San Antonio City Council approves 2025 budget; celebrates Parking Day; former poet laureate longlisted for National Book Award

Welcome to TPR’s new roundup of breaking headlines and news events. It aims to provide a concise and clear summary of the stories TPR is tracking.

Today’s weather: The week in San Antonio will continue to be sunny and warm, with an expected high of 94 and a low of 77. The rest of the week will see similar temperatures, with sunny skies and cool evenings. A cold front next week will push temperatures into the high 80s by the middle of next week.

The tropics are also relatively quiet for now. Forecasters are watching for storms in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, but that system may not pose a serious threat to the Gulf Coast until the middle of next week. The Atlantic hurricane season ends on November 30.

San Antonio City Council Approves New Budget

The San Antonio City Council unanimously passed its 2025 budget on Thursday. The nearly $4 billion budget includes more than $1 billion for public safety and more than $20 million in cuts amid slowing revenue growth.

Many departments received increased funding to address residents’ priorities, such as improving the condition of streets or increasing the number of spaying and neutering procedures.

But according to City Manager Erik Walsh, the city will have to take a close look at its spending again next year.

This year’s budget priorities were infrastructure, homelessness, housing and public safety.

The $3.96 billion budget includes $36.6 million in cuts needed to balance the budget as revenue growth has slowed significantly compared with the past few years.

The council also approved a new contract with the firefighters union.

The City Council also approved a new contract with the local firefighters union.

It was the first time in 15 years that both sides reached a mutually agreed agreement.

It includes 21.3% pay increases for firefighters phased in over three years. It goes into effect October 1.

The city and the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association had been working under agreements imposed by an arbitrator after a bitter 2009 contract dispute.

Under the first tentative agreement between the city and the firefighters union since 2009, firefighters will receive a 7% raise in 2025, an 8% raise in 2026 and a 5% raise in 2027.

Experts Discuss How to Avoid Gun Suicide

Texans observe National Suicide Prevention Month in September. Gun safety experts warn that gun suicide remains a contributing factor to more than half of all gun deaths in Texas, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Heather Pitamber, a licensed professional counselor based in San Antonio, encouraged those contemplating suicide to seek help immediately. The 988 Lifeline includes a call, text or chat option for those contemplating suicide or other forms of self-harm.

She reminded people to pay attention to the warning signs of suicide and seek help from friends or family immediately.

For gun owners, safely locking up your guns can help prevent suicide at home. A cable lock, key box, gun case, and full-size gun safe are all options for safely storing your guns and preventing suicide or accidental shooting by a child.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Experts say more than half of all suicides in Texas involve a gun.

Friday is Parking Day worldwide

Centro San Antonio explains that Park Day began in 2005 when a San Francisco-based art studio specializing in environmental projects organized a two-hour park in a designated area.

Since then, the event has gained notoriety, with temporary parks being set up in 162 cities and 35 countries, transforming into a global event that is a day for creating temporary green spaces.

On Friday, paid parking spaces around the world will be transformed into oases of activation and innovation for citizens, small businesses, non-profit organizations and local governments.

The San Antonio park will be located downtown on Houston Street between Main and Laredo.

Temperatures may drop in San Antonio, but fall will be warm

The National Weather Service said fall will officially arrive in San Antonio next Sunday at 7:43 a.m. The front is expected to reach at least the Hill Country by that same afternoon.

But highs throughout next week in San Antonio are expected to drop to just around 90 degrees, just a tad cooler than this week. Sitting on the porch at night will be just a tad less sticky.

And the Climate Prediction Center reports that the long-range fall forecast for the Hill Country and South Texas doesn’t exactly call for sweaters and hot cocoa. The forecast for October through December calls for above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation odds.

The National Weather Service said fall will officially arrive in San Antonio next Sunday at 7:43 a.m. The front is expected to reach at least the Hill Country by that same afternoon.

Photo courtesy of

Octavio Quintailla

Former San Antonio Poet Laureate Longlisted for National Book Award

Octavio Quintanilla, San Antonio’s fourth poet laureate, was named to the National Book Awards longlist this week for his latest work, Book of Wounded Sparrows.

He joins nine other authors to receive the honor, which the National Book Awards Foundation bestows on poets and writers each year. Finalists will be announced Oct. 1. Winners will be announced Nov. 20.

Quintanilla is a professor of literature and creative writing at Our Lady of the Lake University.

The Rio Grande Valley-born poet was the city’s poet laureate from 2018 to 2020. He published his first collection of poetry, If I disappearin 2014.