What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?

[MissingInAction 25,554]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:30 PM, MAUFRAIS said:

I swear the Capitol used to just be open after hours, and that we cut through there on foot after leaving 6th at 2, but that seems crazy. Was that real?

Yes it was. I took a few "naps" on the lawn back in the day.

[B00M 6,729]

53 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Holy shit, "Prison or Death?"  That is hardcore.

Yeah, glad this guy didn’t actually stab him and then end up hearing that line a dozen times in court. 

Curtis is lucky as fuck his gun didn’t work. Manager was ready to kill this dude REPEATEDLY. 

[Wally Pryor 5,407]

Give the city a 25% discount and still rake in $7 - $8MM.

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/austin-mayor-and-council/austin-tree-inventory-cost/269-0ee01468-8978-4c9b-add9-8e813383a8ff

 

[AUS-97HORN 12,050]

3 hours ago, crash_davis said:

FAFO

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/richard-curtis-tries-to-rob-marcos-pizza-austin-texas?taid=670ee2616db6280001e35349&utm_campaign=trueAnthem_manual&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Witnesses told investigators around 7 p.m. on Oct. 10, Curtis walked into Marco's Pizza near William Cannon and Westgate. He gave a note to an employee that said "don't say s*** empty the drawer." Curtis then showed the employee a gun in his waistband.

The employee grabbed Curtis and was able to get him in a chokehold while another employee called police. The manager was able to get a hold of the gun while Curtis was still fighting.

According to the affidavit, the manager tried to shoot Curtis, but the gun didn't fire, so he beat him with the handle before grabbing a knife from the kitchen. The manager then asked Curtis "prison or death." 

Curtis said prison, stopped fighting and waited for police.

One employee was taken to the hospital for a head wound.

Curtis is charged with aggravated robbery.

 

3 hours ago, utee94 said:

Holy shit, "Prison or Death?"  That is hardcore.

 

[PvilleStang 2,983]

1 hour ago, Wally Pryor said:

Give the city a 25% discount and still rake in $7 - $8MM.

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/austin-mayor-and-council/austin-tree-inventory-cost/269-0ee01468-8978-4c9b-add9-8e813383a8ff

 

 

HOLY CRAP!  What a waste of money!  Grifting at its finest.  The quote in the article from Ryan Alter shows just how stupid these clowns really are.

"It's really important because trees are a critical part of our infrastructure just like roads, pipes, and the energy grid..."

Edited October 16 by PvilleStang
adler, alter, both suck

[Deej 77,805]

All that money we're spending on the homeless, couldn't we just ask them to count the trees for us? We'd be able to tell which trees were counted by the amount of garbage and feces underneath them, so we could track their progress. 

[crash_davis 23,468]

I said a long time ago that all the money spent for the homeless should be funneled to helping working residents. Fuck spending money on any homeless asshole who shows up at the city limits. Homelessness is a national and state of Texas issue to fix. Help the people who live, work, and add value here. 

Travis County Prop A calls for just that.

Approving the ad valorem tax rate of $0.344445 per $100 valuation in County of Travis for the current year, a rate that is $0.025 higher per $100 valuation than the voter-approval tax rate of County of Travis, for the purpose of increasing access to affordable and high-quality child care and afterschool/summer programming and related services for low-income families and developing and administering related workforce and economic development programs. Last year, the ad valorem tax rate in County of Travis was $0.304655 per $100 valuation.

 

I'm kinda pissed that we have to increase taxes to support it. Just re-appropriate existing budgets to do this. I want this badly but I don't want to excuse city and county leaders for wasting money to make it happen.

[LCHorn 2,750]

4 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

I'm kinda pissed that we have to increase taxes to support it.

There was a Reddit thread on this yesterday and my straw poll was responses was something like 90% against.  I was a little surprised because the posters there seem to hate anyone with money, landlords, etc., and supporting day care for the underprivileged would seem to be consistent with an opposite view.  
 

Personally, I think I’d be more supportive if it was the city and not the county administering it.  I know we complain about CofA shenanigans but the county taxes make up a huge chunk of our property tax bill and they have far, far less scrutiny over it.  

[Orange&White 5,573]

4 hours ago, crash_davis said:

FAFO

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/richard-curtis-tries-to-rob-marcos-pizza-austin-texas?taid=670ee2616db6280001e35349&utm_campaign=trueAnthem_manual&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Witnesses told investigators around 7 p.m. on Oct. 10, Curtis walked into Marco's Pizza near William Cannon and Westgate. He gave a note to an employee that said "don't say s*** empty the drawer." Curtis then showed the employee a gun in his waistband.

