Jaime Monzon
San Antonians take to the streets earlier this yr to protest Texas’ abortion ban.
San Antonio’s prime information tales of 2023 have been marked by big-city woes, together with building, crime and harmful canine. In the meantime, the affect of a contentious session of the Texas Legislature and the state’s abortion ban additionally made their mark.
Right here’s a take a look at the ten most important information tales affecting the Alamo Metropolis this yr.
1. Harmful canine. This yr marked the primary San Antonio leaders absolutely acknowledged what many residents have been saying for years: town has an issue with stray and harmful canine. A string of grisly maulings prompted Metropolis Council to approve a giant finances enhance for Animal Care Providers so it might probably promptly reply to calls — one thing residents complain it’s didn’t do.
2. Merciless abortion ban. The Texas Supreme Courtroom rejected a decrease courtroom’s ruling that resident Kate Cox might finish a terminal being pregnant that posed severe well being dangers. In doing so, it signaled that the lengths that GOP-controlled Texas is able to go to implement a ban that many take into account merciless and excessive. Count on extra courtroom challenges to play out.
3. Endless building. With a number of main building tasks happening without delay, San Antonio residents discovered themselves unable to journey busy thoroughfares together with Broadway, North St. Mary’s Road, North New Braunfels Ave. — to call just some. Council accredited funds to help small companies, however for a lot of, that serving to hand got here too late.
4. The Spurs’ future. Wembymania broke out after the Spurs landed 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 NBA draft choose. On the identical time, discussions percolated about constructing a dear new stadium for town’s sole skilled sports activities workforce. Count on to see debates ensue about the place will probably be situated and the way a lot can be funded by taxpayers. And loads of massive — and acquainted — guarantees about how a lot miraculous financial profit such a facility will deliver.
5. Republican infighting. Despite the fact that the GOP controls all of the levers of energy in Texas, it grew to become clear all of the get together’s leaders aren’t on the identical web page, and even wanting on the identical goddamned ebook. A warfare between moderates and the rising extremist wing of the get together broke out over the failure to take away disgraced Texas Legal professional Basic Ken Paxton from workplace. Issues solely bought worse after a prime conservative lobbyist hosted a day-long assembly with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
6. Police shootings. San Antonio police shot no less than 21 individuals this yr, the very best quantity recorded since no less than 2015, based on knowledge from the Texas Justice Initiative. Within the circumstances of Melissa Perez, a lady struggling a psychological well being disaster at her house advanced, and Erik Cantu, a teen parked outdoors a McDonald’s, these shootings resulted in indictments of the officers who pulled the set off.
7. College closures. Stung by years of declining enrollments, faculty districts together with San Antonio ISD enacted plans to close down campuses they recognized as underutilized. Whereas advocates mentioned the “rightsizing” strikes are overdue, they proved controversial with dad and mom and educators, who argue faculty consolidation will show disruptive to college students whereas yielding no instructional enhancements.
8. Change in county management. Nelson Wolff retired as county decide, a place he’d held for greater than twenty years, enabling Peter Sakai to take the place on Jan. 1, 2023. Because the switch, we’ve seen a distinction in kinds between the 2 leaders and a contentious finances battle that it’s onerous to think about would have damaged out below Wolff’s watch.
9. Hell no to vouchers. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott found the bounds of his energy after the Texas Legislature, managed by his personal get together, rejected his repeated makes an attempt to push by means of a faculty voucher invoice. The measure was unpopular with each Democrats and rural Republicans, who view it a mechanism for robbing public colleges so prosperous Texans can have extra money to ship their youngsters to non-public campuses.
10. Public security considerations. Tensions bubbled up between San Antonio Police Chief William McManus and Bexar County District Legal professional Joe Gonzales after a string of shootings of cops, together with some dedicated by suspects out on bond. Residents’ crime considerations additionally performed a key function within the poll field defeat of a proposition that may have codified cite-and-release for petty crimes whereas decriminalizing hashish and abortion.
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