges against the Bernedoodle's owner.

Police said the crash happened in the 13700 block of Immanuel Road. Tarl Sears, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene.

APD said this crash is considered Austin's 26th fatal crash of 2024, resulting in 26 fatalities this year. On the date of this crash in 2023, 34 people had died in 34 fatal crashes.

Police said the investigation is still pending. Anyone with information should call APD's Vehicular Homicide unit at 512-974-8111. You can submit a tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.

The festival's commitment to Austin parks is nearly $1 million more than last year's contribution to the foundation.

Festival organizers and city leaders said the 2023 festival had a $500 million impact on the city — a more than 10% increase from 2022.

The 2022 ACL Music Festival brought in nearly $448 million for the Austin economy. More than $3 billion has been generated since ACL began tracking the festival’s economic impact in 2006, organizers previously said.

Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, Odesza, The Lumineers, Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette and Hozier headlined in 2023.

The 2024 festival lineup was released on May 9 with Dua Lipa, Tyler, The Creator, Chris Stapleton, Blink-182, Sturgill Simpson, Pretty Lights, Khruangbin and Leon Bridges among the artists scheduled to perform.

Sanborn died Sunday in Terrytown, New York, after a years-long battle with prostate cancer. Health issues forced him to cancel several scheduled shows earlier this month.

"Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently," a message posted to his X account read. "Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025."

Sanborn became known as a renowned session saxophonist and released some albums of his own. His credits include the 1972 Stevie Wonder track "Tuesday Heartbreak," David Bowie's 1975 album "Young Americans" and the James Taylor rendition of "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)."

Throughout his career, Sanborn received six Grammy awards, eight gold albums, and one platinum album.

Officers received a call about a suspicious person with a gun at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville just after 10:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police. Parishioners confronted the subject to prevent him from entering the church service.

Responding officers arrested the teen and took him into custody.

Abbeville police and the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office also swept the church for any additional threats and confirmed that no one was injured.

The suspect, identified only as a 16-year-old male, was interviewed by officers with a guardian present after being taken to the Abbeville Police Department. After the interview, the juvenile was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

The teen was charged with terrorizing and two counts of possession of a firearm by a juvenile.

Footage from the church's livestream shows priests ducking behind the table about a minute into the video. You can also hear the congregation being told, "Just get ahold of your child and go slowly. We did apprehend a young man. He is in custody. He is in police custody."

Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel released a statement about the incident.

“We are thankful to God that a tragedy was avoided at the First Communion Mass for the children of St. Mary Magdalen in Abbeville," Deshotel said. "The quick response of the Abbeville Police Department and alert parishioners is a great example of caring for the most vulnerable in our community. Let us pray for an end to all threats of violence to innocent human life.”

In addition to the statement, the Bishop also sent a message to the parishioners of St. Mary Magdalen Church.

This morning, our First Communion ceremony was interrupted when a suspicious person opened the back door. The individual was immediately confronted by parishioners, escorted outside and the police were called. The individual was quickly apprehended by Abbeville Police Department and is in their custody. Once apprehended, law enforcement entered the church to make sure there was no additional danger. This understandably caused panic. While we realize this was a frightening experience for those in attendance, we are incredibly grateful to both parishioners and police officers for acting quickly to ensure the safety of all. Chief Mike Hardy is handling the investigation with cooperation of the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s office and assistance from the FBI. Out of an abundance of caution, we will have uniformed law enforcement at all upcoming Masses. We invite First Communicants to receive First Holy Communion at whichever Mass they choose to attend this weekend. We are grateful for all the prayers for our St. Mary Magdalen community.

Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel, St. Mary Magdalen

After reappearing in the Baseball America rankings last week at No. 25, the Longhorns moved up a slot to No. 24 after claiming the Central Florida series 2-1 in Orlando.

D1Baseball.com voters were convinced to put Texas back in this week after a long absence. Texas is now No. 25 and was the only team in this week's rankings that wasn't included in the previous week's. Troy dropped out of the rankings to make room for the Longhorns.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, both teams Texas has won a series over, are ranked above the Longhorns. The Sooners have already claimed the Big 12 regular season championship and are No. 12 in the D1Baseball poll while the Cowboys are No. 19.

