Election Day is November 5th: Texans Can Early Vote from Monday, October 21st to Friday, November 1st
Early voting in Texas’ November 5th constitutional amendments election begins next Monday, October 21st and runs through Friday, November 1st. Voters will find ten proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution on the ballot, ranging from dedicating sporting goods sales tax revenue to the maintenance of public parks and historic sites (Prop. 5), to doubling the amount of bonds the state can issue on behalf of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (Prop. 6), to retiring law enforcement animals (Prop. 10). Additionally, voters in three state House districts, located in Dallas, Harris and Fort Bend Counties, will participate in special elections to fill empty seats. Many counties are rolling out new voting machines for the November election as well; the new machines will allow voters to cast their vote electronically while also providing a paper backup of their ballot.
Professor John Goodenough of The University of Texas at Austin Shares Nobel Prize in Chemistry
John B. Goodenough, a professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry this past week. He shares the award with Stanley Whittingham of the State University of New York at Binghamton and Akira Yoshino of Meijo University, “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” In the words of the Nobel Foundation, “Through their work, they have created the right conditions for a wireless and fossil fuel-free society, and so brought the greatest benefit to humankind.”
Only in Austin…
The 2019 Austin City Limits Festival wrapped up Sunday night after two full weekends of glorious music and fun. This year’s ACL Fest featured an incredible line up of artists and extremes in temperatures over both weekends. Crowds were wowed by The Cure, Childish Gambino (Donald Glover’s last performance as Gambino), Guns N’ Roses, Cardi B, Billie Eilish (guess who showed up for her set!), Lizzo, Kacey Musgraves, Gary Clark Jr. and Asleep at the Wheel, to mention only a few amazing acts. The Austin High School marching band even got in on the action, performing on stage with Mumford and Sons to close out the last night of the festival. Can’t wait to see the 2020 lineup!