The employee grabbed Curtis and was able to get him in a chokehold while another employee called police. The manager was able to get a hold of the gun while Curtis was still fighting.

According to the affidavit, the manager tried to shoot Curtis, but the gun didn't fire, so he beat him with the handle before grabbing a knife from the kitchen. The manager then asked Curtis "prison or death." 

Curtis said prison, stopped fighting and waited for police.

One employee was taken to the hospital for a head wound.

Curtis is charged with aggravated robbery.

The DA will have charges drawn up against those pizza workers be the end of the week.

[crash_davis 23,468]

16 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

There was a Reddit thread on this yesterday and my straw poll was responses was something like 90% against.  I was a little surprised because the posters there seem to hate anyone with money, landlords, etc., and supporting day care for the underprivileged would seem to be consistent with an opposite view.  
 

Personally, I think I’d be more supportive if it was the city and not the county administering it.  I know we complain about CofA shenanigans but the county taxes make up a huge chunk of our property tax bill and they have far, far less scrutiny over it.  

Maybe the Prop A writers need to add the words "bike lanes" and "mobility" to the Prop. It'd then pass with 120% of votes.

[crash_davis 23,468]

18 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

The DA will have charges drawn up against those pizza workers be the end of the week.

I would be funny but I'm half expecting the bullshit. 

The perp will be a crazy homeless dude and he'll quickly be released back to the streets.

[Samson's Wig 3,230]

On 10/10/2024 at 4:42 PM, Bozo_Casanova said:

Sure we can. We just don’t, but our traffic issue is not the result of not enough lanes. Our traffic issue is the product of

1) too few people who live close to where they work, but more importantly

2) our street grid is more fragile and broken than most cities our size. The cheapest thing and highest impact things we could do involve the elimination of choke points. Like there’s a bunch of tactical stuff traffic engineers can do that would yield dramatic improvements by simply smoothing out the traffic, but they are total non-starters politically. 

Thank you for bringing up the second item in particular.  I have no particularl knowledge whatsoever of traffic systems beyond experiencing them as a driver, but Austin's system has (for decades) felt like it is nonsensical, inefficient, and constantly leaving huge blank spots in traffic.   It's something that has always bugged me when driving here versus many other larger cities, and it's rare that you hear any discussion of it at all.   It seems like the most obvious, least expensive, and easiest-to-implement solution for the traffic woes here is to throw some money and experts at updating the system and ensuring traffic is flowing as optimally as possible on the roads we already have.  We instead waste money on projects that don't solve anything but make a handful of vocal groups happy.  

We seem hell-bent on making the same mistakes as in the past, only dressed up in modern notions.   Austin neglected ever to build a decent public transport system while expanding roadways haphazardly; consequences be damned.  Now we take every opportunity to reduce lanes in some quixotic quest to magically reduce traffic while still neglecting to build a public transportation system to fill in the gap; consequences be damned.  We've just swung from one idiot branch of the dumbass tree to another one.  

[LCHorn 2,750]

2 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

It seems like the most obvious, least expensive, and easiest-to-implement solution for the traffic woes here is to throw some money and experts at updating the system and ensuring traffic is flowing as optimally as possible on the roads we already have.

I suspect @Bozo_Casanova will respond that the money’s been spent, the plans are there, but the neighborhood groups are against and there isn’t any individual stakeholder group with sufficient support to act as a political counter-weight.  
 

More from me, but I think this is a downside of 10-1.  Maybe the new city manager can build some consensus, we’ll see.  

[Brisketexan 106,874]

Just now, LCHorn said:

More from me, but I think this is a downside of 10-1.

You think 10-1 is bad, it was even worse when it was all at-large and the neighborhood associations collectively had the control over ALL candidates.

[LCHorn 2,750]

Just now, Brisketexan said:

You think 10-1 is bad, it was even worse when it was all at-large and the neighborhood associations collectively had the control over ALL candidates.

True, but that was a different era and the elites from the SOS machine are old.  You know Matt Mackowiack-he’s pretty much proof that there’s plenty of money sloshing around to be spent on local issues.  You just need someone that can mobilize it and isn’t an asshole.  

