🟪 Austin Police release new rules that could reduce officer calls to ICE (KUT)

🟪 Austin is ending its rental assistance program and shifting to eviction prevention (KUT)

🟪 Na'Cole Thompson sworn in as new mayor of Leander (Community Impact)

🟪 Q&A: Meet the candidates for mayor of Cedar Park (Community Impact)

🟪 Round Rock's The District is officially going up, starting with luxury residential project (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Pro-gambling interests fail to gain ground in Texas primaries as legislative roadblocks remain (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Donald Trump clashes with Ken Paxton over endorsement in Texas' Senate runoff (Houston Chronicle)

🟪 What led Trump to replace Kristi Noem (NBC News)

READ ON!

Meetings:

✅ Austin Police release new rules that could reduce officer calls to ICE (KUT)

The Austin Police Department released new guidelines for how its officers contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to report people suspected of being in the country without authorization.

The new rules, posted this week to a city website without fanfare, come after protests over increased cooperation between Austin police and ICE.

The rules are similar to proposals APD Chief Lisa Davis made in February that, she said, would reduce the likelihood of ICE involvement in local policing.

While state laws forbid Texas cities from telling officers they cannot report people to ICE, the new guidelines add layers of oversight when an officer decides to call federal agents.

The rules specifically clarify what officers should do when they run a background check on someone and find that ICE has flagged that person with a civil “administrative warrant,” saying they may be in the country without authorization.

ICE agents issued thousands of these non-criminal warrants in the first year of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin is ending its rental assistance program and shifting to eviction prevention (KUT)

People looking to receive help paying their monthly rent will no longer be able to apply for assistance from the city of Austin. The portal was set to open on April 1. Instead, the city will direct its resources toward eviction settlements.

The program's closure will cut off hundreds of struggling families from receiving assistance that prevents evictions, according to officials who distribute the funds.

Rental assistance is among many cuts the city made following the failure of Proposition Q last November. The original budget included $4 million for rental assistance and eviction prevention, but the total was cut to $3 million marked only for eviction settlements in the 2026 budget

Susan Watkins, division manager of housing for the city, said the program funding has been split between assistance for people facing eviction, including paying back rent to help people stay in their homes, and helping people pay their monthly rent before an eviction happens… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Na'Cole Thompson sworn in as new mayor of Leander (Community Impact)

Na'Cole Thompson was officially sworn in as mayor of Leander on Feb. 27 in the City Council chambers.

Thompson took the oath of office Feb. 17 after votes were canvassed.

Thompson was elected mayor in the city's Feb. 7 special election. The position became open after former Mayor Christine DeLisle stepped down in October.

Thompson was previously the Place 4 council member and mayor pro tem. She stepped down from her City Council seat to run for mayor. Annette Sponseller won the special election for the Place 4 seat and was sworn in Feb. 19... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Q&A: Meet the candidates for mayor of Cedar Park (Community Impact)

Two candidates are running for mayor of Cedar Park in the May 2 election.

City Council Places 2, 4 and 6 will also be on the ballot, as well as several proposed amendments to the city's charter.

Community Impact spoke to both candidates for mayor, incumbent Jim Penniman-Morin and challenger Dean Doscher.

Candidates were asked to keep responses within 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Round Rock's The District is officially going up, starting with luxury residential project (Austin Business Journal)

Round Rock's long-anticipated The District development is officially going vertical with a 316-unit luxury apartment that developers are calling Origin at The District.

Representatives from California-based Mark IV Capital, in conjunction with W.E. O'Neil Construction, said after a March 4 groundbreaking that the seven-story, class A structure is aimed to be completed by early 2028. It is being financed by an $86 million construction loan that was announced by the developer in February.

Origin at The District will be built using a five-over-two configuration, meaning it will include five levels of wood-frame construction over a two-level concrete podium. There will be 23,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and it will include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom floor plans.

Units will have contemporary finishes and high ceilings, expansive window lines, private balconies and in-unit laundry. It will also have a third-level, resort-style deck with a heated pool and 75-foot lap lane, cold plunge and dry sauna, along with outdoor entertainment areas, sun lounge, a co-working facility, sky lounge and fitness center… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin Under 40 Awards announces its 2026 finalists (Austin Monthly)

Today, the Austin Under 40 (AU40) Awards announced the finalists for its 2026 awards! Hosted by the Young Men’s Business League (YMBL), the AU40 Awards recognize 90 finalists across 18 professional categories. Winners will be announced at the 27th annual awards gala at the JW Marriott on May 9, 2026. The annual fundraiser benefits Austin Sunshine Camps, which provides overnight camp experiences to underserved kids in Austin. Below, see the finalists for the 2026 awards… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Talarico looks like the usual Texas Democratic nominee. He won with a very different type of campaign. (Texas Monthly)

He was a pastor in training quoting Scripture on the campaign trail who has called President Trump a “child of God.” She was a bomb-throwing, anti-Trump, self-styled “warrior” who once called Governor Greg Abbott “Governor Hot Wheels.” Can I make it any more obvious? This was a race largely of style, not substance, and the Democratic voters in Texas have put their faith in state Representative James Talarico over Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett to represent the party in the 2026 U.S. Senate election. In November, Talarico will face either incumbent Senator John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton, who have advanced to a GOP runoff election that will be held May 26.

The campaign between Talarico and Crockett was hotly contested and at times flat-out ugly—perhaps in large part because of the stakes. As soon as Democrats got wind that Paxton, a candidate for whom “flawed” would be a kind descriptor, was running on the Republican side, they practically began salivating. This could be it, they reasoned: the first chance in three decades to actually turn a statewide Texas seat blue. More than that, it could provide a path for control of the upper chamber: Democrats need to gain four seats in the Senate to win the majority, and Texas is one of the few Republican holds potentially vulnerable to flipping. Now, how to stick the landing?