Four of the top five teams in the D1Baseball poll are from the Southeastern Conference. Tennessee remains at the top, followed by Kentucky, Arkansas, Clemson and Texas A&M. Oregon State, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia and Florida State round out the top 10.

Texas is still on the outside looking in at the USA Today Coaches Poll, but not by much. They earned the most votes out of the "others receiving votes" category with 66.

Texas (32-20, 17-10 Big 12) is tied for third in the Big 12 with West Virginia and finishes conference play with a 3-game series at home against Kansas starting Thursday.

According to that report, 70% of people in city limits now live within walking distance of a park, nearly 20,000 more people than the year before.

It also said the City of Austin alone added nearly 130 acres of parkland last year.

"That included Jamestown Neighborhood Park, Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt, Country Club Neighborhood Park…the list goes on," said Scott Grantham, a principal planner with Austin's Park Planning Division.

Much of the 130 additional acres came from parkland dedication -- the process in which the City of Austin gets outdoor space from some developers -- and 2018 Parkland Acquisition Bond funding.

"The Parks and Recreation Department appropriated $17.4 million in Parkland Dedication fees in Fiscal Year 2023," the report said.

A state law could change that

But staff also pointed to a new state law, HB 1526, as a challenge moving forward. Passed in 2023, the new law caps how much parkland can be taken from certain types of development in the five largest cities in the state, according to the report.

"There's another cap that exists which is that if the value of the land is greater than the fee that would be a parkland dedication fee, then PARD would need to pay the developer for that land," Grantham said.

The City of Austin passed an ordinance last year that brought the city into compliance with that law. You can read more about that state law here.

The majority of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization's transportation policy board opposed the recommendation made during Monday's board meeting. Board members and council delegates Alison Alter, Paige Ellis, Vanessa Fuentes and Natasha Harper-Madison supported the measure, with an additional vote in favor of the proposal from Travis County board representative Amy Pattillo.

The Texas Department of Transportation's I-35 Capital Express Central project is a $4.5 billion, eight-mile long project corridor set to begin construction later this year. Council delegates' resolution requested the delay with the hopes of completing additional air quality studies prior to construction's start.

Along with those studies, the resolution proposed TxDOT's acceleration of other regional projects across the region that had funding deferred to prioritize the I-35 expansion project. With that request, council delegates had asked TxDOT to aid in those funding efforts as well as "funding to cover the remaining costs of the associated planning, design, and construction costs of I-35 caps," an ongoing city-funded initiative running concurrent with TxDOT's project.

Monday's meeting included dozens of public comments from community members, with the majority of those speaking opposed to the project on the grounds of pollution concerns. Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis, a delegate to the CAMPO board, urged fellow board members to take those same concerns seriously.

"I'm just trying to do my part to make sure that, at the end of the day, I can say I did everything I could to make sure that we're taking proper data and taking the time to make sure that if there's anything else that can be added to this project to make it better for the people who interact and live and work near this particular expansion, that we ask for everything that we possibly can," she said.

TxDOT's Austin District Engineer Tucker Ferguson, also a member of the CAMPO board, said his agency will continue advancing these studies and add any findings or recommendations to the expansion project where possible.

Board Member Jeff Travillion noted the significance of those air quality studies and analyses, but also said the highway is in desperate need of an upgrade to alleviate the safety concerns affiliated with it.

"Significant improvements are necessary, just for safety's sake," he said. "You can't drive through the City of Austin on 35 and think that's safe. It's not. It was built for a time that's no longer here."

Following the failure of the Austin delegation's proposal, the majority of CAMPO's transportation policy board approved the draft 2025-28 Transportation Improvement Program and a related amendment to the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan. Those plans, non-amended, outline regional funding allocations to the I-35 central expansion plan.

The SEC schedule makers were overall fairly kind to the Longhorns, not sending them into Rupp Arena to take on Kentucky, Knoxville to play Rick Barnes' Tennessee squad, or to Tuscaloosa to play the Alabama Crimson Tide — a Final Four team last season.

