House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among the many Democrats denouncing President Donald Trump’s tweets suggesting that four liberal congresswomen should go back to the countries they “came from.” All four are Democratic women of color as well as American citizens, and only one was born outside the U.S. One of Trump’s targets, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, says Trump “can’t conceive of an America that includes” them.
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Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein are poised to face off at Monday’s bail fight. Prosecutors say evidence has been pouring in since the financier was arrested on charges of recruiting and abusing dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s. Epstein’s defense team argues he’s not a flight risk and should be allowed to await trial under house arrest in his $77 million mansion in Manhattan.
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An Austin police officer escapes injury after an alleged drunk driver plows into the back of her patrol car over the weekend. Rafael Luna Munoz is charged with drunk driving after the officer says she was in her car blocking traffic for a previous crash when he slammed into her. An affidavit says Munoz reeked of booze and told the officer he’d had 5-6 beers.
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‘Unconventional Austin,’ the political action committee opposed to expanding the Austin Convention Center, has officially filed a petition at City Hall to force a public vote on the issue. The PAC says 30-thousand signatures were collected. If verified, the city council will have until August to either approve an ordinance requiring no more than 34-percent of hotel taxes be used, or to allow the public to have a vote.
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Austin Mayor Steve Adler has returned from his visit with leaders from Seattle and Los Angeles where he discussed solutions to homelessness. Adler tells CBS Austin the answer really boils down to more money, and lots of it.
“Build more homes, build more spaces for people, give people choices and alternatives to be able to get off the street,” Adler says. “We need do do that; we need to make the tough choices associated with that.”
Adler also says he wants to see more funding from the people of Austin and the state to help build more shelters that focus on more permanent pathways out of homelessness.
