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The Austin City Council is considering some regulations around data centers. That includes defining where they might be built, and how they’re categorized by size and demand on resources.
There are new rules for students participating in outdoor UIL competitions designed to protect kids from the brutal Texas heat. We’ll tell you what’s changing.
Some big names are on the way out of Austin FC. Who’s on the move and who’s available for tonight’s Leagues Cup match.
Dolly Parton gifted a rhinestoned guitar to Austin drag queen Brigitte Bandit. She can’t play it, but she can pretend — and she’s got a story for a lifetime.
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The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano The Austin City Council is considering some regulations around data centers that includes defining where they might be built and how they’re categorized by size and demand on resources, more about what’s before the council, and there are new rules for students participating in outdoor UIL competitions designed to protect kids from the brutal Texas heat. We’ll tell you what’s changing. That’s coming up on today’s show.
Laurie Gallardo The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano Some big names are on the way out of the Austin Football Club. Who’s on the move and who’s available for tonight’s Leagues Cup match? Plus, Dolly Parton gifted a rhinestone guitar to an Austin drag queen. She can’t play it, but she can pretend, and she’s got a story for a lifetime. We’ll share that with you and much, much more. That’s coming up next. It’s right here. It’s Austin Signal. Thank you. Howdy out there, this is Austin Signal. Thank you for tuning in. I’m your host, Jerry Kikano. It is Wednesday, August 26th. We are glad to have you along. We’ve got a lot to bring you, so let’s jump right in. We have been working to learn more about how data centers are impacting Austin and Central Texas through our series, The Data Center Next Door. We’ve heard stories about the impacts on communities where these centers are built and the resources that they require to make them go. That’s forced action on the part of lawmakers around the state, around the country, and now Austin too. Here to tell us more is Luz Moreno Lozano. She is KUT City Hall reporter. Welcome back Luz.
Luz Moreno Lozano Thanks for having me.
Jerry Quijano So first, I wanted you to explain what the data center development situation is right now currently in Austin. Our county reporters, Lee Walden, Katie McAfee, and Kaylee Hunt have been telling us a little bit about the data-center boom here in Texas, right? But more locally, I want to ask, what are Austin City Council members and their constituents concerned about?
Luz Moreno Lozano Yeah, so I think we should start off with first that there are data centers that are allowed in Austin. In part of that series that we heard Lee, Katie and Kaylee, they went and visited the one here at UT. So these are the kinds of data centers that Austin allows. Now, as we’ve seen this kind of AI boom and this need for larger, what they’re calling hyper scale. Data centers, there’s been a lot of concern from council members and residents about what kind of impacts that has on like water, on power, sound, you know, some of these, I think we heard Kaylee say how they had to wear headphones because it was so loud in that one. Right. So I think there was a lot, a lot concern just about resources. Is. And about being good neighbors. I think a lot of people are concerned with how large these kinds of data centers get and what kind of impacts they have on the people who live next to them. And then, anyone who within the region too, right? Like what happens here also impacts our neighbors as well.
Jerry Quijano Absolutely. So let’s let’s talk about the the consideration before city council. Can you give us a broad overview of the sort of regulations that they’re talking about?
Luz Moreno Lozano Yeah. So what they’re trying to do is kind of have a better regulation for these hyper scale data centers because it’s not defined in the code. They can’t even regulate them. They can even say you have to have a a better power source or a more clean water plan. They can’t ban them until they define them. So, what the city is trying to is one, define what hyperscale data center is and to like try to figure out like If they are going to have them, like how can they regulate them and make sure that power and water and some of these other concerns are part of site plans and designs and those kinds of things.
Jerry Quijano Yeah, because as we’re learning, data centers are already part of our everyday lives to some degree. So it sounds like there aren’t any of these large-scale data centers set for Austin at the moment, at least. So why is the city making this move right now?
Luz Moreno Lozano Yeah, I think what I heard yesterday from Council, I think Councilmember Vanessa Fuente said, we don’t wanna wait for there to be a crisis here in Austin before we start passing these kinds of regulations. And the city staff did say that they have had some inquiries. People are interested in potentially moving here. I do think that there are some medium-size data centers that could be coming online. I think we’ve heard a little bit about the former 3M site that could a data center. There was some concern about whether or not that was gonna happen at the dog’s head. So I think these are the kinds of things that council is thinking about as we’ve kind of seen this boom, especially in our like rural areas like Hayes and Williamson and some of the other areas that are experiencing this growth.