They'll take on the aforementioned three teams at Moody Center during the regular season, along with Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

To preserve historic and natural rivalries, Texas will have a home-and-home series with Arkansas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. The Longhorns will also travel to Florida, Louisiana State, Ole Miss, Mississippi, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

Dates and times will be announced later as broadcasting partners figure out their schedules.

Each SEC team will play each other at least once during the regular season, creating 15 games, then teams will play three other teams a second time to get to 18 conference games. Two of those opponents will be permanent and one will rotate each season.

The SEC tournament is scheduled for March 12-16 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

Solar flares and eruptions will likely increase as we reach “solar maximum,” explained Nicola Fox, the director of NASA’s heliophysics division.

The current solar cycle, No. 25, began in December 2019.

"During the Sun’s natural 11-year cycle, the Sun shifts from relatively calm to stormy, then back again," said Fox. "At its most active, called solar maximum, the Sun is freckled with sunspots and its magnetic poles reverse."

All this activity sparks coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, which are essentially explosions of plasma and magnetic material shooting out of the sun. When they hit Earth’s magnetic field, currents send particles flowing to the North and South Poles, and that's what causes the aurora, or northern lights, to appear in our skies. The stronger the geomagnetic storm, the further south the phenomenon is visible.

The peak of this solar cycle is predicted to happen somewhere between November 2024 and March 2026. The best guess we have from NOAA's space weather modeling is July 2025, but it could happen months sooner or later.

As we approach that solar maximum, we can expect more geomagnetic storms to pop up.

The scientists at the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) keep a close eye on active regions of the sun to try and predict broadly what might happen over the next several days or weeks, but it's hard to tell exactly when and how CMEs will hit Earth when they're coming from 90 million miles away. Once they reach about 1 million miles from Earth, scientists can take much more accurate measurements and make good predictions – but the lead time is small, about 15 to 45 minutes.

The severe, G5-level storm that hit Earth Friday night and Saturday morning was the strongest to reach us since 2003. Strong geomagnetic storms can cause more than just pretty lights in the sky – they also can create issues for power infrastructure, communications and navigation.

According to the SWPC's scale, a minor G1 storm can bring the aurora to Maine and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula while a moderate G2 storm can bring them into New York and Idaho. When a storm reaches G3 status, aurora can be viewed as far south as Illinois and Oregon. Should it reach G4 strength, those living in Alabama and northern California may have a chance at seeing the northern lights. Solar activity that causes a G5 storm, like the storm we saw Friday, has been known to make aurora appear in Florida and even southern Texas.

The explosives flashed orange and let off plumes of black smoke upon detonation, and the span crumpled into the water in seconds. The longest trusses toppled away from the grounded Dali container ship and slid off its bow, sending a wall of water splashing back toward the ship.

It marked a major step in freeing the ship, which has been stuck amid the wreckage since it lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s support columns shortly after leaving Baltimore on March 26. The demolished span came crashing down on the ship’s bow and remained resting on its deck for the past six weeks.

The collapse killed six construction workers and halted most maritime traffic through Baltimore’s busy port. The controlled demolition will allow the Dali to be refloated and restore traffic through the port as the cleanup enters its final stages.

Once the ship is removed, maritime traffic can begin returning to normal, which will provide relief for thousands of longshoremen, truckers and small business owners who have seen their jobs impacted by the closure.

Officials previously said the Dali’s 21-member crew would shelter in place aboard the ship while the explosives were detonated.

In a videographic released this week, authorities said engineers were using precision cuts to control how the trusses break down. They said the method allows for “surgical precision” and is one of the safest and most efficient ways to remove steel under a high level of tension.

The next step is for hydraulic grabbers to lift the resulting sections of steel onto barges.

The Dali crew members haven’t been allowed to leave the grounded vessel since the disaster. Officials said they’ve been busy maintaining the ship and assisting investigators. Of the crew members, 20 are from India and one is Sri Lankan.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI are conducting investigations into the bridge collapse.

Danish shipping giant Maersk had chartered the Dali for a planned trip from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, but the ship didn’t get far. Its crew sent a mayday call saying they had lost power and had no control of the steering system. Minutes later, the ship rammed into the bridge.

