Cover Story
A Banana Peel, a Diaper, and a Plastic Bag Walk Into Austin’s Composting Program
How can a whole city compost, is it working, and can we reach zero waste by 2040?
Micklethwait Barbecue’s Smithville Location Announces Closure
Out-of-town expansion of the popular food truck says goodbye
SXSW Adds Glass Animals, Girlpool & Black Lips
Artist roster expands by 162 acts
Review: Single Black Female
Lisa B. Thompson’s play preaches from a Nineties perch
Science-Based “314 Action” PAC Attacks Congressional Candidate for Her Legal Work
PAC pitches hardball against Shannon Hutcheson in TX-10 Race
SXSW Announces Free Shows on Lady Bird Lake
Selena Tribute, Margo Price & Milky Chance for the people
ACLU Sues Texas Cities Over Local Abortion Bans
Suit argues small towns aim to suppress truth, free speech
Book Review: The Big Goodbye
The making of Chinatown gets its full due in Wasson’s chronicle
Val Kilmer Partners With Mosaic Sound Collective
Actor’s HelMel Studios links with Austin creative hub
Food and Music Talent for Hot Luck Festival 2020 Announced
Tickets are on sale for the backyard bash
Complicity And #MeToo in The Assistant
Kitty Green unravels systems that enable the Weinsteins of the world
Day Trips & Beyond: Skiing in Boone, N.C.
North Carolina’s ski slopes offer something for everybody
Democratic Frontrunner Bernie Sanders Energizes Crowd at Austin Rally
Sanders voices “absolute confidence” his campaign will win Texas
First Look: Rooster Teeth’s Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy
Trailer for Austin studio’s version of the robots in disguise
OUTsider Fest Review: Hot Bits
Queer XXX film fest presents the funny, the sexy, and the human
City Offers $10 Million to County for Palm School
Funds to purchase historic landmark to come from hotel tax
Family Confirms Brenden “Chameleon” Foster’s Passing
Musical artist had been missing since Feb 5
This Week on The Austin Chronicle Show: The Dirt on Compost
How and why to do it… and what can go wrong
Celebrate National Margarita Day in Austin
Wasted away again in the town that birthed “Margaritavilla”
Council Recap: It’s a Long Way From City Hall to the Landfill
Tensions over trash, and wheeling and dealing to Save Muny
Black Mercy’s Hardcore Fingerboard Video
Austin rippers reimagine skate tape culture
Caleb De Casper Releases New “Johnny Be Goode” Music Video
Glamour ghoul punkster rawks out to perils of falling for a closeted guy
A Numbers Game in County Court at Law No. 4
Jeffers campaign promotes inaccurate caseload stats to Chronicle
And Then We Danced
Georgian coming-out-drama is extraordinary only for its location
My Boyfriend’s Meds
Manic episodes on vacation make for romance and laughs (apparently)
Swift
Take to the skies with this animated feature
10 Things We Should Do Before We Break Up
Bucket list rom-com about a couple bonded by accident
Standing Up, Falling Down
Billy Crystal and a smart script add heart to this burnout dramedy
The Photograph
Get ready for romance with this Valentine’s release about family secrets
Fantasy Island
Our advice? Get back on the plane
Sonic the Hedgehog
The Sega speedster finally arrives with all the nostalgic fun intact
Free Burma Rangers
Documentary about missionaries on the front line
The Call of the Wild
Buck the dog makes another trip to the Yukon, this time with CGI assistance
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Passion inflamed in this study of women repressed and resurgent
Balancing the Scales of Justice on Texas’ Most Important Courts
For the first time in years, Dems are running en masse for statewide judicial seats
Mary Moody Northen Theatre’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
This moving, transformative show gives its autistic hero a deep and engaging humanity
Quote of the Week
“The truth is that Texas voters want someone that is honest with them, that will tell them exactly where they stand.” – Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez during that race’s primary debate in Austin on Feb. 18
Texas Platters
Drop the needle on this blue-star-dappled clear vinyl and out warbles a voice like bag of marbles just waking up. If you’re experiencing it for the first time, be prepared, because wax witchcrafts last forever. Petroleum-only limited edition, Chicago 2017 documents a rehearsal (the Loft) and show (the Vic) from the Texan (1961-2019) song savant’s…
Archive Theater’s The Man of Destiny
The company builds a uniquely entertaining evening around Shaw’s fiery tango of wits between a young Napoleon and a Mysterious Lady
Headlines
Early and Often: Early voting in the March 3 primary elections began Tuesday, Feb. 18, and runs through Fri., Feb. 28. You can vote at any Travis County Vote Center, with locations and details available right here and on the Travis County Clerk’s Election website. About That Primary: The latest UT/Texas Tribune poll of likely…
Caroline Rose Album Review
Superstar (New West)
Austin At Large: Let Me Make Things Clear
Yes, we need to move ahead quickly – but not recklessly – with a new land code
Austin’s Best Food and Drink Events This Week
Dinner parties, farmers’ markets, beer, wine, and more for the week of February 20, 2020
Faster Than Sound: DJ Shani Unites Black Women in House Music
Also the search continues for missing musician Brenden “Chameleon King” Foster, and increased afterhours sound enforcement impacts local venues
Oops!
