Austin News Feed

Austin news feed: 5 things Austinites wish they could bring back, UT misplaces brains and more

Austin Photo Set: News_Leslie Cochran_older photos_march 2012_3

Austinites note Leslie Corchran is dearly missed.

Leslie Cochran/ Facebook

Editor's note: Over the course of a week, we come across dozens of newsy tidbits and interesting links that we want to share with you. For this weekly roundup, we gather all the news we found fascinating, horrifying, important and hilarious.

1. Matthew McConaughey is a star — literally. Austinite Matthew McConaughey snagged his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week. (Insert obligatory, "alright, alright, alright" joke here.)

2. The Seattle Cider Co. is coming to town. Our craft cider scene just got a little bit bigger. The Seattle Cider Co. announced it will now be available in restaurants and bars around town. It joins such local cideries as Argus Cidery and Austin Eastciders who are infusing new life into this classic drink.

3. UT Tower shooter Charles Whitman's brain is missing. This creepy, crawly, totally engaging piece tells the tale of the Texas State Lunatic Asylum's brain collection. For years brains collected at the asylum sat in a basement at the University of Texas at Austin. Some of the brains — including Whitman's — have gone missing.

4. The top 5 things Austinites wish they could bring back. KVUE combed through thousands of comments to cull the top five things Austinites miss most. The list includes some sentimental answers as well as an obligatory dig at Austin traffic.

5. Beagle stows away in ambulance to accompany ailing owner to hospital. If this sweet story doesn't make you wanna squeal with joy, we don't know what will.

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Keeping The Lights On?

ERCOT meteorologist predicts higher chance of extreme cold this winter

Photo courtesy of KVUE

ERCOT says it has improved its reliability, but other Texans aren't sure it's enough.

The lead meteorologist for the state’s power grid operator, ERCOT, is predicting both a warmer winter and a higher chance of extreme cold.

During a Tuesday board meeting, Chris Coleman said current climate patterns are very similar to those in 2021 when a winter storm knocked out power for millions of Texans for several days.

“Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to have [Winter Storm] Uri, but it does again say that we’re in a pattern that supports something like a Uri this winter,” said Coleman, ERCOT's supervisor of operational forecasting.

Coleman compared his winter forecast to a tornado watch: The conditions are there, but the storm may or may not happen.

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas told KVUE on November 25 that he doesn’t expect calls for conservation or rolling blackouts.

“We're ready for those kinds of conditions at ERCOT,” said Vegas.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, Vegas touted nearly 3,000 weatherization inspections since 2021 and more than 10,000 megawatts of new generation added to the grid since March, mostly solar and battery storage. ERCOT estimates 1 megawatt can power 250 homes on average during peak winter demand.

However, Texas energy consultant Doug Lewin questions that math.

“[We are] better off than we were in February 2021 but not out of the woods,” said Lewin, who authors the Texas Energy and Power Hour newsletter and hosts the Energy Capital podcast. “We don’t have a system that’s resilient enough to deal with a Winter Storm Uri.”

Lewin points to two main reasons: a natural gas supply system he says is not adequately winterized, along with inefficient homes and buildings that push demand beyond supply.

“We have to bring that demand down and do that by increasing the programs we have for energy efficiency to replace inefficient heat with much more efficient forms of heat, like heat pumps.”

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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