- Coming up on "Austin InSight:" Self-driving cars, are they helping or hurting mobility in Austin?

And we'll hear from the conservationist who helped save the bat colony at the Congress Avenue Bridge.

"Austin InSight" starts now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from: Sally & James Gavin and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(light upbeat music) (light upbeat music continues) - Hi there and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

Getting to and from is one of the biggest challenges and downright annoyances of living in Austin, as transportation infrastructure has failed to keep up with our rapid growth.

Major highway and rail projects are in the works, but in the interim, a growing fleet of automated vehicles has arrived on the scene, a new transportation mode that brings its own set of challenges.

For more on this, our local government reporter, Sam Stark, spoke with executives from Waymo, the self-driving vehicle partner of Uber.

(car chiming) - [Sam] The company with the largest presence of autonomous vehicles in Austin - [Car Computer] Please close the right-side rear door.

- [Sam] Has been delivering people to their destinations via its Uber partnership for a little over a year now.

- We're currently driverless in 11 cities around the country, with Austin being the fourth city where we went driverless.

And we're proud that Texas is the state where we have the most cities: Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston.

- [Sam] There are now 300 of these sleek white vehicles with spinning tops driving on Austin roads.

The company reports having driven 11 million miles so far around Texas.

And Waymo says it's just revving up.

- We're very excited to continue to grow, both here in Austin, as well as elsewhere in Texas.

- [Sam] But Waymo's rollout, along with other AV companies, there are five others now operating in Austin, hasn't been without speed bumps.

- There's still definitely some improvements that need to be made.

You know, that's the blessing and the curse of new technology, is sometimes people feel like a guinea pig.

And Austin, Texas is definitely one of those cities.

- Secretary will call the roll.

- [Sam] In 2017, the Texas legislature passed a law banning cities from regulating autonomous vehicles.

Supporters said that law was necessary for the industry to grow, but as their presence has grown, so has the number of concerning incidents.

Waymos and other AVs have been seen blocking traffic, ignoring police officers, and illegally passing school buses while loading or dropping off students.

The latter is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Here's the city's autonomous vehicle dashboard, which shows people have reported almost 270 issues with the vehicles since the dashboard launched in 2023.

In a more recent high-profile incident, Waymo was seen blocking an ambulance responding to the March Sixth Street mass shooting event that killed four and injured more than a dozen others.

- At the end of the day, the Waymo couldn't make the three-point turn and neither could the other vehicles.

And it created some gridlock that made the ambulance have to do the three-point turn, and that's not the ideal result for public safety at all.

- [Sam] Councilmember Paige Ellis says transparency also has been an issue with some autonomous vehicle companies.

- You certainly see some companies come to town and they just jump the gun, and they deploy on the streets without any conversations.

And I think that does a disservice to new technologies in general across all brands.

- [Sam] And with a lack of transparency and high-profile incidents comes an erosion of public trust.

That's something Waymo is working actively to address.

- We need to build and maintain the trust of communities that we operate in.

- [Sam] Margines says Waymo learns from and makes improvements following incidents like what happened around the shooting and says it ultimately makes roads safer.

- We've driven over 200 million miles, and we have demonstrated a 92% reduction in serious injury collisions, as compared to humans, human drivers on the same roads and in the same geographies.

- [Sam] If you still have some hangups, Waymo recommends hopping into one of its vehicles and trying it for yourself.

- And now for a little lore about our Texas highways.

My grandfather actually used to work for the Highway Department here in Austin back in the '60s and '70s.

And even back then, he and his colleagues were like, "We need to expand our highways."

But at the time, the powers that be said, "If we won't build it, they won't come."

And now, look at where we are today.

(laughing) Thanks so much to Sam Stark for that report.

Sam's coverage comes to us through a collaboration with the Austin Current, the local newsroom of "The Texas Tribune."

(light music) (light music continues) She has more than a million online followers, but no hit song, no box office smash movie.

She's not exactly an influencer either, but she has some large, soulful eyes and a compelling story.

That's the long-running appeal of Athena, the great horned owl who has lived at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for the past 16 years, hatching 19 owlets over that time.

She's been busy.

This year, nature took a bit of a turn and Athena lost one of her newly-hatched owlets.

But a second owlet, at first thought to have died, has survived and is at the Austin Wildlife Rescue Center on the road to recovery.

