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New Texas emergency operations, headquarters facility set to be built in Austin

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New Texas emergency operations, headquarters facility set to be built in Austin


The Texas A&M University System board of regents voted Thursday to begin building a new $370 million State Emergency Operations Center near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The project will include the new headquarters for the Texas Division of Emergency Management, which will allow the agency to “consolidate its staff” members who are “scattered” across the state and “coordinate statewide emergency response efforts from a single location,” Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp said in a news release shared exclusively with the American-Statesman.

Construction is expected to begin this month and be completed in 2026.

The investment will allow Texas to “increase its capabilities to better prepare for, respond to, recover from and mitigate against any disaster we face,” Texas Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said in the news release. “Communication and coordination are cornerstones of emergency management, and our new facilities will provide TDEM and our emergency management partners with the space and technology to more effectively serve our communities across Texas.”

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Of the total $370 million to build the new center, $9.7 million will be used for land acquisition. The rest will be used to build the nearly 300,000-square-foot facility, which officials said will include a five-story office building.

Part of the facility will include a 90,000-square-foot State Emergency Operations Center, which will be used to coordinate disaster response with leaders from across the state. This portion will be able to seat 300 people, sustain 200 mph winds and act as the hub for planning the state’s response to disasters.

The original state emergency response center was built in the 1950s and is an underground bunker in North Austin. The new center will allow the state to modernize the site where it coordinates its disaster response, said Wes Rapaport, a spokesperson for the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

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“The 70-year-old facility is no longer suitable to support emergency response operations for a growing state,” the news release states.

Design of the new facility has been underway for years, according to the news release.



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Austin, TX

Texas advances to supers after sweeping Austin Regional

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Texas advances to supers after sweeping Austin Regional


No. 1 Texas softball and head coach Mike White swept the Austin Regional with a 7-0 win in the final on May 19 over the Northwestern Wildcats. Texas won all three games by a margin of no fewer than five runs to advance to super regionals for the fourth year in a row.

Mia Scott led the way for the Longhorns with a three-run home run to solidify the run support for Teagan Kavan on the mound. Kavan was the star of the game, though, for the Longhorns in the final game of the Austin Regional on Sunday afternoon.

The freshman Kavan registered her third complete-game shutout win of the season, allowing just one hit and two walks over seven innings on the mound against Northwestern.

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Kavan joined Mac Morgan as the two Texas pitchers to register shutouts in three games for the Longhorns in the Austin Regional. Morgan registered a perfect game in seven innings in a 5-0 shutout win for the Longhorns in Game 1 of the Austin Regional against Siena on May 17.

Texas defeated Northwestern by a combined margin of 19 runs in the last two days to complete its sweep of the Austin Regional this weekend. The other win over the Wildcats was a 14-2 run-rule victory in five innings at McCombs Field on May 18.

With the win over Northwestern on May 19, the Longhorns become the first team to advance to supers this postseason. The Longhorns have advanced to supers in each of the last five seasons, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Only two wins sits between Texas and their second Women’s College World Series trip in the last three years.

Texas now awaits the winner of the Bryan-College Station Regional between the No. 16 Texas A&M Aggies and Texas State Bobcats to determine its super regional matchup next weekend.

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Texas A&M currently leads Texas State in what could potentially be the final game of the Bryan-College Station Regional on May 19.





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Rising golf star Swetha Sathish captures 6A gold medal

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Rising golf star Swetha Sathish captures 6A gold medal


AUSTIN, Texas — At just 3 years old was when Swetha Sathish first got introduced to golf by her father. She was swinging a club that was bigger than she was.


What You Need To Know

  • Swetha Sathish grew up in Ontario, Canada
  • She moved to Texas in 2022
  • Sathish won the 6A individual golf title in 2024
  • She also helped Vandegrift win a 6A team title in 2024

“It was at 5 years old they really saw something in my swing,” says Sathish. “From there, we discovered every step of the way.”

Sathish says she got her first lessons through a Groupon deal, and that’s when her golf career really began.

“I knew this is what I’ve wanted to do since I was 8 years old,” says Sathish, “I’ve always had a dream of going pro.”

When she was younger, Sathish says playing golf was a lot about spending time with her father. She says that is still the case, but now, it’s also her thing.

