Austin, TX
New fentanyl awareness billboards unveiled in South Austin
Billboards raise awareness of fentanyl dangers
New billboards that are now up in South Austin are designed to raise awareness of the opioid crisis.
AUSTIN, Texas – Family members of Central Texans who died of fentanyl poisoning gathered in South Austin on Saturday to send a powerful message.
The group A Change for Cam unveiled one of two new billboards on East Oltorf Street near South Congress. The billboards feature 24 images of people who have died from fentanyl poisoning in recent years.
Organizers hope that having two dozen faces on the billboards will raise awareness about the magnitude of the opioid crisis in Central Texas. At the event, family members also handed out doses of Narcan in hopes of preventing more tragedies.
A Change for Cam was founded by Becky White, whose son Cameron died after taking a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl.
“It’s a club that none of us wanted to be a part of. And we get so much support and understanding when we’re with each other,” said White at Saturday’s event.
Fentanyl education in Texas: Is it enough?
It’s been a year since the signing of Tucker’s Law, requiring Texas schools to educate students about the dangers of fentanyl. Tucker’s mom says not enough has been done to actually implement the law.
MORE ON THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Among those at the unveiling were Buda couple Jay de la Garza and his wife. De la Garza received a new heart from 17-year-old Chance Stovall of Wiley, who died from fentanyl poisoning.
“They were there because Chance died and saved his life. And now he’s supporting an effort to keep others from dying from the same fate. It’s just an incredible story,” White said.
There are currently several vinyl and digital billboards around the Austin area as part of the group’s partnership with Reagan Outdoor Advertising. White says she hopes to add more in the months and years to come.
Austin, TX
Mother searching for answers after Texas college student Brianna Aguilera found dead after football game
The mother of a Texas college student is desperately searching for answers after her daughter was found dead near campus after attending a tailgate, according to reports and authorities.
Brianna Aguilera, a 19-year-old student at Texas A&M University, was discovered dead outside an apartment complex around 1 a.m. Saturday morning, just hours after she attended a tailgate for Texas A&M’s football game against the University of Texas, KSAT reported.
Aguilera’s mother, Stephanie Rodriguez, told the outlet that she has received inconsistent answers from the Austin Police Department after investigators said Aguilera likely died by suicide.
Detectives told her she had fallen from 17 floors, the mother recalled.
“There are a lot of inconsistencies with the story,” Rodriguez said. “He told me they said she jumped, and then he told me that the friends said they didn’t know her whereabouts.”
The heartbroken mother said her daughter, a sophomore at the university, was not suicidal and was looking forward to her future as a lawyer.
Rodriguez called police after her daughter did not answer her phone after Friday’s game, noting she saw Aguilera’s phone pinging in Austin.
Cops then instructed her to wait 24 hours before filing a missing persons report, the outlet reported.
Officers later found Aguilera’s cellphone on Saturday. However, Rodriguez was not told until 4 p.m. that day that her daughter was in the morgue, the mother recalled.
Rodriguez believes something more sinister could have been at play leading up to the fatal fall.
She maintained that one of the 15 people inside the apartment must know something about her daughter’s death.
“There was a fight that happened between my daughter and another girl, and they were all staying in the same apartment that I have actual text messages of, and the detective just disregarded them,” Rodriguez said.
Austin police said Aguilera’s death is not being investigated as a homicide, as the investigation has not revealed any suspicious details, the outlet reported.
The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the aspiring lawyer’s cause of death.
Aguilera hailed from Laredo, where she attended United High School. She was a “seasoned cheerleader” and received Magna Cum Laude honors before graduating high school, according to a GoFundMe organized for her loved ones.
“She was pursuing her dream of becoming a lawyer and was attending The Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M,” the statement continued.
“The details surrounding what happened next remain unclear, and her mother is still awaiting answers,” the fundraiser continued.
The GoFundMe has since raised over $28,000, more than double its $12,000 goal.
“Im so grateful for your love and support at this moment. The unexpected loss of my brie brie has been a tremendous challenge, but I find strength in the outpouring of kindness,” Rodriguez said in a Monday message to the hoards of supporters.
“I’ve experienced every parent’s worst fear, but I’m comforted by the knowledge that my brie brie touched so many hearts.”
Texas A&M University did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Austin, TX
Austin Light Rail gets ‘medium-high’ rating from federal transit officials
AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Light Rail project is creeping closer to the station after a promising rating from federal transit officials last week.
In an annual funding recommendation report from the Federal Transit Administration, the project received an overall project rating and local financial commitment summary rating of “medium-high.” It also received “medium” ratings for mobility improvement, land use and project justification summary.
The line received a cost-effectiveness rating of “low,” which may reflect the problems the Austin Light Rail has faced since its 2020 voter approval as part of Project Connect. The project included “a generational $7 billion transit overhaul and an ongoing 20% property tax increase,” the Austin American-Statesman reported, but the cost of the light rail has since increased.
The funding recommendation ratings are set to allow the Austin Transit Partnership to compete for federal funding through the Capital Investment Grant. The line’s overall rating also “signals that federal staff view the project as financially and technically viable,” according to the Statesman.
Austin Light Rail was 27 miles long at the time of Project Connect’s passing but has since been reduced to under 10 miles. It would run north to south between 38th and Oltorf streets and include an eastern spur stretching from Lady Bird Lake area to near the inside of State Highway 71.
Austin, TX
What seed did Texas volleyball get in the NCAA Tournament?
For the first time since 2022, Texas volleyball will enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed.
The NCAA Tournament’s selection committee released its field of 64 Sunday, and Texas (23-3) received one of the coveted top-four seeds, which means the Longhorns won’t leave Austin until a possible trip to the Final Four Dec. 18-21 in Kansas City, Mo.
Texas, the No. 3 overall seed, will open the tournament Friday at 7 p.m. against Florida A&M at Gregory Gymnasium on the Longhorns’ campus. With a win, the Longhorns would face either No. 8 seed and defending national champion Penn State or South Florida this weekend in a second-round contest.
If Texas wins both its games this upcoming week, the Longhorns could face No. 4 Indiana, No. 3 Wisconsin or No. 2 Stanford in the regional tournament. Those programs are the other top-four teams in the Longhorns’ Austin Quadrant.
The NCAA will release its full tournament schedule later Sunday.
The NCAA volleyball tournament is structured like college basketball’s postseason tournament and features 64 teams, including 31 automatic qualifiers and 33 at-large selections. The selection committee seeded the top 32 teams with the top 16 identified in rank order.
Top-ranked Nebraska, the nation’s only unbeaten team, is the No. 1 overall seed while SEC champion Kentucky is the No. 2 seed. Pittsburgh earned the final No. 1 seed and the fourth overall seed.
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