Cover Story
Can AISD Steer Clear of State Takeover?
eing a teacher at Dobie Middle School last school year felt a bit like trying to build a path as you’re walking along it, Taylor Carriker-Cavin said. For Dobie and two other Austin ISD middle schools, Webb and Burnet, the school year looked different. The district carried out state-required turnaround plans at the three campuses,…
News
Council Members Approve Bond Proposal After Careful Consideration
As recently as mid-July, City Council Member Krista Laine was a hard no on the renewed push by some of her Council colleagues to put a bond proposal on the fall ballot. Laine’s principal argument wasn’t so much that city leaders needed to wait two more years before asking voters to approve more debt, as…
What to Know About AISD Trustee Elections
Five Austin ISD trustee positions will be up for election on the Nov. 3 ballot in Travis County to represent districts 1, 4, 6, and 7 across Austin, and the at-large position 9. Those five seats are currently held by Candace Hunter (1), Kathryn Whitley Chu (4), Andrew Gonzales (6), David Kauffman (7), and Arati…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: Aug. 6-12
ICE Outside City Hall: As the Austin City Council was discussing the city’s FY 26-27 budget, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained four construction workers outside of City Hall on Thursday, Aug. 6. The encounter with ICE came after Texas Department of Public Safety troopers conducted a traffic stop because the vehicle was driving…
30-Acre Office Complex Sits Empty in East Austin
An outdoor yoga deck, basketball court, and native wildflower meadow are not amenities found in a typical workplace. Nor are pickleball courts or an elevated boardwalk. But, that’s exactly what the wellness-minded, sustainably developed Springdale Green boasts on its website. Jay Paul Company, a California-based real estate firm, completed the 30-acre office complex near the…
AI News Lurks in Austin. Who’s Behind It?
Let me start by saying: You’re reading an article by a human journalist who spent several years reporting local Austin news by day and peeing in Sculpture Falls by night. I’m now in Germany studying to earn a master’s degree in journalism. Because of the time difference, it was 10:18pm on a Friday, and I…
Most Recent Homeless Camps Report Shows Results, But Not the Full Picture
In July, Austin Homeless Strategies and Operations released a report detailing the progress made during the renewed sweeps that began this spring. The memo outlines the number of camps Homeless Encampment Management teams visited between May 11 and June 5, the total debris moved by the teams, how many individuals were connected to shelter and…
Music
Buzzy New Homes for Dancing, Eating, and Jazz Snapping
Outer Heaven Disco Club will soon unfurl its wings again in a new, larger East Cesar Chavez location – address and opening date to be announced. The dance club, known for its DIY aesthetic, inclusive ethos, and anti-establishment messaging, was forced to close its doors on East 12th in April 2025 when its landlord denied…
Music Notes
The Lyric League Cypher Saturday 15, Flamingo Cantina Sirius XM radio station Shade 45 airs the Punchline Academy, a program centered around showcasing bars-centric rap. The radio show’s Lyric League Series, a live freestyle cypher, visits cities across the country to spotlight gems from each scene. Participants at the Austin edition include conscious lyricist Blayce…
Arts + Culture
PCX Austin Offers Fan Fun at the Fairmont
For a deeply nerdy town like Austin, it’s shocking that there’s no locally created mutli-fan culture convention in the heart of the city. That changes this weekend (Aug. 15-16) with the first-ever PCX Austin at the Fairmont Austin. The city’s been without a regular major convention since the local stop for the traveling Wizard World…
Is Rainey Back? Nightlife Street Seemingly Enters Another Cycle of Success – and Scrutiny
In Ubers and Lyfts, in bar lines and during table clearings, I hardly needed to voice the question before an involved Austinite weighed in: Is Rainey back? The answer, from barkeeps and busboys, general managers and general nightlife enjoyers, was a sometimes hesitant, often caveat-filled but no less resounding – yes. Rainey is back, they…
Sink Into Psychosexual Absurdity
Anyone remember Westworld? In the HBO series’ futuristic setting, people could purchase immersive themed experiences, like a wild Western adventure filled with automatons customers could harass and harm to their hearts’ content. An artificial world filled with artificial people, but driven by actions fueled by intense emotions. I kept thinking about it while watching Mad…
Screens
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma Review: It’s a Scream