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Growing up in Ontario, Canada, she started to take golf more and more seriously as she got older. She began traveling to tournaments and testing her skills against other top young players. In 2022, her family decided to move to Texas and allow more opportunities for her to get better at golf.

After a year of taking classes online, Sathish decided she wanted to join a team, so they started looking for schools across Texas. They saw that Vandegrift High School had won the 6A state golf title in 2023, and that was going to be her new home.

“I knew that’s the kind of girls I want to be around and play with,” says Sathish. “It was definitely one of the best decisions for sure.”

Sathish says coach Aaron Ford and the rest of the team made it easy for her to fit in with the group. She helped Vandegrift win a second straight 6A golf title recently, while she was the individual champ shooting a 70 and 68 at the state tournament to win by 4 shots.

“I’m speechless, that last putt I was shaking,” said Sathish after the tournament. “I’m so happy, and I have to give everything to my team and my coach and my family.”

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Sathish will have a chance to come back as a senior next year and defend her title. After high school, she’ll head off to play in college and has already committed to Arkansas.

“Arkansas is a beautiful college town. I loved the campus,” says Sathish. “The coaches are great, and the facilities are some of the best you’ll ever see in the country for college golf.”

If she continues to follow the plan, the dream of going pro could be within her reach. She’s put a lot of work in having the success on the course that she’s already had.

“The motivation is just to be the best at my passion,” says Sathish. “That’s what my motto is, and that’s what my parents have taught me.”



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Austin, TX's Rising Pop Star Aline Garza Empowers Bullying Victims With New Single “Superhero” – That Eric Alper

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Austin, TX's Rising Pop Star Aline Garza Empowers Bullying Victims With New Single “Superhero” – That Eric Alper


After Aline Garza’s successful kickstart in music with her heartfelt breakout single “Day One” while going viral on Instagram with over 2.4 million views, the Texan artist now captures a tremendously powerful and utterly necessary message in her new single “Superhero”.

On top of an upbeat, hopeful and catchy melody, Aline Garza evokes nostalgia with a 2010’s Pop/R&B sound and spreads a heartwarming message to all bullying and harassment victims:

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They only talkin’ cause they’re jealous
They so unhappy with themselves
They insecure so they’re projectin’
So don’t be tough on yourself

And, much like a warm ray of sun on a freezing day, Aline Garza shows her unconditional support for all going through a tough time in the chorus:

I wish I was a superhero
Who could save the day
A superhero
to make everything OK
A superhero
To stand by your side and take
All the pain away put a smile on ya’ face

Sadly, like millions of kids across the globe, Aline Garza experienced an isolating feeling at the age of 10, which sparked her to write and sing about it: “Writing Superhero at 10 years old was a feeling of being left out” and addresses how bullying has evolved in many other dangerous ways: “Now as the years have come, I see bullying happening more frequently in different ways including rumors, cyberbullying, physical contact, teasing, emotional, social, and verbal.”

The artist also shares that people who bully are actually reflecting their own internal fights in others: “People can be insecure so they’re negatively projecting”, and sheds light on the importance of self-confidence: “First believe in yourself, then others will too”, as well as addressing our own mental health: “Bullying causes people to not socialize and stay to themselves which can later cause mental issues”.

Aline’s musical journey began almost before she can remember, at the age of 5, and she’s won awards such as “Best New Artist” in her age group at the Vocal Star New Year’s Gala Competition and emerged as a finalist in prestigious competitions like Dream Night in 2021.

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Now, following the guidance of her label XOXO Entertainment Corp. and relying on the endless support from her family, she’s ready to make a difference in the music industry! From pop to R&B, to even Gospel music, be ready for versatile and timeless hits from the young Texan artist.

Apart from her label and family, Aline expresses her gratitude to producer and co-writer Adam H. and mixer Orlando Calzada, 5x Grammy Award Winner with credits including Lady Gaga, One Direction, Beyonce and Destiny’s Child.

Ultimately, it is vital to have artists who bring attention to unjust situations, share a message of hope and, above all, who have the charisma and sensitivity that Aline has. In her own words: “I like to make music that people can relate to and has a positive message”. Aline is the true meaning of a Superhero!



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