What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?

[hayden_horn 11360]

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

You’ll probably outlast me the way things are going. What a shitty week.   Hostile takeovers suck.  

hang in there. don't let internal angst lead to external hostility. brat is good people. you're good people. 

shit is fucked in austin because we grew up too fast while wanting to stay in a promised neverland. sorry, 1980s austin, shit changes, and you were too cool to ignore. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11810]

5 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

hang in there. don't let internal angst lead to external hostility. brat is good people. you're good people. 

shit is fucked in austin because we grew up too fast while wanting to stay in a promised neverland. sorry, 1980s austin, shit changes, and you were too cool to ignore. 

Thanks, I’m gonna take a couple of days break from the internet and try to chill.  Focus on wood working or something.  

[Armybrat 40744]

I am sorry you are going through a tough time. 
There is some of that going on in my immediate family.

[tbone_ 14026]

Always amazing to me how seriously some folks take typing on a keyboard. Serious business in the chat room I guess. But maybe I am missing all the problems that have been solved by posting on the internet.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11810]

55 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

I am sorry you are going through a tough time. 
There is some of that going on in my immediate family.

Thanks Brat, hope your family stuff works out ok.  Thankfully my family is all healthy and n good shape, it’s just work and this damned pandemic that’s making me lose my marbles.

[mchookem 16230]

On 7/31/2021 at 12:17 PM, Armybrat said:

Has the city cleared the bum camps from downtown then, and plucked the bodies out of the trees & off the streets?

seriously though, it is still bad at S. 1st & Ben White and 183 north all the way to SH 45.as of last weekend.

i drive by/thru Burnet/183 almost daily...the western/northern side of that overpass has been cleaned out for several weeks now. 

[Bevo 13527]

1 hour ago, mchookem said:

i drive by/thru Burnet/183 almost daily...the western/northern side of that overpass has been cleaned out for several weeks now. 

There are fewer people there but it is still a mess. Ohlen and Lamar seem the same. All the ones between 183 and Mopac out to 183 and Lakeline are the same. Why do you think some of the people moved away from Burnet/183?

[JimmyJames 12271]

1 hour ago, mchookem said:

i drive by/thru Burnet/183 almost daily...the western/northern side of that overpass has been cleaned out for several weeks now. 

Yep. Downtown is looking much better too after the voters overturned the stupid decision by Adler and crew to unilaterally get rid of the camping ban. Still some tents here and there but nothing like before. 
 

And don’t blame the Austin voters for that. Nobody campaigned on that and it was only done shortly after the election with virtually no public input. Voters reversed it as quickly as they could at almost a 60 percent clip. 
 

It pissed me off that an area of town that multiple people like lady bird Johnson, Roberta Crenshaw and Ann Richards and countless others, mostly women, had worked for decades fighting developers and sometimes their own husbands to make great, only to have Adler and his idiots attempt to turn it into a big campground and garbage dump. Luckily they have failed. 

[mchookem 16230]

54 minutes ago, Bevo said:

There are fewer people there but it is still a mess. Ohlen and Lamar seem the same. All the ones between 183 and Mopac out to 183 and Lakeline are the same. Why do you think some of the people moved away from Burnet/183?

not sure...that underpass area is huge and i never turn right (183 South) from there, so that direction might still be a mess. but to the left (towards 183 North/Mopac) was completely empty as recent as Friday, no trash or anything. honestly that whole section was always slightly 'neater' than the other camps. the city or whoever had put out port-o-potties, trash cans and portable hand washing stations quite a while back...maybe the homeless folks there have always just been more advanced lol. 

 

[Wally Pryor 5244]

More fun to come.  We'll get the 2 murders this weekend to match the all-time record #.  With 5 months left in the year.

Doubt that triple digits are in reach for '21 but there's a lot of assholery around and not much enforcement now to keep them in check.  (Don't bother dialing 911 anymore. Just deal with it.)

It may be the right storm.  I'll play the under at 100 but won't hold my breath.

[quote]Fifty people have been killed in Austin so far this year, the largest number of homicides the city has seen in three decades.