- And after a few weeks, once he gets a little bigger and stronger and some more feathers on him, he'll be moving outside to a large enclosure with our surrogate great horned owl.

- And we are so glad the owlet will be getting foster care.

For more on this, Scott Simons from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center joins us now.

Scott, thanks so much for being with us.

- It's a pleasure, thank you.

- So first, Scott, most important is, how is the little owlet being cared for?

How is he or she doing?

Do they have a name?

- All the things, yeah.

So the owlet is doing really well and responding well to rescue care.

It is in the care of Austin Wildlife Rescue.

They're incredibly capable.

They have a large facility out in Elgin that they house a lot of wildlife rescues and they have so much experience.

So we're just really, really happy that that owlet made it into their hands.

And you know, we're kind of in a place with the owlet where no news is good news.

And we're not hearing a lot, and that's a really good sign right now, so we're happy.

- And we are happy to hear that too.

I know the Wildlife Center has taken in a lot of really cute baby animals lately, right?

There were some baby armadillos I saw online, some baby possum, right, too.

So the little owlet will be in good company, right?

- That's right, you know, they even have at the Wildlife Rescue, they have a sort of resident surrogate mother owl that has been there and has had a lot of success raising orphaned owlets over the years.

I can't name how many she's raised, but I think it's been quite a lot.

And shortly, I believe, our owlet will be moved to an outdoor facility where that surrogate mother owl will care for it and will have no human interaction until it fledges.

And then it will be hopefully released back into the wild.

So we're excited to see how that turns out.

- Absolutely, we hope for that as well.

And well, Athena's family life has had a global following, as you know, for years.

But what's the response been like to this particular latest story?

- Yeah, so you know, we launched our camera only about three seasons ago.

Athena's been at the Wildflower Center now and nesting here for, this was her 15th nesting year.

And all has been really great.

You know, the camera has been such a plus, because before, when we thought Athena had chicks, we couldn't really see them.

And the only time we could confirm that there were chicks in the nest was when we finally saw little bits of white feathers peeking up at the top of the nest.

So we didn't have a confirmation for weeks, right?

But this year has been a roller coaster, yes.

Athena, you know, is a wild animal, and not everything goes according to plan every time.

And there were some disturbances of the nest that sort of affected nesting behavior this year.

And we lost an owlet.

About seven days after the second owlet came out of the shell, we lost one.

And there's a lot of different things that you could point to for that, but most commonly, it's just a lack of nutrition.

Things kind of started to unravel a bit from there, unfortunately, and then within three days time, we believe that the second owlet had passed and Athena also believed that the second owlet had passed because she abandoned the nest.

And that's when, you know, we decided that it was time to take action and we partnered with Austin Wildlife Rescue and our friends at Cornell, who were able to spot the owlet moving.

And we were able to rescue the owlet just in time.

So we're really, really grateful for that.

Even though it was a roller coaster, it has had a really great and satisfying outcome.

- Yes, this is a story that we all seriously needed.

The world needed this story of survival right now.

Because it's right, you know, it's hackneyed, but the line from "The Lion King," like the circle of life, nature can be very cruel, but it also can have these beautiful stories like this.

And you know, Athena has been a superstar internationally for years, especially so it seems in the last few weeks.

Why do you think that everybody just loves these stories of animals?

I mean, it's hard not to love them because they're so cute.

But I think a year and a half ago, the world was obsessed with Moo Deng, the little pygmy hippo with a big personality.

And then a few weeks ago, it was Punch the monkey.

Why do you think- - Right.

- People fall in love with these animals and connect with them like this, even though it might seem silly?

- Well, I think it's animals, but it's also bigger than that, right?

It's just nature in general.

I think, you know, in the world we live in today, this complicated world where a lot of us just don't have daily connections with nature, I think that an owl cam or something like Athena and her owlets is just so moving and compelling.

And I think in this world, we all just gravitate to that right now.

I think it's human nature that we gravitate to nature.

And you know, we've heard from people all over the globe that Athena and her nest and just watching her has proved to be sort of a, you know, an escape or a moment of solace and sort of just, you know, peace.

- Well, like everyone out there, we are rooting for this little owlet to get better soon and be released back into the wild.

We're also rooting for mom and baby.

Scott, thank you so much for this update.