In the Feb. 14 story, “Anti-Garza Website Heats Up County Attorney Race,” we identified David Weinberg, in error, as Laurie Eiserloh’s “campaign manager.” Weinberg is a consultant to the campaign; the campaign manager is Amy Smith. In last week’s Endorsements, we used the word “token” to describe Rafael Alcoser III’s campaign – intending Merriam-Webster’s definition:…
Mi Vida Dentro Documentary Spotlights Rosa Jimenez Case
Activists organize screening as Jimenez awaits D.A.’s Office decision on a retrial
Texas Platters
“The Opening Crescendo” rings in Trail of Dead’s return after six long years. Creeping Tibetan chant hypnosis, it births a grievous European symphony of electricity fading toward chamber silence. “All Who Wonder” picks right up with slabs of distortion grinding against swashes of serpentine wah-wah and magma-dripped solos. Two tunes into 10th platter X: The…
Qmmunity: OUTsider Festival Returns for Year Six
Plus Guerrilla Queer Bar, Joterías, Lesbian Wedding, and more queer magic
What’cha Watchin’?
Editorial intern Asa Canty watched the animals
Me & Mr. Cigar
Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes debuts a deeply weird and wonderful young adult novel.
One Ounce Opera Highlights the (Death-Obsessed) Work of Four Women Composers and Librettists
Micro-operas were the order of the day at the company’s annual Fresh Squeezed showcase
Election Ticker: Su Voto Es Su Voz!
Read up, look up, get down to the polls …
Texas Platters
Walking drum machine Ben Buck (aka McNasty) follows up self-composed, underground-themed instrumental compilation McNasty 21 with debut rap album Kilroy. The proficient beatboxer makes the leap to MC on a project that aims to capture the rough sound of early-to-mid-Nineties hip-hop via gritty basslines and aggressive rhyming. The 34-minute project demonstrates that the Austin native…
Finding Community in Austin’s Homeless Song Circle
The residents at Community First! Village, a virtual hamlet of cottages and campers in East Austin, are familiar with not having space, having struggled in the past to find secure housing. Nevertheless, on Monday afternoons a group comes together and trades tunes. It’s Austin’s only song circle specifically for people recovering from living on the…
Kirk Watson Resigns From Texas Senate
Headed to Houston, the ex-mayor and senator reflects on his legacy
Texas Platters
Group vocals over punk determination lend a sense of chin-up camaraderie, and all three members of Xetas chime in on every track of The Cypher. That makes for a gnarled, adventurous conversation on who really gets to be heard in 2020. Single “The Hierophant” demands “say something,” while the following “The Martyr” replies “no one’s…
Day Trips: Lundi Gras Boucherie at Lakeview Park, Eunice, La.
Old-fashioned Lundi Gras Boucherie feeds a hungry Mardi Gras
Right Wing Texas State Board of Education Braces Looks to the Left
Central Texas voters can help transform deep-red education panel
Mill Scale Metalworks Handcrafts Barbecue Smokers of the Stars
Appreciating the artistry in steel – and smoked meats – is part of their business model
Opinion: LCRA’s Water Marketing Ambitions Could Lower the Colorado River Below Austin
Environmental activist Rusty Middleton raises concerns over a groundwater pumping plan
Soccer Watch
Champions League knockout games started this week, on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, Atlético Madrid handed Liverpool a rare loss (they’re unbeaten and once-tied in 26 EPL matches this year) in the opening game; action in the home-and-away round of 16 continues next Tue.-Wed., 2pm on TNT. Here in CONCACAF, Atlanta drew in…
At No Lights No Lycra, You Really Can Dance Like No One’s Watching
Since this weekly sober dance party happens in the dark, you’re free to move without worry over how you look
The Luv Doc: An Honest Meatspace Connection
We’re just gape-jawed babes at the dawn of a brand new era
Location Is Everything for the Lake Travis Film Festival
New fest brings indie cinema to new audiences outside of the city center
Pop Oddity Caroline Rose Explores Ambition’s Seedy Underbelly
Her first Austin album follows a character moving to L.A.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
At age 70, Donald Trump became the oldest person to ever be inaugurated as U.S. president. Ronald Reagan was 69 when he was inaugurated. Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president to screen an X-rated movie at the White House. It was Midnight Cowboy. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution wasn’t always first. The…
We Have an Issue: The Grubby Side of Composting
Inside this week’s cover story about where our food waste goes to die … and live again
Ending the Gender Divide Behind the Camera
Austin’s chapter of Women in Film and Television International is creating equity and opportunity
March 3 Primary Election Voting Info
Early Voting Feb. 18-28
A Decade of Action Toward a Zero-Waste City
How far along are we?
The Dirt on Grubs and Composting
Are black soldier flies the hot new sustainable fuel?
Austin and Others Convince TCEQ to Change Graywater Reuse Rules
New rulemaking creates system of credits for beneficial reuse, incentivizes sound environmental practices
What Goes in Your Compost Bin in Austin
Pizza boxes? OK. Liquids? No thank you.
A Dem Sweep in Travis County Commissioners Court?
Four vie for a shot at Commissioners Court’s last red seat
Public Notice: Consensus? Conschmensus.
Majority rules … absolutely
Powerhouse Animation Assembles Cosmic Stars for Masters of the Universe
Mark Hamill, Lena Headey, Henry Rollins join cartoon reboot
Chronicle Endorsements for the March 3 Primary Election
From local judges and representatives to the presidential candidate, here are our recommendations