Two homicides were reported on Friday, adding to the already historically high number of such deaths seen so far this year. Both of the latest killings were shootings.[/quote]

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/08/06/police-austin-record-50-homicides-year-most-three-decades/5513339001/?utm_source=statesman-Evening Read&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero&utm_content=TEXAS-AUSTIN-NLETTER14

 

[Wally Pryor 5244]

Just now, Wally Pryor said:

More fun to come.  We'll get the 2 murders this weekend to match the all-time record #.  With 5 months left in the year.

Doubt that triple digits are in reach for '21 but there's a lot of assholery around and not much enforcement now to keep them in check.  (Don't bother dialing 911 anymore. Just deal with it.)

It may be the right storm.  I'll play the under at 100 but won't hold my breath.

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/08/06/police-austin-record-50-homicides-year-most-three-decades/5513339001/?utm_source=statesman-Evening Read&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero&utm_content=TEXAS-AUSTIN-NLETTER14

 

 

[JimmyJames 12271]

Something happened recently because in the last couple of days at least in downtown south of 6th street almost all of the usual homeless milling about are basically missing. It was kind of eerie actually in a “where the fuck did they all go” kind of way.

[Hpara759 1777]

4 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

Something happened recently because in the last couple of days at least in downtown south of 6th street almost all of the usual homeless milling about are basically missing. It was kind of eerie actually in a “where the fuck did they all go” kind of way.

They all moved to 15th and I-35

[Deej 76570]

They moved people of color out of Austin faster than they are moving the homeless. 

[Somnio 751]

20 hours ago, Wally Pryor said:

More fun to come.  We'll get the 2 murders this weekend to match the all-time record #.  With 5 months left in the year.

Doubt that triple digits are in reach for '21 but there's a lot of assholery around and not much enforcement now to keep them in check.  (Don't bother dialing 911 anymore. Just deal with it.)

It may be the right storm.  I'll play the under at 100 but won't hold my breath.

[quote]Fifty people have been killed in Austin so far this year, the largest number of homicides the city has seen in three decades.

Two homicides were reported on Friday, adding to the already historically high number of such deaths seen so far this year. Both of the latest killings were shootings.[/quote]

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/08/06/police-austin-record-50-homicides-year-most-three-decades/5513339001/?utm_source=statesman-Evening Read&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=baseline&utm_term=hero&utm_content=TEXAS-AUSTIN-NLETTER14

 

Thank goodness the council defunded the police, and the District and County attorneys aren't prosecuting criminals APD arrests.  I for one feel much safer and more progressive due to their noble actions.

[RDCanecutter 26287]

On 7/31/2021 at 11:54 AM, NAVY said:

BTW - The Footbridge to MOPAC loop has some of the most beautiful, fit women you will ever see in Austin. 

You were still wrong to jump out of the bushes and yell at them.

[mulletpelini 5209]

See in Wichita, when someone asks us whats so special about it, we say "nothing, get the fuck out"

[Cajun 11675]

On 8/1/2021 at 2:08 PM, JimmyJames said:

Yep. Downtown is looking much better too after the voters overturned the stupid decision by Adler and crew to unilaterally get rid of the camping ban. Still some tents here and there but nothing like before. 
 

And don’t blame the Austin voters for that. Nobody campaigned on that and it was only done shortly after the election with virtually no public input. Voters reversed it as quickly as they could at almost a 60 percent clip. 
 

It pissed me off that an area of town that multiple people like lady bird Johnson, Roberta Crenshaw and Ann Richards and countless others, mostly women, had worked for decades fighting developers and sometimes their own husbands to make great, only to have Adler and his idiots attempt to turn it into a big campground and garbage dump. Luckily they have failed. 

LMAO

You voted for scorpions and the scorpions stung.  Just in a place they didn't tell the voters about first.

JFC

[JimmyJames 12271]

2 minutes ago, Cajun said:

LMAO

You voted for scorpions and the scorpions stung.  Just in a place they didn't tell the voters about first.

JFC

LMAO? You sure are easily amused.

[Cajun 11675]

Oh no Jimmy, the point to which I laugh now at the idiocy of ATX voter apologists like yourself was a long time in the making.  We are past the "stall" and it's probing butter soft no matter where you stick it now.

