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Flooding this morning in the Austin area caused road closures and a water rescue and even necessitated the lifting of floodgates on the Colorado River.
As the city of Austin tightens the strings on its upcoming budget, nonprofits are bracing for even more cuts. Austin Current’s Sam Stark chats with us more about the groups that could be impacted and how organizations are preparing.
It’s last call at the Paramount Theatre as the doors shut temporarily for an all-out renovation — but they’re still bringing plenty of entertainment to town.
Summer reading has started. Join KUT for our bingo challenge!
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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 [00:00:08] Flooding this morning in the Austin area caused plenty of road closures, a water rescue, and even necessitated the lifting of floodgates on the Colorado River. We’re going to have the latest on the situation and the alerts that went out about it. And as the city of Austin tightens its strings on the upcoming budget, nonprofits are bracing for even more cuts, the groups that could be impacted, and how organizations are preparing. Plenty more about those stories coming up on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:33] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:38] Plus, it’s last call at the Paramount Theater. But luckily, the doors are only shutting temporarily ahead of an all-out renovation, and there’s still plenty of entertainment that they’re bringing to town. More ahead of tonight’s goodbye-for-now event, that is up next, and is right here on Austin Signal. Howdy, this is Austin Signal, I’m your host Jerry Gihannel, it is June 15th, a very soggy Monday here at the KUT studios, thank you for being with us. A line of storms passed over the Austin area in today’s early morning hours, dropping a few inches of rain in a number of spots across central Texas. That rain quickly turned into flooding in some spots, resulting in closed roads and necessitating one water rescue. And the National Weather Service has rain chances hanging above 50% through tomorrow. For more about the weather and the alerts that went out during it, we are speaking with Chelsea Xu. She’s the engagement reporter at KUT News. And Gabriel Velazquez-Neda, our breaking news reporter. Thank you both for being here with us. Hello. Hello. So Chelsea, I wanted to start with you. Tell us how much rain has fallen overnight.
Chelsey Zhu [00:01:57] Yeah, so the last time that I checked, the Lower Colorado River Authority, which you know has this system for tracking rainfall totals, said that since midnight there’s been as much as three to four inches of rain in different parts of Travis County.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:13] Okay, and there were lots of flood warnings that I woke up to that kept being extended. Where do you think stand right now with those warnings or those advisories?
Chelsey Zhu [00:02:21] Yeah, so everything has expired right now. So the line of storms that moved in, they started north of Austin, and that was kind of the main, it mainly started in the overnight hours and continued into the early morning, moving south of Austin. And yeah, by 10am, it was pretty much on its way out of the Austin area. So right now, all of the imminent threats are gone, but We’re just dealing with the aftermath of a line of really slow moving storms that dropped a lot of rain So we’ve seen you know flooded roads and things like that
Jerry Quijano [00:02:54] And I’ve been seeing lots of social media videos, particularly in Waco. It seemed like there was lots of bad flooding and when we get bad flooding over here, lots of road closures tend to happen. Do we know how many road closurs there were today here in Austin?
Chelsey Zhu [00:03:07] Yeah, so last I checked, there were more than 100 low water crossings that were closed across the Austin area.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:14] And I saw even as part of your reporting that there was a water rescue. Tell us more about that.
Chelsey Zhu [00:03:18] Yeah, so this happened before five in the morning this morning. There was a driver of a minivan who became stuck at a low water crossing. They were trying to drive through it. Austin Travis County EMS and the Austin Fire Department ended up responding and doing a water rescue, and they were able to safely get the driver out of the vehicle. And that person did not end up needing any medical care. And the last I checked with those two agencies, that was the one water rescue that happened within the city of Austin as a result of the flooding.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:48] Okay, well, we were aware that rain was going to be moving into the area, but lots of folks might have been awoken overnight with an alert on their phone. Gabriel, you’ve been looking into this alert. What exactly did it say?
Gabriel Niera [00:04:00] Yeah, so it was basically warning people about the flash flooding to not go out, to turn back. Basically the main messaging was stay safe, stay inside, and don’t get stuck on the roads.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:12] And some folks were concerned because they got an alert that said this was a critical, it still had the same language as a national weather service. Are these different kinds of alerts? Where do these alerts come from?
Gabriel Niera [00:04:23] Yeah, so they do come from the National Weather Service, and it’s a national program called the Wireless Emergency Alerts, and they specifically target your local cell towers to broadcast that message to you. There is a difference between the flood watches and the flood warnings, the flood warning’s being a little more serious, that’s where you get the kind of imminent threats.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:43] Okay, Gabriel, before you get out of here, you spoke with some local authorities about how they craft these messages and they also expressed some concerns about folks turning off these alerts. What did they have to say?
