Austin, TX
What is a pro-Palestine protest? Here’s why U.S. college students are protesting
Dozens of protesters at the University of Texas were arrested Wednesday during a peaceful, pro-Palestinian protest hosted on the campus by the Palestine Solidarity Committee.
“UT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses,” the UT Division of Student Affairs said in a statement before the protest.
After about 45 minutes of the crowd marching south on the mall from the Gregory Gym area, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and campus police ordered the protesters to disperse or “be arrested as per the penal code.”
Here’s why UT-Austin students are protesting:
What is a pro-Palestine protest?
Pro-Palestinian protests are demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights, typically calling for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Protests began in the wake of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s assault on Israeli communities Oct. 7, killing almost 1,200 people.
Israel’s subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians — militants and civilians; men, women and children — and has fueled a dire humanitarian crisis.
Where is Palestine located?
Palestine is recognized as an independent state by the United Nations and more than 135 of its members, but it is not recognized by the U.S., according to History. The UN considers it a single occupied entity, but the official borders are undetermined, BBC News reported.
Though its borders have shifted over the years, Palestinian territories used to be what is now Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
When searching for “Palestine” on Google Maps, the map zooms in on the Israel-Palestine region, and both the Gaza Strip and West Bank territories are labeled and separated by dotted lines. But there is no label for Palestine.
In an email statement, Google said it doesn’t label the borders because there isn’t international consensus on where the Palestinian boundaries are located.
Why are college students protesting?
The Palestine Solidarity Committee, a registered UT student group and a chapter of the national Students for Justice in Palestine, planned a protest Wednesday at the UT campus in solidarity with students across the U.S., including at Columbia University, Yale University and New York University, who are calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war.
Across the country, pro-Palestinian student protesters have occupied campuses in tent encampments this week in a campaign to urge their universities to divest, an action students over the decades have demanded from their schools’ administrators.
At pro-Palestinian rally at UT-Austin, protesters arrested
Multiple protesters on UT-Austin’s campus were arrested during a pro-Palestinian rally held by students.
What is ‘divest’?
The word “divest” refers to diverting money from a university’s endowment — the pool of money a college has and tries to grow through investments. Some of the biggest university endowments in the country total nearly $50 billion and comprise thousands of funds.
The protesters opposed to Israel’s military attacks in Gaza say they want their schools to stop funneling endowment money to Israeli companies and other businesses, like weapons manufacturers, that profit from the war in Gaza.
“The university would rather enforce and put money into policing our communities and policing their own students then they would to supporting them,” said Anachí Ponce, a UT student who attended the protest. “These are students who are protesting a genocide and the lack of action from UT administration for the way that they haven’t been super helpful against hate crimes against Muslim students on campus.”
“It’s like, why is our money being used to fund bombs overseas?,” said Layla Saliba, a student protester researching endowment investments with the group Columbia University Apartheid Divestment. “Let’s reinvest this money in our community instead,” she said.
In addition to divestment, protesters across the U.S. are calling for a cease-fire and student governments at some colleges have also passed resolutions in recent weeks calling for an end to academic partnerships with Israel.
Are universities investing in Israel?
Protesters have called for a halt to investments in Israel, but experts say that might be too simplified a take on what colleges have done with their funds. To begin with, it’s difficult to define what an “investment” in Israel entails, said economist Sandy Baum, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who studies college finances.
She said bigger investments are more obvious than smaller ones tucked away in mutual funds — an investment tool that pools money and spreads it out over many assets, and a type of financial tool on which many colleges rely.
Universities hire private companies to manage their endowments to preserve their funds over the long run, Baum said.
Debates about the investments of college endowments are complicated, Baum said, because some university stakeholders argue the money needs to produce the biggest return on investment possible to fund teaching and necessary programming and services.
“The purpose of the endowment is to have money that will allow the university to permanently provide educational opportunities so that they don’t have to go out and raise new money every year to continue operating,” she said.
The bigger a university’s endowment, the more is at stake. That’s one reason why pro-Palestinian student protesters at wealthy universities are fighting so hard this week, she said. There’s a lot of money involved.
“There are always going to be differencesof opinion about what you don’t want to invest in,” Baum said.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Data analyst Corey Yeung created the ATX Running Guide to help runners find community across Central Texas. What started as a personal project has become one of Austin’s most comprehensive running resources.
Looking for a Run Club? There’s a Map for That
When Corey Yeung moved to Austin three years ago, he had a simple question:
“How many run clubs are actually out there?” The answer wasn’t easy to find. While several websites listed local groups, Yeung felt none offered a complete picture. So, he decided to build one himself. What started as a spreadsheet evolved into ATX Running Guide, a website and social media platform that helps runners discover clubs throughout the Austin area.
“The list would be more useful if it were a map and search tool,” Yeung said. “The Instagram page was simply a way to communicate those free resources to the community.”