Officials have said the safety board investigation will focus on the ship’s electrical system.

Severe drought that has troubled the entire region has led to a shrinking water supply in Kyle. The city remains under Stage 3 drought restrictions and earlier this month the city council approved a contract to buy water from neighboring San Marcos.

Staff said Monday that the city will likely not come out of Stage 3 before fall 2024.

Kyle City Council Member Daniela Parsley said some are frustrated the city has had to remain under such severe restrictions and worry about the future of the city's water supply as developers build.

"We have been growing so fast. A lot of the concerns I hear are, 'Why do we keep approving developments if we don't have enough water?' And that is a valid question," Parlsey told KXAN.

Parsley hosted a meeting Monday night with the water utilities department to help residents understand the city's plans to ensure there is enough water for everyone in the future.

"Our current city manager does have a plan he wants to set for the future to make sure that there is the availability of water [with] new developments," she said. "I would love for the residents to have access to that explanation. And to be able to ask all the questions, they have regarding infrastructure."

At the meeting, city staff said it started taking water planning more seriously in 2023. Since then, the city has developed a short-term plan to preserve water until 2028, which takes into account a city growth rate of 10% annually.

Further, a firm is developing a 50-year Water Master Plan so that the city can be prepared for future generations. Staff said that the plan should be released by the end of the year.

"Sadly, there was just not a plan before, [but] we have one now," Parsley said. "We know that there is a pathway forward. We are not going to run out of water.”

He's the father of a newborn boy.

Scheffler said he and his wife named the baby Bennett. He was born May 8.

Jon Rahm was among the first to greet Scheffler on the putting green, gave him a hug and said, “Have you had much sleep?” Rahm has two sons.

Scheffler has not played since winning the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town a week after he won his second Masters green jacket. He comes into the second major of the year having won four of his last five tournaments — the exception was a runner-up finish at the Houston Open.

He remains the betting favorite, even with Rory McIlroy coming off two straight victories (one of them a team event with Shane Lowry), and defending champion Brooks Koepka coming off his first victory of the year at LIV Golf Singapore.

McIlroy won the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 2014, the last time he won a major. Koepka tied for 15th in 2014, a year before he joined the PGA Tour.

Scheffler is trying to become the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 — and only the fifth player since 1960 — to win the first two majors of the year.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

The selection committee made the announcement Sunday during a live broadcast on ESPN2, giving the Longhorns the top spot over No. 2 Oklahoma despite the Sooners winning the Big 12 Conference tournament championship game over Texas the day prior. In the end, Texas was still at the top of the RPI table and beat Oklahoma two out of three games during the regular season, so the committee felt Texas deserved the top spot.

The Longhorns will open the regional round at home against Siena, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champions and first-time tournament qualifier. They'll begin the four-team double-elimination tournament at 3 p.m. Friday while St. Francis (Penn.) and Northwestern will play the other game Friday. If the Longhorns make it through the regional, it's possible they could play either Texas A&M or Texas State in the super regionals. The Aggies are seeded No. 16 overall in the tournament while the Bobcats qualified by winning the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship. They'll play in College Station this weekend.

The athletic department as a whole made some serious hay in their last year as a member of the Big 12 Conference, winning a school-record 14 championships across all sports. Both men's and women's track and field teams were the latest to capture the top trophies, and the baseball and rowing teams still have a chance to make it 16 if things go their way later in May.

The Southeastern Conference also announced opponents and sites for Texas men's basketball's first season, and the schedule is favorable all things considered. Texas won't have to play Kentucky or Tennessee on the road in their inaugural season, only taking them on at Moody Center.

Watch the entire Horns Report live stream with Roger Wallace and Billy Gates at 3:15 p.m. or wait for the replay to be posted in this story shortly after the live stream ends.

The department posted on X at 12:21 p.m. that the incident followed a domestic dispute. In an update, police said the person was taken into custody and charged with assault by strangulation, a third-degree felony.

The incident happened in the 2400 block of Meadow Brook Drive, a neighborhood between Old Settlers Boulevard and East Bowman Road.