Pretending that putting the mental midgets in control of the City of Austin wasn't the fault of the dumbest voting block in this state is cute and, yes, quite hilarious.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Cajun

[Pam Cummings 9584]

I like how we pretend that homelessness is some problem unique to Austin, as if i don't see hordes of homeless people running around in the same fashion when i go to SA on the weekends.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Pam Cummings

[crash_davis 23084]

Even the homeless don't want to live in Houston or Dallas.

[Willfully Horn 7919]

I suppose this belongs here, as the COA now has an officer, active, afaik, who is charged with two murders, in two separate incidents.

 

Maybe put him behind a desk while his cases wind their way through the system? 

[Satoshi 129]

On 8/7/2021 at 4:00 PM, Somnio said:

Thank goodness the council defunded the police, and the District and County attorneys aren't prosecuting criminals APD arrests.  I for one feel much safer and more progressive due to their noble actions.

 

[Somnio 751]

50 minutes ago, Satoshi said:

 

Oh, this is going to work out really well.

Here's a story I just read about it...

The Austin Police Department will no longer respond to the scene of nonemergency crimes, interim police Chief Joseph Chacon announced Sept. 29.

Chacon said several types of crimes, including verbal disturbances, theft and prostitution, that are no longer an active threat people or property should be considered nonemergency and reported to 311 or online instead of to 911.

Chacon said the change may mean longer hold times when calling 311 because those operators are dealing with staffing issues as well.

Chacon defined a nonemergency as incidents that are no longer in progress, in which the suspect is no longer on scene, and in which there is no further threat to life or property

https://communityimpact.com/austin/central-austin/2021/09/30/austin-police-department-to-no-longer-respond-to-scene-of-some-nonemergency-calls/

Edited October 1, 2021 by Somnio

[drt 637]

I don’t have a problem with cops not going to take a report about somebody’s bike being stolen off their front porch in the middle of the night. It’s not like anything ever came of that kind of thing anyway.  Wouldn’t cops be happier not getting bogged down with bullshit?

[Somnio 751]

Police did not dispatch to the scene for reports of bike theft that happened the night before ever.  As someone who has had their vehicle burglarized in this city several times, I can attest they did not come out to the scene for that either.

This is going to be a shitshow because anyone who chooses can commit a a whole slew of crimes in broad daylight without any fear of being arrested.

There are stories of businesses shutting down in other cities which have similar policies due to people literally walking out of the store without paying.

It will become rampant when people figure out they don't have to worry about the police showing up.  They can just walk a couple of blocks away, and they're in the clear.

[Neonmoon 38127]

Why can’t these businesses just hire private security?

 

[DanRydell 799]

On 10/1/2021 at 9:23 AM, Somnio said:

Police did not dispatch to the scene for reports of bike theft that happened the night before ever.  As someone who has had their vehicle burglarized in this city several times, I can attest they did not come out to the scene for that either.

This is going to be a shitshow because anyone who chooses can commit a a whole slew of crimes in broad daylight without any fear of being arrested.

There are stories of businesses shutting down in other cities which have similar policies due to people literally walking out of the store without paying.

It will become rampant when people figure out they don't have to worry about the police showing up.  They can just walk a couple of blocks away, and they're in the clear.

So this is the same thing they've always been doing but is simultaneously a new shitshow?

[Hook1997 5290]

5 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Why can’t these businesses just hire private security?

 

 

[Neonmoon 38127]

1 hour ago, Hook1997 said:

 

[Somnio 751]

2 hours ago, DanRydell said:

So this is the same thing they've always been doing but is simultaneously a new shitshow?

I can tell you're not very bright, and/or a shitstain.

Therefore I'm not going to discuss the matter with you.

[Bevo 13527]

All the 183 underpasses between Mopac and the 183 Toll look like shit. I guess the cleanup was partial.

[3adays 454]

3 hours ago, Bevo said:

All the 183 underpasses between Mopac and the 183 Toll look like shit. I guess the cleanup was partial.

Ben White still has some shitty looking camps too

[Deej 76570]

8 hours ago, 3adays said:

Ben White still has some shitty looking camps too

Were there ever non-shitty looking camps?