[Brisketexan 106,874]

1 minute ago, LCHorn said:

You just need someone that can mobilize it and isn’t an asshole.  

You might as well have asked for your policy choice to be delivered by a leprechaun astride a unicorn.

[MissingInAction 25,554]

40 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

The DA will have charges drawn up against those pizza workers be the end of the week.

I wish this was not a probability.

[Brisketexan 106,874]

6 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

I wish this was not a probability.

Y'all are being ridiculous and hyperbolic.  Garza isn't going to charge the pizza workers with a crime.

 

Now, he WILL totally let the bad guy walk, scot-free, for....reasons.  None of which any of us have any shot at understanding.

[MissingInAction 25,554]

Hyper ball lick.

[Brisketexan 106,874]

6 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

Hyper ball lick.

Alex, I'll take "Reasons MIA wishes he was a dog" for $500.

[PvilleStang 2,983]

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/city-presents-proposal-for-combined-hq-for-austin-first-responders

Quote

AUSTIN, Texas — New details were revealed Monday for a new facility the city of Austin is looking at as a new combined headquarters for Austin Police, Fire, and Austin-Travis County EMS.

Next week the city of Austin will be asking the city council to approve the $120.5 million purchase of a 390,000 square-foot facility just three miles from city hall. The city says the property checks all the boxes at an incredibly affordable rate, but opponents say the deal feels rushed and other options need to be considered.

Mayor Kirk Watson says he was impressed by a presentation to the Public Safety Committee Monday, giving new details about the proposed purchase of a new home for Austin's first responders.

"We need to do something for our public safety facilities, which have been allowed to get into great disrepair," Watson said. "It's important for us to be looking for ways to better serve the public and better serve those who are serving the public."

The property is located in the Barton Skyway off the South MoPac Expressway and includes two four-story buildings and two parking garages.

Deputy Chief Financial Officer Kim Olivares says the 390,000 square-foot facility is being offered at $107.6 million, or $275/sq. ft.

"Each building is two wings, so while it looks like four separate buildings, it's actually two buildings with two wings each," Olivares said.

Another location off Rutherford Lane was being considered but would cost $250-300 million, about the same cost as tearing down an existing city property and rebuilding. She says this location is downtown, just miles from city hall, with transit access and the square footage the city estimates it needs to account for future growth.

"Finding a facility of this size, this scale, and various components of it is challenging," Olivares said.

Executive Director of the Save Our Springs Alliance Bill Bunch is opposed to the plan. He says it violates forty years of the city not putting employment centers over the Barton Springs watershed.

"You spur more growth people who need to work there, moving out onto the watershed, to places where their own pollution contributes to harming our springs." Bunch said.

He also wants to know why only two locations were considered.

"There are literally millions of square feet of office space, you know, vacant and ready to be leased," Bunch said. "This deal is indefensible in so many ways. It's being rushed."

The city says that's because there aren't too many locations suitable for the city's needs.

"Especially when we need to find something close to downtown, there just aren't many options like this," Olivares said.

Austin Mayoral Candidate Doug Greco has transparency concerns.

He points to a recent $10,000 donation to one of Kirk Watson's Political Action Committees from Brandywine, the same realtor facilitating the property's sale.

"And it was disclosed on Monday, and on Friday of the same week, this deal was announced," Greco said.

"I have nothing to do with those, I don't solicit money for those, I don't even know what's going on with those PACs," Watson said. "He's throwing out broad allegations and trying to get attention for himself in an election. He can do that all day long, but I didn't even know about any contribution to that PAC, and couldn't tell you anybody else that's contributed to that PAC." [[2:41]]

The city is asking for a total of $120.5 million to account for design and renovation costs.

If the city council approves the purchase next Thursday, there will be six months of design planning, but it's too soon to promise when first responders will be moved in.

I was waiting to see who was going to benefit.  Seems like a PAC that's funding Watson has a huge interest in this deal.

[Deej 77,805]

3 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

"Especially when we need to find something close to downtown..."

Later: "Look, we'd love to focus more on the homeless problem and crime downtown, but our headquarters really aren't close enough to deal with all that."

[Wally Pryor 5,407]

2 hours ago, PvilleStang said:

 

HOLY CRAP!  What a waste of money!  Grifting at its finest.  The quote in the article from Ryan Alter shows just how stupid these clowns really are.

"It's really important because trees are a critical part of our infrastructure just like roads, pipes, and the energy grid..."

