Cover Story
If You Build It…
It was the summer of 1990 and Walter Moreau had just graduated from Baylor University with a degree in finance. For most people, the next step would be sending out applications for a job as an investment adviser, commercial banker, or accountant. Moreau didn’t want that. “I wanted to do nonprofit work, not banking,” Moreau…
News
Austin Public Library Director Search Narrows to Four Candidates
On Monday, Dec. 1, the Austin Public Library hosted the public at its Central Library location for a meet-and-greet with the four finalists for the APL director position, Cedric Clark, Kathy Donellan, Hannah Terrell, and John Trischitti. Terrell, the assistant library director, has been operating as the interim director since 2024 after former director Roosevelt…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief
Restroom Restrictions: As a result of Senate Bill 8, which was passed by the Texas Legislature and signed off on by Greg Abbott this past September, Thursday, Dec. 4 marks the first day with new guidelines that restrict which restrooms transgender individuals have access to in the state. A longtime priority of Texas Republicans –…
Local Immigration Attorneys Navigate a Changing Rulebook
For Gracie Willis, an Austin-based raids response attorney for the National Immigration Project, to practice immigration law today is not the same as it was 10 years ago. “A case that I would have taken when I first started my career in 2014, that case, that same set of facts, is going to be harder…
City Continues Working Toward Climate Resilience Goals
Several extreme weather events live in Austin’s recent memory, including ice storms, floods, fires, and heat waves. The enduring challenge for the city is navigating how to balance response to the immediate impacts of climate change while also planning for long-term resilience. Currently, the city’s approach is two-pronged. On one side is climate adaptation, a…
What’s Up With the City and Its Firefighters?
A new labor contract that would give the city’s firefighters higher pay and more time between shifts was supposed to have been approved by City Council two weeks ago. Now, it looks like the city and the firefighters have more negotiating to do. Council canceled the vote on the $63 million contract on Nov. 20,…
Music
Almost Heaven Manifests World Domination With Raw Cranium
At the pearly gates of stardom, will your outfit unlock the door? Almost Heaven originator and multi-instrumentalist Stefan Barraza arrives at our interview without his signature bug-eyed sunglasses – not a part of the plan, he assures me. His primary set broke in the car, granting me the rare treat of a glimpse behind the shades…
Jackie Venson’s Found Sound Rehearsal Space Takes Music Seriously
Curated artwork, Seventies-style wood-panneled walls, a neat display of chip bags and sparkling waters for sale – if walking into Found Sound rehearsal studio feels like walking into a co-working space or a hip new office, founder Jackie Venson’s vision is going according to plan. “The whole mission statement is: Yes, this is a real…
Music Notes
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Saturday 6, Paramount Theatre Still just 26, blues guitar maestro Christone “Kingfish” Ingram struts into the Paramount a few months after the release of his third studio album, Hard Road. Mathias Lattin opens on the penultimate date of the Mississippi native’s tour. H-E-B Free First Sunday Sunday 7, Bullock Museum This month’s…
Arts + Culture
Horror for the Holidays Brings Holly Jolly Haunts to Austin
Ever worry about what to get for the discerning ghoul in your life? That’s never a challenge for Austin’s fans of the macabre and malevolent, with the 11th annual Horror for the Holidays art and gift bazaar this weekend – December 6-7 – making sure there’s more than just a severed foot in your stocking.…
Beloved Institutions Expand, Restaurants Honored, and NYE Shows Announced
The Head and the Heart will headline Austin’s New Year’s party at Auditorium Shores on Dec. 31 from 7pm to midnight. Local stars Chaparelle, Taméca Jones, and the Point will also perform at the free, family-friendly event hosted by the city and Visit Austin, alongside a drone show and, of course, a fireworks finale to…
Lora Reynolds’ Final Curtain Call
It was like a retirement party or a birthday party – even a wedding – but certainly not a funeral. From across town, artists, collectors, and gallerists came to pay homage to the matriarch of the Austin arts scene, Lora Reynolds, as she unveiled “Who made the grasshopper?,” her final exhibit at her eponymous gallery.…
Screens
100 Nights of Hero Review: A Tale of Tales
