1 big thing: Our growing megalopolis

2. Disentangling UT football's playoff chances

Quarterback Quinn Ewers of the University of Texas celebrates scoring a touchdown in a November game. 

3. 🤠 The Roundup: Wrangling the news

4. Weekender guide

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5. Friday news quiz

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☀️ Today's weather: Pleasant. Mostly sunny, high of 72.

🎧 Sounds like: Taylor Swift's "Back to December."

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Austin member George Torres! And happy early birthday to member Anna Chamness.

Today's newsletter is 846 words — a 3-minute read.

Thanks to Chloe Gonzales for editing and Kate Sommers-Dawes and Keely Bastow for copy editing this newsletter.

🚗 Asher is very excited his Subaru Outback's odometer just struck 150,000 miles. 

🏃‍♀️ Nicole is headed to San Antonio for the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon.

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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Austin. Written by Nicole Cobler and Asher Price.

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1 big thing: Power grid preps for winter demand

Illustration of the state of Texas combined with an electricity pylon whose power lines are damaged and fallen

2. Texas Supreme Court hears abortion ban case

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4. 🔨 1 arena demolition to go

Destruction begins on the Erwin Center at the University of Texas.

⛷️ It's Wednesday, and downhill to the weekend.

☁️ Today's weather: Mostly cloudy with a high of 63. Showers likely overnight.

🎧 Sounds like: "Fleeting Feeling," by Austin musician Dom Francis, who's playing at 8pm tonight at Hole in the Wall.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Austin member Ann Fairchild!

Today's newsletter is 825 words — a 3-minute read.

💡 Asher is reading this fascinating history of Austin's moontowers by Addie Broyles.

🍲 Nicole is making this slow-cooker spinach-artichoke chicken stew.

slow cooker spinach-artichoke chicken stew

1 big thing: The state of Texas' migrant busing

Illustration of a dollar sign made out of buses with the centerline made from the double yellow lines on a road.  

2. When that funny co-worker does stand-up

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4. ☕️ 1 cup of toasty goodness to go

🌤 Today's weather: Partly sunny, with a high of 57°.

⚕️ Situational awareness: New orders for free COVID-19 test kits begin shipping today. 

Households can order four free tests here.

Today's newsletter is 852 words — a 3-minute read.

Thanks to Chloe Gonzales for editing and Katie Lewis and Keely Bastow for copy editing this newsletter.

🏀 Asher is wondering if the Spurs, who lost their 12th straight last night, are angling to snag the No. 1 pick once more in next year's NBA draft lottery. 

Editor's note: A story in Wednesday's newsletter about President John F. Kennedy's planned visit to Austin on the day of his assassination should have said the Municipal Auditorium was later repurposed into the Long Center for the Performing Arts, not the Palmer Events Center.

1 big thing: Tesla gets trucking

2. Mapped: Electric vehicles on the go

3. Homeowners selling at a loss

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4. 🤠 The Roundup: Wrangling the news

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New jobs to check out

5. Austin's most streamed songs in 2023

🌧 Today's weather: Patchy fog with showers likely this morning, plus possible thunderstorms for much of the day. Winds gusting to 25 mph, with a high near 74.

Today's newsletter is 889 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🧐 Asher is trying to figure out how this whole new-fangled Spotify thing works.

🎶 Nicole is unsurprisingly in Taylor Swift's top 2% of listeners.

1 big thing: Critics say immigration bill will lead to racial profiling

2. Luxury senior living moves into Austin

Gov. Greg Abbott and a World II veteran share a handshake.

4. Where to give this holiday season

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Scroll down for some of the many nonprofits worthy of your generosity.

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 61.

⚖️ Situational awareness: The sentencing hearing in the Congregation Beth Israel arson case is scheduled for 9am tomorrow.

Franklin Barrett Sechriest, 20, pleaded guilty in April to arson and hate crime charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Today's newsletter is 806 words — a 3-minute read

🤓 Asher is reading this Axios rundown of how to properly write holiday cards.

🤔 Nicole is figuring out her annual updates for the Cobler family holiday card.

FetchError

National

Texas Republicans have upped the ante in their effort to control the southern border, sending Gov. Greg Abbott a bill that gives local police authority over immigration enforcement.

Why it matters: Critics of the legislation say it is unconstitutional and will lead to racial profiling.