Gabriel Niera [00:04:54] Yes, so I spoke to Martin Ritchie. He’s the Director of Department of Homeland Security for the Capital Area Council of Governments. It’s a mouthful of a title. But basically he said that he does have conversations with the stakeholders, he has conversations with the community and it’s something that they’re constantly working on, but that he was proud of the response. This is what he said.
Martin Ritchie [00:05:13] I’m very proud of the first responders that were out there doing their job. And I think the community should respect that by keeping that switch on. It’s, I apologize for those that feel they were woken up, even if it wasn’t sent by our system, but just I apologize on behalf of the whole way we approach this stuff for the inconvenience. But… I do want people to know it’s essential that we can reach you.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:46] Okay, so there’s a lot going on. We’ve been following lots of reporting. Chelsea, before you get out of here today, I know that there was talk about opening some floodgates as a result of the amount of rain that we have received. Did that end up happening?
Chelsey Zhu [00:05:59] Yeah, so the Lower Colorado River Authority, you know, which manages that part of the river, they opened a floodgate at Lake Bastrop Dam and at Tom Miller Dam around 8am this morning. So water from Tom Miller dam flows into Lady Bird Lake. So that’s where you’re going to see some of that impact. And then Lake Bastro Dam is east of Austin and it’s also flowing into the Colorado river eventually.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:23] Well, we know that you do a lot of reporting on these kinds of stories, Chelsea, these breaking news. And the weather here in Texas is always pretty crazy. You never know how quickly it can change. Can you remind us of ways that folks can stay weather aware ahead of future storms like this?
Chelsey Zhu [00:06:38] Yes, I definitely follow the National Weather Service, the Austin San Antonio office. They post a lot of updates both on their website and also on all of their social media accounts. There’s also Austin Emergency Management, which is the city’s official emergency agency. They also have social media counts that you can follow. And then, particularly right now with flooding, there is a website called atxfloods.com. Which has all of these low water crossings that are closed and where they’re at.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:08] All right. We have more about this story in today’s podcast, Show Notes, and at kut.org. We have been speaking with Chelsea Zhu and Gabriel Velázquez-Neda. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you. Thank you! With a budget deficit looming, the City of Austin continues to look for ways to trim costs among proposed cuts, reductions to funding for social services for non-profits. Sam Stark covers city government for our reporting partner, Austin Current, and he is here now to tell us the story. Hey Sam. Hey Jerry, how’s it going? I’m doing well. Thank you for being back in. Before we get into the specifics of these potential cuts, can you remind us why is the city of Austin facing a budget shortfall.
Sam Stark [00:07:58] Yeah, so it’s a number of things. It’s inflation, stagnant sales tax growth, constrained property tax revenue, and then that looming budget deficit you mentioned. Also, there was, of course, Proposition Q, which was handily beaten last year. That measure would have increased property taxes to fund city services. So all of these things combined have forced Austin City Council members to make a tough decision this budget session. And as you mentioned, one of those decisions or choices is that proposed $16.8 million cut to social service contracts.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:34] So what sort of nonprofit organizations does the city currently have contracts with?
Sam Stark [00:08:39] Quite a few. Dozens. They do things like housing services, legal aid, and mental health care. I talked to a couple of them. One of those is Family Eldercare, which helps housing insecure seniors find safe, affordable housing. They said that they’ve been hit by funding losses from nearly every level of donor since 2024. The CEO told me that that has translated to around $6 million in cuts. Um, and then they also received along with many of the nonprofits contracted through the city, a 10% reduction, uh, from the city last year.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:16] How is the city going about determining where to make the cuts to make up this budget shortfall?
Sam Stark [00:09:20] Yeah, so they haven’t publicly indicated which ones are being targeted yet, but they did approve an evaluation framework in February that would sort of look at them on these three tiers from this rubric. And so it’s legally obligated services, then they would look for overlapping funding and opportunities for consolidation. Before evaluating contracts based on performance and equity considerations.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:53] So who is most likely to be affected if these organizations lose funding? And conversely, how are these nonprofits responding?
Sam Stark [00:10:00] So the nonprofits are quite worried. As I said, with the family elder care situation, nonprofits are not in a great financial space as with many of us. They are facing increased competition for donors, donors who are also facing some of their own financial uncertainty. But in response to this proposition, a coalition of nonprofits called One Voice Central Texas urged the city to treat the reductions as, or a number of things. They had a list of items that they wanted city council to consider. One of those was treating the reductions as last resort, including these nonprofit voices in the conversation going forward, and then fully considering how these cuts would impact the vulnerable residents that nonprofits serve. So since they sent out that letter in late May, Several council members publicly supported the coalition’s approach, but it remains unclear whether city leaders are going to be able to avoid proposed cuts and keep the safety net relatively intact.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:09] Yeah, it’s still unclear. Have you seen any indication on how likely these cuts might be? Or is that something that’s still way down the line? This is a process that still has a lot to play out.
