Austin, TX
Robot cars are causing safety concerns in Central Texas
![Robot cars are causing safety concerns in Central Texas](https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/34/40/03/24248531/3/rawImage.jpg)
A Cruise autonomous vehicle is stopped at a traffic light.
Courtesy of CruiseThere have been 40 complaints logged with Austin’s Transportation Public Works Department since July, including close calls with residents and first responders. Additionally, in the last few weeks autonomous vehicles have encroached on fire trucks in Austin and turned against a red light, almost hitting pedestrians as an APD officer worked a fundraising walk in downtown Austin, per the report.
It’s an issue because, per state law, local municipalities cannot regulate autonomous vehicles.
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“A political subdivision of this state or a state agency may not impose a franchise or other regulation related to the operation of an automated motor vehicle or automated driving system,” the law reads.
Instead, cities like Austin can only work with the autonomous vehicle companies, and hope that the companies respond in goodwill. That’s just what Austin did, forming the City AV Safety Task Force, a collaboration between Austin Police Department, Austin Fire, and Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services to monitor how autonomous vehicles are being used in the city.
The relationship got off to a rocky start.
“Trying to communicate with you is … problematic and frankly you don’t respond in a timely manner,” wrote Matthew McElearney, AFD special operations training captain, to an investigations manager at Cruise in late August.
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Possibly as a response to the complaint, Cruise approached the fire, police, and emergency medical training departments in late September, in an effort to help the departments familiarize themselves with the autonomous vehicles, per Axios.
A spokesperson with Cruise says that the AVs will be re-routed away from one fire station in the city, and that they are not meant to block access to or from fire or police stations, per the report.
Whether or not the fixes work is yet to be seen, as this is likely just the infancy stage of autonomous vehicles in Central Texas.
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Austin, TX
Homeless man who terrorized south Austin neighborhood escapes custody
![Homeless man who terrorized south Austin neighborhood escapes custody](https://images.foxtv.com/c107833-mcdn.mp.lura.live/expiretime=2082787200/0b3265f66aba2d888afafd16c6fb087d69cc01ecfbb459e332d0251c39b01019/iupl/FA3/C85/1280/720/FA3C85E23782FEB463C0F186E8C7AA88.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Austin homeless man escapes custody
A homeless man known for terrorizing a South Austin neighborhood is back on the streets after escaping custody.
AUSTIN, Texas – A homeless man known for terrorizing a South Austin neighborhood is back on the streets.
Austin police said Rami Zawaideh escaped custody, and has a warrant out for his arrest.
Back in April, city officials confirmed Zawaideh was voluntarily committed to a hospital.
Homeless man Rami Zawaideh gets help
A homeless man who has terrorized a neighborhood in South Austin for years is finally getting help. Meredith Aldis has the details.
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Since 2022, residents have spotted him smashing city property with sledgehammers, toting around a chainsaw, cutting down trees, and screaming in the early morning hours.
Zawaideh has been arrested before and charged with criminal mischief. But, the district attorney dropped those charges.
FOX 7 Austin recently spoke to Zawaideh’s mother, who drove down from New York to Austin. She said she was in the process of filing an order of protective custody, and intended to take him home with her.
If anyone has any information on his whereabouts, call Austin police.
Austin, TX
Former Uvalde school police chief and officer indicted over Robb Elementary response, reports say
![Former Uvalde school police chief and officer indicted over Robb Elementary response, reports say](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/06/28/00/Uvalde_School_Shooting_Indictments_99410.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp)
The former Uvalde schools police chief and another former officer have been indicted over their role in the slow police response to the 2022 massacre in a Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, according to multiple reports Thursday.
The Uvalde Leader-News and the San Antonio Express-News reported former schools police Chief Pete Arredondo and former officer Adrian Gonzales were indicted by a grand jury on multiple counts of felony child endangerment and abandonment. The Uvalde Leader-News reported that District Attorney Christina Mitchell confirmed the indictment.
The Austin American-Statesman also reported two former officers had been indicted but did not identify them.
Mitchell did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press seeking comment. Several family members of victims of the shooting did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
The indictments would make Arredondo, who was the on-site commander during the attack, and Gonzales the first officers to face criminal charges in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. A scathing report by Texas lawmakers that examined the police response described Gonzales as one of the first officers to enter the building after the shooting began.
The indictments were kept under seal until the men were in custody, and both were expected to turn themselves in by Friday, the news outlets reported.
The indictments come more than two years after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire in a fourth grade classroom, where he remained for more than 70 minutes before officers confronted and killed him. In total, 376 law enforcement officers massed at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, some waiting in the hallway outside the classroom, even as the gunman could be heard firing an AR-15-style rifle inside.
The officer of a former attorney for Arredondo said they did not know whether the former chief has new representation. The AP could not immediately find a phone number to reach Gonzales.
Arredondo lost his job three months later. Several officers involved were eventually fired, and separate investigations by the Department of Justice and state lawmakers faulted law enforcement with botching their response to the massacre. A 600-page Justice Department report released in January that catalogued “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership and technology problems that day.
Austin, TX
Richard ‘Kinky’ Friedman dies at 79
![Richard ‘Kinky’ Friedman dies at 79](https://www.kxan.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2024/06/GettyImages-1385807181.jpg?w=1280)
Posted:
Updated:
AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Richard “Kinky” Friedman — the provocative and flamboyant Texas satirist who mounted a spirited campaign for governor in 2006 — has died. He was 79.
Friedman died at his longtime home at Echo Hill Ranch in Medina, his friends Cleve Hattersley said in an interview and Kent Perkins said on social media. He had Parkinson’s disease, Hattersley said.
Friedman ran for governor against Republican incumbent Rick Perry in 2006. Despite a colorful campaign and heavy media attention, Friedman finished fourth in the race. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for agriculture commissioner in 2010 and in 2014.
Friedman was known for his outsized persona, pithy one-liners and signature look: curly hair poking out from beneath a black cowboy hat, cigar in hand.
“He was a communicator. An unusual, but very pointed and poignant communicator,” Hattersley said. “He could bring you to tears on stage. He could make you roll on the floor in laughter.”
Friedman gained a reputation as a provocateur. In the early 1970s, he formed the satirical country band Kinky Friedman and The Texas Jewboys — which penned songs like “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed.” Later, he published novels that often featured a fictionalized version of himself, including “Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola” and “Armadillos and Old Lace.”
In politics, Friedman staked out unusual positions at the time for someone seeking statewide office in Texas, like legalization of marijuana and casino gambling. He supported same-sex marriage in 2006, long before the Supreme Court legalized it nationally, quipping, “I support gay marriage because I believe they have right to be just as miserable as the rest of us.”
Hattersley said Friedman’s irreverence gave voice to more ideas.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/27/kinky-friedman-dies-texas-governor-race-musician/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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