Legal experts argue it violates long-standing Supreme Court precedent and goes far beyond Arizona's divisive Senate Bill 1070, partially struck down by the high court.

Driving the news: Abbott made the issue a priority, calling lawmakers back for a fourth special session to send a bill to his desk.

He's expected to sign Senate Bill 4 into law soon, although a spokesperson for the governor on Monday declined to comment on when he will do so.

Background: SB 4 would make it a state misdemeanor to illegally cross the Texas-Mexico border and permits a judge to order an undocumented person to return to Mexico.

The bill, which easily passed the Republican-led Senate and House over Democratic opposition, also requires law enforcement to collect "all available identifying information of the person," including fingerprints and photographs.

What they're saying: César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, an immigration law expert and professor at the Ohio State University College of Law, says Texas lawmakers are attempting to create two new state immigration laws — illegal entry and illegal re-entry — that already exist and are consistently enforced at the federal level.

"The federal constitution is really clear that when a state law conflicts with federal law, the federal government wins," García Hernández tells Axios.

"This is the most obviously unconstitutional state law in the area of immigration I have ever seen," civil rights legal scholar Thomas A. Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal and Educational Fund (MALDEF), tells Axios.

Whereas the Arizona law required local police to turn over people they suspected of being in the country without authorization to federal authorities, the Texas law "attempts to set up its own system of deportation … its own system of judges determining who's allowed to stay and who has to go," Saenz says.

That violates the core tenant of why immigration enforcement is up to feds — if each state had its own immigration policy, there would be no United States, Saenz adds.

The other side: Proponents of the bill say it will empower law enforcement and target those who have recently crossed the border illegally, rather than people who have been in the state legally for years.

"SB 4 is the strongest border security bill Texas has ever passed," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, said in a statement. 

"The illegal crosser can be jailed or ordered by a magistrate to be returned to the border. If they violate the order and return to Texas, they will face even harsher penalties."

The big picture: U.S. Customs and Border Protection counted almost 270,000 migrant encounters near the southern border in September, the most recent month for which data is available, a multiyear high. More than 160,000 of those encounters occurred in Texas.

Context: The Supreme Court in 2012 dismantled most of SB 1070, known as the "show me your papers" law, but left intact a provision that allows police to investigate the immigration status of someone they suspect of being in the country illegally. Arizona does not enforce the law per an agreement with civil rights groups.

Threat level: Domingo Garcia, national president for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), tells Axios the Texas bill would lead to "rampant racial profiling."

Garcia says police asking people to prove their immigration status​​ "can lead to widespread discrimination and repression."

The intrigue: It's unclear how small municipalities will manage the cost.

State Sen. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, has said his county would need a new detention facility with 400 beds to house prosecuted immigrants, according to the Texas Newsroom.

Between the lines: Abbott is seen as a potential vice presidential candidate, politics experts told Axios.

"We need a president who's going to secure the border," Abbott said during his recent endorsement of former President Donald Trump. "We need a president who's going to restore law and order."

Abbott is also expected to sign SB 3, which appropriates more than $1.5 billion for the construction of border barriers.

What we're watching: Experts think the U.S. government will sue to stop the measure from taking effect. Garcia says LULAC will also file a lawsuit as soon as Abbott signs the bill.

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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Dallas. Written by Michael Mooney, Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi and Tasha Tsiaperas.

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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Houston.

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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting San Antonio.

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Critics say Texas immigration bill will lead to racial profiling

Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign the measure granting local police authority over federal immigration laws.

A woman and three children wrapped in mylar blankets walk past a dog and a border patrol truck at the Mexico-Texas border. 

Migrants surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Oct. 11, 2023. Photo: Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Immigration

Latin America and Latinos

Texas Republicans have upped the ante in their effort to control the southern border, sending Gov. Greg Abbott a bill that gives local police authority over immigration enforcement.Why it matters: Critics of the legislation say it is unconstitutional and will lead to racial profiling.

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

A growing share of Austin homeowners are selling their houses for less than they paid for them, per data Redfin shared with Axios' Brianna Crane.

Why it matters: Some Austin area homeowners lost upwards of five figures on their sale this year amid higher interest rates.

State of play: Nearly 5% of Austin metro homes sold at a loss from August to October — up from 0.75% a year ago.

The median loss was around $35,000, per Redfin data.

