We Have an Issue: Rocky Road
In this week's issue, the brawl over what to do with I-35 rages on; plus, the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is back, baby!
By Kimberley Jones, Fri., Sept. 10, 2021
Few things unite Austinites more than their hatred of I-35, the interstate highway-slash-hellscape that cuts through the center of town. Everybody more or less agrees I-35 needs fixing, but fix it how? The Texas Department of Transportation's solution is to add lanes, a plan that would involving razing a number of businesses flanking the highway, including this one. (Tough spot for them's who loathe the idea of expanding I-35 but would really like to see the Chronicle burned to the ground.) In this week's issue, News Editor Mike Clark-Madison looks under the hood of the plan, while Publisher Nick Barbaro writes from the perspective of a business owner in the path of the wrecking ball.
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In this column last week, I speculated that the inoperable golf cart that is parked in our office's backyard had been there since 2000. In fact, as former Art Director Taylor Holland clarified on social media, the golf cart was purchased in 2001 with the express purpose of driving it into a swimming pool for our 20th anniversary issue cover shoot. This was in re-creation of 1984's "The Great Golf Cart Swimming Pool Massacre," in which reportedly many psychedelics were consumed and shenanigans ensued. These days, shenanigans are restricted to the volleyball court, which is where the dead golf cart lives. (Can you blame TxDOT for wanting of piece of all this?)
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This weekend marks the return of an in-person Hot Sauce Festival, an annual celebration the Chronicle started back in 1991. This year's iteration will be smaller and less "let's all dip our chip in the same salsa bowl!" than years past; festival organizers and venue host Far Out Lounge are taking seriously the need to make this year's celebration – a major fundraiser for the Central Texas Food Bank – a safe and fun one for all. Read all about it, including the artist lineup, starting here.
Online This Week
Funding the Future of Texas Film: Learn about the 10 feature projects recently awarded grants by the Austin Film Society, providing vital funding for films made by Texas artists that have been underrepresented in the industry.
Field Guide Festival: See the chef and farmer lineup online for this new festival (Oct. 29-30) concentrating on local food systems.
Kangaroos and Barroom Disillusionment: Watch Go Fever's new Australian pub-set video for "NYE15."
Déjà VU in Vancouver: Struggling Austin FC squad falls to the Whitecaps for the second time in less than three weeks.
Nathan Harlan Plays "Doctor": Endochine and the Big Fix frontman debuts a solo project and brand-new video.
The Austin Chronicle Show on KOOP 91.7FM
This week, Mike Clark-Madison and Nick Barbaro discuss the future of I-35 and Rachel Rascoe previews this year's Hot Sauce Festival musical lineup.
Tune in Fridays, 6pm, to KOOP Community Radio. Past episodes at austinchronicle.com/av.
