Austin, TX
UT Austin students protest layoffs over new DEI ban
Students at the University of Texas at Austin protested Thursday after the school laid off more than 60 staff members to comply with Texas’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) ban that went into effect earlier this year.
About 200 students at the university disrupted a virtual faculty council meeting conducted by the university’s president Monday to oppose the layoffs, NBC News reported.
The Texas State Employees Union posted on the social media platform X that a rally would be happening on UT Austin’s campus midday Thursday to rally “in solidarity with those who were abruptly fired from positions formerly associated with DEI.”
The decision, the group said, “leaves the staff unemployed as of July and deeply impacts a wide range of programs that serve our campus community.”
The university recently laid off 60 employees who worked in DEI-related fields, including 40 who were in the Division of Campus and Community Engagement.
The layoffs come as the school looks to comply with Senate Bill 17, a law that banned DEI initiatives at public universities in the state that went into effect earlier this year.
The school’s president, Jay Hartzell, said in an email that the institutions knew the changes were coming before the start of the year.
“We knew that more work would be required to utilize our talent and resources most effectively in support of our teaching and research missions, and ultimately, our students,” Hartzell wrote.
The students who disrupted the faculty meeting said they wanted to show Hartzell they want transparency and communication.
Other state public institutions have also faced intense scrutiny to prove compliance with the law. State Sen. Brandon Creighton told university leaders that institutions could lose funding if they don’t follow the law.
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AUSTIN, Texas (KVIA) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that Southwest Airlines will establish a new pilot and flight attendant crew base in Austin.
Abbott joined the Austin mayor at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to make the announcement today.
The expansion to Austin will lay the groundwork for future operational growth in Texas. It is expected to generate 2,000 jobs in Austin by mid-2027. In addition to the pilots and flight attendants, Austin will now also be home to managerial and support staff. The new crew base will have an average salary of $180,000 a year, the Governor’s Office says.
The state is extending a $14 million Texas Enterprise Fund to the airline, as well as a $375,000 Veteran Created Job Bonus.
“Southwest Airlines was born and raised in Texas and has been a core element of the economic growth we have seen in our state,” said Governor Abbott. “We are excited to announce that today Southwest Airlines will add over 2,000 high paying jobs right here in Texas. We are the home of economic opportunity for our fellow Texans more than any other state in the United States, and we know a key reason for that is because of everything Southwest Airlines provides. We are proud to partner with everybody connected with Southwest as well as the City of Austin on such a huge announcement for our state.”
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin firefighters battled their second major fire Thursday afternoon, responding to an abandoned East Austin auto shop engulfed in flames.
Crews responded to 3100 Manor Road around 4 p.m., AFD said.
No injuries were reported and no one was inside the building.
ALSO | 40+ residents displaced in North Austin third-alarm apartment fire, no injuries reported
The incident was called in as a first alarm. The building is a total loss, according to officials.
CBS Austin has a crew on the way to the scene.
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Earlier in the afternoon, firefighters extinguished a three-alarm fire in north Austin.
AUSTIN, Texas – The suspect in a violent road rage incident on the Capital of Texas Highway has been identified and charged, according to court paperwork.
The altercation was caught on camera.
What we know:
34-year-old Ian Kevin Brinkmeyer has been charged with criminal mischief, a Class B misdemeanor, in connection with the Dec. 5 incident.
At around 2 p.m. that day, officers responded to a call for service on Capital of Texas Highway, where they spoke with Brinkmeyer and another man.
The affidavit says Brinkmeyer “engaged in a road rage” with the other man while traveling north on Capital of Texas Highway. Brinkmeyer drove around the other man, changed lanes in front of him and cut him off before stopping his car.
Brinkmeyer then allegedly got out of his vehicle holding a “steel knife sharpening rod”, walked over to the other man’s car and struck the driver’s side door window with the rod, shattering the entire window.
The affidavit says Brinkmeyer then quickly walked back to his car and drove off.
The entire incident was caught on video by other drivers and posted on social media.
The affidavit says that the repairs to the shattered window cost about $480, making this a case of criminal mischief with a value between $100 and $750.
What’s next:
A warrant has been issued for Brinkmeyer’s arrest. As of 12 p.m. Dec. 11, he is not in custody.
The Source: Information in this report comes from court paperwork and previous reporting.
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