KUT Staff

Central Texas is helping those in Moore, Oklahoma and surrounding areas in relief and rescue efforts.

Last night, Texas Task Force 1 was dispatched to Oklahoma, an elite search and rescue team which includes 5 members from the Austin Fire Department.

Members of an elite search team from Texas were dispatched to Oklahoma last night. The team is already on the field helping with recovery following the massive tornado that hit Moore on Monday afternoon. 

Gov. Rick Perry announced the activation of Texas Task Force 1 last night. The rescue group includes 70 first responders specialized in victim extraction and medical treatment, also including rescue dogs, hazardous material specialists and structural engineers.  Five members of Texas Task Force 1 are from the Austin Fire Department. 

Last November, Austin voters were asked to approve almost $80 million for affordable housing.

They chose not to.

As the city considers putting the question to voters again this fall, KUT News asks: just how does affordable housing work in Austin?

President Barack Obama's trip to Austin is creating quite the conversation on social media. The KUT Staff is curating a Storify timeline of President Obama's trip. Visit often for new updates. 

There’s road closures in place this morning for the Texas Peace Officers’ Memorial Parade.

The South Congress Avenue Bridge will be closed from 9 a.m. to noon.  Congress Avenue will be closed from Cesar Chavez to 11th Streets from 10:30 to 11 a.m. , and Colorado Street from 11th to 13th Streets will be partially closed until 2 pm. Here’s a map of closures.

Update: More signs from the City of Austin that Attorney General Greg Abbott's opinion won't mean any changes for now: a memo from City Manager Marc Ott on the matter. It reads, in part: 

While we will continue to evaluate the Attorney General’s opinion, it continues to be our belief that the City’s domestic partner group benefits program is not prohibited by the Texas Marriage Amendment, and that the Texas Legislature did not intend the Amendment to have that effect when it was placed before the voters in 2005.

The Attorney General’s opinion does not require the City to take any specific action, and we do not intend to change domestic partner eligibility for our benefits program at this time. 

More than 9,000 people gathered at Baylor University yesterday to honor the twelve firefighters and first responders who died in the West Fertilizer Plant Explosion.

KUT’s Terrence Henry traveled to Waco to tell us about the memorial service Thursday.  

Texas Gov. Rick Perry says a lack of state oversight is not to blame for the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in the town of West.

Gov. Perry told the Associated Press the explosion would not have been prevented if the state had earmarked more money for inspections. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality inspected the West Fertilizer Company for an air quality permit in 2007.

Update: Students in the town of West are back in class today for the first time since Wednesday’s deadly fertilizer plant explosion. Some school buildings were destroyed or damaged by the blast.

Older students are taking classes at an old school building in a nearby district. Some younger students are in portable classrooms. STAAR exams scheduled for Tuesday there are being delayed. For those who'd like to donate, the West Independent School District says monetary donations are best. 

Update (Saturday): As of 3 p.m. today, some residents of West, the site of a major explosion at a fertilizer plant Wednesday, will be allowed back into their homes in part of the severely damaged neighborhood in the north section of town. 

Residents 18 and over living in the area from Walnut street southward will be allowed to enter until 7 p.m. From 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., the city will have a curfew, and residents will need to either stay in their homes or leave the neighborhood. North of that area, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Vanek said at a press conference this afternoon that the city will work "as quickly as possible"to allow people back to their homes. More information for residents is available at the City of West's website.

Cedar Hill police are searching for 12-year-old Sommer Brown, a black female, 5’ 6", about 90 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, last seen wearing a black tank top and black basketball shorts.

Suspected in the abduction is 43-year-old Lisa Elizabeth Brown, black female, 5’ 8", 120 pounds, black hair and brown eyes, last seen wearing a black blazer and a light green shirt.

Some severe weather is bearing down on Central Texas.

The National Weather Service currently has a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for northwestern Travis County and Southwestern Williamson County. Some locations in that area include Lago Vista, Lakeway, Mansfield Dam, Bee Cave and Cedar Park. There are reports of large damaging hail up to golf ball size. The storm earlier produced baseball sized hail in Marble Falls. 

Update: The Austin Independent School District Board last night decided not to lease the Allan elementary school building to IDEA public schools. Allan is closing down at the end of the school year.

That’s because both Allan Elementary and Eastside Memorial High School were part of a plan involving charter school operator IDEA Public Schools. The board canceled the contract with IDEA in December.

How about farm fresh eggs without leaving your yard?

Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., it’s the Funky Chicken Coop Tour, the fifth annual tour of local neighborhood chicken dwellings in Austin.

Austin Community College is breaking ground today at a vacant JCPenney store in Highland Mall. The store will be converted into a learning environment for ACC.

"This is a really big day for ACC as well as the surrounding neighborhood and in fact all of the communities that we serve," ACC spokesperson Alexis Patterson said. "It’s great for the area. It brings new life, new people coming to the mall. And the mall’s still in operation, so we’re excited about the boost this is going to give to the mall as a whole.”