u/AustinStatesman

A federal judge ordered Wednesday that the federal government release an Austin high school student who was arrested by ICE earlier this month, weeks before graduation.

Luis Fernando Cabrera, 18, was detained while driving home from his closing shift at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in North Austin after a Texas state trooper stopped him because of an expired vehicle registration. The arrest of the Northeast Early College High School senior, who had an ongoing asylum case, stunned his classmates, who described him as lively and affable.

According to the lawsuit, Laurel F. Torode worked as a fleet supervisor at two of the chain’s outlets for six months starting in late 2023. She is a member of the United Church of God, which observes the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Torode was upfront about her faith in her pre-employment interview, an EEOC investigation found, and was accommodated from September 2023 until February 2024, when she was informed she must work Saturdays or be demoted to a driver, a move that would come with a 50% cut in pay.

When Torode declined the move, she was fired.

It’s nothing to worry about, according to an executive with Lincoln Property Co., which is developing the building with Kairoi Residential. The discoloration is overflow from the building’s standpipe system and is expected to be cleaned soon.

Central Texas, including Austin, cities along the Interstate 35 corridor and parts of the nearby Hill Country, will be under an elevated risk of severe weather starting Tuesday night and lasting into the rest of the work week. The repeated occurrence of thunderstorms could lead to heavy rainfall and localized flooding across the region.

Here’s the likeliest storm timeline, based on the latest forecasts from the National Weather Service.

Austin barbecue continues its national takeover:

• Franklin Barbecue
• Interstellar BBQ
• KGBBQ
• La Barbecue

Austin police have revealed the timeline and locations for multiple shootings and car thefts over the weekend, shedding light on a series of events that left a large swath of South Austin under a shelter-in-place warning Sunday and led to an hourslong police search that ended in a Manor neighborhood.

Three teenage suspects are in custody in connection with the alleged crimes, including 17-year-old Cristian Fajardo Mondragon, a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy.

Formal charges are still pending, but police said Monday they intend to file charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, deadly conduct, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, evading arrest, theft of a firearm and “other related offenses.”

A federal judge has rejected an attempt by Alex Jones to keep Infowars, his conspiracy-peddling website, tied to his personal estate and protected from sale to The Onion, which wants to run it as a satire of the brand that’s been Jones’ life work.

The decision clears the way for state courts to decide the fate of the Texas-based brand.

One of the teenagers arrested after a weekend of shootings, stolen vehicles and a regionwide manhunt has been identified as 17-year-old Cristian Mondragon, according to sources close to the investigation.

Mondragon is charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and evading arrest with a vehicle.

While most counties surrounding Austin have grown in recent years, Travis County itself is an exception.

Travis County lost about 25,000 more people than it gained from migration within the U.S. in the first years of the 2020s. And with the help of tax return data from the IRS, we know where they went.

The latest data shows that counties home to the three largest cities in Texas – Travis, Harris and Dallas counties – all saw more U.S. residents leave than enter between 2022 and 2023.

The pilot of a small plane that crashed near Wimberley last month was having issues with the plane’s instruments and dealing with icing before the aircraft broke apart midair, plummeted to the ground and caught fire, killing all five aboard, according to a federal investigative report released Friday.

Finding the best queso in Austin is not complicated.

Adi Anand, co-founder of Quesoff, an annual competition that crowns the city's best dip, once told the American-Statesman that the way to judge it comes down to appearance, taste and texture.

You look for sheen without oil slicks. Flavor without gimmick. Texture that lands somewhere between velvet and recklessness. Food in Austin often gets overthought, but queso still rewards instinct.

President Donald Trump on Friday once again sidestepped a question on whether he will endorse in the upcoming Texas Republican runoff for U.S. Senate but repeated his attacks on Democratic nominee James Talarico, calling him "pathetic" and "a weird, a weird candidate."

According to the latest update from the National Weather Service, there is now an 82% chance that El Niño develops between May and July.

Typically, El Niño has its biggest effect on Texas during the winter months, as the Pacific jet stream becomes stronger and shifts closer to Texas. This leads to more frequent cold fronts and a more active storm track across the southern United States, resulting in cooler and wetter weather across the Lone Star State.

But what about summer? Could an active El Niño also bring cooler temperatures and more rainfall during the hottest months of the year? We looked back at previous El Niño events to find out.

The Circuit of the Americas' new theme park is facing a $1 million lawsuit alleging “gross negligence” after a roller coaster incident that left a rider injured.

The lawsuit alleges COTALAND, which is set to fully open this year, didn’t have an evacuation plan ready when the “Circuit Breaker” ride malfunctioned on Dec. 17, leaving riders Matthew Cantu and Nicholas Sanchez stuck in a 90-degree position, 120 feet in the air, for more than an hour.

Long considered a bedroom community for Austin, Round Rock — like much of Central Texas — has recently seen dramatic growth. With a population of around 142,530, it is ranked 30th among the state's most populous cities, similar to the size of Waco and Abilene.

With officials saying Round Rock is only halfway built out, there is plenty of room for the city to grow even more. Here are some of the biggest projects underway to give residents new places to live, work and play.