Tuesday has landed.

🌧️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny then slight chance of rain showers — yes, please — with a high of 97.

🎂 Happy birthday to our members Billy Bambrey and Jenny Middleton!

🎓 Situational awareness: The University of Texas dropped from 30th to 34th in the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking of best national universities, out this morning.

• A&M ranked 59th, down from 51st.
• MIT, Princeton and Harvard were first, second and third — but their football teams ain't as good as ours.

Today's newsletter is 1,095 words — a 4-minute read.

The man shot by federal immigration agents on Sunday in North Austin needed further medical care after he was transferred to a detention facility in South Texas, his family's attorney said yesterday evening.

Why it matters: Wilber Rafael Garces Perez's lawyer and immigration advocates are racing to try to prevent him from being deported as they seek to learn what led to the shooting.

The latest: Garces Perez "is now experiencing left side paralysis," Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garces Perez's Austin-based immigration attorney, posted on X last night.

What they're saying: Hours earlier, speaking on the phone and through a translator during a news conference in the early afternoon yesterday, Garces Perez had said, "I am not doing well due to the gunshot wound, and I have not received the medical attention that I require."

• He said he was shot near the clavicle and that doctors in Austin had not removed the bullet because it was lodged close to his spine. Garces Perez said ICE agents were trying to move him out of the hospital.
• Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas, where Garces Perez was initially seen, did not immediately respond to an Axios interview request.

The other side: The Department of Homeland Security has not released information about the shooting other than a statement late Sunday saying that the agency is investigating the incident and that Garces Perez, who is Venezuelan, has a "final order of removal."

State of play: Garces Perez was transferred to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 135 miles southwest of Austin, Lincoln-Goldfinch told reporters yesterday.

• "You don't deport the key witness to your own officer's use of force," Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said at the news conference, saying his testimony was crucial for accountability.

Background: Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez legally entered the country through CBP One, a Biden-era program, to seek asylum.

• The Trump administration then shut down the program.

Between the lines: The Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN troopers were requested for assistance in a vehicle pursuit, but the shooting took place before they made it to the scene.

• Travis County District Attorney José Garza has requested an independent investigation of the shooting.

Austin-area house hunters, circle Sept. 27–Oct. 3 on your calendars.

Why it matters: That may be the best week of the year to buy a home, per a new Realtor.com report.

By the numbers: Listing prices in greater Austin typically fall around 6.6% from their seasonal high during that period and listings are typically up.

The big picture: "Home shoppers heading into fall will find an opportunity that has been hard to come by in recent years: more choices and less urgency," Realtor.com senior economist Hannah Jones said in a press release.

Yes, but: Mortgage rates near 7% and stubbornly high home prices continue to sideline many.

• In August, residential home sales in greater Austin declined 7.3% year over year, per Unlock MLS, a data site operated by the Austin Board of Realtors.
• The median home price in August was $412,000, or 6.4% less than August 2025.

What they're saying: The latest housing data "reflects some of the same affordability and interest rate pressures we're seeing nationwide," Vaike O'Grady, market research advisor at Unlock MLS, said in a statement.

The fine print: Realtor.com analyzed several years of seasonal housing data, including listing prices and inventory levels, to determine the best week to buy a home nationally and in the 50 largest U.S. metros.

• Mortgage rates weren't included.

The bottom line: Buyers may get a little more breathing room this fall — if they can clear the affordability hurdle.

🍣 Wasa, a 14-seat Japanese counter hidden behind Papercut in East Austin, opened Friday with sushi and Japanese-inspired cocktails. (What Now Austin)

🚄 Elon Musk is pitching a high-speed tunnel that he says could cut travel time between Austin and San Antonio. (Austin American-Statesman 🔒)

👀 State Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin), a candidate for lieutenant governor, has accused her opponent, Republican incumbent Dan Patrick, of breaking a state law that bars certain types of AI-generated political ads in the final 30 days of a race, according to an affidavit she filed with law enforcement. (New York Times 🎁)

• A campaign spokesperson for Patrick said the ad was "an obvious parody produced to entertain."

Early risers can spot three bright planets stretching across Austin's morning sky for the rest of the month.

Saturn, Mars and Jupiter can all be seen, weather permitting, in September's early morning hours, per EarthSky.

How it works: The planets will spread in a long arc along the ecliptic — the path the Sun, Moon and planets follow — like lights strung across the sky.

• To see all three, head outside before dawn and scan from east to west: Jupiter will be the bright one in the east, followed by reddish Mars and Saturn farther west.

💭 Our thought bubble: Yes, it means getting up early, but at least the temperature won't be scorching.

👋 Asher here.

What's happening: This past weekend I stopped by the Mexic-Arte Museum for its new exhibit of works that belonged to Juan Sandoval Jr., an art collector and a librarian at the University of Texas at El Paso.

• Sandoval, who died in 2021, donated his collection of more than 1,500 works of art and ephemera from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to the museum.

📍 If you go: The exhibit runs through Jan. 3.

• Entrance to the museum, which is open seven days a week, costs $8 for adults — though it's free on Sundays.

The bottom line: In its gracefulness and color blocking, this undated work of lithographs (👆), titled "Dance for life triptych," by Esteban Sanchez, was among my favorites.

Thanks to Bob Gee for the edits.

🎶 Asher is watching this classic kids concert with his 3-year-old.

🍦 Nicole is probably enjoying some gelato right now, maybe at this place.

Enjoying the newsletter? Consider becoming a member and further support our work.