This is TPR's roundup of the latest headlines and news developments. It provides a succinct and clear summary of the stories TPR is following.
Today's weather: Fall has finally arrived. Expect a high today of 80 and a low of 50. Highs will remain under 85 and the weather will remain mostly sunny through the weekend. Next week will be warmer again.
The tropics: The Natural Hurricane Center continues to monitor a slowly developing system over the mid-Atlantic. It will move over Puerto Rico by this weekend and likely strengthen into a tropical depression. The Atlantic hurricane season ends on Nov. 30.
Election 2024 voter guides: Charter amendments on council pay, term lengths, ethics revisions
Motion to remove Roberson judge is rejected
Attorneys for Robert Roberson were seeking to vacate his execution warrant by removing the judge in his case they say is biased and was improperly assigned to this case. That motion was rejected Tuesday.
Roberson was convicted of murdering his two-year-old daughter Nikki based on the debunked shaken baby syndrome. New evidence shows Nikki died from chronic illness and not physical abuse.
Roberson’s attorney said they are not giving up and are calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to commute Roberson’s death sentence, scheduled for Thursday.
There has been an outpouring of bipartisan support for Roberson from across the United States trying to save his life.
City Council to vote on fines for dangerous dog owners later this year
The council will consider a new pseudonym program for residents who report that their neighbors own loose or dangerous dogs but don’t want to use their legal name. Animal Care Services has often heard residents say they don’t report dangerous dogs because they are fearful of retaliation from the animals’ owners.
ACS is also proposing steeper fines for general loose and dangerous dog violations, as well as new fines after a dog bites someone. Current fines for loose and dangerous dog violations are between $100 and $300. It would add a $500 fine for the second offense and a $750 fine for the third offense.
There would also be new fines for dog bites. A fine of $1,000 for the first offense, $1,500 for the second offense, and $2,000 for the third.
The city council will vote on the proposed changes later this year.
Former Castroville police chief convicted
A federal jury has convicted a former Castroville police chief on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to court documents, 58-year-old Christopher Filline developed a scheme in 2016 to defraud Farmers Insurance Group by destroying his vehicle that he insured through the company and claiming it had been stolen.
He arranged for two co-conspirators to take the vehicle and light it on fire using an accelerant.
He subsequently filed an insurance claim with Farmers, declaring his vehicle had been stolen. The filing resulted in Filline receiving a more than $14,000 payment.
He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing has been set for Jan. 22.
San Antonio observes October as Manufacturing Month
Local business and elected leaders are marking October as Manufacturing Month to draw attention to the one of the biggest economic sectors in San Antonio.
The 1,600 manufacturers in the area are a $13 billion annual economic generator for the San Antonio area. They employ more than 60,000 people.
The biggest of them all is Toyota Texas, which churns out one truck or SUV every 60 seconds from its South Side plant. Toyota also has 23 local suppliers.
JCB is expected to begin pushing new heavy equipment outside its South Side plant doors in 2028. Commercial truck maker International, the former Navastar, is also located on the South Side.
Startup Week continues in downtown San Antonio
San Antonio Startup Week continues today at the downtown headquarters of Geekdom — the tech incubator and coworking space. This year's focus is on Latino and women-owned startups.
Tuesday's theme was “Invest in Latinx.” Juan Carlos Leaño del Castillo, administrative vice president of Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, was the keynote speaker. He said that when people think of Mexico, they usually think of a developing country, and don't consider its talented workforce.
"But the thing is that we have creative talent," he said. "We have talent that's really qualified, and we have hub of universities in Guadalajara, for example, that makes sense, that we open more collaboration ... so that we can bring the best practices from and to wherever we go."
He added that the Mexican business community is excited about San Antonio's growth in recent years. "I'm really happy, surprised and excited for what I've seen in the last couple, two to five years, what San Antonio has grown into," he said, "and ... that sense of the real entrepreneurship — real things are happening in San Antonio."
Today's theme is "Invest in Women." Learn more at SASW.co.
CityFest begins on Monday, Oct. 28
The San Antonio Report announced the lineup for this year's CityFest.
It begins on Monday, Oct. 28, with a discussion at the Texas Public Radio headquarters about the future of downtown San Antonio. Panelists will include City Manager Erik Walsh, Andres Andujar of Hemisfair, Trish DeBerry of Centro San Antonio, UTSA’s Veronica Salazar and Weston Urban’s David Robinson Jr.
The next day, four former mayors — Phil Hardberger, Ivy Taylor, Henry Cisneros and Nelson Wolff — will headline the keynote luncheon at the Witte Museum.
More information can be found at cityfestSA.org.
