Headlines

The city's favorite actor (and new UT professor) Matthew McConaughey is a new co-owner of Austin FC, the city's soon-to-be Major League Soccer team. Two Oak Ventures, the team's parent company, announced its expansion of ownership on Friday, Aug. 23, which includes McConaughey, along with additional Austinites Eddie Margain, Marius Haas, and Bryan Sheffield. (photo by John Anderson)

Toxic Lake Continues: Red Bud Isle, Auditorium Shores, and the water along Barton Creek between Barton Springs Pool and Lady Bird Lake remain contaminated with toxic blue-green algae, the city's Watershed Protection Department announced Tuesday. That means keep your pets – and yourselves – out of the water for now. Supposedly, the algae will die off when/if cooler weather returns. See www.austintexas.gov/algae.

Breathe Deeply: After more than a month of 100-degree days, a bit of rain brought some relief, and the prospect of a week or more only in the 90s. The fifth-longest heat wave in Austin's history may be a sign of more to come, in what will be one of the five hottest years on record worldwide.

Bonnenghazi Bubbles Over: The "he said, he said" scandal ensnaring Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen still roils Republican waters, with 30 members of the GOP caucus calling for a September meeting – officially to elect a new vice chairman, but unofficially to brood over Bonnen's alleged "backroom deal" with Empower Texans' Michael Quinn Sullivan to enable 2020 campaigns against some incumbent members.

Paxton Goes Trumping: In the latest GOP project aimed at tormenting immigrants, Texas A.G. Ken "Indicted" Paxton led a (mostly Southern) multistate coalition in filing a Supreme Court amicus brief attacking the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, calling the Obama-era temporary relief for young immigrants a "lawless exercise of executive power."

Presidential Priorities: As a potential hurricane threatens Puerto Rico and Florida, the Trump administration is moving hundreds of millions in disaster relief funding to border enforcement, telling aides to "build the wall" – illegally, if necessary. Lamenting the billions needed for Puerto Rico, Trump tweeted, "Will it ever end?" That's what we're all wondering ...

Mr. Booker Goes to Austin: The New Jersey senator and presidential candidate – one of many Democrats vying for the party's nomination – held his first-ever Austin event Wednesday.

2020 Dread: A nationwide poll by USA Today/Suffolk University found Americans dread the upcoming election. Former VP Joe Biden – despite a history of sexual misconduct – maintains his lead; Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has bumped Bernie out of second place.