- Thank you so much, it's been a pleasure.

(light upbeat music) - Sticking with the topic of wildlife, as we conclude Earth Month, a reminder that, as the weather warms, it's time for bat viewing at the Congress Avenue Bridge.

But the famous urban wildlife habitat was not always so popular.

In fact, back in the '80s, bats were feared and almost eradicated from the bridge.

For more on this, we previously spoke with Dr.

Merlin Tuttle, the conservationist who led efforts to preserve the bat colony and help protect bats worldwide.

And joining us now is Dr.

Merlin Tuttle.

First, Dr.

Tuttle, we wanna say thank you for saving the bat colony, and also, thank you for being here today.

- Well, thank you very much for having me.

- So Dr.

Tuttle, for locals and for tourists, the bat colony at the Congress Avenue Bridge is as quintessentially Austin as Barton Springs.

But going back to the '80s, did you ever imagine your work would one day lead to this iconic Austin experience?

- Actually, when I first visited Austin, it was because there had been a national news release, press release, that warned that hundreds of thousands of rabid bats were invading, attacking the citizens of Austin.

And at that time, people were signing petitions to have the bats eradicated.

They'd been told by misinformed health officials that the bats were all or mostly rabid and would attack.

And I actually moved to Austin because I viewed it as the perfect opportunity for me to prove that bats didn't attack people and weren't mostly rabid and were actually invaluable neighbors.

- It's really hard to think that something that is so quintessentially Austin, people not only just like didn't even talk about, it was like they actively hated.

And I wanna talk more about how your message, bats are beneficial, was not met with that warm reception at first, like you were talking about.

We heard that, like you said, people feared, they hated bats as much as rattlesnakes and cockroaches, which to me is like, nothing is as bad as a cockroach or a rattlesnake.

(Merlin laughing) So given all of that, how did you change peoples' minds?

- Just by being friendly and explaining to them the real world of bats, showing them live bats.

And you know, once somebody understands bats, it's almost impossible to keep hating them.

They're invaluable neighbors.

In fact, our bats have conservatively brought more than 200 million tourist dollars to Austin.

- Wow, that is amazing to hear.

And you know, for something that is now so apparently lucrative for Austin, I don't think most people know the full story, though, of how the bat colony came to be.

You know, you were doing early PR for bats back then.

So what happened to that bridge, though, that made it specifically an attractive home to upwards of a million and a half free-tailed bats?

- Well, the bridge was remodeled in the early '80s, and box beam construction was used, which left crevices about so wide between beams.

And the bats loved to get in those.

They're like incubators.

They can move up on a cold day and down on a hot day and get the temperature they want.

- And your work here over the years, it became sort of the urban bat colony heard round the world.

But what impact beyond Austin have you seen?

- We used the Congress Avenue Bridge to educate people to appreciate the value of living harmoniously with nature.

The bats have harmed no one.

They have never attacked or caused any disease.

I love using them as a perfect example when somebody tries to scare people about bats, say, "Well, if bats are so dangerous, why hasn't anybody been harmed in Austin?"

- That's an excellent point.

You know, even now there are some narratives about bats that I'm glad you're able to clear up.

And globally and locally, though, our ecosystem, obviously it's constantly changing.

Do you have any concerns about the future of the bat colony here?

- I have concerns about the future of bats everywhere.

They are now the most endangered animals of America.

- Why is that?

- Because not everybody appreciates bats like we do.

And they face many hazards.

I have, through photography and a lot of hard work, shown people that there are big advantages to living harmoniously with nature, particularly with bats.

- When the folks at home see this interview and they feel that concern, they share that concern with you about the future of bats, what can we do to help protect bats?

- As much as anything, just spread the word that they're wonderful, safe neighbors.

A study of bats in Wisconsin showed that bats in backyard bat houses were 1/3 of their diet was mosquitoes and they were eating 15 species of mosquitoes, nine of which can cause West Nile virus.

- That alone right there in Texas, and like I said, growing up in Houston, you say bats eat mosquitoes, (hands clapping) I'm sold.

That's the only PR you need.

(Merlin laughing) Well, definitely, we hope in our way this interview helps share the word.

Always an important message.

We love the little bats.

They're so cute.

And Dr.

Tuttle, we appreciate your important work in conservation and thank you so much for sharing your insights on bats today.