The layoffs affect many groups and regions, but they are not across the board, the letter noted. They are mostly concentrated in the U.S. and are more focused on "R&D and some Go-to-Market teams," Hyams said in the letter.

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.

Hyams said unlike last year, when cost savings drove the cuts, the reasoning behind the current sweep of layoffs is "because we need to simplify our organization to make it easier and faster for us to make decisions, and help us to more effectively grow revenue and hires," according to the letter.

Hyams noted in the letter that Indeed "worked closely with the HR, Legal, and DEIB+ teams to ensure objectivity and equity in the decision-making process. The final selections have had no measurably disproportionate impact on women and under-represented genders or the under-represented minority population in the US."

I am responsible for how we got here, and the entire SLT is responsible for making the difficult decisions necessary to help set us up for the future. We know these decisions will have a significant impact on people’s lives. I’d like to share some context for why I believe it’s necessary.

Last year we were facing a global slowdown in hiring, which led to multiple consecutive quarters of revenue loss. We reduced our headcount, instituted multiple cost-saving measures, and instilled investment discipline across the company. These measures worked, and we are now operating with stable profitability.

However, while the global economy has improved in several areas over the past year, we are not yet set up for sustainable growth. Despite our efforts so far, our organization is still too complex, we still have significant duplication of effort and too many organizational layers that slow down decision-making. We have been working to simplify every aspect of our business, but without meaningful change, we can’t get where we need to go.

Indeed CEO Chris Hyams

The letter also said that those impacted should receive notice on Monday, including information about separation packages, which the letter noted have been increased for "most employees" over the past year.

The full letter can be read online on Indeed's press room page on its website.

Some of Texas' largest school districts face massive budget deficits, forcing some to cut teachers and staff for next school year. Democrats blame the cash crunch on the legislature's failure to increase per-student funding for the public school system in the last legislative session.

"We have the resources available to better fund our schools, so we should act," State. Rep. John Rosenthal, D-Cypress, wrote in the letter.

Texas lawmakers had a record $33 billion budget surplus to allocate last year, but no money went towards increasing schools' basic allotment - the uniform per-student funding that makes up the foundation of Texas' school funding. Abbott tied school funding increases to his plan for state-subsidized private school tuition vouchers, which did not pass.

Abbott blamed schools' budget deficits on local budgeting problems and an expiration of federal pandemic funding.

"You'll be shocked to hear this, but it's not me that's responsible for this," Abbott said.

In a reply to Rep. Rosenthal Monday afternoon, Abbott blamed the deficits on Democrats' refusal to vote for a package of school funding paired with private school vouchers. He signaled he will not call another special session for this issue.

"My commitment to improving public schools is just as resolute as yours," he wrote to Rosenthal. "To achieve our shared goal, however, it is incumbent upon you to work with your fellow Texas House members to muster the votes to get it passed—something you were unwilling to do last year.”

In the Democrats' letter, they cite $5 billion in the budget already appropriated for public schools but left unspent, and another $18 billion left over from the surplus.

"It's constitutionally our responsibility to provide for the schools," Rosenthal told Nexstar. "Schools across the state having massive budget consequences. While we sit on top of one of the largest budget surpluses in Texas history. I think you can just do the math yourself."

38 House Democrats joined Rep. Rosenthal in signing the letter.

"Dairy Queen workers make more than child care workers," Cherlita Robertson, a childcare center director said.

On the day of a national movement called, "A Day Without Childcare," the group is asking for better funding in order to make child care more affordable, and to improve employee wages.

"It's $1,500 alone a month just for [my son,] Patricia Tobar, a mother said. "I can't pay that that's half of more than half of my check."

This movement comes as Travis County is set to discuss the proposed tax rate election for the 2025 Tax Year. Commissioners will look at how the county can give more people access to early childhood care and afterschool/summer services, according to the May 14 agenda. It's a 2-and-a-half cent tax raise to help fund a new $75 million program.

The goal is to expand the number of slots for childcare and increase pay for childcare workers to a minimum of $20 an hour.

"We're going to help aid that over 8,000 families get assistance in some way of either child care after school assistance," Brown said.