There’s a very important piece of representation in director Jane Schoenbrun’s latest feature, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. I’m not talking about the queer romance at the film’s heart, or the trans killer of the film’s fictional slasher series. No, the moment this reviewer personally felt most seen by the movie was when…
The End of Oak Street Review: Nostalgia Is a Trap
The End of Oak Street – or Temu Jurassic Park II, as it should probably be known – is a film out of time. Apt, since that’s the fate of its time-displaced residents of one Midwestern neighborhood, who find themselves displaced to the era of the dinosaurs. In some random unnamed suburb of Detroit in…
Tony Review: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Lout
Tony, the biographical study of the young Anthony Bourdain, begins with a quote from the legendary chef, author, and traveler about himself as a teen, and it’s far from complimentary. Even if the film inevitably takes such narrative shortcuts and indulges a few ahistorical lapses as are seemingly requisite for the biopic format, Bourdain would…
The Rivals of Amziah King Review: Voice of the Beehive
Every kind of farming takes a different mentality. Crops need constant attention. Pigs will turn on you in a second. But if your crop is honey, it’s all about patience. Can’t make the flowers bloom, can’t make the bees fly. Maybe that’s why the few films about apiarists demand a lead performance that’s both burly…
The Wrong Girls Review: Stoners Save the World
If you mix together giant squids, weed-enhanced ESP, and Danish henchmen, you get this summer’s delightful stoner comedy The Wrong Girls. This directorial debut from screenwriter Dylan Meyer (XOXO, Moxie) stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as two best friends, strapped for cash and always high, who find themselves at the center of a government…
Food
Buzzy New Homes for Dancing, Eating, and Jazz Snapping
Outer Heaven Disco Club will soon unfurl its wings again in a new, larger East Cesar Chavez location – address and opening date to be announced. The dance club, known for its DIY aesthetic, inclusive ethos, and anti-establishment messaging, was forced to close its doors on East 12th in April 2025 when its landlord denied…
Churchrow Tejas BBQ Makes Barbecue Feel Easy
Like most Austinites, I tend to stay on my side of the river. I know, I know. South Austin has plenty of incredible restaurants, but traffic makes me irrationally cranky. So while I happily devoured Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ’s famous Real Deal Holyfield breakfast taco anytime someone brought a bag into the office, I rarely trekked…
Columns
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
In the year 301, Armenia became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The Sacagawea dollar coin is really popular in Ecuador. The U.S. dollar is Ecuador’s official currency. “Love bombing,” which involves one person giving their partner excessive compliments, attention, and affection in an effort to control them,…
For Austin FC, Leagues Cup Is a Cause Worth Fighting For
In spite of all the misfortune and ineptitude that has defined Austin FC’s 2026 season, the Verde and Black find themselves with a real opportunity to properly make something out of this otherwise lost year. That opportunity has emerged in the Leagues Cup, where Austin FC tied for the top-ranked team in the entire competition…
Day Trips: Hooper’s Restaurant, Kingsland
Hooper’s has been a popular eating establishment since 1973 when the “chain saw family” sat down for a meal of body parts in the front room. Five decades later, the house is a Southern dining institution in Kingsland on the shores of Lake LBJ. Fun fact: Gunnar Hansen (1947-2015), the actor who played Leatherface in…
The Luv Doc: Feeling Neglected
Dear Luv Doc, I have been with my boyfriend for nearly three years. When we first started going out he was a lot more affectionate and thoughtful. He would sometimes buy me small gifts, take me out to new restaurants or shows, and he would talk to me about what was going on at work,…
Qmmunity: The Queering Time
I’m gonna keep things quick this week: The time to be queer? Is now! Here are several places and spaces encouraging such LGBTQ behavior. You wanna get gay married while the gettin’ is still good? The Austin chapter of Wedding Industry Professionals Association and Austin Pride have teamed up to offer free pop-up weddings on…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Given how extra vibrant and refreshed you have been feeling, I would understand if you had zero interest in confronting The Dilemma That Refuses to Fade. Why deliberately tangle with that stale, long‑term energy drain when your spirits are so high? Here’s why: At this moment, you possess a new and…