Quit your whining. I understand that the city was able to do the estimate of $10MM without engaging a consultant to generate the cost.

So, there, $50K - $100K that we saved. 

[B00M 6,729]

1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

Hyper ball lick.

[MissingInAction 25,554]

44 minutes ago, B00M said:

More like $1000.

[High Plains Drifter 11,186]

8 hours ago, crash_davis said:

FAFO

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/richard-curtis-tries-to-rob-marcos-pizza-austin-texas?taid=670ee2616db6280001e35349&utm_campaign=trueAnthem_manual&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Witnesses told investigators around 7 p.m. on Oct. 10, Curtis walked into Marco's Pizza near William Cannon and Westgate. He gave a note to an employee that said "don't say s*** empty the drawer." Curtis then showed the employee a gun in his waistband.

The employee grabbed Curtis and was able to get him in a chokehold while another employee called police. The manager was able to get a hold of the gun while Curtis was still fighting.

According to the affidavit, the manager tried to shoot Curtis, but the gun didn't fire, so he beat him with the handle before grabbing a knife from the kitchen. The manager then asked Curtis "prison or death." 

Curtis said prison, stopped fighting and waited for police.

One employee was taken to the hospital for a head wound.

Curtis is charged with aggravated robbery.

 

Should have ripped out his nose piercing after he was done pistol whipping him. 

 

[Mittens 8,705]

Turnabout is fair play, eh?

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3nemzYom8FHfmgFj/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Let me know if you can’t see that vid for whatever reason and I’ll figure out another way to share. 

[Deej 77,805]

1 hour ago, Mittens said:

Turnabout is fair play, eh?

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3nemzYom8FHfmgFj/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Let me know if you can’t see that vid for whatever reason and I’ll figure out another way to share. 

I'm good with it considering all the cyclists I see not using the bike lanes we pay for. 

[CTC2 2,865]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:30 PM, MAUFRAIS said:

I swear the Capitol used to just be open after hours, and that we cut through there on foot after leaving 6th at 2, but that seems crazy. Was that real?

In the 80’s for some reason we decided that taking the road that ran to and directly around the capital was some sort of defensive measure against APD driving back from 6th to West Campus. One guy was certain that APD had no jurisdiction on capital grounds. 
That all worked great until my buddy got a DWI from Capital Police. 

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20,907]

11 hours ago, Deej said:

All that money we're spending on the homeless, couldn't we just ask them to count the trees for us? We'd be able to tell which trees were counted by the amount of garbage and feces underneath them, so we could track their progress. 

Why not pay the homeless to plant trees? 

[jimmyjazz 47,127]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:30 PM, MAUFRAIS said:

I swear the Capitol used to just be open after hours, and that we cut through there on foot after leaving 6th at 2, but that seems crazy. Was that real?

It was absolutely real.  My then girlfriend and I went in there late one night and found more than one office unlocked.  Oops.

[PvilleStang 2,983]

12 hours ago, Mittens said:

Turnabout is fair play, eh?

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3nemzYom8FHfmgFj/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Let me know if you can’t see that vid for whatever reason and I’ll figure out another way to share. 

Cyclists use vehicular roads like asshats, so turntables, bitch!

[Armybrat 41,388]

11 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

It was absolutely real.  My then girlfriend and I went in there late one night and found more than one office unlocked.  Oops.

What’s whatshisname bent over his desk?

[chainsaw 10,281]

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2024-10-18/investigation-into-apd-commander-allegedly-sexually-assaulting-civilian-employee-is-locked-away-in-c/

Quote

Investigation Into APD Commander Allegedly Sexually Assaulting Civilian Employee Is Locked Away in Confidential File

G file allows for the secrecy because commander resigned

By Austin Sanders, Fri., Oct. 18, 2024

 

[Deej 77,805]

[InkaUtexas 26,860]

On 10/16/2024 at 11:33 PM, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Why not pay the homeless to plant trees? 

Cuz then they hang up hammocks.

[PvilleStang 2,983]

Austin Sanders trying to stir the pot again I see...

 

Quote

Editor’s note: For this story, we decided not to publish the names of the alleged perpetrator and survivor in a reported case of sexual assault. In making this decision, we considered the sensitive nature of the allegations and the fact that little information about the investigation is public.