Jerry Quijano Okay, so tell us what’s gonna happen next, like if council does approve this resolution, how long could it actually take before Austin has enforceable regulations that they can put into place?
Luz Moreno Lozano Yeah, it could be months. They’re thinking that it’s going to take until at least next spring before they even have anything to propose to city council. And that includes having to go through several steps like planning commission, you know, and those kinds of reviews, right, before they actually present it to council. So that’s not expected to happen until the spring. Now the city is hoping that as part of their vote tomorrow that they can potentially freeze some of these projects until those rules are put into place, but it’ll all depend on what they decide tomorrow and what they’re learning.
Jerry Quijano Okay, that is Luz Moreno Lozano. She is KUT City Hall reporter. She’ll be keeping an eye on that, and whatever else comes out next from City Hall. Luz, thanks for being with us today. Thank you. And real quick, before we move on, the next installment of the data center next door will be coming up in a few days, and we’ll bring you that right here on Austin Signal. Right now, we’re in the time of the year where school is back in session, but it still feels like summer is never going to end. In fact, we are still under a heat advisory today, and temperatures will remain near the 100 degree mark, at least through the beginning of next week. That’s September already. Those high temperatures can put student athletes at risk of heat-related illnesses, but beginning this academic year, the University Intrascholastic League, UIL, which governs high school sports and extracurriculars here in Texas, is implementing new rules to keep students safe when practicing outside in the brutal heat. John Porman covers high school sports at the Houston Chronicle. He spoke with Texas Standard’s Laura Rice about those new rules.
Laura Rice So these new rules break down acceptable activity by temperature. But it’s not just the temperature on somebody’s phone. It’s this wet bulb globe temperature. Can you explain what that is?
John Poorman You know, the UIL made this a mandatory practice for the 2026-27 school year, but it’s been a recommended practice for the past two years. And so, you know, the vast majority of athletic programs across the state have already been implementing these guidelines. And you know with the wet bulb globe temperature, obviously the coaches are very familiar with it at this point. It basically you know, takes into consideration more than just the temperature and the humidity. It factors in, you know things like wind speed and direct sunlight and all these other factors that you know make an environment feel how it feels in the heat. And so really it’s, you now in speaking with our newsroom meteorologist, Justin Ballard, you know, he explained it to me in the terms of, you know this is really the best. Measurement that you can use to get a real gage on how hot it is and more specifically the heat stress on the body during exercise.
Laura Rice And so there are different levels, I understand, of recommended activity, or I guess now mandatory activity limits, whether they can practice at all, whether they wear pads. Could you talk about that a little bit?
John Poorman Yeah, for sure. So there’s different levels, there’s different colors. And so each color as you go through them, you know, it’s, you know orange, red, black means you basically can’t do anything outside. But you know. So there’s difference levels and different readings that coaches have to be aware of. And they have to adjust their practices based on these readings. So whichever zone, the wet bulb globe temperature. Is in at the time. They have to take a certain number of water breaks. They have take, you know, extra precautions. They have too take off more equipment. Sometimes it’s helmets only, sometimes it’s just shoulder pads and helmets depending on which zone they’re in. So, and there’s also limits to the amount of time that they can spend outside in one practice session. You know, the wet bulb globe temperature has definitely. Changed kind of the approach over the past couple of years and you know It’s something that they need to be aware of every time they get ready to go out for a practice
Laura Rice So what have you heard from experts about whether these new rules are adequate to keep kids safe while practicing in the heat?
John Poorman Yeah, well these rules were put together by the UIL Advisory Committee, and that’s a 10 or 12 person committee that is solely focused on creating guidelines and rules for the UIL. These are medical professionals. And so, you know, the wet bulb globe temperature and all these mandates and all of these, you know precautions that are put in place, you now, these are coming from medical professionals Who. You know, have the best interest and safety of the kids in mind when they’re doing that. And so, you know, when they implemented it two years ago, you know, most coaches were receptive. They obviously want to keep their kids safe too, at the end of the day. You know that they have to find different ways to adjust and, you know, get done what they need to get done.