Sam Stark [00:11:20] Yeah, so the budget decision or budget conversations will be happening over the next couple of months. I think the final decision comes in August. But they did say on the city council message board that they would have a work session dedicated to discussing this. But I did talk to Council Member Lane, who said that she understands how important these nonprofits are and the services that they provide to the community. But she said it’s just a tricky situation for the reasons I described earlier. Also, with contracts already within the next budget, those contracts being APD and AFD, there’s just not a lot of wiggle room when it comes to what can be funded and what can’t.
Jerry Quijano [00:12:02] Okay, that is Sam Stark. He is the government reporter for Austin Current. They are a reporting partner with Austin Signal and KUT News covering the city of Austin. We’re gonna have a link to his reporting in today’s show notes. Sam, always great to talk with you. Thanks, Sherry. And an update from this morning’s flooding. Austin Travis County EMS has reported another water rescue took place as a result of today’s rain. This one was in Maynard. There was one occupant in the vehicle who was safely removed. A Travis County judge could sign off today on Austin’s use of hotel occupancy taxes to help pay for the Convention Center expansion. The Austin City Council approved last month issuing a $1.3 billion bond to move the project forward. City leaders hope to use the money from hotel occupant taxes to help down that debt. This is Austin Signal, we’ll be back after a break.
Kristen Cabrera [00:12:59] Hi, this is Kristin Cabrera, Managing Producer for Austin Signal. KUT Field Guide to Austin’s Summer Reading Bingo Challenge is underway. Do you need a few book recommendations to get you started? Well, here are two. Jade City by Fonda Lee is the first book in a trilogy called The Greenbone Saga. It’s an urban fantasy that takes place in a world not unlike our own, except in this one, people who wear Jade get super speed and strength. The story centers around the Kahl family, who are the center of this crime organization. The book is an action-packed mix of The Godfather meets Enter the Dragon, with just a dash of superpowers. But overall, it’s the characters who really stick with you. Reading Jade City had me completely invested in what was going to happen with the Kohl family and those around them. The author Fonda Lee does a masterful job in writing character dynamics that will leave you thinking about them way after you close the third book. I highly recommend you read Jade City for the fantasy square of the bingo card. The second book I recommend is The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. This is book one of the five-part Stormlight Archive series. The book is pure adventure and fantasy, but is grounded in the deep human emotions of its characters. And though this would also take care of the fantasy square on the bingo card, I actually recommend this for the audiobook square. Not only because The Way Of Kings is long, but because the two audiobook narrators Michael Kramer and Kate Redding are fan- fantastic, and really do a great job of immersing you in the story. You can find out more about the KUT Field Guide to Austin Summer Reading Bingo Challenge like how to get your own bingo card in today’s podcast show notes and at KUT.org. I’m Kristin Cabrera and you’re listening to Austin Signal.
Jerry Quijano [00:14:55] It’s Last Call tonight at the Paramount Theater, as the historic venue prepares to close for the next 11 months. The downtown Austin landmark is undergoing a major restoration project for the first time in decades. But before the curtain falls, the Paramound is hosting its free Last Call open house event where the public can grab drinks, seeing the renovations so far, and say goodbye to the theater for now. Here to tell us more about the renovations and the event is Jim Ritz, Paramount Theater CEO and executive director. Jim, welcome back to the show. It’s so lovely to be with you. We are very excited to hear about this project. So tell us a little bit about what sort of renovations are going on and what are planned for the future.
Jim Ritts [00:15:37] Well, first of all, starting with the Paramount Theater, the 110-year-old Paramount Theater, we are doing the first full restoration in almost five decades of the theater. The single question that everybody asked me, I’ll answer right up front, yes, we’re replacing all of the seats at the Paramound Theater. And the second most asked question is, no, we are not filling in the Houdini hole at the top of the Paramout Theater. So if I can just get those headlines right out of the way.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:06] I think a lot of people just breathe sighs of relief for both of those.
