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🟪 Austin ISD moves closer to state takeover after two schools receive fifth failing ratings (KUT)

🟪 Watson Wire: I Voted No (Mayor Kirk Watson's official blog)

🟪 Delta to launch Austin's first nonstop flight to Paris in 2027 (KUT)

🟪 UT-Austin overhauling core classes but hasn’t detailed how new center relates to the courses (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Data center audit lacks specifics even as Gov. Abbott, industry leaders tout it (Texas Tribune)

READ ON!

Austin Gets Its First Nonstop to Paris 🛫 🇫🇷

Delta Air Lines announced Thursday it will launch Austin's first-ever nonstop service to Paris. Daily flights to Charles de Gaulle begin March 27, 2027. Tickets go on sale Saturday.

Paris becomes Austin's fourth European destination and the only one on a U.S. carrier, with onward connections to Rome, Barcelona, and Athens. Delta pointed to strong corporate and premium-cabin demand out of Central Texas, which says as much about the region's business base as its travel appetite.

Mayor Kirk Watson said the route will "create new opportunities for economic vitality and strengthen connections between local businesses and the French economy."

Bingham Group represents Delta Air Lines in Central Texas.

✅ Austin ISD moves closer to state takeover after two schools receive fifth failing ratings (KUT)

As Burnet and Webb middle schools received five consecutive failing grades from the state, increasing the possibility of a state takeover of the Austin Independent School District, parents and community members are contending with what the impact could be for all AISD campuses.

Nikkie Shubitz's son's school, Winn Montessori Elementary, was one of the 10 campuses that closed at the end of last school year to help the district save $21 million. Shubitz said she has conflicted feelings, since many schools, including Winn, improved their accountability ratings, but the district could still see a state intervention.

"It's really frustrating that I'm a part of a community where there was this threat and despite this really draconian potential outcome looming the whole time, we still failed to serve students who needed support," Shubitz said.

AISD schools showed progress under the state’s accountability ratings, with the district getting a B for the first time in four years. That’s according to information released by the district ahead of the official state results that are set to be released Friday.

District officials said the number of campuses receiving an A or B increased from 47 in 2025 to 61 in 2026. The number of schools receiving a D or F decreased, but 11 schools received a D rating, and 20 received an F, including the two middle schools that got a failing grade for the fifth consecutive year. District officials said they have made changes to campus leadership at Burnet and Webb, and both schools will receive daily instruction in math and language arts. But those changes do not mean the district is off the hook from a takeover… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Watson Wire: I Voted No (Mayor Kirk Watson's official blog)

Yesterday, the Council passed a budget for the next fiscal year. I didn't vote for it. This budget bothers me. It goes back on some of the actions we’ve taken over the past year to strengthen city government and put affordability first. Just last week, The Council voted to have a bond election in November. I voted against that, too.

Yesterday, Council voted, as part of the budget, to add even more debt by using Certificates of Obligation or "CO's". Those are debt instruments that add tens of millions of dollars of debt without voter approval.

That's only one reason I voted against the final version of the budget. Another is that it increases the average Austinite’s annual city bill by over $400— that’s just the City’s portion of taxes, fees, rates, and debt.

I don't feel like the budget takes into account the struggles of so much of our community when it comes to being able to afford to live here… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Delta to launch Austin's first nonstop flight to Paris in 2027 (KUT)

Delta Air Lines will launch Austin's first nonstop flight to Paris next spring, adding a major European destination considered a top priority by the city's airport officials.

The daily flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport start March 27, 2027 and run through the summer until Oct. 24.

"Austin and Paris are united by a spirit of culture, creativity, and discovery, and this new route will bring our communities closer together while creating new opportunities for people to experience all that makes our city special," Mayor Kirk Watson said in a statement.

Delta says its partnerships with Air France and KLM will allow travelers to connect easily through Paris to almost 70 nonstop destinations in Europe, India and Africa including Barcelona, Mumbai and Casablanca.

The new Paris flight will add to a handful of European nonstop destinations from Austin: Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ UT-Austin overhauling core classes but hasn’t detailed how new center relates to the courses (Texas Tribune)

Future UT-Austin students would have fewer classes to choose from to meet graduation requirements under a proposal university leaders presented Thursday.

The plan to remake the flagship campus’ core curriculum replaces the sprawling menu of classes students can now take to meet core requirements with a more structured core curriculum organized around the humanities, social sciences and science, technology, engineering and math.

But how the overhaul connects to UT-Austin’s new Center for the Humanities remains unclear.

A report from a 22-member faculty task force appointed by UT-Austin President Jim Davis proposes 12 requirements across the core areas, compared with the current 10… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Pflugerville City Council decides not to call $87 million bond election (Community Impact)

Pflugerville residents will not be voting on a bond this November after city leaders decided against a bond election at their Aug. 11 meeting.

Following recommendations from a bond advisory committee and a community survey with over 500 responses, staff presented council with three potential bond propositions, totaling $87.4 million. They include… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Data center audit lacks specifics even as Gov. Abbott, industry leaders tout it (Texas Tribune)

Tech companies are lining up to voice support for Gov. Greg Abbott’s audit of data centers seeking to connect to the power grid, although little is known about what the audit will entail or what it means for the data center construction boom.

Since the Aug. 3 announcement, at least 43 companies — including juggernauts like Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services — have issued public statements expressing support for Abbott’s audit, despite the governor ordering regulators to not approve any new grid connections until the audit is completed. The governor has similarly touted their endorsement of his plan.

“We share your commitment to ensuring data centers are true partners in every Texas community where we operate — protecting residential ratepayers, strengthening grid reliability and promoting responsible water stewardship,” read a letter to the governor sent Tuesday by the Data Center Coalition, a trade association representing many of the largest tech companies in the world… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Rio Grande Valley residents are feeling more negative about their lives. That could spill into the voting booth. (Texas Tribune)

Between 2009 and 2018, life evaluation in the Rio Grande Valley peaked in 2014 before declining overall, according to an analysis by Blue Zones, a think tank that studies longevity and quality of life. That decline was concentrated among Hispanic residents, while life evaluation increased among non-Hispanics.

While the survey does not list reasons for declines in life evaluation, health status is listed as one of the biggest factors in determining life satisfaction. So are people and community… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Fort Worth ambulance theft suspect killed by DPS trooper after wild pursuit through Austin, officials say (CBS News)

A suspect wanted for allegedly stealing an ambulance from Fort Worth was shot and killed by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Thursday morning after leading law enforcement on a wild pursuit through Austin, officials said.

The Fort Worth Fire Department told CBS News Texas that an ambulance was stolen from Station 4 on Wednesday night, located in the 2900 block of Old Mansfield Road. But didn't reveal anything further.

During a news conference Thursday morning, DPS confirmed that at about 6:30 a.m. troopers were notified that the stolen ambulance was seen traveling southbound on I-35 in Austin. When troopers attempted a traffic stop, the suspect fled. 

DPS said during the chase the suspect began "intentionally ramming multiple civilian vehicles," as it traveled down U.S. 290. Troopers then attempted to pit the ambulance but were unsuccessful… 🟪 (READ MORE)