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| What Austin's Talking About |
| 🚲 CapMetro Just Changed Its Fare Structure | CapMetro has announced changes to its fare structure, including expanding its student discount to all students over 18, not just those studying at the University of Texas at Austin. The changes go into effect on Aug. 1. [CapMetro] | | | 🛍️ Why Austin’s Relationship With the Domain Is Complicated | The Domain, the outdoor shopping mall on the northern edge of the city, evokes strong emotions. People seem to really love it or really hate it. But why? Is it the rooftop mural? The strangely financially segregated shops? It’s all of it. [City Cast Austin 🎧] | | ⬇️ Tesla Profit Drops | Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to spend less time in D.C. (and, presumably, more time in Austin) after the company reported a 71% drop in profits and a 9% drop in revenue during the first quarter of the year. [ Associated Press] | | 🌳 Lawmakers Have a Plan for Allergies | Texas lawmakers are currently trying to pass two bills that would remove bans on cutting down Ashe Juniper trees, which are to blame for afflictions like cedar fever. [KXAN] |
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| | | Austin is our home. It’s where we’re raising families, building communities, championing causes, and shaping a brighter future for our city. Austin Community Foundation invites you to Austin in Common on April 29—an evening to connect, celebrate, and envision the vibrant, equitable Austin we all want. Tickets available at austinincommon.org. |
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| Amid Texas Measles Outbreak, APH Can’t Vaccinate As Many After Federal Cuts |
| | Austin Public Health says new federal grant cuts will limit the number of people it can vaccinate through its clinics amid Texas’ ongoing measles outbreak. | | The department’s Immunization Unit lost funding late last month after the U.S. Health and Human Services Department ended COVID-19 grants. A total of 27 Austin Public Health positions were removed as a result of the federal cuts, making it harder for the department to staff its clinics and administer vaccines. | | “Our money is going away that we have used … to vaccinate people through some of our teams (and) our mobile teams, and so that capacity is going to decrease,” said Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes in an interview with Hey Austin. | | Austin Public Health has been using its clinics to administer vaccines including those for MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), to help prevent a measles outbreak in Travis County. As of Tuesday, a total of 624 measles cases and two child fatalities have been confirmed in West Texas. | | In Travis County, only one case of measles has been confirmed, in an unvaccinated child who had been traveling, Walkes said. The department was preparing for measles as early as last year, and ramped up efforts after the Travis County case was confirmed in late February, holding regular meetings and increasing outreach. | | | | The only way to track vaccination rates is through school records. KUT recently reported that in the 2023-24 school year, data showed only 83.67% of kindergarteners in Austin ISD were vaccinated for MMR. When considering schools city-wide and older children, Walkes believes the Austin area has a 90% vaccination rate. She wants that number to get to at least 95%. | | “(Measles is) not a little thing, and it's something we have the technology and the tools to protect children from. So my hope is that people will make those appointments to get children up to date on their vaccines,” Walkes said. | | Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 due to vaccines. | | “Before the pandemic, I would have said to you that probably 90% of adults were vaccinated appropriately. But then we have what's happened with disinformation in the last several years,” Walkes said. | | Walkes is urging everyone to get their children vaccinated against measles, saying science supports the safety of immunizations. | | |
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| | | | - 🤠 Denim & Democracy Advocacy Day at Cheer Up Charlie’s | 9 a.m. | Cover possible | Downtown Austin
- 🥩 You Grill, Girl! at Franklin Barbecue | 7 p.m. | $95 and up | Central East Austin
- 🎵 beabadoobee at the Moody Amphitheater | 7:30 p.m. | $59 and up | Downtown Austin
- 🎤 J Balvin at the Moody Center | 8 p.m. | $41 and up | UT Campus
- 🏄 Nada Surf at Parish | 8:30 p.m. | $20 | Downtown Austin
- 🎶 Eric Church at ACL Live at the Moody Theater | 9 p.m. | $129 and up | Downtown Austin
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📚 Austin Public Library has new merch! You’ll have to shop in person – merch is only available at the Central Library. |
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