Jim Ritts [00:16:08] You’re absolutely right about that. But what we are doing is a number of things. We’re on the National Registry, so we’re not changing anything structurally. But the first part of it is we’re a union house, a very proud union house with Local 205 of IATSE. And we have some extraordinary lighting and audio folks on our staff. We are improving the tools that they will have. And I think that’s really important. Secondly, we are looking at the the outer lobby where you enter in and currently it isn’t terribly friendly for somebody who is in a wheelchair or walker or just needs a little bit of time so we will be flattening that entry level and having a specific lane specifically for those folks instead of them having to fight between the other you know 1,100 people who are coming in waiting in lines. Then we are refreshing all of the ornamentation on the walls. And actually it will take four months alone for that. Everything when you are in our inner lobby or you’re in the auditorium, she is absolutely beautiful, but she needs a little work. And so once we get all the seats out, we will have scaffolding all over the entire auditorium in the inner lobby. And it is individual artists by hand. Freshening, changing some colors to make it consistent with when the Majestic Theater became the Paramount Theater in 3031, our color palette is now going to be consistent with what 3031 would have been, so there’ll be a little cleaner feel, a little more consistency. And one of the other really important things we’re doing is in the original 1915 plans, John Eberson, the architect for the majestic theater. On the third floor of the theater, behind the three opera windows, in the original 1915 plans, there was supposed to be a ballroom behind those three opera, opera windows. Well, they put in the crown molding, they put it in the opera windows but they never built out the ballroom. And so for many decades, it was just storage. And then for the last 25 plus years, we had little warns of offices of our staff members and things like that. What we are going to do in working with the design group of Paul Clayton and Clayton Cordy architects, we are gonna build out the ballroom and finish it for the first time. So it’s gonna be a really cool place for the public and others. We can have small events in there, but we’re finishing, you know, it took us 110 years, but we are finishing the original plan. So those are a lot of the things that are going on.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:52] Yeah, you mentioned a hundred and ten year old building five decades since the last restoration why now to to undergo this process.
Jim Ritts [00:18:59] Well, the reality is would love to have done it seven years ago, but when the pandemic hit it hit all of us and it took us two or three years to recover. The reason we’re doing it now is it’s time. We’re so fortunate that the theater has held up as well as it has, but we need to do some of the things some people don’t think of sexy, but were upgrading the HVAC systems and everything. And yes that’s to help the artists and the patrons feel more comfortable but the reality is the enemy of all of the artwork that is on our walls is changing temperature and changing humidity and until we change all of that we’ll put all this work into it and then not protect it so we’ll be doing that we needed to do these things now we need it we needed three years ago to replace all our seats so we’ve been We’ve been out in the community, they’ve been incredibly helpful. We’ve raised a little over $31 million, or about halfway to the total of what we’re going to do to the paramount and the complete re-imagining of the state theater, which will happen next. But we still need help from folks and we’re grateful for how supportive the Austin community has been.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:12] So the theater is going to be closing down for 11 months or so, but the plans for the shows are going to ongoing. I’m thinking right now the summer classic film series is something that everybody partakes in or tries to get out and get a piece of. How is the programming going to continue for the Paramount through this closure?
Jim Ritts [00:20:30] Two ways. One of the things, the State Theater in Paramount will never be closed at the same time. So on tonight, we’re having the last call, which we’ve invited the community at no cost. Come in, have a low-cost beverage with this kind of old school pricing. Have a photo with the fire curtain, which is one of only eight in the United States. Have a chance to say goodbye to her for eleven months but what we are doing is uh… We will be producing wall-to-wall the state theater particularly with the summer classic film series although and we’re really grateful to the bullock museum in the i’m i’m ax theater we’re going to be taking ten over the course of the summer of our uh… Classic movies and will be playing them there at i’m max the first one actually is on Tuesday. Of next week, Jaws, you’ll have a chance to see it there, or The Wizard of Oz in 3D on June 23rd. The other thing is we’re producing shows over at AISD, a performing arts center near Mueller, Radio East, we’re looking at some other places, so we will still be producing a lot of content over the course of the almost 11 months that will be closed.
Jerry Quijano [00:21:44] Okay, well, I’m really looking for, I mean, I loved going to see 2001 at the Paramount, but I’m excited to check it out at the IMAX this year and see just how different that experience might be. One thing I wanted to ask you about is I’ve seen on social media some of the excavation that has been going on. There’s been old newspaper clippings and old popcorn bags that have been drawn out. Is there anything that stood out to you from this excavation process that just really kind of made you shake your head and say wow.
Jim Ritts [00:22:08] Well, I’ve, I have been stunned at, and I’m, I’m so grateful to, uh, to our team, uh for the creation of Trash Talk, which is basically been what everybody has, Tori Schultz, who is, uh has done TikTok with us and is, is one of our key people in communications. The world is fascinated by the detritus of what’s been left behind. Candy boxes, jewelry, cell phones, all the things going back for almost 110 years. And when we go in and opening some of these walls and things or some of the work that we’re gonna be doing, I think it’s gonna be fascinating to see what else we think. But there is a massive, massive curiosity within this community for the trash talk of the Paramount Theater. We’ve found it really amusing.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:57] Fantastic, all right, we have been speaking with Jim Ritz. He is the Paramount Theater CEO and executive director. We’re gonna have a link to tonight’s event in our show notes. Jim, great to talk with you. And Jerry, thank you so much. And thank you out there for tuning in to today’s show. There’s more from us at kut.org slash signal. Rayna Sevilla is our technical director, Alexandra Hart is our producer, and Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer. I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. We will talk to you tomorrow.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