[Samson's Wig 3182]

So what's the over/under on days before a criminal takes a shotgun to the chest walking into someone's house?  I know it's barely the case, but this is still Texas.  People are getting antsy, especially the people already genetically predisposed to worry about threats to their home and family, and these are the same people who tend to own guns. Maybe this has already happened and I missed the story.  If/when it does happen I hope it's at least a criminal with ill intent and not some stupid teenager being stupid.  A handful of Anderson cheerleaders were running around vandalizing NW Hills last week.  They deserve some serious punishment, but I wouldn't want to see them shot.

Crime will continue to get worse in Austin.  We're still growing unsustainably, the economy is still slamming the bottom third into the dirt, and no matter what you think should be done with the police department (defund/retrain/beef-up/whatever) we should all be able to agree that it is currently a dysfunctional mess.  Hope they can sort it out sooner than later, although any solution will take years at a minimum.  

[Neonmoon 38127]

2 minutes ago, Samson's Wig said:

 A handful of Anderson cheerleaders were running around vandalizing NW Hills last week.  They deserve some serious punishment, but I wouldn't want to see them shot. 

What did they do?

[Samson's Wig 3182]

1 minute ago, Neonmoon said:

What did they do?

Mostly typical teenage stupidity (not to excuse it).  Stealing/damaging halloween decorations, smashing pumpkins, etc.  The kind of thing that should probably get them kicked out of their extra curricular activities, grounded, and forced to do some yard work for those they harmed.  But they apparently also rummaged through some vehicles and stole some things.  So that's another matter.  

[royiv 9168]

3 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

Mostly typical teenage stupidity (not to excuse it).  Stealing/damaging halloween decorations, smashing pumpkins, etc.  The kind of thing that should probably get them kicked out of their extra curricular activities, grounded, and forced to do some yard work for those they harmed.  But they apparently also rummaged through some vehicles and stole some things.  So that's another matter.  

[ChickenSandwich 9798]

Wrong Austin but What the Fuck??  

Not the onion

 

Prosecutors reject charges against 5 suspects in deadly gang-related gunfight in Austin: ‘It’s just like the Wild West’

The suspects are members of two warring factions of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang who allegedly shot it out Friday morning in the 1200 block of North Mason Avenue, where more than 70 shell casings were found.

 “Mutual combatants was cited as the reason for the rejection.” 

Prosecutors reject charges against 5 in deadly Four Corner Hustlers factions gunfight in Austin: ‘just like the Wild West’ - Chicago Sun-Times (suntimes.com)

 

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[ChickenSandwich 9798]

Correct Austin

WTF

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just a little more than a week into the Austin Police Department’s new way of having people report crimes not in progress, one business owner repeatedly hit by crime fears nothing will change in the way police respond to cases like hers.

At the start of October, APD switched to handling crimes in which there’s no immediate threat through 311 and online reports. Austinites are still advised to call 911 for immediate or ongoing threatening situations.

Amy Morales used the new system to call 311, then file an online report when she found thousands of dollars worth of materials had been stolen from her construction site on South Lamar Boulevard over the weekend. She believes the thief even used her site’s forklift to run over work her team had already finished to haul out thousands of dollars worth of rebar. For this hit alone, she estimated about a $28,000 loss in materials and labor.

Morales says this is the fifth time the site has been hit in the past couple of years.

https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/austin-business-owner-repeatedly-burglarized-heres-why-shes-not-reporting-it-anymore/

[Doc Reeves 6434]

911 operator: “911 what’s your emergency?”

woman: “A man is following me, I think I’m going to be attacked. I need the police!”

911 operator: “Please call 311 and call us back after he’s started stabbing you…”

[TKthunder2 4981]

Sister in law called last week after someone took some stuff from her garage.  She was pretty sure knew who it was (neighbor’s drug using son) but the operator asked if she had “clear photo/video evidence” because they couldn’t come out for anything less.  Policing successfully reimagined.

[bolverk 29410]

Seems to me the investigation question (or lack thereof) should be kept separate from the 311 vs 911 thing. Having spent a year as a 911 operator during my "lost" year in the 1990s, that line should definitely be reserved for on-going, active emergencies and not tied up with reporting other situations.

Shit can get real really fast in real emergencies when people are keeping it real...for real. 

