Dec. 11, 2015

Volume 35, Number 15

features

Give 'Til It Helps 2015

Let us help you help those who help

BY KATE X MESSER, NEHA AZIZ AND SARAH MARLOFF

news

Funding Balance

Some Austin politicos think qualified candidates of average means are deterred from running due to low contribution limits

BY JACK CRAVER

Point Austin: A Funny Thing Happened ...

Potential consultant firm violates city's anti-lobbying ordinance

BY MICHAEL KING

Public Notice: "A Failed Experiment"

Planning Commission blasts Type 2 STRs

BY NICK BARBARO

Headlines

Quote of the Week

Civics 101

Council: Headaches for the Holidays

In the home stretch, members wrangle short-term rentals

BY MICHAEL KING

Mueller vs. TCAD: Affordability Fight in Court

Attorney for Mueller homeowners says TCAD is incorrectly applying the law

BY MICHAEL KING

Out of Pocket

Teachers forced to pay for supplies after flood

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

Time for a Suspension

APD tackles officers' time management problems

BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

Politics Gift Guide

Donate to a teacher, help a Syrian refugee, or protect against shooters

BY CHASE HOFFBERGER, MARY TUMA AND RICHARD WHITTAKER

Jumpolin Lawsuit Settled

But terms of the settlement aren't being released

BY TONY CANTÚ

Syrian Refugees Allowed in Texas

State will take in 21 people

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

The Hightower Report

Hijacking high-speed rail hurts America's future

BY JIM HIGHTOWER

food

Gift Guide 2015: Some for Gifting, Some for Eating

Delicious goods for everyone on your list

Rebel Pizza Bar

Neighborhood concept still needs some rising

BY BRANDON WATSON

AC Date Night: Emmer & Rye and Geraldine's

Temperatures rising on Rainey Street

BY ADRIENNE WHITE

Rolling With the Punches

The Thrilla in the Tortilla continues

BY BRANDON WATSON

Food Events

music

Playback: Barracuda on the Block

BY KEVIN CURTIN

A Drunken Poet's Dream

Gift Guide: Music Books
screens

Gift Guide 2015: Video Game Gift Battles

Which of the season's blockbusters will earn your dollars?

BY JAMES RENOVITCH

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Gets the 3-D Treatment From Zebra Imaging

These are the holograms you're looking for

BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

Brently Heilbron's Stand Up Empire Signs With PBS

New show to bring ACL-like coverage of Austin's comedy scene

BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER

Film Reviews

Bengal Tiger

Telugu action film

Don Verdean

Fourth comedy feature from the pair who made Napoleon Dynamite

In the Heart of the Sea

Ron Howard sets sails with that famous Nantucket whale story

Krampus

This horror-comedy brings a demon to the holiday gathering

Macbeth

Bloody screen adaptation shows what Shakespeare only tells

A Royal Night Out

Fictional romp about the Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth on V-E Day
arts & culture

Gift Guide 2015: Fiction by Austin Authors

From Hill Country mysteries to Lone Star steampunk, fantasy femmes with swords to alienated runaways with lycanthropic tendencies, there's an Austin novel for everyone on your gift list

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Peter and the Wolf Go to Texas

Lionheart Youth Theatre's new adaptation unites the music of Mother Falcon with the puppets of Glass Half Full Theatre

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Arts Reviews

Austin Playhouse's The Philadelphia Story

Don Toner's direction and a top-drawer cast make for a riotous evening in this version of Philip Barry's crisp comedy

Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company's True Story

In Kathy Dunn Hamrick's new dance, communities, like truths, were fluid and the movement was incomparable
columns

Page Two: To Believe Is to Love Again

The times they have changed

BY LOUIS BLACK

Gay Place: The Big 3-0

Allgo resists the urge to call it the first anniversary of their 29th birthday

Day Trips: San Antonio – The Saga

Multimedia show paints San Antonio's historic cathedral with light and music

BY GERALD E. MCLEOD

The Luv Doc: The Hamster Wheel

You need to access your uncrazy side

BY THE LUV DOC

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

BY MR. SMARTY PANTS

Feedback

Letters to the editor, published daily
sports

Soccer Watch

BY NICK BARBARO

comics

Jen Sorensen Comics

BY JEN SORENSEN

Maakies

BY TONY MILLIONAIRE

Eyebeam

BY SAM HURT

Why So Much?

BY LANCE MYERS

This Modern World

BY TOM TOMORROW

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Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

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