Laura Rice I mentioned the children’s team in the show bar and I’ve seen another team at the Panhandle practicing in a church. Have you seen some sort of creative work around?
John Poorman Yeah, not like that. Not down in the Houston area. But no, I mean, but those are perfect examples of teams and coaches being creative. And that’s something that UIL Athletic Director Ray Zepeda said during the coaches convention this summer is that he has all the faith in the world that coaches are going to be able to figure it out and find a way to make things happen. As I said before, they’ve been working with these guidelines for the past two years as well. You know, one thing that really has come to the forefront in all of this is the need for indoor practice facilities. And obviously each district across Texas has a different situation financially or being able to get bonds passed to build these things. But for those that do have them, and we have a few here in the Houston area, it is a big advantage because you can work inside and on a turf football field and not have your practice interrupted by the heat. So that’s something that I definitely think a lot of school districts are keeping an eye on and maybe exploring some avenues to try to get that done for themselves.
Jerry Quijano That was John Porman, the high school sports coordinator for the Houston Chronicle. He was speaking with Texas Standards’ Laura Rice. Checking in on a few of today’s headlines, the Pflugerville City Council has voted unanimously to end the city’s agreement with the surveillance camera company, Flock. The city says staff will turn off all 28 automated license plate reader cameras included in the contract and disable access to that system. The city began physically covering Flock cameras this week. The City of Austin will begin work to restore a historic retaining wall on the eastern side of Barton Springs Pool that’s next month. Work will include removing 37 trees in the wall’s vicinity. The retaining wall was originally built in 1917 and is showing signs of structural failure according to Austin Parks and Rec. The restoration project will begin September 8th and is projected to last until next year. The pool will maintain normal operating hours during that construction. And the Texas Railroad Commission is ending regular public comment at its monthly meetings. The three-member agency, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, approved the change last week with a two-to-one vote. Commissioners can still request public comment for individual meetings. The agency says it will hold more listening sessions with staff. We’ve got a whole lot more coming your way on today’s episode of Austin Signal. Thank you for being with us. We’ll be back after this quick break. Welcome back to the show, this is Austin Signal. Fans the world over are remembering Dolly Parton, who died yesterday in Nashville at the age of 80. Not only was she a country music legend, she was also a champion for LGBTQ plus rights, and an icon for the queer community everywhere, including right here in Austin. KUT’s art beat editor Stephanie Federico tells us about the gift Dolly once presented to one of the city’s most famous drag queens back in 2023.
Stephanie Federico Bridgette Bandit was having an exhausting year. She had testified at the Texas Capitol against bills that would ban certain drag performances and story hours.
Brigitte Bandit Drag is simply a form of art, and like any form of art, it can be produced by many different kinds of people and be modified for different kinds of audiences. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Thank you for your testimony.
Stephanie Federico She had also joined a lawsuit to stop the legislation. After Bridget performed as Dolly Parton at Oil Can Harry’s that December, one of the hosts called for the room’s attention. They played a five minute long video of friends thanking Bridget for her work on behalf of Texas’s queer community.
Brigitte Bandit I know it’s been a really hard year. It’s been very stressful, but through all the adversity we have persevered, and we are all in the community, so grateful for the hard work you put in.
Stephanie Federico Then the host presented her with a pink triangle-shaped box.
Brigitte Bandit At first I was like, is this like a costume or something, like a dolly costume, and then like I opened it and I realized I saw the signature and.
Stephanie Federico It was an acoustic guitar covered in rhinestones and signed by Dolly Parton. No, I can’t play the guitar.
Brigitte Bandit I can, I can pretend to play it just like I pretend to sing.
Stephanie Federico Brigitte had received global attention that year when she testified at the Capitol in drag. She brought with her a children’s book about Dolly. It reads, “…she wore big hair and lots of makeup, and some people might have thought it was too much, but she liked it and the kids did too.”
Brigitte Bandit That made it all the way to Dolly, right, and that’s how I got this signed guitar.
Stephanie Federico Bridget said Dali’s niece, Rebecca Siever, does drag in Tennessee, where similar laws were being debated. Siever showed her aunt the photo, and they orchestrated the whole thing.
