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Community Corner

🌱 School Safety Audit Results + Qualify For Medical Cannabis

The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Austin.

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Jessica Collins, Neighbor
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(Patch Media)

Good morning, neighbors! It's Jessica, your host of the Austin Daily — back in your inbox bright and early with everything you need to know that's happening locally!

Settle in while we cover:

  • $150 for a cup of "luxury coffee"!? We've got the scoop below.
  • A slew of Austin chefs and restaurants received a prestigious culinary award nomination.
  • Suspect linked to East Austin murder was arrested by APD.

But first, today's weather:

Plenty of sun. High: 59 Low: 35.

📢 I'm looking for business owners and marketers in Austin who want to build awareness, connect with customers and increase sales.

I have a limited number of sponsorships available to introduce our readers to local businesses they need to know. If that's you, then I invite you to learn more and secure your spot now.

Here are the top stories today in Austin:

1) A statewide school safety audit showed that out of the 2,864 campuses visited, inspectors could not walk onto the campus or gain unauthorized access 95.3% of the time. Following the school shooting in Uvalde last year and a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas School Safety Center conducted unannounced, random inspections between September and December 2022. According to the report, of those 2,864 campuses, 71.6% did not have any corrective actions and 28.4% received corrective actions. KVUE has more on the safety audit.

2) Austin Police Department arrested a suspect linked to a murder at an East Austin gas station. On Saturday, Jan. 21, officers found 42-year-old Marquis Demps inside a car in the gas station parking lot with gunshot wounds to his body — he died at the scene. Detectives determined that Yaseen Naz, an employee at the gas station, shot Demps. Naz was arrested for murder and booked into the Travis County Jail. FOX 7 Austin has more on this story here.

3) Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Ascension Texas are still in a contract dispute that could affect the coverage of thousands of Central Texans. The two parties have less than one week left to reach an agreement on whether visits to Ascension hospitals will continue to be in the network or "Ascension hospitals will leave the state's largest health insurer." CBS Austin reports that the current agreement between Ascension Texas and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas will end on Jan. 31, 2023. Learn more about this story here at CBS Austin.

4) Six Austin chefs and restaurants scored highly-coveted James Beard Award nominations! Check out Matthew Odam's full deep dive on the nominees here at the Austin American-Statesman.

Today in Austin:

  • Preschool Storytime at Austin Public Library, Hampton Branch. (10 a.m.)
  • Pajama Storytime at Austin Public Library, Windsor Park Branch. (6 p.m.)
  • Heavyweights: Stand-Up Comedy at East Austin Comedy Club. (6:30 p.m.)
  • ZACH Theatre & Deaf Austin Theatre Present: Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella at ZACH Theatre. (7:30 p.m.)
  • City of Caterpillar with Portrayal of Guilt at Parish. (7:30 p.m.)

Community Chatter:

  • 🤘 Longhorn Football: "🚨 Save the date 🚨 🏈 2023 Orange-White Spring Game 📅 Saturday, April 15 | 1 PM CT 🎟️ Free Admission Presented by Texas One Fund" (Texas Football via Facebook)
  • 🍃 Interested in learning if you qualify for medical marijuana? "It only takes 3 steps to get medical cannabis in Texas. Texas Original, one of the state's leading medical cannabis providers, makes the process of getting a prescription easy. Receiving a medical cannabis prescription starts with a few simple steps." Head over to CultureMap Austin to learn more.
  • ☕️ $150 cup of coffee? "Proud Mary Coffee Roasters is one of TWO places in the country you can try the Black Jaguar Geisha, which won first place in 2022's Best in Panama competition and cost Proud Mary $2,000 for one pound of the coffee beans." (Austin American-Statesman)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Thursday. I'll catch up with you bright and early tomorrow with a new update!

— Jessica Collins

About me: Jessica is happy to call Austin her home for the past 10+ years. She loves the outdoors, arts & cinema, dining, and all of the natural beauty that Central Texas has to offer.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Austin Daily? Contact me at DowntownAustin@patch.com

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