In a not-quite-anywhere realm of fantasy, a tale is told. In fact, a tale is told over 100 nights, and it’s always a distraction. Not that the lordly Jerome (Amir El-Masry, Limbo) or his louche houseguest, Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine, The Idea of You), realize that they’re being manipulated. Foolishly, arrogantly they believe that they’re in…
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair Review: The Action Classic Becomes a Melancholy Drama
Once upon a time there was a woman who was very, very, very good at killing people, and then she pretended that she wasn’t, that she was a regular person, but she was just too good at killing for that ever to be true. When Quentin Tarantino released his magnum opus, the female-driven roaring rampage…
Hamnet Review: Goodnight, Sweet Prince
The how and why behind the death of William Shakespeare’s only son at age 11 is lost to history. But novelist Maggie O’Farrell plausibly imagined plague as the cause, a narrative choice that had unanticipated resonance when her novel Hamnet was first published in March of 2020. The novel – and now the feature film…
Food
Bright Island Flavors and Serious Spice at Twin Isle
After the pandemic shutdowns, a fast-casual boom hit the American restaurant landscape hard and fast, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Places like Sweetgreen and CAVA popped up all over major cities (Austin included), and their popularity led to the coining of a phrase that’s both gross and accurate: “slop bowl.” There are…
Columns
Austin FC Must Be Smart to Improve This Offseason
When the final whistle blows at the conclusion of a star-studded MLS Cup final Saturday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, the Major League Soccer offseason will officially begin. Most clubs, though, have been in offseason mode for weeks, and that includes Austin FC. The Verde and Black are coming off a generally encouraging – but by…
Feedback: December 5, 2025
Food for Thought Dear Editor, I’m planning to overeat today and until I run out of leftovers. And trying really hard to figure out how to gorge myself and at the same time realize 20,000 people will die from preventable malnutrition and the related health problems over the next 24 hours. Trying to understand why it…
Day Trips: Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro, Ark.
Crater of Diamonds State Park has turned into a gold mine for Arkansas State Parks. Treasure seekers from around the world pay $15 to hunt for rocks smaller than a pencil eraser in the only diamond mine open to the public. The miners are enticed by stories like what happened to W. W. Johnson of…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Actor Sean Connery used to polish coffins to make a living. He’d also sleep in them because he didn’t have a place to sleep. In 13th century Europe, England’s King John announced penalties for tampering with bread. One way to avoid arguments at holiday gatherings is to make sure everyone who attends sees a mental…
The Luv Doc: Affordable Insurance
Dear Luv Doc, Every week now at my company we have at least four or five meetings where upper management “encourages” us to incorporate AI into our work routine. Not only do these meetings take up an enormous amount of time, but testing out the new AI (which is often wonky and full of errors)…
Honor Thy Trinkets
As I look at the trinket shelf where my PC monitor sits, I’m struck by the three most prominent figures among the various bric-a-brac. One is a plush Totoro gifted to me by former Qmmunity editor Beth Sullivan, which represents the uncynical shepherdship I must inhabit while heading up the Chronicle’s queer events coverage. There…
The Common Law
My 15-year-old has a valid Texas driver learner’s permit. She can drive if an adult is in the car with her. Can my 15-year-old drive me home from a holiday party if I’ve been drinking? I will be in the car with her, but she would do all the driving. No. This is an illegal…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The world’s oldest known musical composition is the Hurrian Hymn No. 6. It was discovered etched on clay tablets in Syria, dating back to 1400 BCE. When finally decoded and performed, it revealed harmonies that still resonate with modern listeners. Your projects in the coming months could share this timeless quality,…
Austin FC
Austin FC Must Be Smart to Improve This Offseason
When the final whistle blows at the conclusion of a star-studded MLS Cup final Saturday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, the Major League Soccer offseason will officially begin. Most clubs, though, have been in offseason mode for weeks, and that includes Austin FC. The Verde and Black are coming off a generally encouraging – but by…