[Neonmoon 38127]

1 hour ago, TKthunder2 said:

Sister in law called last week after someone took some stuff from her garage.  She was pretty sure knew who it was (neighbor’s drug using son) but the operator asked if she had “clear photo/video evidence” because they couldn’t come out for anything less.  Policing successfully reimagined.

To be fair, unless there is photo/video evidence, the cops ain’t going to solve shit. 
 

 

 

[Brothahorn 10085]

Seems to me the investigation question (or lack thereof) should be kept separate from the 311 vs 911 thing. Having spent a year as a 911 operator during my "lost" year in the 1990s, that line should definitely be reserved for on-going, active emergencies and not tied up with reporting other situations.
Shit can get real really fast in real emergencies when people are keeping it real...for real. 

What is the stupidest 911 call you ever got? Like a dude stuck in traffic and having to pee. Or McDonalds ran out of nuggets.

[bolverk 29410]

20 minutes ago, Brothahorn said:

3 hours ago, bolverk said:

Seems to me the investigation question (or lack thereof) should be kept separate from the 311 vs 911 thing. Having spent a year as a 911 operator during my "lost" year in the 1990s, that line should definitely be reserved for on-going, active emergencies and not tied up with reporting other situations.
Shit can get real really fast in real emergencies when people are keeping it real...for real. 

What is the stupidest 911 call you ever got? Like a dude stuck in traffic and having to pee.

For context, I was a dispatcher for the campus cops at Tech for a year between undergrad and grad school when trying to figure out what I was going to do. I think it was 1995.

There were a few dumb ones, but fewer than you might expect: stuff like cars getting towed for parking in a professor's spot or students being locked out of their dorm rooms.

Had a couple of stalker calls and others like roommates freaking out and needing psyche care. LOTS of car wrecks on and just off campus.

The worst one was a guy having a heart attack while watching a softball game on campus. He didn't make it.

The funniest (and creepiest) was a girl calling from her first floor dorm that a peeping Tom was looking in her window. She gave me a description of a guy wearing a pink bustier who had run off in some direction when he was spotted. I called it out to the cops (you can imagine what a Tech cop was like, especially back then) and gave the description. One of the good ole boy cops yelled out on the open channel "a pink boostie WUT?!?" I totally cracked up and could only think to say "You know...like what Madonna wears!" After an exhilarating foot chase across campus and through some bushes, the dude got away. Man, I wish I had a recording of that exchange and chase.

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by bolverk

[Deej 76570]

1 hour ago, bolverk said:

The funniest (and creepiest) was a girl calling from her first floor dorm that a peeping Tom was looking in her window. She gave me a description of a guy wearing a pink bustier who had run off in some direction when he was spotted. I called it out to the cops (you can imagine what a Tech cop was like, especially back then) and gave the description. One of the good ole boy cops yelled out on the open channel "a pink boostie WUT?!?" I totally cracked up and could only think to say "You know...like what Madonna wears!" After an exhilarating foot chase across campus and through some bushes, the dude got away. Man, I wish I had a recording of that exchange and chase

Man, that was a crazy night. 

[bolverk 29410]

9 minutes ago, Deej said:

Man, that was a crazy night. 

Picture it as a Reno 911 episode, only with redneck cops on a college campus if that makes it better. Here are four cast members I remember in particular:

1. An older guy that actually reminds me some of your avatar - short, fat with a mustache, a sour disposition, and an I'm-getting-too-old-for-this-shit attitude (the boostie wut? guy).
2. A young, scrawny little weasel-faced guy that had a Napoleon complex, a chip on his shoulder, and seemed dirty - pretty sure he'd been relentlessly bullied in HS.
3. A mid-career guy but was always super suspicious and wanted to turn everything into an investigation like he was in the FBI and made me the most uncomfortable. I always had a feeling he suspected I was a cleaned up, pot loving, dirty hippie in hiding (I was).
4. A really stand-up guy with a crew cut who should've enlisted, because I think he would've made a decent, honorable soldier.

Anyway, y'all carry on talking about how fucked up Austin is - just adding some color to a question asked.

[JimmyJames 12271]

26 minutes ago, Deej said:

Man, that was a crazy night. 

So how did you manage to get away?