What's happening: Austin's housing market is still normalizing after 2020's hot housing market, when buyers snapped up homes within weeks — sometimes for hundreds of thousands of dollars over the asking price.

What they're saying: In the Austin Board of Realtors' November housing market report, president Ashley Jackson said the market is still normalizing. Higher mortgage interest rates have kept homes on the market for longer with fewer buyers able to afford a home here.

In October — the latest data available — homes spent an average of 68 days on the market, up 21 days from October 2022, and housing inventory increased from 0.7 months to 3.2 months.

But October showed some promising signs, Jackson said: "An increase in sales and a jump in pending sales indicates buyers continue to enter the market and are finding more bargaining power throughout the transaction."

Zoom out: Losing money on your home sale is becoming more common across the U.S.

The highest share and largest losses were in San Francisco. Roughly 1 in 7 owners there lost money on their home sale, with a median loss of $122,500.

Some markets have been even stronger for sellers this year. The share of losses in Chicago, for instance, has shrunk since last year.

Yes, but: In this low-inventory market, sellers are still on top. Those who've been in their homes for a long time can make a profit, per Redfin.

Austin homeowners are selling homes at a loss

Some Austin area homeowners lost upwards of five figures on their sale.

A growing share of Austin homeowners are selling their houses for less than they paid for them, per data <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Redfin shared with Axios&#x27; Brianna Crane" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/27/home-sellers-losing-money-profit-loss" data-vars-content-id="1bf191aa-3ee8-4196-9a96-7e8498a6c6f7" data-vars-headline="Austin homeowners are selling homes at a loss" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/27/home-sellers-losing-money-profit-loss" target="_self">Redfin shared with Axios&#x27; Brianna Crane</a>.Why it matters: Some Austin area homeowners lost upwards of five figures on their sale this year amid higher interest rates.

News

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Latest news on Wall Street, Corporate America and financial regulation.

Business

✈️ Head to Mueller Lake Park for the annual Merry and Bright celebration Friday at 6pm, featuring a street fair, live music, cotton candy and the holiday lighting of the former airport's iconic air traffic control tower.

🎅 Snap a photo with Santa on the Butler trail from 9am-12pm Saturday at 1820 S. Lakeshore Blvd., with live holiday music and a market from Austin Flea.

🍗 Dance at Canje, the standout Caribbean restaurant in East Austin, where they're partnering with Chef Picky to throw a Trinidadian dance party starting at 5pm Sunday with street food, unique cocktails and a DJ. Admission is free.

🐦 Get outside for a birding and nature hike at Nalle Bunny Run Wildlife Preserve with the Hill Country Conservancy starting at 8am Saturday. Master Naturalist Mikael Behrens will lead folks on a two hour, easy paced hike for $10.

👻 Don't let go of Halloween at the Horror for the Holidays Art and Gift Bazaar, featuring horror, gothic and dark merchandise at the Palmer Events Center on Saturday and Sunday. Pre-sale tickets, $16, are recommended for faster entry.

🎵 Find nature-based activities and family fun at the Zilker Botanical Garden's annual Yule in the Garden celebration from 10am to 2pm Saturday and Sunday. Pack a picnic to enjoy in the Rose Garden and listen to holiday classics from the Austin Camerata String Quartet. The event is included with general admission, which starts at $3 for children and $6 for adults.

🎄 Catch the lighting of the Driskill Hotel's 16-foot Douglas fir tree at 5pm Friday, with live music and drink specials.

What to do this weekend in Austin

Illustration of a cassette tape with the tape unspooling to spell weekend. 

Here&#x27;s what&#x27;s in store this weekend.✈️ Head to Mueller Lake Park for the annual <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Merry and Bright celebration" data-vars-click-url="https://www.facebook.com/events/839471514323483/?ref=newsfeed" data-vars-content-id="362f0943-63c7-43c0-b58b-d92fcc259fe2" data-vars-headline="What to do this weekend in Austin" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/839471514323483/?ref=newsfeed" target="_blank">Merry and Bright celebration</a> Friday at 6pm, featuring a street fair, live music, cotton candy and the holiday lighting of the former airport&#x27;s iconic air traffic control tower.

Things to Do

Newcomers

San Antonio's biggest running event of the year returns Friday.

