Scholarship Roundup

Young, ambitious dreamers: Rodeo Austin presents its next class of scholarshiprecipients

Gifts from US founder and Rodeo Austin Scholarship recipient Katherine Layton.

Every year, Rodeo Austin gathers many of the best and brightest students from across the state for a posed photo in front of the 35-foot bronze star outside of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

More than just a fancy photo op, this is the Rodeo's documentation of the 40 or so smiling faces that represent the year's batch of well-deserving scholarship recipients who have gathered together for the annual Rodeo Austin Scholarship Awards Ceremony.

And there's a reason these young men and women are smiling as well. During this year's ceremony, whihc will be held Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on that revered lawn, Rodeo Austin is awarding a record $453,000 to these 44 future leaders and dreamers.

One of their predecessors, Katherine Layton, a third-year Human Development and Family Sciences student at The University of Texas, will be in attendance to share her experiences as a Rodeo Austin scholar with the incoming class of 2012.

After being awarded $8,000 in scholarships from Rodeo Austin, Layton went on to found a nonprofit organization called Gifts from US, which she devised in response to the devastating wildfires that affected her hometown of Bastrop, TX.

In 2011, Layton collected money, clothing and necessities alongside a number of partnering organizations for victims of the wildfire. This year, she held a giant garage sale to benefit the tornado victims in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Eventually, she plans to take the organization nationwide and make the "US" in the title stand for the entire United States.

Inspiring stories like Layton's have long been a tradition of the Rodeo Austin scholarship recipients, and a reason for the educational focus of Rodeo Austin and The Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, which contributes more than $2 million annually to the continued education of Texas youth.

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The Rodeo Austin Scholarship Awards Ceremony begins Thursday, Aug 9 at 6 p.m. at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

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

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