Politics

Several local Texans criticized the governor's decision to pardon U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry in letters published by the Austin American-Statesman.

Wow, how did this happen? Austin to San Antonio, Texas, had been the fastest growing area in the USA in the last few years, especially since the COVID craziness. Culture Map Dallas reports that according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2023 Population Estimates, released Thursday, May 16, Celina—which straddles Collin and Denton counties—topped the list of fastest-growing cities with a population of 20,000 or more. Many new businesses have also moved there recently.

Austin, Texas — Recovery efforts continue in Temple, after an EF-2 tornado ripped through the town. Reports show the winds of the tornado reached 120 miles per hour. "I know that it is an incredibly dangerous place to be, you do not want to be in your car during one of these events," said Austin resident, Braxton Johnson Ray.

SAN MARCOS, Texas — Ahead of Memorial Day, one San Marcos organization is making sure it's providing all the support that homeless veterans in Hays County need. The H.O.M.E. Center threw its first fundraiser Saturday night at Tantra, with live music to raise money for all the services they provide to veterans year-round.

An investigation by the Office of the City Auditor has found a City of Austin employee falsely reported a personal purchase as a city business transaction, then altered receipts to cover it up.

So far in May, Austin ISD held five groundbreaking and construction kick-off ceremonies related to 2022 bond projects.

It seems Austin, Texas, can’t get enough of the Moody treatment. Now that several venues all have “Moody” in the name, it begs the question: Why in the world are there so many places repping the Moody moniker, and who the heck is “Moody,” anyway?

KVUE's Matt Fernandez spoke with a Houston woman visiting Austin, in part to escape the storm damage and power outages in her neighborhood.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Mushroom Conference was held in Austin on the University of Texas at Austin campus for the second straight year. The group Myceliumatters put on Sunday's event. Panels focused on the benefits of mushrooms as food and as medicine. UT’s Dell Medical School is conducting...

Every May in Hays County and throughout Texas high school and college seniors are filled with excitement and possibly even anxiety about their graduation and next steps. Some are preparing to go to college, some to technical school, some into their career of choice and some have no idea what the next step will be. For all graduating seniors throughout our area, San Marcos Academy ROTC commander, Lt. Colonel, Retired, David Jaillite has some words of wisdom. LESSON #1 COMMAND AND CONTROL Jaillite asks graduates to think of your life as driving a car. Making a righthand turn is easy; you can...

At 104 years old, Ernie Columbus could be called a thrill seeker.

Next year will mark 90 years since the establishment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in San Marcos, but there are real concerns among those who keep it running that it may not make it to that milestone.

SAN ANTONIO - The push for a high-speed rail between San Antonio and Austin is picking up steam yet again. This week, several city council members and local state reps signed off a letter advocating for reliable rail transit. Take a look at this letter posted on social media by...

Temple, Tx (FOX44) – U-Haul Company of North Austin is making 13 facilities available to provide 30 days of free self storage and U-Box container usage to families impacted by Wednesday night’s tornado that struck Temple and the area along Interstate 35. Many homes in and around Temple...

Austin's park system was ranked No. 3 in Texas and No. 44 nationwide by ParkScore's annual report.

The lawsuit criticizes the hospital for not having the appropriate safety pillars in place.

