Good morning. The National Weather Service says to expect some clouds and mild winds with a high in the mid 70s – decent weather for all the F1 fans flying out of Austin today. Here’s some stories, race related and not, that KUT News has been working on:
“Thousands of F1 fans are now headed to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Officials say today could be one of the busiest days ever at the airport. To help with increased demand, airlines added seven flights today and a total of more than 2,500 additional seats.”
“Almost 83,000 people traveled to the Circuit of the Americas track in southeastern Travis County today to watch German driver Sebastian Vettel seize the pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix. And while the track has received positive reviews, transportation to and from it was not without a few bumps in the road.”
“One of the issues state lawmakers will have to deal with during January’s legislative session is how school districts use large tax cuts to lure international corporations. But that part of the tax code will expire unless lawmakers act.”
“The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library will start charging admission when it reopens next month. It had been the last presidential library to not charge an entrance fee. Library director Mark Updegrove says the fee will help fund the $11 million update to their core exhibit on LBJ’s life.”
And here’s more local and states stories from around the web:
- Some Local Businesses Not in a Frenzy Over Fan Fest (KTBC)
“Home Slice pizza is usually a must for Astinites and out of towners, but they've only seen a handful of Formula 1 fans this entire weekend. ‘In addition to people being scared to come down and the people who are here for F-1 not really exploring, or not coming this way...it just kind of cut everything in half for us,’ said Keegan Bohannon, one of the managers at Home Slice.”
- Video: Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell Praises Inaugural F1 (KVUE)
Leffingwell: “I think everything exceeded expectations. The traffic was, frankly, way overhyped. … I think we’ve got a handle on that one.”
- Austin Company Creates App That Helped Obama Campaign (Statesman)
“The 11-person Austin firm [Thirteen23],hadn’t done political projects before, but executive director Doug Cook said it liked the challenge of creating a vital two-way online communication link between the campaign and its supporters and volunteers. … The app would provide localized information about campaign events to supporters. But it also gave volunteer workers the tools to canvass potential voters house to house and to report back their findings to the campaign’s computers.”
- Twinkies Likely To Survive Sale Of Hostess (AP)
“But with high brand recognition and $2.5 billion in annual revenue, other companies are interested in bidding for at least pieces of Hostess.”