- Thank you, Laura, for having me.

(light upbeat music) - We all know Austin has an award-winning food and beverage scene.

But a local group is on a mission to support women chasing their culinary dreams.

We got a look at the You Grill Girl Backyard Barbiecue featuring some familiar names.

(rhythmic music) (people conversing) On this evening at Franklin Backyard.

- [Janie] I have trays ready if y'all wanna take 'em.

- [Laura] A so-called meeting, if you will, of the top women grillmasters, chefs, and more in Central Texas.

- [Janie] This is really hot, don't touch it.

- [Laura] Aptly called You Grill Girl.

(rhythmic music) The theme: a pink Backyard Barbiecue.

(coals thumping) It's their sixth annual fundraiser supporting the Austin chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier.

The money goes toward scholarships and grants for women in food, beverage, and hospitality.

- I think that women are, you know, kind of stepping more into the spotlight in the industry.

- [Laura] 15 local restaurants participated, offering everything from crawfish pistolettes from Epicerie.

- There's such a great community in Austin, not just with the women, but with the hospitality industry in general.

And so I think we're just building on that.

It's kind of what makes Austin, Austin.

- [Laura] To grilled oysters from Dai Due.

- When I first moved here, I was in culinary school, and one of my professors was in this organization.

And I was like, "I can't wait 'til I can be in this organization.

(laughing)" I like really wanted to be involved in the scene.

- [Laura] The event raised more than $60,000.

Stacy Franklin, the wife of barbecue legend Aaron Franklin, is the co-chair of You Grill Girl.

She has long supported Les Dames and women in the business.

- Lots of people that are starting their careers or starting businesses need extra money for different learning opportunities.

Travel is one that we fund.

We still do fund culinary students and people making beverages, people that have products that they're looking to get on the shelves.

- [Laura] And sending that ladder back down means something more for members like Janie Ramirez.

It's not just about the finest in food.

It's a culinary family, while fanning the flames of the next generation.

- I know what it's like to struggle and try to figure out your way and find your way.

This organization specifically really uplifts women and like helps them and guides them, and I think that's really special.

(light upbeat music) - We have an update from our friends at Night Owl Therapy.

A few weeks ago, we first told you about this nonprofit that provides mental health care to nightlife workers.

Two recent late-night shootings at bars in town are a reminder of the unusual stress and trauma these workers face.

The team at Night Owl has now expanded, with new capacity to take on 100 additional clients for counseling and therapy services.

And in May, Mental Health Awareness Month, they'll provide an initial session for free.

If you or someone close to you is a nightlife worker who needs help coping, go to nightlifetherapy.com for more information.

And before we go, we wanted to take a moment to say goodbye to a key member of the "Austin InSight" team.

Our news and public affairs director here at Austin PBS, Ed Bryson, is retiring this week.

Ed is here with us in studio now to share a few words.

Ed, I know this is a really bittersweet week for you.

- Very much so, Laura, and I just wanted to take a quick minute to thank you and really to thank everybody here at Austin PBS for all of the great support we've had for doing this show, "Austin InSight."

You know, for me, and I've said it a million times, journalism is not just a job, it is a vocation, it is a calling.

And I'm just terrifically grateful to have had this opportunity to do this kind of work this late in my career journey.

So I really appreciate everybody's help and support over these last two years to do this.

If I could just make one more point, Laura, it's this: I really think local journalism and especially independent journalism are more important than ever if you just think about what's happening in Texas and in the country and what's happening with news media.

And so that brings me to this: We are not corporate-sponsored or beholden or connected to corporate interests.

We are independent at Austin PBS.

And that gives us the opportunity to do a unique type of storytelling here.

And we are connected to the community.

And we rely on and we have to have community support to do the work that we do.

So I just wanna thank our supporters, Daniel L. Skret, Sally & James Gavin, the team at Suerte, Bar Toti, and Este restaurants.

Their support for "Austin InSight" specifically helped get us on the air in the first place.

And it just means everything to have that kind of support.

So if you're watching on the internet or on television, I just hope you'll consider giving to Austin PBS so that we can keep doing great local storytelling like this.

So Laura, with that, I'm just wishing you and everybody here the very, very best going forward.

- Thank you so much, Ed.

- Thank you.