HAYS COUNTY — Eleven years ago, Sarah Ross knew that she wanted to take a step back from corporate America and enter into the world of owning her own business. That’s when she decided to take on owning a franchise of Fresh Coat Painters. “I was working a lot of hours. I didn't mind working a lot of hours, but I figured if I'm gonna do it, I might as well do it for myself. And so, that desire to have my own business is what caused me to look at franchise options. I knew I needed the coaching on the sales and marketing side. My background is as a [certified public accountant], so I'm a numbers person and could handle operations, but really didn't know how to approach sales and marketing,” Ross said. “[I] really just went franchise shopping and came across Fresh Coat as one of the options and it fit our budget in the area that I was trying to start a business [and] the territory that I wanted was not taken yet.” Ross is the owner of the Marble Falls, Southwest Austin and Hill Country franchises of Fresh Coat Painters — a company that is focused on providing top-rated residential and commercial painting services for home and business owners in more than 100 cities from coast to coast. The “Fresh Coat Promise” is a commitment to providing quality painting services at competitive rates in a timely manner. When Ross was in the decision-making process of which trade or industry she wanted to commit to for owning a franchise, Fresh Coat seemed like the best fit because of the experience she has had herself remodeling homes. “We had gone through remodel work on our own homes and dealt with unreliable and undependable contractors. And I thought, ‘I think I can do a better job at this and be that reliable, dependable contractor that people just really want.’ I was really looking at something that, one, I could afford because there's definitely franchises out there where you needed a much larger net worth than I had, so this was something I could afford [and] the territory wasn't occupied,” she explained. “Some franchises that we looked at people that already bought up the locations that we were looking to acquire, so that was another deciding factor on it. Then, [I was] really looking for an industry that I felt would be okay if the economy took a downturn and that's, of course, been proven out over the last few years,” Ross continued. “It's an industry that when the economy does take a downturn, people aren't moving as much, but they're likely to fix up their homes if they're not able to move. That's really what we've been going through the last couple years and seeing people stay in their homes instead of moving and really wanting to revamp it.” The Southwest Austin franchise covers Barton Creek, Bee Cave, Buda, Circle C, Driftwood, Dripping Springs, Hudson Bend, Kyle, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Manchaca, Northwest Hills, Oak Hill, South Austin, Steiner Ranch and Westlake. As for the Hill Country franchise, it also covers several locations, including Bergheim, Boerne, Kendalia, Spring Branch, Canyon Lake, Blanco, Fischer, Fredericksburg, Hye, Stonewall, Willow City and Wimberley. Because her franchises are in parts of Hays County — one of the fastest-growing areas in the state of Texas — Ross is not unfamiliar to competition. “We are not the cheapest out there and in that case, there are a lot of competitors that will beat us on price. We like to say we get our fair piece of the pie. There's a lot of painting businesses out there, but a lot of painting projects as well,” she said. “The area’s growing so much that there's enough out there for all of us. We definitely hold our team to a high standard when it comes to quality of service, communication and the basics you would expect to receive when you're working with a top quality construction professional. That's really what sets us apart from those competitors.” Along with holding the team to a high standard, Ross said that having workers’ compensation and general liability insurance is something that sets the company apart from some of its competitors: “[It is] just to provide customers with peace of mind that if something does go wrong while we're working on their home or business, we've got insurance to cover that,” she said. Over the course of the 11 years that the franchises have been in operation, Ross said that she has received a positive community response, especially for a woman-owned business in an industry that has been prominently men. “The community response has been great. There's a lot of painters out there, so it's not like we were bringing anything to the table that wasn't already provided. But bringing a woman-owned business [in an] industry that isn't known for women in this profession has been a little unique and has definitely been extremely welcomed by the community. I'm thankful for that,” she said. As a way to give back to the community that they serve, the team will also sponsor local teams and participate in a program called Fresh Coat Cares, which is geared to paint a brighter future by helping charities and nonprofit organizations in the local communities that the company serves. Ross shared that one of the projects that they did was help Austin Pets Alive! by repainting the organization’s cat building. More recently, in March 2024, Ross’ business was awarded for exceeding the $2 million mark in revenue for the prior year, along with the President’s Award. “We've been excited to be at that level for the last couple of years and are looking forward to hopefully doing our $3 million year this year. The President's Award is quite an honor; it’s selected by the Fresh Coat franchise or president. And it really just means that we do the best we can to give back to others that are in the Fresh Coat family as well,” Ross said. “So, after being in for 11 years, there's things that I can help guide the newer franchisees on, give them advice or just be an ear when they've had a bad day in the industry and they need somebody to listen to. I like to call the franchise system group therapy because we know what each other has gone through and we can have those shared experiences and know that we're gonna make it through to the other side as owners.” Ross said that just like any other business owner, she has faced her own set of challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, from staffing to material/equipment shortages. However, she encourages other business owners or interested entrepreneurs to keep going amid any setback they may face. “Everything has a solution and that's kind of, I guess, what I feel like is my main job is. When something does go awry, what can I do to fix it? We're never just going to sit back and say, ‘Oh well, nothing can be done about that.’ We're going to come up with solutions, hopefully multiple, and figure out which is the best in that case for that customer or for that particular situation,” she said. “There's definitely been struggles along my years, but that's kind of what you have to do with business owners. Just keep going and finding the next solution [or] the next thing that's going to work.” To learn more about Fresh Coat Painters in Hays County, visit www.freshcoatpainters.com/locations/hill-country or www.freshcoatpainters.com/locations/sw-austin .