Nearly one year ago, an Austin Police Department commander was accused of sexually assaulting a civilian employee. An internal investigation followed. Later, a criminal investigation was opened. Then, one day before he was set to be fired, the commander resigned. As a result, all records stemming from the investigation have been locked up in a confidential file.

Nothing like conjecture and hearsay to base your journalistic integrity on...

That said, I'd hope there was a criminal record of this case which would be in the open.

[atomheartbevo 90,636]

 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/2-austin-massage-parlors-suspected-of-human-trafficking-shut-down/

Quote

Two Austin-area massage parlors were shut down Tuesday after the establishments were suspected of human trafficking, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

TDLR said it issued six-month emergency closure orders for Rejuve Wellness LLC, located at 1704 San Antonio St., and Bibo Spa LLC, located at 2301 W. Parmer Lane, Ste. D. KXAN searched both businesses online and found their websites were no longer active as of the time of publication

Quote

According to officials, at Rejuve Wellness, investigators found unlicensed massage therapists and sexual services being provided, as well as proof the location was featured in online advertisements with detailed sexual content.

TDLR said investigators found evidence Bibo Spa was also featured in online advertisements with sexual content. Online reviews also discussed sexual services the reviewers had received, according to state officials.

 

[ztejas 44,223]

On 10/16/2024 at 11:57 AM, crash_davis said:

I said a long time ago that all the money spent for the homeless should be funneled to helping working residents. Fuck spending money on any homeless asshole who shows up at the city limits. Homelessness is a national and state of Texas issue to fix. Help the people who live, work, and add value here. 

Travis County Prop A calls for just that.

Approving the ad valorem tax rate of $0.344445 per $100 valuation in County of Travis for the current year, a rate that is $0.025 higher per $100 valuation than the voter-approval tax rate of County of Travis, for the purpose of increasing access to affordable and high-quality child care and afterschool/summer programming and related services for low-income families and developing and administering related workforce and economic development programs. Last year, the ad valorem tax rate in County of Travis was $0.304655 per $100 valuation.

 

I'm kinda pissed that we have to increase taxes to support it. Just re-appropriate existing budgets to do this. I want this badly but I don't want to excuse city and county leaders for wasting money to make it happen.

Until they display a higher degree of competency I will continue to vote against anything giving the CoA more money. It's like a dad continuing to give his daughter with a huge coke problem money when she asks for it. 

[ztejas 44,223]

Also - who are we voting for for Mayor? 

Like I think it makes a shit at this point. 

[ChickenSandwich 9,952]

Nonsense. We can absolutely get worse. 

[utee94 16,079]

26 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Also - who are we voting for for Mayor? 

[ztejas 44,223]

26 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Nonsense. We can absolutely get worse. 

That's the spirit.

I mean my default vote was just going to be Watson.

Edited October 19 by ztejas

[bschoolprof 6,341]

This city needs Randy Watson. 

[atomheartbevo 90,636]

2 hours ago, bschoolprof said:

This city needs Randy Watson. 

Or James Dewey Watson or Emma Watson.

[ztejas 44,223]

[sasquatch69 626]

Hadn't seen this posted.  Residents in those apartments are lucky it stopped where it did. 

https://www.kut.org/transportation/2024-10-22/austin-tx-train-derailment-traffic-disruptions

 

[Mittens 8,705]

I'd say so:

 

[texasdago 7,767]

Have been reflecting on my comments lately re: Houston drivers from Austin drivers

So, yes, Houston drivers are trying to kill you.  They will cut you off at 80 mph, make sure you never ever enter in their lane, drive like absolute maniacs anywhere, everywhere and across all 250 lanes of I-10.

The more I pay attention, the more I realize Austin drivers will sometimes decide its OK to drive 55 on Mopac... or to stop in the middle of the road and wait to cut across two lanes of traffic to turn somewhere... or drive along Walsh Tarlton, stop in the road and F'ing hit reverse to back into a street.  People act lost or stoned (likely) or both and subsequently will throw you the weirdest driving move possible.  Baffling.

[utee94 16,079]

2 minutes ago, texasdago said:

The more I pay attention, the more I realize Austin drivers will sometimes decide its OK to drive 55 on Mopac... or to stop in the middle of the road and wait to cut across two lanes of traffic to turn somewhere... or drive along Walsh Tarlton, stop in the road and F'ing hit reverse to back into a street.  People act lost or stoned (likely) or both and subsequently will throw you the weirdest driving move possible.  Baffling.

Keep Austin Weird, yo.