Brigitte Bandit Knowing that like Dolly signed my name on a guitar and spelled it right and knows who I am was just so so exciting.
Stephanie Federico Bridget said she grew up listening to Dolly, but never anticipated her persona to be so intertwined with the superstar. It just came naturally. Her first official paid booking as a drag queen was at a Dolly Parton show. She later started doing socially distanced drag telegrams as Dolly during the pandemic. To Bridget, Dolly was a drag Queen herself.
Brigitte Bandit I think a lot of queer people can relate to Dolly and see kind of can see themselves in her, you know, with the way that she she fights like society.
Stephanie Federico Norms and expectations.” Bridget said Dolly will forever inspire and influence her work. She and others will pay tribute to the Queen this Saturday during her regular drag hoedown at Stoney’s Good Time Ranch. Bridget said she will bring the guitar. For KUT’s Art Beat, I’m Stephanie Federico in Austin.
Jerry Quijano Well it’s no secret Austin FC has struggled this year. The coach and the general manager were fired. The new coach won’t be here until next year. But what could have been a rudderless summer has been saved by the team’s leagues cup performance. Somehow, inexplicably perhaps, they find themselves two wins away from a tournament trophy and next year’s Champions Cup. But, as KUT’s Jimmy Moss reports, they’ll have to overcome a big opponent tonight.
Jimmy Maas It’s win or go home, at least in tournament speak, for Austin FC, as they are taking on Liga Imeque’s power, Toluca, in the League’s Cup quarterfinals. This is technically the deepest the club has ever gone in this tournament, though there are fewer teams than the last time Austin qualified for the knockout stage of League’s cup in 2024. They’re up against serious pedigree. Toluca now has 12 Liga Emequis titles, tied for second all time. Now, Liga Emekis, the top Mexican league, divides their seasons into two each year, an opening and a closing season in the fall and spring, and they give a title to the playoff winner after each one. After a 15-year drought, Toluca won back-to-back championships in 2025, the spring and then the fall, including a wild 12-round shootout over Tegas. Oh, and by the way, they’re the reigning CONCACAF Champions Cup holders. This is as good as Liga Imecchi skits right now. Austin arrives with plenty of change swirling around them.
Khaled El-Amad My main responsibility is to get everyone to push in the right direction. When we do that, winning will come. I’m a big, big believer that if we all do our part every day, look for the marginal gains, we will be here one day with a big trophy.
Jerry Quijano0 That is the voice of Austin’s newest sporting director, Khaled El-Amad, formerly announced yesterday at Q2 Stadium. El-amad comes to Austin from Minnesota. That move is in the middle of a flurry of player transfers, outgoing transfers from the team’s front office. And the moves are kind of big. Homegrown midfielder Owen Wolf was traded to Sporting Kansas City. He was arguably last season’s team MVP and is the son of Austin first coach, Josh Wolf. Winger Jadon Nelson, who is the only one who represented the team in the World Cup, is on to Bolton Wanderers in England, and forward CJ Fodray is often alone to Scottish team Falkirk, three attacking pieces gone in a matter of days, and maybe more to come. The moves, and a complete management overhaul for its soccer operations this summer, all prompted by Austin’s struggling in MLS play. Still, Austin’s found magic in this tournament, riding four goals from Mir to Ozuni. Through the group stage. But now it’s one match. The winner moves on to the semi-final, two wins away from Acock Calf Champions Cup birth next year.
Interim head coach Dave Yarneau. We challenge all the guys that every game that we play is important in every game we want to win, but I don’t think there’s any hiding that there’s more at stake in this game.
Jimmy Maas The capital of the state of Texas, playing the capital of the State of Mexico in the state of New Jersey. That kickoff is tonight at 7.30. I’m Jimmy Maas in Austin.
Jerry Quijano It happens to most people at some point or another in their life. They meet or hear about someone with the same name. Jerry Bruckheimer, Jerry Springer, the list goes on. Tom and Jerry. For people with common names, that novelty might fade away quickly, but others that, one, run in with a person with your same name can be memorable. Remember that time I met that person at HEV who had the same and the same spelling? Isn’t that crazy? Well… KUT’s Gabriel Velázquez-Neda wanted to know the most common baby names here in Austin, so he compiled the names of babies born from 2017 to 2024, and he has been going over that data. He’s here now to share what he found. Hey, Gabriel. Hey, Jerry. OK, so how do you even go about finding how many babies have been named a certain name? It’s actually surprisingly difficult. I would hope so, you know, a little bit of privacy, but you got to go into the digging. And so how did you do it?
