ATX PULSE 12/8-10/25 (free) (sponsored by The AI Report): Austin Energy Employee Spent $980k on 'Fictitious Vendors' // State Sen. Eckhardt Switches to Comptroller Bid // FAA Will Reimburse Arrest Made in Deadly Bus Stop Shooting // UT Misses Playoff, to Meet Michigan in Citrus Bowl 12/31

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2025 - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2025

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WEATHER

Wednesday: H: 73° / L: 40°.

» Two cold fronts in the 7-day forecast, per KXAN.

Thursday: H: 70° / L: 51°.

Friday: H: 75° / L: 58°.

Saturday: H: 74° / L: 51°.

Sunday: H: 60° / L: 44°.

TOP NEWS

"Austin Energy employee allegedly paid $980K to ‘fictitious vendors,’ city auditor says," KXAN’s Cora Neas – The Austin City Auditor’s Office released a report Tuesday accusing a local couple, both of whom previously worked for the city, of defrauding the city for approximately $980,000 by sending payments to allegedly fictitious businesses.

The report focuses on the alleged actions of Mark Ybarra, who worked as a facility service specialist for Austin Energy. He was issued a city credit card by his superiors for the procurement of necessary tools and materials, the audit said.

According to the report, he used the card to “pay fictitious vendors approximately $980,000 and fraudulently reported these transactions in City records.”

“The falsified invoices he submitted were ultimately discovered by his management in Austin Energy. Some of the fictitious vendors used contact information like addresses that connected them to relatives of Mark Ybarra, or Mark himself,” reads an email to KXAN from the auditor’s office.

According to the city auditor’s report, Ybarra allegedly made payments to 22 fictious businesses using the card. He resigned from his job in October 2023.

A grand jury indicted Ybarra on Aug. 23. He now faces a felony charge of theft greater than $300,000.

His wife, former Austin Watershed Protection employee Ambrosia Ybarra, “refused to answer questions” from city auditors. She was indicted on Sept. 15 and charged with felony theft between $150,000 and $300,000. She resigned from her job in November, the report states.

KXAN has reached out to the couple’s attorneys for comment on the accusations.

The report also named two Austin Energy managers who supervised the former facility service specialist. It says that the managers “wasted City resources when they approved the credit card payments based on invoices they should have identified as questionable or illegitimate.”

Neither of those managers have been criminally charged.

One of the managers provided a written statement, which was included in the report. She said in it that she flagged the potential misuse of credit cards in June 2022, around 10 days after the specialist’s previous supervisor retired.

“Between May 2022 and October 2023 I experienced rapid role changes with expanding oversight,” reads a section of her statement. “I reported potentials issues to my superiors … outlining policy violations and weak purchasing controls. I sent written instructions to staff reinforcing City policy related to contracts, credit card use, and vendor spending to stay below City Council approved thresholds.”

The auditor’s office responded in the report to her statement:

“The concerns shared with Austin Energy management about credit card spending did not include any concerns about fraud or incomplete invoices. She is named in this report because she approved $170,000 in fraudulent transactions,” it states. “Those invoices included noticeable problems, like missing vendor information including addresses and other contact information.”

(KXAN)

"Combining Energy With Computational Science, UT Launches Program To Bolster Texas, U.S. Energy Dominance" UT News's Jacey Yarbrough – AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin is giving energy students an unprecedented opportunity to harness computational science to make nuclear, oil and gas, and other energy systems safer and more efficient. The initiative provides students with exposure to the latest advances in computational science that are revolutionizing the energy sector and aligns with the State of Texas’ priority to train the future nuclear workforce and accelerate next-generation nuclear development and deployment.

Through access to digital twin technology, artificial intelligence, and the world’s fastest academic supercomputer, the KBH Computational Energy Fellows Program will prepare students for careers at the forefront of energy innovation. Launching in Spring 2026, the program is a collaboration between UT’s world-renowned Oden Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences and the Kay Bailey Hutchison (KBH) Energy Center, made possible by a generous grant from the O’Donnell Foundation.

UT leads the nation in scale, depth and breadth of energy programs and expertise.

(UT News)

THE BLOTTER

"Woman arrested for deadly bus stop shooting in Downtown Austin" via KVUE – A woman is in custody in connection with a shooting that killed a man at a Downtown Austin bus stop last month.

Police believe 34-year-old Kimberly Sotelo shot and killed 52-year-old Gared Goff on Nov. 12. The shooting happened near Fifth and Trinity streets, near a fire station.

Records from Montgomery County show Sotelo was booked in jail on Dec. 1 on a murder charge.

Austin police said the suspect was taken into custody in Spring, which is near Houston. Authorities plan to extradite her to Travis County.

(KVUE)

""There was love there"; Georgetown double-homicide families say the victims were in love" via KEYE – "There was love there"; Georgetown double-homicide families say the victims were in love

GEORGETOWN, Texas — The families of James Yost, 76, and Kenneth Clanton, 33, are grieving after the two were found dead in a Georgetown home that was intentionally set on fire over the weekend.

