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: Expect a high today of 92 and a low of 65. The rest of the week's high will be in the 90s but cooler weather may be on the way next week.
The tropics: There are no significant tropical systems in the Gulf or Caribbean regions. The Atlantic hurricane season ends on Nov. 30.
Election 2024: Early voting is underway and ends on Nov. 1. The ballot includes the presidential ticket as well as several statewide and local races. There are nearly 50 polling locations open across Bexar County, including libraries, community centers, and universities.
Hours for early voting in Bexar County:
- Mon., Oct. 21, thru Fri., Oct. 25: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Sat., Oct. 2: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Sun., Oct. 27: 12 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Mon., Oct. 28 thru Fri., Nov. 1: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Voter turnout in Bexar County still going strong
Turnout across the county increased during the second day of early voting. The elections department reported 48,067 people cast a ballot on Tuesday —an increase of 1,164 voters from Monday.
The elections department said 94,970 people have voted across the county so far. Northwest Vista College and Encino and Brook Hollow libraries have been the busiest polling locations, where the process for some took 90 minutes.
The ballot is long this election season, and election officials recommend that voters review their ballots and make their decisions before heading to their polling places.
But as election workers deal with the positivity of big turnout, they also have to deal with threats against them too.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said security is place at the election headquarters downtown, and the elections administrator is in close contact with law enforcement officials.
Castro slams Trump over his comments on Guillen funeral
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro criticized former president Donald Trump over his comments about Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, a soldier who was murdered on Fort Cavazos in 2020, and the Mexican American community in general.
Trump was quoted in a recent article in The Atlantic. According to the article, he told the Guillen family he would ensure funeral costs are paid, even if he had to pay personally. Later when he asked about the costs and was shown the bill, according to the article, he said the family was trying to rip him off and made racially charged comments toward the Mexican community.
Castro said that was an indication of what kind of president he will be: “I would say, think about it this way, if he doesn't respect someone like Vanessa Guillen, who was who loved her country, who was patriotic, who was willing to put her life on the line for the line for the country, who served in the Army and who was murdered. If he doesn't respect somebody like that in the Mexican American community, then do you think he respects anybody else in the Mexican American community?”
Mayra Guillen, Vanessa Guillen’s sister, defended the former president on X and said he was always respectful to them, and that she voted for him. Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House chief of staff, also defended him and said the former president wanted to ensure the government did right by the Guillen family.
Wow.
— Mayra Guillen (@mguilen_) October 22, 2024
I don’t appreciate how you are exploiting my sister’s death for politics- hurtful & disrespectful to the important changes she made for service members. President Donald Trump did nothing but show respect to my family & Vanessa. In fact, I voted for President Trump today. https://t.co/o8cDrKOKBV
AG Paxton sues Biden administration over voter data
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration for allegedly failing to provide citizenship data on Texas voters.
Paxton claimed the federal government had not checked the status of a list of 450,000 voters because they registered without a state-issued diver’s license or ID card.
He said the administration is legally obligated to assist states in verifying the citizenship status of registered voters.
It was Paxton’s latest attempt to find noncitizen voters — something that is incredibly rare. Paxton acknowledged in his letter that the majority of voters on the list are likely eligible to vote.
SAWS nears end of consent decree with EPA
The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) is nearing the end of its more than a decade-long consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. An update SAWS gave to the city council on Tuesday demonstrated that it was on track to complete the consent decree requirements in 2026.
SAWS entered into the consent decree with the EPA in 2013 over sanitary sewer overflows that the federal government first contacted the water utility about in 2007.
In 2010, SAWS had more than 10 of these spills per 100 miles of sewer line. Now, that number has dropped to just over two spills per 100 miles.
The water utility has two final projects between Culebra and Bandera outside of Loop 410 with a combined cost of nearly $90 million.
Combat PTSD conference opens in San Antonio
UT Health San Antonio and the STRONG STAR Consortium is hosting the 9th annual Combat PTSD Conference in San Antonio.
The two-day conference began Tuesday at the Briscoe Western Art Museum. It's for all military members to attend and see recent advancements in PTSD research.
Organizers explained in a statement that the event is unique because it brings together "a worldwide audience of researchers, clinicians, leaders and policymakers in the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and others from academia and the private sector. Numerous military personnel, veterans and community members with an interest in military psychological health also join the proceedings, as do students and professional trainees."
Tuesday's keynote speaker was MJ Hegar, an Air Force rescue pilot who served in Afghanistan. She spoke about the challenges she confronted as a female service member. Today's speaker will be Craig Bryan, an expert on suicide and a psychiatry professor at Ohio State University. He'll discuss popular assumptions about suicide and ways to prevent it.
Review the schedule here.
Drought conditions in San Antonio region worsen
The U.S. Drought Monitor reported western Comal County and virtually all of Kendall and Bandera counties have some of the worst drought conditions in the nation, rated as "extreme."
A disaster declaration was recently issued for Comal County due to wildfire risk.
Extreme northwest Bexar County was also rated with extreme drought conditions, while the rest of the county was rated with "moderate" drought conditions.
San Antonio International Airport has only recorded a little more than 21 inches since Jan. 1. That is nearly half-a-foot below the year-to-date average for the airport.
