Steven Rivas

If you heard my Sonic ID on @KUT: 1. Please Vote 🗳 2. Donate to your local NPR station bit.ly/3Hxow4u Many thanks to @sumaiyasaidthis for taking the time to 🎙 #1A #SupportJournalism

A new milestone for humankind: The crew of Artemis II are now the farthest any human has ever travelled, reaching a maximum distance of 252,752 miles from Earth. This surpasses the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by about 4,102 miles.

@BikeLaneSpencer @MichaelEWebber With a construction cost of nearly $200M per mile.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this, so here’s my ferry proposal. Every stop connects to high-capacity transit or a popular, parking-constrained area. Do we have funding? No. Should we build it soon? Also no. But 15-20 yrs from now, this could be a strong E/W link.

Austin passed an ordinance requiring a systemic citywide performance and efficiency review/audit of city operations. Today, we issued a solicitation for an independent, outside consultant to perform this assessment. I'm very pleased that we're moving forward. The solicitation will be open for a month, after which we will evaluate and select the independent consultant. We're working to assure the best process and best consultant. This has never been done in Austin. I'm not sure it's been done anywhere in the country. A full review of operations to assure savings, efficiency and effectiveness. A key part of my Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Innovation Agenda at City Hall. I'm thankful for the careful, but rapid, work of Jason Hadavi, the City Auditor, and Shawn Willett, our Deputy Procurement Officer. More information: bit.ly/4v1SirW

New: The Williamson County GOP @WilcoGOP is returning to countywide polling for the May primary runoff, telling Republican supporters in an email that “we heard your feedback, your frustrations and your anger.” “One vote lost is too many,” the email says. #txlege

46 years ago tonite: Who Shot JR?

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has joined Trump in jawboning the energy market. In a press conference, he said that Israel won't attack anymore oil and gas targets in Iran, and also indicated that the war would be over faster than people think.

Providing an update on the damage from the missile attacks on Ras Laffan Industrial City H.E. Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi: The missile attacks reduced Qatar’s LNG export capacity by 17% and caused an estimated loss of $20 billion in annual revenue - Extensive damage to our production facilities will take up to five years to repair and will compel us to declare long-term force majeure QatarEnergy expects the damage to its Ras Laffan Industrial City caused by missile strikes, which occurred on Wednesday 18 March 2026, and in the early hours of Thursday 19 March 2026, to cost about $20 billion a year in lost revenue and to take up to five years to repair, impacting supply to markets in Europe and Asia. Providing an update on the damage to the facilities at Ras Laffan Industrial City, His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said “I am relieved to confirm that no one was injured by these unjustified and senseless attacks, which weren’t just an attack on the State of Qatar but attacks on global energy security and stability. This was an attack on all of us who stand for development and human progress that is sustained by a fair, reliable, and secure access to energy.” The attacks damaged two liquefied natural gas (LNG) producing Trains 4 and 6 totaling 12.8 million tons per annum (MTPA) of production, representing approximately 17% of Qatar’s exports. Train 4 is a joint venture between QatarEnergy (66%) and ExxonMobil (34%), and Train 6 is a joint venture between QatarEnergy (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%). His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi said: “The damage sustained by the LNG facilities will take between three to five years to repair. The impact is on China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium. This means that we will be compelled to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts.” The attacks also targeted the Pearl GTL (Gas-to-Liquids) facility, a production sharing agreement operated by Shell, that converts natural gas into high-quality cleaner burning drop-in fuels and produces base oils used to make premium engine oils and lubricants, and paraffins and waxes. “The damage caused to one of the two trains at Pearl GTL is being assessed and is expected to be offline for a minimum of one year” His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi added. It should be noted that there will be a loss of associated product production due to this outage as follows: · Condensates: 18.6 million barrels which is around 24% of Qatar’s exports · LPG: 1.281 MT which is around 13% of Qatar’s exports · Naphtha: 0.594 MT which is around 6% of Qatar’s exports · Sulfur: 0.18 MT which is around 6% of Qatar’s exports · Helium: 309.54 MCFA which is around 14% of Qatar’s exports His Excellency the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy paid tribute to the Qatari military and security forces and to the energy sector emergency response teams whose courage and extraordinary professionalism ensured the situation was contained quickly and safely. #Qatar

Pretty astonishing. In Texas, between 10:00 am and 4:00 p.m., 80-90% of electricity comes from carbon free sources. And storage is already a significant contributor in the early morning and evening

Today’s news is hard to take in. I’m thinking of @DoloresHuerta and everyone impacted. She’s spent her life showing up for others. Now it’s our turn to show up for her with love & care. Here in Austin, I’m joining the growing call to honor her, including renaming César Chávez St. in her name, and lifting up Gustavo L. “Gus” García by renaming the East César Chávez District. Be decent. Be steady. Be there for each other.

Hard-working Austinites pay taxes expecting their city to keep people safe and healthy. That means supporting the services people rely on and making sure our public safety professionals are properly supported and able to go home safely to their families. Austin is a compassionate city. We should start acting like it again.

Austin can do better. .@CapMetroATX, the @austintexasgov, APD, public health leaders, and community organizations should come together now to strengthen safety. Better security on transit. Stronger public health programs. Support for social services that prevent crises before they happen.

CapMetro isn’t safe. Today two people were hospitalized after a violent assault on a CapMetro bus on South Lamar. Sadly this follows a fatal stabbing on a CapMetro bus last year and other serious assaults across our transit system. Public transit should be one of the safest ways to move around Austin.

Cornyn: "There’s only one person on the planet who knows what President Trump’s going to do, and that’s him." #TXSEN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Ken Paxton advances to primary runoff election for U.S. Senate in Texas. #APRaceCall at 10:50 p.m. EST. apnews.com/projects/elect…

Early vote in El Paso County, #TXSEN Talarico 62 Crockett 36 Cornyn 47 Paxton 36 Hunt 10

@KenPaxtonTX and the Texas Supreme Court has struck down the lower court order extending @DallasElections hours. If you have been in line since before 7pm you can still vote. Accordingly, @DallasElections will release the @dallasdemocrats early vote momentarily.

There are at least 200 voters still in line.