Talarico’s political ascent has been greatly helped by a knack for showmanship. While in the statehouse, he displayed a cunning eye for viral moments—his team expertly chopped his grillings of Republican opponents on the House floor and in committee hearings into clips all but guaranteed to do numbers on TikTok or Instagram. They did, and he cemented a reputation, aided by his biblical literacy, as a rising star adept at challenging the Christian nationalist faction of the GOP. “I feel like I’m kind of prepared for this kind of landscape, because I know how to get people’s attention, and, most importantly, I know what to do when I have it, usually,” Talarico told me last year, ever the former theater kid.

“And I feel like that is the X factor in politics.” Last summer, he got everyone’s attention with an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. His multihour discussion with the Trump-voting comedian whom other Democrats have shied away from was a good indication of what he planned to do with the nation’s attention, and of what kind of campaign he planned to run once he announced his Senate bid. He has peddled a message of unity, consciously crossing party lines to court voters in red counties and appeal to independents and moderates. His public faith—present even in his campaign slogan, “It’s time to start flipping tables,” a reference to Scripture—has been an advantage on this front… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Rep. Tony Gonzales drops reelection bid amid pressure over affair scandal (Texas Tribune)

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, dropped out of his primary runoff Thursday, heeding calls from House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP members to end his reelection bid amid revelations that he had an affair with an aide who died by suicide.

“After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I’ve always had to my district,” Gonzales said in a statement posted on social media. “Through the rest of my term, I will continue fighting for my constituents, for whom I am eternally grateful.”

The third-term congressman admitted the affair on Wednesday, the day after he finished second to challenger Brandon Herrera in the Republican primary for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. Gonzales initially denied rumors of the affair, and resisted calls to drop out or resign after the San Antonio Express-News published a text in which the aide acknowledged the affair. Explicit texts between Gonzales and his then-aide came to light soon after, showing the congressman asking for a “sexy pic” and persisting despite her assertion he had gone “too far.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Pro-gambling interests fail to gain ground in Texas primaries as legislative roadblocks remain (Texas Tribune)

Despite failing to defeat a slate of anti-gambling candidates this primary cycle and facing powerful opposition in the Texas Capitol, casino interests say they are undeterred in their effort to elect legislators favorable to their industry in hopes of one day legalizing gambling in the state.

Republican state Reps. David Lowe, Terri Leo-Wilson, Mark Dorazio and Andy Hopper, all gambling opponents, defeated primary challenges from candidates backed by billionaire Miriam Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands casino empire on Tuesday. Outspoken anti-gambling activist Cheryl Bean also overcame opposition from Texas Sands PAC and Texas Defense PAC — super PACs funded by the casino company — in the open race for the Republican nomination to represent House District 94 in Tarrant County.

“If the prize is destination resort casinos in Texas, Las Vegas Sands is now further away from it in 2026 than they were in 2023,” said Mark Jones, a political science fellow at Rice University… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Donald Trump clashes with Ken Paxton over endorsement in Texas' Senate runoff (Houston Chronicle)

President Donald Trump threatened to endorse U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday morning as Attorney General Ken Paxton remained defiant against the president’s decision to play kingmaker in the state’s U.S. Senate runoff. Trump has faced a right-wing backlash over his plan to finally throw his support behind a candidate in the GOP runoff, while asking the other to drop out. Conservatives in Texas, from radio host Mark Davis to gun rights activist Kyle Rittenhouse, have said the president should stay out.

In an interview Wednesday night, Paxton said he would never exit the race that has already drawn upwards of $100 million in donor spending. “I owe it to the people of Texas. I spent a year of my life campaigning against John Cornyn because John has not represented the people of Texas well,” Paxton said during a television interview.

Trump did not take Paxton’s defiance well. “That’s bad for him to say,” Trump said in an interview with Politico on Thursday morning. “That is bad for him. So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction.” The back-and-forth comes as Republicans are handwringing over the prospect of spending millions more dollars in what will likely be a vicious GOP battle ahead of a tough midterm. Senate Republicans are increasingly calling on the president to back Cornyn. With control of the chamber on the line in the midterms, GOP leaders have said their money would be better spent in states that are typically more competitive than Texas.

Paxton on Thursday sought to highlight tension between Trump and Senate Republican leadership, who have resisted the president's calls to scrap the filibuster to pass the Save America Act, legislation that would require voters to provide proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID at the time of voting. Paxton called the Save Act, "the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass" and said he would "consider" dropping out if Senate leadership ended the filibuster to pass it — something that appears very unlikely to happen… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ What led Trump to replace Kristi Noem (NBC News)

President Donald Trump was already frustrated with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. But her performance at two congressional hearings this week is what finally cost her the job, lawmakers and people familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

Noem’s place in the administration had become increasingly unstable following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers during immigration operations in Minneapolis earlier this year, and amid her fraying relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard and other reported infighting at Homeland Security, the officials said.

Her firing by the president on Thursday in an online post comes after weeks of bad press involving DHS’ immigration enforcement operations, and as support for Trump’s immigration agenda, a top administration priority, has tumbled in recent weeks.

The president had been speaking with Republican lawmakers this week about his displeasure with Noem and told them he was considering replacing her, according to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., two other Republican lawmakers who did not want to be named publicly, a person familiar with White House’s thinking and three people familiar with the president’s private discussions… 🟪 (READ MORE)