Today, the guide covers running groups from San Marcos to Hutto and serves as a one-stop resource for runners looking to connect. In this episode of KXAN’S Plus Simple Health, Corey Yeung walks us through everything you need to know about the 200-plus running clubs in Austin.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Volts are off to a rough start in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, but maybe a little home cooking can help them get right.
After playing their first five games on the road, the Volts open play at Dell Diamond in Round Rock at 6 p.m. Thursday against the Utah Talons, kicking off an 8-game homestand.
It’s the first season the Volts will call Dell Diamond home. In the league’s inaugural season last year, the original four teams competed with a touring schedule that included a stop at Dell Diamond. This is the first year that the AUSL, now a 6-team league, will play in home markets.
They have a roster peppered with local stars, including 2-time NCAA national champion middle infielder Leighann Goode from the Texas Longhorns. Aliyah Binford, a New Braunfels native, played collegiately for Ole Miss and former Texas State pitcher Jessica Mullins made an appearance in the Volts’ previous series against the Carolina Blaze.
Goode said there’s been a bit of a learning curve, but she credits her teammates for helping her adjust to the league.
“This group has brought me in and taught me stuff, taken me under their wings,” she said. “They’ve done an awesome job.”
Legendary Texas pitcher Cat Osterman is the team’s general manager, and the head coach is Texas State’s Ricci Woodard.
“We’re ready to rock and roll at home,” Woodard said. “I’m anxious to see what happens now that we get to play in our own place.”
Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 draft, joined the team last weekend after a brief contract holdout.
The Volts are 1-4 this season, picking up their lone win over the Oklahoma City Spark on June 10. They’ll face the Talons in a 3-game series, the Chicago Bandits for a pair June 23-24, and finish the homestand with a 3-game set against the expansion Portland Cascade on June 26-28.
Ryan Sanders Baseball, the organization that owns and operates the Round Rock Express, is an operating partner with the Volts and an investor with the AUSL.
Austin, TX
Investigators seek clues in small jet crash that killed 1 in Texas, where bystanders rushed to help
(AP) – Investigators combed through wreckage Wednesday for clues to why a business jet crashed on a Texas highway, killing one person on board after its pilots reported mechanical problems while requesting an emergency landing at a nearby airport.
The fiery crash late Tuesday in Laredo near the Mexican border sent bystanders racing from their cars to help police rescue passengers and crew from the burning aircraft. The crash killed Joshua Baer, a leader in Texas’ technology and startup sectors, the president of Baer’s company told the Austin American-Statesman.
Video from the frantic scene showed someone trying to smash the cockpit glass with a sledgehammer, while others used makeshift levers as they worked to open the plane’s door. Local officials said a firefighter entered the smoke-filled jet to extract one person still inside after the rest had escaped.
“While the loss of life is deeply regrettable, it is nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño told a news conference Wednesday.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating along with the National Transportation Board.
Laredo Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez Jr. said investigators working to reconstruct the crash were at the crash site Wednesday.
Crash victim worked to help entrepreneurs launch startups
Baer was the founder and chief executive of Austin-based Capital Factory, which helps entrepreneurs connect with investors and others to launch their businesses.
“Joshua was a fearless leader, a brilliant partner, and a dear friend to so many of us,” Capital Factory President Bryan Chambers told the Austin newspaper.
Capital Factory executives did not immediately return phone messages Wednesday from The Associated Press.
Baer lived in Austin with his wife and three children, according to his LinkedIn page. He recently taught a student entrepreneur class at the University of Texas at Austin.
“I help people quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs,” Baer said on his LinkedIn page.
In a social media post, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called Baer “one of the most significant figures driving innovation and entrepreneurship across America.”
Police did not release the name of the person killed, citing a request from family members. Rodriguez said those on the plane included two pilots and three teenagers.
Pilots reported low fuel, electrical issues, airport director says
The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement.
The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement it was cooperating with authorities.
The jet went down at about 10 p.m. Tuesday on the Loop 20 highway, just a few minutes after its pilots radioed the local airport seeking to make an emergency landing. Their call to air traffic controllers “mentioned low fuel and a power outage,” Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez said.
“They had mechanical issues and they lost communication with the tower,” Sanchez said Wednesday, “and that’s when the accident happened.”
Dashcam video posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway and knocking down a light post before coming to a stop near the airport. The jet also barreled into a car, sending one motorist to a hospital in stable condition, said Laredo police investigator Jose Baeza.
Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier with the tail ripped from the fuselage.
“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.
Garza, who shot video of the scene as her husband ran to help, saw motorists leave their cars to try to help smash the cockpit glass. She said the plane’s door opened and three people who looked like teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot. Another crew member tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious.
Smoke billowed from the plane as a firefighter climbed into the aircraft to rescue the remaining passenger. Police officers helping prop open the door had to back away as they doubled over coughing because of the intense smoke. Police said five officers were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation.
“What was worrying me was the fire,” Garza said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”
This was the third significant aviation accident in as many days. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.
___
Golden reported from Seattle; Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut; and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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