Clanton's family described the relationship between the two men as one of love, asserting they were not at fault for their deaths.

"I believe one or the other died protecting the other," said Lydia Collins, Clanton's older sister.

The tragedy unfolded Friday night when neighbors reported hearing screams and seeing smoke from the home on Pipe Creek Lane. Yost was found dead in the front yard, while Clanton was discovered inside by first responders. Clanton's family is now mourning their loss.

"I'm just numb right now that I I'm I have not gotten to see him yet," Rose Morgan, Clanton's mother, said.

"It was just horrible. I couldn't think I couldn't speak. All I could do is scream and cry," his younger sister, Emily Clanton, added.

(KEYE)

"Southeast Austin apartment fire leaves $3M in damages" Fox 7 Austin’s Jenna King – "The Austin Fire Department is investigating a large fire that broke out in Southeast Austin overnight.

It was an affordable housing project that was still under construction. There are millions in damages.

AFD said the fire was so big they had to fight it from the outside.

"You could hear the fire roaring. I've never experienced anything like that," said Morgan Miller, who lives in the neighborhood.

Miller said a neighbor alerted her about the growing fire nearby.

"I looked over and there was just a fire billowing, blasting. We were hearing, maybe not explosions, but things breaking, and it was pretty intense," said Miller.

The fire was at a South Pleasant Valley Road apartment building. 

"We started worrying about the pets, we started grabbing the leashes, we started packing, you know, quick-to-go bags just in case we had to go. The wind was really kicked up during the first few minutes, and it was billowing like that. So, you know, our first thought was, oh my gosh, we're going to have to evacuate," said Miller.

Thick smoke and large flames could be seen throughout the building.

"There was fire showing on at least three sides of the building and on all three floors. So, there were a lot of fires. There was so much fire it was unsafe for our firefighters to enter the building," said AFD Captain Sean Cummings.

Firefighters say the three-story apartment complex was still under construction. The danger of the fire forced crews to adjust their approach.

"Our crews were able to attack the fire with large master streams from our aerial trucks and from our engines. Later on, there was a collapse within the interior of the building itself," said Cummings.

AFD says the damages are estimated at $3 million.

Fox 7 Austin

"Mother accused of faking daughter's disappearance to avoid custody agreement" via KEYE – The mother of an 8-year-old Round Rock girl reported missing last week has been arrested after investigators determined she and another woman conspired to hide the child to avoid a custody agreement, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office said.

Cailin Larissa Doyle, 43, was taken into custody Saturday night in connection with her daughter Cadence Doyle's disappearance, which she initially reported as a runaway case Dec. 5, according to the Williamson County Sheriff's Office. The child was safely located Saturday afternoon.

Karinna Ann Robertson, 36, was also arrested in connection with the case.

Investigators determined that Doyle and Robertson conspired to hide the child to avoid an existing shared custody agreement between Doyle and the child's father, according to the sheriff's office. Robertson allegedly abandoned Cadence at a gas station near I-35 and Old Settlers Boulevard in Round Rock on Saturday afternoon, according to authorities.

The false report prompted a significant emergency.

(KEYE)

"Viral video shows Austin driver shatter window in MoPac road-rage incident" Austin American-Statesman's Dante Motley – The Mopac interchange in southwest Austin Monday October 15, 2018. A road-rage encounter on northbound Loop 360 is drawing widespread attention after a video surfaced showing one driver shattering another motorist’s window before speeding off — prompting a chase down the busy highway near the MoPac interchange.

The incident happened during heavy midday traffic on the 4100 block of Capital of Texas Highway. A car pivoted in front of a vehicle stopped in traffic before a man got out. He threw his hands up in anger, revealing a long skinny object in his hand.

He then approached the car behind him, struck its driver-side window with the object — breaking it — then sprinted back to his own car and accelerated away. He wove out of MoPac traffic around cars in the turn lane to escape, but the targeted driver quickly followed.

Austin police said they are investigating the incident as an "assault with injury" case. No arrest have been made at this time.

It’s unclear what led to the confrontation.

(Austin American-Statesman)

"ICE targets Austin father of deported student, lawyer says" Austin American-Statesman's Emiliano Tahui Gómez – Federal immigration agents on Sunday morning appear to have attempted to arrest the Austin-based father of Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, the 19-year-old college freshman who was arrested at the Boston airport and promptly deported last month while trying to return home to Austin to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, according to an attorney for the family.

Kristin Etter, a lawyer with the Texas Immigration Law Council, said Francis Lopez was washing his car in the alley behind the family’s home, on Austin’s eastern outskirts, and supervising his 2-year-old daughter when a plain white pick-up truck that had already driven around the block pulled up to the house. Lopez grabbed his scurrying toddler and motioned to the truck with his hand to apologize for her. That’s when an individual wearing a green U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vest got out of the truck and began running toward Lopez, Etter said.

(Austin American-Statesman)