Gabriel Velázquez Neira Yeah, so there’s, there was a data set in Open Austin, Open Data Austin, which is a thing I regularly look through. And I saw a list of the names for 2017. So I was like, Oh, great, they probably have a list for 2018 years after that, right? You think so, but they didn’t. So I had to request all of the Names based from the social security, I’m pretty sure, like, so when you get the social Security numbers and the names, that’s where they pull it from. And it’s pretty sensitive information. And also it’s kind of hard to track it for the city. Cause I mean, county-wide, it’s a pretty solid number. They have a pretty good sense of who was born in the county, but city-wide it’s more difficult because a person might be born outside of Austin, but live in Austin. Okay. Okay. So that’s where we’re at.
Jerry Quijano Okay, well now that you’ve crunched through the data, let’s talk about some of the more popular names here in the Austin area. So let’s start with baby girls. What are some of popular names?
Gabriel Velázquez Neira Yeah, so we have Olivia, we have Emma, we have Mia, Isabella and Sophia.
Jerry Quijano Okay, all right. We have one Olivia on our staff here, and I know that a couple of our coworkers have children named Olivia, so I guess that’s the most popular name for girls.
Gabriel Velázquez Neira In 2024, Olivia and Emma were tied for the most popular name for girls.
Jerry Quijano Okay, and how about approximately how many babies you have that name?
Gabriel Velázquez Neira 720 from 2017 to 2024. We’re named Olivia.
Jerry Quijano Okay, okay, that’s a pretty decent amount, and let’s go to the flip side. What about for boys? Jerry, I’m guessing, number one.
Gabriel Velázquez Neira Jerry’s not number one. It’s Liam, Noah, Oliver’s up there, without surprising to me, and Mateo, also surprising for me.
Jerry Quijano That’s a good one, yeah, I guess that’s a good question to ask, are we still making olivers, but I guess we are, it sounds like, from the data at least, right? Yeah, there’s more olivers. Okay, okay, so let’s talk about the trends here in Austin versus statewide, how do those compare?
Gabriel Velázquez Neira Yeah, so some names that are kind of popular in Austin, like Elena, aren’t as popular statewide. Or, for example, the spelling of Sophia with a P-H is more popular in Texas than it is in Austin where it’s usually spelled with an F, so yeah.
Jerry Quijano Okay, small little details make the difference. So what sort of demographic trends can we learn from this data, at least from what you’re looking at? What do you take away from it? I mean, there’s not.
Gabriel Velázquez Neira Lot of demographic trends to be learned but what was interesting is how I guess multiracial some of these names are so like Olivia, Isabella, Sofia these are names that can be applied to Hispanic girls and people from other ethnicities Oliver Mateo so that for me was pretty interesting to see.
Jerry Quijano Okay, do you have, if you have your hypothetical children in the future, do have their names picked out already and did this set of data influence the name you might pick in the feature?
Gabriel Velázquez Neira I think it would, I’d have to go down to like below the 50 rank to start getting their names, make it a little more rare. I want it to be rare. I want them to never meet another person with their name.
Jerry Quijano Well, yeah, I think, I mean, I think that’s a good goal to aspire for, and I’m not just saying that because my name is Jerry Kehannal Jr. We have been speaking with KUT’s Gabriel Velasquez-Neda, and we’re going to have a link to his reporting and more about that data and some data visualizations in today’s podcast show notes. Gabriel, thank you. Thank you, Jay. OK, one last thing before we let you get out of here today. The heat advisory that we are under has been extended through tomorrow night at seven o’clock. Today’s forecast high 104, 105. Tomorrow around 102. There are rain chances tomorrow, about a 40% chance of some showers. So we will keep you updated with the latest and stay tuned right here to KUT for everything you need. More from us can be found at kut.org slash signal and in today’s podcast show notes. Jake Perlman is our technical director, Alexandra Hart is our producer, and Kristin Cabrera is our managing producer. I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. We’ll talk to you tomorrow. Have a good one.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
