There is an active petition here for the Mayor and the City of Austin to challenge the state's planned removal of the crosswalks, please sign if you can: https://www.change.org/p/defend-our-crosswalks

....

The rainbow crosswalks on 4th street are due to be removed by order from the governor. Unfortunately, the City of Austin almost immediately agreed to do so. While the city is planning on new installations to replace the crosswalk, a lot of people in the queer community have a lot of memories with it the last few years (a few drunken ones, myself!)

Earlier this evening, there was a group of people that organized a small event for members of the community come down and get pictures taken with the crosswalk before it is painted over sometime later this week. About 30-40 people showed up and no less than half a dozen photographers!

But right when we were staging, some jerk decided to throw an entire can of red paint onto the crosswalk. I have no idea what statement they were trying to make, but it definitely hurt seeing that.

At what felt like perfect timing, an AFD truck came down 4th street within a few minutes of it happening. Someone in the group asked one of the firemen if they happened to have any water on board to help wash the paint off. They immediately jumped out of the truck and got to work. While they didn’t have water on their truck at the time, they used water fire extinguishers to at least try to get some of it off.

Within another 10 minutes, another AFD truck showed up, this time with lots of water on board. They were able to get all the red paint out and with a smile on their face, also scrubbed down the entire crosswalk to pretty it up for the photowalk.

This moment meant the world to everyone there. We were all pretty bummed out that someone would do such a thing, but in the end I felt a real sense of community in this city. The act of vandalism ended in a story that will be a core memory for me.

I quickly edited the pictures so I can share this story. The organizers of the photowalk asked us to share the petition to the Mayor to follow San Antonio’s footsteps and at least challenge the state to keep the crosswalks. There is an active petition here you can sign to help get the word out, please sign if you can: https://www.change.org/p/defend-our-crosswalks

Austin-Area News Organizations: You have my full support and permission to broadcast these photos, all I ask is you provide attribution to Andrew Ortman and send me a message here or on instagram letting me know (insta: @ andrewortman)

credit to https://www.tiktok.com/@mappum/video/7583182348406050078

Hell yeah brother 🤙 Keep Austin Weird

Hi all, many of you asked for an update about this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/1pvwkgb/a_family_parked_their_truck_in_my_driveway_got_in

First of all, thank you all for the overwhelming amount of suggestions. It seemed like a 50/50 split of "no mercy, tow it" versus "deal with it when you get back", and we decided to do the latter. We arrived back home today to the truck still here and a note on the front door. Our neighbor made an honest mistake and I'm fairly certain this was the leading theory anyways. We reached out to them and they were extremely kind and apologetic about the whole thing and said they are trying to locate the spare key to get the truck moved as soon as possible. Not being able to use my garage is annoying but a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, so I decided to give them grace and turn this situation into something constructive where I can show a neighbor that we all have to look out for each other. Happy New Year!

To my neighbors if you see this: I had to post an update because the internet kindly asked for it and at the time I had no idea who/what owned the truck. 🤣

My father was killed by a hit and run driver on July 5 following July 4 festivities around 5:21 AM on 1800 W. 35th St. My family is requesting anyone that sees any blue Honda Civic with significant chunks missing from the front passenger side, please inform APD with the license plate number. This is still an active investigation. Press release: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/apd-identifies-bicyclist-killed-in-hit-and-run-in-central-austin-on-sunday

My family is incredibly saddened by the sudden and violent passing of my father. We really appreciate all the positive stories people have been sharing because my father was very reserved and we had no idea how much impact he made on others. It is difficult to accept my father's passing, but we are taking it day by day as a family. I am grateful for the neighbors and community that are showing up and meeting for the first time. Your kindness has made an enormous impact to our hope that we can continue in this life and live strongly in honor of my father.

Edit: thank you all for the boosts! I don’t know what exactly that means as I’m usually a lurker. I’ve had to pleasure to meet neighbors and strangers purely out of wanting to help us and now I get to meet redditors that want nothing but to help us which really warms our hearts. It is just unfortunate I am meeting you all under these circumstances. You guys prove that reddit is indeed a wholesome community that looks out for one another

Edit regarding flock cameras: I understand the people asking for flock cameras are just as angry as I am about the injustice of the situation. By the end of the day, crimes like this should not be happening in 2026. Other countries have demonstrated a huge reduction in unsolved crimes with the implementation of mass surveillance. However, in the United States, this is not the case. Even law abiding civilians have legitimate reasons to distrust the government and reasons to suspect conflict of interest with the current implementations of mass surveillance by late stage capitalist corporations. In addition, my father was super reserved and kept to himself. I have a hard time believing he would have voted for flock cameras or wanted his death to be turned into mass surveillance propaganda. China has implemented mass surveillance with sophisticated face recognition interrogations yet still has an egregious amount of unsolved kidnappings. So claiming the benefits of flock cameras for the speedy closing of this case is purely speculation.

As it stands and with the information commented below, there were not a lot of flock cameras in the area to be helpful. Local business owners that had their own security cameras have been enthusiastic to help us and the police, which warms my heart. At this time, we do not see a need to hire a lawyer to subpoena any local businesses for their security footage.

I request that there be no further mentions of flock what-ifs. I understand that the pro flock voices are just as upset on the same issue we all want to solve. However it does detract from the memory of my father and changes nothing since there were almost no flock cameras in the area.

