🟪 Austin on high alert as SXSW begins after deadly West Sixth Street shooting (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 Base Power, Austin back away from economic incentive agreement for $265M expansion (Community Impact)

🟪 Officials detail pipeline failures behind Pflugerville water restrictions (Community Impact)

🟪 Governor blasts Corpus Christi leaders over looming water shortage, threatens a state takeover (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Electric Vertical Takeoff aircraft soon to jet in Texas skies (AXIOS Austin)

🟪 Texas businesses could wait years for tariff reimbursements — if they come at all — despite court rulings (Texas Public Radio)

READ ON!

✅ Austin on high alert as SXSW begins after deadly West Sixth Street shooting (Austin American-Statesman)

The 40th anniversary edition of the South by Southwest Conference and Festival will open Thursday in a city shaken by a deadly downtown shooting that left four people, including the shooter, dead and 15 injured. 

The gunman fired on a crowd of revelers at a cluster of popular college student hangouts on West Sixth Street in the early hours of March 1. The incident is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism. 

Two days after the shooting, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said she feels confident that the city has the resources to secure the event. 

"South by Southwest will continue on, and it will be a safe festival," she said.

City departments including police, fire and EMS coordinate on the event year-round, city spokesman Erik Johnson told the Statesman... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Base Power, Austin back away from economic incentive agreement for $265M expansion (Community Impact)

Home energy provider Base Power is no longer pursuing a multimillion-dollar city incentive deal for a new manufacturing facility but may still be expanding its local presence.

The Austin-based power company was founded in 2023 and currently has an office at 205 E. Riverside Drive, Ste. 100. Last year, Base announced $1 billion in fundraising to develop its first Texas factory across the street at 305 S. Congress Ave., the former home of the Austin American-Statesman that's slated to be redeveloped into a mixed-use high-rise district.

Earlier this year, city officials were set to consider another investment from Base under Austin's Business Expansion Program for a $265 million east side manufacturing and production facility. A proposed economic development agreement expected to support hundreds of new jobs was on City Council's Feb. 5 agenda but was pulled before a vote.

The city and Base had "mutually agreed not to move forward" on that outlined incentive deal, Austin Economic Development spokesperson Carlos Soto said... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Buda approves $242K contract for development code update (Community Impact)

The Buda City Council approved a contract to Kending Keast Collaborative for a comprehensive update of the city’s Unified Development Code, or UDC, at a Feb. 17 meeting. The contract may not exceed $242,260.

The comprehensive update to the UDC is meant to align city development code with the goals and standards detailed in other long-term planning documents, according to agenda documents, including:

The city’s UDC unifies development regulations into a single document. The document features zoning and subdivision regulations, development standards and regulations, and general provisions… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Officials detail pipeline failures behind Pflugerville water restrictions (Community Impact)

Pflugerville officials said a series of pipeline failures over the past several months disrupted the city’s ability to pump water into Lake Pflugerville, ultimately forcing the city to implement Stage 3 emergency water restrictions March 4.

City staff outlined the situation during a March 10 City Council presentation, explaining how the failures affected the city’s water supply system and what steps are underway to restore normal operations.

City officials said multiple breaks in the 30-inch raw water pipeline that carries water from the Colorado River to Lake Pflugerville limited the city’s ability to replenish its primary drinking water source.

“The current restrictions that are in place are not the result of one event,” Public Utility and Engineering Director Matt Rector told council members. “It is actually several distinct events that have happened.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Governor blasts Corpus Christi leaders over looming water shortage, threatens a state takeover (Texas Tribune)

Gov. Greg Abbott criticized Corpus Christi leadership Tuesday over its looming water crisis and warned that if local leaders do not take immediate action, the state may need to intervene to ensure residents and businesses have enough.

“Corpus Christi is a victim not because of lack of water. They’re a victim because of a lack of ability to make a decision,” Abbott said at a press conference after a reporter asked him to comment on an Inside Climate News story quoting former regional and city officials who said the potential shortage is a result of years of delayed and poor decisions by city leaders.

“We can only give them a little time more before the state of Texas has to take over and micromanage that city and run that city to make sure that every resident who goes to the water tap and turns it on, they’re going to be getting water out of their faucet, not because of what local leaders are doing, but because of what the state of Texas will do,” Abbott said… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Electric Vertical Takeoff aircraft soon to jet in Texas skies (AXIOS Austin)

Austin and other Texas cities could soon be on the vanguard of aviation, with innovative electric aircraft jetting off their runways.

What's happening: The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) was selected by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this week for one of eight pilot projects nationally, with regional flights linking Dallas, Austin and San Antonio — with Houston planned next.

The big picture: The U.S. is competing against China to lead in advanced air mobility.

How it works: Most of the U.S. projects involve the use of electric aircraft that can take off or land vertically — imagine giant, low-flying electric drones carrying passengers or cargo that take off like helicopters and fly horizontally like traditional planes.

Zoom in: Operations in Texas cities could start later this year, Adam Hammons, a spokesperson with TxDOT, tells Axios… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ AT&T CEO questioned 'effective governance' of Dallas (Dallas Morning News)

As early as May 2025, AT&T’s exit from downtown Dallas appeared likely as CEO John Stankey questioned the “effective/sustained governance” of Dallas and cited years of up-and-down efforts to make downtown more welcoming, according to emails reviewed by The Dallas Morning News. The firm issued a request for proposals focused on suburban sites around Highway 121 and the North Dallas Tollway with no options in the city of Dallas, according to a briefing document created by the Dallas Economic Development Corp. in September.

The emails from Stankey to Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert undermine past statements from Dallas city leaders that the telecom giant left for the suburbs because it primarily wanted a more horizontal campus with significant acreage for development.