What's happening: Roughly 17,000 runners are registered to participate in the 15th year of the Rock 'n' Roll Running Series, event organizers tell Axios.

Why it matters: Thousands of runners, road closures, and four races are sure to make for a busy weekend in San Antonio.

Even if you're not lacing up your sneakers, here's what to know:

Details: The event kicks off with a health and fitness expo from 12-7pm Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturday at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

5K and 10K races begin at 7:30am Saturday at the corner of West Houston and North Santa Rosa streets at Milam Park and end at Travis Park. In previous years, the routes began near Sunset Station.

The weekend concludes with the marathon and half marathon, both beginning Sunday at 7am from San Antonio City Hall and concluding at UTSA downtown.

Data: Rock 'n' Roll Running Series; Map: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals

👀 What to watch: You can cheer on runners while enjoying live music along each route, and track your favorite athletes with the Rock 'n' Roll Running Series app.

Of note: Only Department of Defense cardholders are allowed to watch the three-mile portion of the half marathon and marathon route that winds through JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.

🚧 Road closures: Some roads will be closed between 7-10:45am Saturday and 2-11am Sunday.

🅿️ Parking: Race organizers recommend arriving early if you're planning to park near the start and finish line. A list of available downtown parking lots and UTSA lots is available online.

Spectators and runners can find free parking at UTSA's D3 and D4 lots, the Durango lot and municipal court lot.

The event will disrupt VIA bus services and routes near downtown from 3am to 11:45am Saturday and 3am to 12:30pm Sunday.

🏃‍♀️ Be smart: Scott Peacock, a San Antonio native who has participated in every Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio race since its inception, will pace runners in the 10K and half marathon.

Peacock's pro tip: "Whatever you think your first-mile pace is going to be, it's not going to be that … Don't spend your energy weaving in and out of runners on your first mile. Just chill out."

San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll running weekend guide

Here's what to know — even if you're not running.

Janessa Dunn wins the women's elite division in the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll marathon on Dec. 4, 2022. Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images for Rock 'n' Roll Running Series

San Antonio&#x27;s biggest running event of the year returns Friday.What&#x27;s happening: Roughly 17,000 runners are registered to participate in the 15th year of the Rock &#x27;n&#x27; Roll Running Series, event organizers tell Axios.

Sports

Austin music lovers listened to a lot of Taylor Swift and Drake on Spotify this year.

What's happening: Spotify Wrapped dropped Wednesday, naming Taylor Swift as the most-streamed artist globally in 2023.

Zoom in: The pop queen also topped the list in Austin this year, and Drake and Peso Pluma rounded out the top three.

Here's Austin's most-played music of 2023:

"Ella Baila Sola" by Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma

"La Bebe - Remix" by Peso Pluma, Yng Lvcas

Go deeper: Users of the streaming service can check out their own year-in-review stats on the app.

Austin's most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023

Spotify named Taylor Swift as the most-streamed artist globally.

Taylor Swift performs in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Nov. 24. Photo: Buda Mendes/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Austin music lovers listened to a lot of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Taylor Swift" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/20/taylor-swift-kelce-eras-chiefs-news" data-vars-content-id="e78b2365-70dd-44c2-ab37-407bc88907f5" data-vars-headline="Austin&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/20/taylor-swift-kelce-eras-chiefs-news" target="_self">Taylor Swift</a> and Drake <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="on Spotify" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/29/spotify-wrapped-taylor-swift-drake-most-streamed" data-vars-content-id="e78b2365-70dd-44c2-ab37-407bc88907f5" data-vars-headline="Austin&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/29/spotify-wrapped-taylor-swift-drake-most-streamed" target="_self">on Spotify</a> this year.What&#x27;s happening: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Spotify Wrapped" data-vars-click-url="https://www.spotify.com/us/wrapped/" data-vars-content-id="e78b2365-70dd-44c2-ab37-407bc88907f5" data-vars-headline="Austin&#x27;s most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.spotify.com/us/wrapped/" target="_blank">Spotify Wrapped</a> dropped Wednesday, naming Taylor Swift as the most-streamed artist globally in 2023.

Nicole Cobler

Stories

San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll running weekend guide

What to do this weekend in Austin

Austin homeowners are selling homes at a loss

Austin's most streamed songs on Spotify in 2023

Critics say Texas immigration bill will lead to racial profiling

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