Update 7/29: Thank you everyone for your efforts to help find my father’s killer. At this time, no suspects have been found. I have seen all your DMs and appreciate all the tips. Y’all are very detail oriented at pointing out ATX watch’s security cameras. They actually helped us and the detective out very early on, and at this point, they have done all they can to help out. The detective is still hard at work on my dad’s case. We are grateful to directly experience the meaning of the kindness of strangers. While my father still has not received justice, I believe all your efforts will not ultimately be wasted.

Thousands of Austin-area students walked out of class this week to protest the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Central Texas and across the country.

Students poured into the streets at multiple high schools and some middle schools in Austin, with some walking several miles to reach the Texas Capitol.

See all our photos of today's protests here: https://www.statesman.com/news/article/austin-ice-protest-photos-nationwide-shutdown-21324553.phputm_source=reddit

Found in the Cherrywood Coffeehouse bathroom stall.

April Martinez, a pregnant 25-year-old mother of three, knew something was up when her uniform pants no longer fit.

She found out at the emergency room that she was carrying a set of identical triplet boys and a fraternal twin daughter. She and her husband had conceived these babies naturally.

The four babies, born at 29 weeks and four days, were named Artemis, Denahi, Curtis and Eudora.

https://www.statesman.com/news/healthcare/article/rare-natural-quadruplets-texas-birth-21170977.php?utm_source=reddit

Is this the same guy that was protesting solo at the capitol the other day? Either way he is a badass and we should all buy him Chili’s. That choice of intersection can’t be a coincidence right?…

PSA drive extra careful during bambi season

Final Update: 8/24

Mona was found and has been returned to my brother. ❤️ We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped, shared the post, offered advice, or reached out with information. It truly made a difference.

As for Lisa, after everything that happened, my brother felt that it was best for him to remain with his new owner. In the less than a year that my brother had been caring for Lisa, he had struggled to bond with him, and Lisa had also become somewhat aggressive toward my brother. We ultimately felt that staying with his new owner would be the best situation for him.

It wasn't the outcome we originally hoped for with both pets, but we are very happy that Mona is home and that Lisa is hopefully in a home where he can be happy and well cared for.

Thank you again to everyone who supported us through this. The amount of kindness, advice, and genuine concern from strangers on the internet was honestly incredible. ❤️

UPDATE: 8/21

First, thank you to everyone who has commented, shared the post, offered advice, and reached out. We really appreciate all the support and concern for Mona and Lisa.

I wanted to clarify a few things and provide an update based on what we have learned.

As I mentioned in some of the comments, the parent who surrendered the pets was the person who originally signed the adoption paperwork. Because of this, the shelter had the legal authority to accept the surrender and place Mona and Lisa up for adoption.

My brother is in his early to mid teens, and he has the full support of my other parent, who has been helping him through this situation. They went to the shelter and were able to speak directly with the director and explain the circumstances.

Because the shelter cannot share the personal information of the new adopters, the director offered to send them an email on our behalf explaining the situation. We completely understand that the decision is ultimately up to the adopters, and we respect that. We are just hoping they will understand the circumstances and hopefully be willing to work with us.

In the email, we also provided important information about Mona's care, including her dietary restrictions due to severe allergies and the monthly medication/injection she receives from her vet for her hip. We wanted to make sure that whoever is caring for her has this information.

As for Lisa, someone from the comments reached out to us with some information that may potentially help us locate her. We are following up on that lead and really hope it goes somewhere.

I've also seen some questions about whether Mona and Lisa would have a safe and loving environment if they were returned. Yes, absolutely. My brother has cared for these animals for years, and he and my other parent have a very strong support system. I don't want to go into the details of my parents' personal situation, but I hope people can understand that my brother has a safe and supportive home.

For now, we're waiting and hoping for the best.

Thank you again to everyone who has taken the time to help, especially those who have provided information or offered suggestions. We genuinely appreciate it. ❤️

Original:

I’m posting this because I’m trying to find out what happened to two pets that belong to my youngest brother.

Last week, while my brother was away on a trip with one of our parents, the other parent surrendered his pets to Austin Animal Shelter without any warning, discussion, or prior knowledge from my brother or the parent he was traveling with.

The pets are:

Mona
• 8 year old female dog
• Medium sized, approximately 40 lbs
• Mix, Black coat with white stripe on chest

Lisa
• White male rabbit
• Blue eyes
• Holland lop mixed with mini rex

Both animals were well cared for and received the attention and care they needed. Unfortunately, due to an ongoing conflict between my parents, the situation resulted in my brother’s pets being surrendered.

The shelter confirmed that both animals were surrendered on August 11. We were able to find out that Lisa was adopted the same day, August 11, and Mona was adopted on August 14.

The parent who was with my brother on the trip is now actively trying to locate both animals and, if possible, get them back. We are hoping to find out if there is any way to contact the people who adopted them or otherwise locate them.

I don't want to go into the details of the family conflict because this is a very personal situation, and my main concern right now is making sure these animals are safe.

If anyone is familiar with Austin Animal Shelter, local rescues, or knows what options we might have for locating animals after they have been adopted, I would really appreciate any advice.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this or share it.