- And like you said, we're so grateful to everyone watching and who supports us.

And Ed, we are so grateful to you for how much you've taught us, how much you've shown us, and how much you've seriously built this team from the ground up.

And we will have some impossible shoes to fill, but we are just so grateful for you.

And we're wishing you such fun and such the best in your retirement.

And now, in Ed's honor, he's gonna hate this, but we would love (Ed laughing) to take you on a quick trip back in time to show you some highlights from Ed's remarkable career.

(TV hissing) - So what started as a fundraiser for a small church has grown into a major cultural event here in South Mississippi.

I think there are a lot of very nervous people in this room tonight at this hour, especially when you look at the numbers that you just showed a few moments ago.

A graduation ceremony was recently held for the first class in this special pilot program.

- [Laura] From Mississippi to Texas, Austin PBS news director, Ed Bryson, has had an undeniably newsworthy career.

(bright music) He got his start as a reporter at WLOX in Biloxi, Mississippi.

After five years, Ed jumped to WLBT in Jackson.

He covered multiple major stories, including the double murder of a judge and his wife.

Ed even talked his way inside a prison to speak to a key informant.

- Louisiana State Prison at Angola is home to about 5,000 inmates, including one who claims to know all about why Margaret and Vincent Sherry were murdered.

- Ed's interview helped kickstart the federal investigation that solved the case.

He also covered one of the biggest stories in Mississippi history: the story of Byron De La Beckwith, the man convicted of the 1963 murder of Mississippi NAACP and civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

Beckwith was tried twice for Evers' murder in 1964.

Both ended in hung juries.

In 1990, WLBT News discovered where Beckwith was living, and Ed traveled to Tennessee to interview him about the murder.

- [Ed] You did not kill Medgar Evers?

- I did not kill him.

Did you kill him?

- No sir, but you were not- - But you could have.

- But you were not unhappy (Byron laughing) about his death, though?

- I didn't shed a tear.

- [Laura] Ed won an Emmy for his story.

This interview was later subpoenaed by the DA's office to use in a new case.

In 1994, Beckwith was convicted and sentenced to prison for the rest of his life.

Ed, who had gotten to know Evers' widow, Myrlie, was there for the verdict.

- All I wanna do (camera clicking) is say yay, Medgar, yay, yay, yay.

(people applauding) - It's about time.

- From the byline to the headline, Ed even appeared in a movie adaptation of the trial.

The late Rob Reiner's "Ghosts of Mississippi" in 1996 recreated Ed's interview with Beckwith.

Ed played himself opposite James Woods.

- Where'd you get this?

- Ed Bryson over at Channel 3.

They're running a piece on Beckwith this weekend.

- I know what you're gonna say.

Did I kill Medgar Evers?

- [Ed] Did you?

- I did not kill him.

But he sure is dead.

- Of course, the big question here is, will Beckwith himself testify, as he did so competently back in 1964?

- [Laura] Ed still gets residual checks.

(light music) Ed later left TV news to work in public relations.

In 2024, he returned to his true vocation here at Austin PBS.

He helped created "Austin InSight" from the ground up, even reporting again on a few stories himself, including an in-depth look at "Austin City Limits," a story on an inmate education program, and an investigation into Black maternal mortality.

Now he's retiring to spend more time with his family.

He loves cooking with his grandkids, traveling, and playing in his local band, The Love Vandals.

And maybe now he'll have more time to enjoy a beer or two with his wife, Pauline, on their property.

And since Ed likes to call himself a recovering journalist, we'll leave you with one last sign-off.

- Ed Bryson, WLBT News, Meridian.

Ed Bryson, WLBT News, Biloxi.

Ed Bryson, WLBT News.

(TV clicking) (light music fades out) - While his retirement is a loss for Austin PBS and the industry, his legacy of persistence, asking the tough questions, and caring about those the media has left behind will continue to inspire us and the next generation of journalists.

Ed, thank you sincerely.

And that's our show.

You can watch and share all of our stories on the Austin PBS YouTube channel or watch full episodes in the PBS app for free.

We'll be back next week with a look at the growing new interest in old-fashioned boot scootin', Austin's two-steppin' scene.

Thanks so much for watching.

We'll see you next time.

(light upbeat music) (light upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from: Sally & James Gavin and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(bright flute music)