The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
An Austin city council member is also calling for civil disobedience – District 4’s Greg Casar doesn’t want to focus on healing after President-elect Trump’s victory.
“As a leader on the city council, it’s really important for us to pass inclusive policy that actually helps everyday people, but beyond that, it’s also important for us to be leaders out in the streets during the inevitable protest and resistance that’s going to be happening in our communities,” he said.
Casar said he would not shake Trump’s hand if he came to Austin. Mayor Steve Adler said he would, but also said the city would not be afraid to stand up to a Trump administration.
Protestors turned out across the country Wednesday in opposition to Donald Trump’s election. In Texas, demonstrations against the president-elect were held in cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston.
In the state capital, protestors gathered at the University of Texas. KUT’s Ashley Lopez spoke with some of the demonstrators, including UT grad student Saadia Rashid.
“It was pretty jarring, I was actually with my friend here Dina – and I was just very anxious and very upset and felt very alone,” she says.
The protest rally later turned into a March downtown, joined by Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo and Austin City Council member Greg Casar.
And in Dallas last night – protesters also rallied and marched downtown. Speakers there addressed issues and communities that could be hit hard by Trump’s agenda, including women’s and LGBT rights, and immigration policies.
Cory Hughes is with the Next Generation Action Network which organized the protest.
“I’m here because I think the country is frustrated,” Hughes says. “It’s apparent through the election and campaign process that the country was divided and even with the division and the hatred and the bigotry and the discrimination that the Republican candidate exhibited publicly, Americans still nominated him.”
At its peak, the Dallas demonstrations had anywhere between 600 to 1,000 people. And in Houston, dozens of protesters turned out at the University of Houston.
The voter turnout rate in Texas – which totaled 800,000 more than did in 2008 – was still not very high. The Texas Tribune reports that in total about 8.8 million Texans voted this year, but a record-breaking 15.1 million Texans were registered to vote.
And the number of people who are eligible to vote in Texas? About 20.8 million.
In the end, only 42.62 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot in Texas.
