Kelsey Johnson

The City of Austin has launched a redesigned website that contains an interactive project map where users can see progress on projects.

Last year, Austin voters passed a $90 million transportation bond to pay for more bike paths, sidewalks, streets and trails with hopes of reducing commuters' reliance on cars. Visitors of the site can view status reports, photos of projects and project updates.

The majority of Texas students who took the ACT college entrance exam this year don't have the necessary skills for college.

According to a report done on the class of 2011, many Texas students tested below the national average in reading, English and science. 101,569 graduates in Texas, or about 36% of the class of 2011, took the ACT.

Texans were slightly above the national average in mathematics, which is 45 percent of students passing, with 48 percent.

The SXSW Panel Picker is back and voting and commenting starts at 2 p.m. today for 2012. The Panel Picker allows users to vote on panel and presentation topics for the SXSW Festival.

People can respond to different ideas and decide what topics will be represented at the event. Voters have until September 2 to cast their idea.

You can sign up at the Panel Picker website to submit your idea.

The number of venomous bites and stings has increased since last year as the drought sends snakes and other wild animals searching for food and water.

Kelly Conrad Bender, an urban wildlife biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife, came to the University Medical Center Brakenridge to explain the changes in wildlife.

“Wildlife, these individual animals, has not experienced this kind of drought, but their species has. They are the result of thousands of years of adaptation to our climate and these droughts do happen occasionally, maybe once every 50 to 100 years. So the species, given appropriate habitat and given a good balanced stable habitat, they will survive and they’ll come out stronger,” Bender said.

An unusual visitor has wandered its way to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: a bison. The animal escaped last Wednesday when its owner was unloading it out of a cattle trailer. The Wildflower Center's senior director and botanist, Damon Waitt, says the American bison traveled ten miles to the center when gardeners noticed her.

The Austin Police Department is implementing a new strategy to fight crime.

The Real Time Crime Center, a room filled with computers and TV screens at the police headquarters, will allow officers to monitor police radio traffic 24 hours a day and provide more information on handling a scene before officers arrive.

APD Commander Troy Gay, who's in charge of the new center, told KUT News that it was a "force multiplier"

"They’re almost like an extension of patrol," he said. "They’re watching what patrol is doing and then providing additional information at that time."

Firefighters were called out just before 2:30 p.m. today to battle a brush fire on South Mopac (Loop 1) near the Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) exit.  The fire was controlled about 2:45 p.m. But Austin Police have temporarily closed the southbound onramp to Mopac from Barton Skyway because of the smoke put off by the fire. The onramp is expected to reopen after 3:30 p.m.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, (ERCOT), has asked consumers to conserve their electricity use from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today and for the remainder of the week.

Kent Saathoff, vice president of system planning and operations for ERCOT, explained the need in a press release.

“At this time, we expect to be tight over the peak hours today between 4-5 p.m., which means that significant generation outages could make us short of operating reserves."

The Texas Forest Service maintains a map of which counties in the state have outdoor burn bans, and notes them in red. As of this morning, the map makes Texas look like it's got a bad sunburn.

Roger Clemens - the former UT-Austin, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankee star, is requesting a judge get rid of his indictment on charges of lying to Congress to prevent him from being tried twice. 

One in four gay, lesbian or transgender teens and 15 percent of bisexual teens are homeless, according to a study issued by the American Journal of Public Health. This is in contrast to three percent of heterosexual teens who are homeless. The study was made up of 6,300 Boston, Mass. public high school students.

The Texas Workforce Commission puts the Central Texas jobless rate at 7.6 percent in June, up 0.8 percent over May.  Despite that, the Workforce Commission reports that 1,400 new private sector jobs were created in Austin last month. Lisa Givens, a commission spokesperson, says it's not uncommon to see both the unemployment rate and the number of newly-created jobs rise at the same time.

Nolan Ryan, the CEO and club president of the Texas Rangers, was hospitalized in Houston after experiencing discomfort in his chest yesterday morning at his home in Georgetown, according to a press release on the team's website.

Ryan is also part owner of the Round Rock Express. The 64-year-old received a double-bypass surgery in 2000.

He is currently undergoing tests for his reoccurring heart condition and  is expected to be released from the hospital sometime this week.

In case you haven't noticed, it is hot, hot, hot outside and Central Texas is in need of some showers. Late July and early August are normally the driest and hottest parts of the summer, so the chance of rain is slim.

What are you wearing today?  Are you in business attire? Is it "Casual Friday" where you work? Or are you just wearing a ratty old t-shirt, shorts and a pair of flip-flops? Well...someone noticed.