The Austin Daily News - June 19, 2026

Hey — quick honest note before we dive in. This is a one-man operation, and I'm in the middle of figuring out a sustainable business model for this thing. I'll aim to keep it daily, but it might be slightly irregular for a little bit. Thanks for being here regardless. Now, the news: In this week's issue: Joshua Baer, the man who quietly wired Austin's entire startup ecosystem, dead at 50 in a plane crash near Laredo — and what Capital Factory leaves behind Texas towns banning data centers outright while billions in AI infrastructure investment pour into the state — the political fracture nobody saw coming Cedar Park's Firefly Aerospace pockets a $75M NASA contract to send rocket-powered drones hopping across the Moon's south pole Senate Republicans and the SAVE Act: the real story behind the intra-party standoff on voter citizenship verification Leroy and Lewis — a Michelin-starred South Austin BBQ joint — is hiding a $10 brisket burger deal that only happens on Mondays Let's get into it.