The idea is expensive, as it could cost nearly $77 million a year. The county is considering asking tax payers to foot the bill with a tax increase.

Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Precinct One Commissioner Jeff Travillion are leading this conversation.

"Kids who are in programs are not my kids who are in trouble," Travillion said. "They have guidance, they have structure."

County commissioners will have to vote on ordering a tax election for the Nov. 5 election, and the deadline to do that is in August.

If approved by voters, it would cost the average household about $10 more a month.
Brown and Travillion hope it would assist child care providers pay staff more too.

If the program is ultimately approved, it could begin between Summer 2025 and early 2026, according to the county.

The announcement came May 8.

“At this time we continue to investigate the situation,” Ascension said. “We responded immediately, initiated our investigation and activated our remediation efforts. Access to some systems have been interrupted as this process continues.”

The company said its teams are trained for these kinds of disruptions. Ascension said its hospital and facilities are open.

However, several hospitals are currently on diversion for emergency medical services. Ascension said it doesn't have a timeline for when things will be resolved.

Who is investigating?

The company said it's investigating what information, if any, may have been affected by the situation.

Over the weekend, Ascension updated that it's working with cybersecurity experts to investigate the ransomware incident.

The company said it notified law enforcement, as well as government partners like:

• The Federal Bureau of Investigation
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
• The Department of Health and Human Services
• The American Hospital Association

"While our restoration work continues in earnest, our focus is on restoring systems as safely as possible. While we expect this process will take time to complete, we are making progress and systems are being restored in a coordinated manner at each of our care sites. We will continue to share updates on our recovery process."

Ascension

What services are impacted?

Ascension said the systems currently unavailable are:

• Electronic health records systems
• Various systems used to order certain tests, procedures and medications

The company said some non-emergent elective procedures, tests and appointments have been temporarily paused while it tries to bring systems back online.

'Hours to do a ten-minute job'

Helen Becker found herself caught in the middle of the chaos.

"It takes hours and hours and hours to do a 10-minute job," Becker said.

Becker was admitted to Ascension Seton in Williamson County on Wednesday. It was the same day the company announced an investigation into cybersecurity concerns.

"I had an order sent in for an echocardiogram," Becker said. "It sat inside my folder for three days and never was processed."

The problems made electronic health records and systems to order certain tests, procedures and medications, unavailable.

Becker said even though she was discharged, she is still unsettled about the situation.

"I'm afraid something really bad is gonna happen," Becker said.

'Opportunities for human error'

A nurse, who asked us to conceal her identity, said it caused major delays.

"Days behind on results," she said. "Essentially like that game telephone when you're a kid, and you talk to the person to your right or left, and then it goes to the next person. That's how patient care is getting done."

The nurse told KXAN that the reception phones at the nurse's station are working, however, that's not the case for the work phones staff members have with them.

"That system is shut down. So all calls are going through the reception desk at the nurse's station but the receptionist has nowhere to actually forward the call to the individual," she said.

So instead, people are having to use notepads or their private cell phones.

Ultimately, the nurse is worried about potential mistakes.

EMS adjustments

Austin-Travis County EMS also made adjustments during this time.

ATCEMS Chief of Operations Kevin Parker said they're taking patients who need a CT scan or MRI to specific facilities to streamline.

"Dell Seton, Dell Children's, and Seton main," Parker said. "Seton can have those radiologists in-house and available to read those imaging studies."

Less serious patients who wouldn't need the advanced imaging studies are taken a little bit further out.

"So that way, even though we are moving patients between different facilities, the overall load within that network is about the same," Parker said.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A tractor-trailer truck reportedly rolled over in south Austin Monday morning, trapping the people inside of it, the Austin Fire Department said on social media.

Just after 11 a.m., AFD said it responded to a vehicle rescue call at East Ben White Boulevard and South Congress Avenue turnaround.

In an update, AFD said everyone is out of the truck and the alarm will be downgraded.

Austin-Travis County EMS also responded, AFD said. Officials said to expect traffic delays in the area Monday morning as crews respond to the incident.

Alexandria Krause is a teacher for sixth grade leadership and success at Jarrell Middle School. She's also currently in seventh place within the quarterfinals of the America's Favorite Teacher competition.

