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Residents in Austin neighborhood concerned about crime as police department struggles with understaffing

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Residents in Austin neighborhood concerned about crime as police department struggles with understaffing


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Understaffing in the Austin Police Department in Texas has left residents concerned about crime in the city. 

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Residents in the Montopolis neighborhood in Austin’s southeast told KVUE-TV crime in their area is getting worse. 

Delwin Goss told the station he woke up to gunshots in the neighborhood overnight Thursday, which he said has become shockingly common. 

“It’s making the hair on my arms stand up. To hear eight, nine, 10 shots. Just bam, bam, bam. Where are those bullets going?” he said. 

ALL CRIMINAL TRESPASSING CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST ANTI-ISRAEL UT AUSTIN PROTESTERS

Residents in the Montopolis neighborhood in Austin’s southeast are concerned crime in their area is getting worse.  (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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He said his neighbor told him she hears gunshots from her home between two to three times a week. 

“I don’t want to be shot sleeping in my bed,” he added. 

And although Austin Police told him when he called they were already investigating, he blames the department’s understaffing problem. 

Austin Police Association President Mike Bullock addressed the officer shortage Thursday, writing on X, “500 officers short has a real impact on businesses and Austinites who expect to be able to safely run a business and live in Austin. We’re so close to having a contract that can make significant progress towards ending the staffing crisis. Question now is if the city will actually prioritize making it happen.”

AUSTIN POLICE ARREST 6 PEOPLE AFTER ‘UNUSUALLY DEADLY’ SURGE OF OPIOID OVERDOSES 

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Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly addressed the police understaffing problem this week while speaking on the Austin Police Association’s podcast, attributing it to funding cuts in 2020.

“Our staffing currently at the police department is a direct result of the failed policy that was passed in 2020 to remove funding for the police department,” she told Bullock. 

The Austin Police Department has faced a shortage of officers since being defunded in 2020.  (Dave Creaney/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“We want a fully staffed department that takes care of our city employees that are loving the work that they do cause then they’re going to do a better job of taking care of the community.”

Kelly told KVUE that council members are working to get more officers on the job so residents can feel safe in their neighborhoods. 

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“He feels as if his part of the district, part of town, is neglected, and I firmly believe that everyone, despite what district they are in, deserves the opportunity to feel safe in their own homes,” Kelly told the station. 

While the city has brought down the homicide rate since a record of 89 in 2021, it still remains high. 

“I think the bottom line is that, over the last three years, we’ve seen the highest homicide rates we have seen ever in the city,” Bullock told FOX 7 earlier this year. “So, either way, no matter which way we look at it, we’re not on a good trend. We’re headed in the wrong direction.”

The city reported 71 homicides in 2022, 73 in 2023 and 42 this year as of Monday, according to KXAN-TV. 

In February, the department said the city was experiencing roughly one murder a week, FOX 7 reported. 

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Austin’s 89 murders in 2021 came after the Austin City Council defunded the police in 2020, which caused massive staffing shortages that prevented police from responding to non-emergency calls. The previous record was 59 in 1984, long before Austin standardized its ambulance services and had the two level one trauma centers it has now. 

“I’ve watched it for the last five, six, seven years, and it just gets a little worse,” Goss said. “I see more open drug use in this neighborhood, more drug dealing.

“They’re not out here protecting me or my 85-year-old heart transplant neighbor or the widow that’s in her 70s next door,” he added.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Austin Police Department and Kelly for comment.  

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Austin, TX

Austin, TX venue Emo’s on the move again, AEG to take over the building

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Austin, TX venue Emo’s on the move again, AEG to take over the building


Emo’s in Austin is on the move again. 

After more than a decade at 2015 E. Riverside Drive (following the original Red River-era venue closing in 2011), Emo’s current Riverside space will be taken over by AEG Presents when the lease ends later this year. The Los Angeles, CA-based company will assume operations in January 2027 and plans to reopen the building under a new name in early 2027 following upgrades, renovations and a full rebrand.

AEG are also opening a new 4,000-cap venue nearby next spring as part of the River Park mixed-use development in southeast Austin.

C3 Presents, who reopened Emo’s at the Riverside location, say this isn’t the end of Emo’s — they’re working on a new home and plan to move the venue back to downtown Austin, with more updates to come.