AT&T announced its intention to leave Dallas’ Whitacre Tower in January for a 54-acre site at 5400 Legacy Drive in Plano — the culmination of a monthslong search and a failed effort by city leaders to keep the company within city limits. An AT&T representative and a city spokesperson did not respond to questions via phone and email regarding its downtown exit.

The emails reviewed by The News were part of nearly 5,000 pages of communications among city leaders, consultants and others regarding key events over the past year, including AT&T’s exit and debate over the future of City Hall. The records show Tolbert and Dallas Economic Development Corp. CEO Linda McMahon emailed with Stankey and members of his staff at AT&T dating back to early 2025… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas businesses could wait years for tariff reimbursements — if they come at all — despite court rulings (Texas Public Radio)

The Trump administration has yet to signal when — or whether — it intends to repay tariffs implemented by executive order just over a year ago. Many businesses may wait years for reimbursement.

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled last Wednesday that the administration must refund the tariffs, which it had been collecting under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), starting in February of last year. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that use of IEEPA was illegal.

Weston O'Black, a partner with the Houston office of the law firm Susman Godfrey, which is representing companies seeking refunds, said administration of President Donald Trump may challenge the international trade court's ability to order nationwide tariff refunds.

"I don’t know yet whether that’s going to happen, and we are going to have to see in the coming days, but if that does happen, that’s just going to slow things down even more," O'Black said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said they are working on a system to begin processing refunds in 45 days. Dallas-based attorney Michelle Schulz said she’s skeptical the government will meet that deadline. Further, she said, companies that sue to try to force U.S. Customs to repay the tariffs run the risk of retaliation… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump is delaying Texas Senate endorsement to pressure GOP senators on SAVE America Act (Politico)

President Donald Trump is delaying his endorsement in the Texas Senate GOP primary to ramp up pressure on Republican senators to pass his high-priority voting restrictions bill, according to two people close to the White House granted anonymity to speak candidly. Trump had been prepared to quickly endorse John Cornyn after the Texas senator outperformed expectations and finished ahead of Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, in last week’s primary, the people said. But Paxton managed to at least forestall that outcome when he announced Friday that if the Senate passes the bill he would drop his campaign. Paxton’s last-ditch gamble highlighted an area where he agrees with Trump while poking at a sore spot between the president and Senate Republican leaders who have been begging Trump for months to back Cornyn.

And it changed the dynamics inside the White House, according to the two people, an operative close to the White House and an administration ally. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. “I think that was a very smart strategy because it bought time. Because now, if you’re the White House or Trump, why would you now weigh in?’’ said the Republican operative. “Trump has remained very steadfast that he wants this done, and that is a huge priority, and he’s getting pissed off at these members and at [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune.”

Trump posted last Wednesday, the day after the primary, that he would endorse “soon” in the race — and wanted to see whoever he didn’t back drop out of the runoff. He told House Republicans Monday in a speech at their annual legislative retreat in Florida that SAVE America is his “No. 1 priority” on the congressional agenda this year. Paxton, a favorite of the far right with strong MAGA grassroots backing, initially said he would not end his campaign even if Trump backed Cornyn. Trump responded in an interview with POLITICO last week that the comment was “bad for him to say,” and reiterated he would announce his pick soon… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ White House tells House GOP to avoid mass deportation talk ahead of midterms (Washington Post)

White House and top House Republican officials have told GOP members to avoid discussing “mass deportations” ahead of the midterm elections, backing away from public discussion of a central campaign pledge of President Donald Trump.

The advice hit as Republican prospects appear dim ahead of the November voting.

While Republican members of Congress gathered in Doral, Florida, for a retreat Tuesday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair and Rep. Lisa C. McClain (R-Michigan), the chair of the House Republican Conference, instructed them to eschew talking about sweeping deportations of undocumented people and instead focus only on deportations of violent criminals, according to three people with knowledge of the remarks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the closed-door event.

Trump ran on a pledge of enacting “mass deportations,” vowing to launch “the largest deportation in the history of our country.” At one point on the campaign trail he told Time magazine he planned to deport 15 million to 20 million undocumented immigrants — a figure larger than the actual number of immigrants in the country illegally, according to most experts. The president himself has since tiptoed away from the plan, at times calling for protections for undocumented hospitality and agriculture workers, and suggesting that the administration first focus on deporting people who have committed violent crimes… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Americans are split on wanting the National Guard to monitor voting, a new poll finds (NPR)

Close to half of Americans support the idea of the National Guard at polling places to monitor this November's midterm elections — something that would be illegal if ordered by the federal government — potentially signaling an openness, especially by Republicans, to the sort of nationalizing of elections that President Trump says he wants.

That datapoint comes from a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll out Wednesday, which found 46% of Americans support the idea, compared to 54% who say they oppose it.

The finding is complicated by the fact that the National Guard can legally be used to support elections in many capacities when ordered by state governors.

And many Americans may be more open to military protection for elections now that the U.S. is at war with Iran, said Florida State University professor Michael Morley, an expert in election law.

"I think the conflict with Iran and recent terrorist bombing attempt in New York may influence public opinion on this issue, especially over the next few weeks," Morley said in an email to NPR. "Most of the time having the National Guard at polling places would be seen as unnecessary. But I think most average Americans may be far more worried about the possibility of a terrorist attack than they are about the National Guard."

Trump has not said he wants to deploy the Guard for this year's midterms, but in an interview with the New York Times in January he said he wished he had deployed Guard members in 2020 to try to seize election equipment he falsely claims was manipulated… 🟪 (READ MORE)