Krause said she saw an advertisement for the competition while scrolling on Facebook and applied on a whim. A few months later, she heard back that she had been admitted into the competition.

"I was like, 'alright, let's give this a shot,'" Krause told KXAN. "And so here we are now. I did not think that I would be as far as I am."

Competing teachers are vying for a $25,000 prize, a trip to Hawaii and an appearance in Reader's Digest. For Krause, she said she's motivated to help put Jarrell on the map nationally.

"I love the community. We're very small, we're very close-knit," she said. "We're growing. We have a lot of construction going on in the area, we are in the middle of building a ton of new schools, and we're just on the rise. And I hope that this kind of helps us rise above even more."

Krause said she's fueled by her work helping middle schoolers mold themselves into the kinds of people they want to be, pursuing their passions and planning for the future. Some of her class work centers around teaching students planning and organizational skills, entrepreneurship and options for their future career paths — be that college, trade school professions, the military or other routes.

For her, she said she's striving to be the kind of teacher she wanted most as a kid.

"I always grew up wanting somebody who was as close knit to me like I am with these students. I pride myself on the personal relationships — you would be surprised what these kids are going through," she said. "And they're not looking for advice. They're not looking for your opinion. Sometimes they're not even looking for help. They're just looking for somebody to actually listen to them."

Should Krause come in first place and receive the $25,000 prize, she wants to allocate a portion of those winnings to Jarrell Middle School's junior high Bible study for seventh and eight graders. Many of those participating students don't have their own Bibles; Krause has been paying out-of-pocket to buy snacks for students so they don't get hungry.

"It's become very daunting and financially, that would help a lot of I were to win the contest. And who doesn't like a trip to the beach as well?" she said.

Since advancing in the competition, she joked that she's become a bit of a "rock star" in students' eyes, with some who aren't even in her classes coming up and saying hello. But mainly, she sees this competition as a way to bring some levity to the district — particularly after Jarrell ISD student Brooklynn Miller passed away from bone cancer in the fall.

"My Bible study girls, they were all best friends with her. She was a great athlete, and it was just such a sudden loss," Krause said. "We've been dealing with a lot of emotional distress surrounding that. And so, honestly... I'm doing this for Brooklynn Miller and Brooklynn Miller's foundation."

Voting for America's Favorite Teacher semi-finals ends on Thursday at 9 p.m. CT. More details on Krause and how to vote for her is available online.

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.

Keith Gill, better known as “Roaring Kitty,” posted an image on Sunday of a man sitting forward in his chair, a meme used by gamers when things are getting serious.

He followed that tweet with a YouTube video from years before saying, “That’s all for now cuz I’m out of breath. FYI here’s a quick 4min video I put together to summarize the $GME bull case.”

GameStop was a video game retailer that in 2021 was struggling as consumers switched rapidly from discs to digital downloads. Gill and those who agreed with him changed the trajectory of a company that appeared to be headed for bankruptcy.

Two hours before the opening bell Monday it appeared that Gill had revived that interest as shares of Gamestop surged 40%.

Gill became a cause célèbre in 2021 after his posts on the Reddit subcategory Wallstreetbets ignited a Wall Street battle between thousands of smaller retail investors and large hedge funds that were betting heavily against the survival of GameStop, shorting its stock.

The small guys won, at least for a while, driving shares of GameStop up more than 1,000% in 2021, and other meme stocks as well. The struggling movie theater chain AMC jumped 2,300% in the same year.

But some meme stocks including GameStop and AMC have been climbing higher again, and rapidly.

Shares of GameStop Corp., which have faded steadily since 2021, are up 57% this month. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is up 10% over the past 30 days.

Koss Co. a headphone manufacturer, is up 37% this month and BlackBerry, the one-time dominant smartphone maker, is up 4%. The retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond, another meme stock, sought bankruptcy protection last year.

Gill, or Roaring Kitty, largely vanished from messaging boards after posting a video in June 2021 of kittens going to sleep.

The story of Roaring Kitty and the meme stock craze was turned into a movie last year called “Dumb Money.”