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AEG Presents Vice President Robin Phillips shared the following:

There’s like no weirdness or any bad blood or anything. It just, you know, new lease and they’ll [Emo’s] go do something great. They have been important to the Austin music scene, so I have a lot of respect for them.

But I don’t think the Austin music scene or legacy is limited to one name. I know people will remember the original Emo’s and this Emo’s as, you know, both great venues… And I don’t think Austin’s music scene is just a name, it’s the artists, in my opinion.

 

A C3 spokesperson added:

Emo’s has a long history in Austin and we’ve been working behind the scenes for some time on a new home for this venue. After we wrap up at this venue in December, we will focus our efforts on our new location.

 

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Emo’s gave the following statement to Austin local news KXAN:

We’re grateful for all of the fans and artists who’ve shaped Emo’s to what it is today: a community of like-minded people who love live music. We have a vision for our future and will be moving into a new building downtown that celebrates our punk rock roots with the new amenities that fans are looking for from a venue. We’ll continue to share updates on the next chapter for Emo’s on social media.





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Highly pathogenic virus found in herd of Texas dairy cows

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Highly pathogenic virus found in herd of Texas dairy cows


State and federal agriculture officials said highly pathogenic avian flu has been found in a herd of dairy cows in Texas.

What we know:

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Officials said the H5N1 virus was confirmed with laboratory tests in late May after cows at an unspecified farm became sick and milk production dropped. The dairy has since been quarantined and an investigation is underway.

This is the first case of avian flu in a Texas dairy herd this year, officials said.

What they’re saying:

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“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is confident that pasteurization is effective at inactivating H5N1, and that the commercial, pasteurized milk supply is safe,” officials at the Texas Animal Health Commission said in a statement.

A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026.

A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026. (Tim Evans/Bloomberg / Getty Images)

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Dig deeper:

H5N1 has a high rate of severe disease and death in animals that become infected.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to the general public from avian flu is low. Some sporadic human infections have been reported around the world since 1997. There have been no known cases of person-to-person spreading of avian flu.

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The Source: Information in this story came from the Texas Animal Health Commission, the USDA, the FDA and the CDC.

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New Texas law tightens rules for autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo

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New Texas law tightens rules for autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo


Self-driving cars have become a common sight on Austin streets, but a new Texas law is adding tougher requirements for the companies behind the wheelless vehicles.

Senate Bill 2807 imposes stricter rules on autonomous vehicle companies operating in the state, including state authorization, emergency response plans for law enforcement, and a public portal where residents can verify operators and file safety complaints.

The changes come as Austin continues to track incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The city’s autonomous vehicle dashboard shows 75 incidents in 2026, including a collision, eight near misses, and seven incidents of ignoring police direction.

Attorney Drew Gibbs, a partner at Slingshot Law, said one crash involved a Waymo vehicle.

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“There was a T-bone collision. A pretty serious T-bone collision where a Waymo just crashed into the side of my client’s vehicle,” Gibbs said.

ALSO| Waymo files voluntary software recall over flooded-lane risks on high-speed roads

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One of the incidents of ignoring police direction happened during the mass shooting on West Sixth Street back in March, when three people died, and 15 others were injured.

Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock said autonomous vehicles can struggle in unusual situations.

“It didn’t impede on anything in the moment, but it’s not necessarily uncommon where these vehicles don’t quite know how to deal with these one-off scenarios,” Bullock said.

The new law requires autonomous vehicle companies to be authorized by the state, to provide an emergency response plan for law enforcement, and to participate in a public-facing portal that allows the public to verify operators and submit safety complaints.

Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, welcomed the added oversight.

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“I’m glad that the state is taking this a bit more seriously now,” she said. “It’s important not to just let others slip in without kind of meeting those basic minimums.”

Bullock said the emergency planning requirement may not make a major difference in fast-moving situations. Asked how impactful it is to have a fully laid out emergency response plan, Bullock said, “These plans are great, but it takes time to work through all of those versus the immediacy of having someone behind the wheel.”

The four autonomous vehicle companies operating in Austin — Waymo, Zoox, AV-Ride, and Tesla — are all state-authorized.

The Texas DMV said an autonomous vehicle company can lose its authorization to operate in Texas if the agency deems the vehicles are operating in a way that endangers public safety.

Waymo was contacted for comment, but had not responded.

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