Cover Story
I-35’s Cap and Stitch Is Getting Messy
“I know, I’m a downer,” Christine Maguire told the Council members on the city’s Mobility Committee this past December. “I’m a buzzkill. Nobody invites me to meetings anymore. “But from the financial services point of view, the city’s risk profile has increased.” Maguire, a leader of the Austin Financial Services Department and its resident expert…
Features
News
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief
Abbott Against H-1B Visas: On Tuesday, Jan. 27, Gov. Greg Abbott launched an investigation into H-1B visas – a program that allows employers to “hire nonimmigrant aliens to work in specialty occupations,” requiring the individuals to hold at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent certification. Abbott has since directed all state agencies and public universities…
What Austin’s Doing About Water in 2026
As the state of Texas seeks to tighten water use efficiency in the face of worsening drought, the city of Austin and Austin Water are planning to expand the city’s own water conservation and reuse projects in 2026. One major way to save water is to replace old and leaky pipes, and according to Austin…
Criticisms Abound in Travis County Commissioners Court Races
In 2022, the races for Travis County Commissioners Court precincts 2 and 4 were characterized by a distinct progressive disgruntlement with the current leadership in those seats. Commissioners Brigid Shea and Margaret Gómez received harsh criticism from challengers to their left for their actions and their inactions: on the Tesla tax deal and a women’s…
Jasmine Crockett, James Talarico Meet for First Debate Ahead of Primary
With less than three weeks before early voting begins for the primaries, candidates across the state are looking to earn Texans’ support in the polls. And the Democrats are pulling out all the stops – this upcoming election being the first time in modern history that either party has filed for every U.S. congressional, state…
What to Know About Voter Registration in Texas Ahead of March Primaries
Texans have until Feb. 2 to register to vote in the March 3 primaries, which will determine the Democratic and Republican nominees who advance to the November general election. Primary voters will choose their party’s nominees for a variety of offices, including governor, attorney general, U.S. senator and Texas House representatives, as well as many…
Music
Annabelle Chairlegs Is Waking Up
Barreling toward the ground, awash in clouds and robin’s-egg-blue sky, Annabelle Chairlegs’ Lindsey Mackin is centered, in charge, and, well, wide awake, on a wild descent. That’s where we find the long-haired songstress on the cover of her third full-length album, Waking Up, out Jan. 30 on TODO Records. Like many of the songs on…
Music Notes
KOOP Radio’s 31st Anniversary Friday 30, Antone’s KOOP Radio went live for the first time in December 1994. The community radio station on 91.7 FM continues to serve the Austin area with valuable, local-tailored programming as evidenced by its slew of nominations for this year’s Austin Music Awards: Best Radio Station, Best Radio Show (Both…
Arts + Culture
A Different Kind of Keeper
“I’m just in total awe,” says Sally Snowman. The recently retired keeper of Boston Light stands at the top of the lighthouse in an interview captured by artist Jessica Mallios. “You see all the prism colors, and it’s rotating, and it’s catching the light from different spaces. So talk about a study of light.” The…
Steve Martin and Martin Short Bring Out Each Other’s Best
Nearly four decades into their friendship, parallel-named pair Steve Martin and Martin Short practically breathe to the rhythm of each other’s comedic timing. “The thing about comedy is its intention is to be delightful and fun,” Short says of the duo’s lifelong career in the funny business. “So the premise of being funny is funny…
TOMO Mags Wants to Help You Slow Down
Archie comics, Italian Men’s Vogue, and POPEYE Magazine: These iconic print publications are woven into the “creative DNA” of TOMO Mags founder Vico Tadeo Puentes. The West Fifth store celebrated its opening on Jan. 22 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside the Downtown Austin Alliance and a warm reception of regulars who’ve followed the curated magazine…
Remembering John Magnuson, Tracking Restaurant Shake-Ups, and Other Culture Updates
James Magnuson, Michener Center’s founding director, passed away at age 84 on Jan. 18 after a long battle with ALS. The prolific, multi-talented writer led the esteemed writing program for 23 years, infusing it with his human-first teaching style and polymorphous approach to storytelling. “I hope we set a tone of kindness and generosity with…
Screens
Arco Review: A Child in Time
In animated science fiction oddity Arco, the fate of the Earth is set. It’s the place of one lost boy in it that is very much in question. That place, however, is not a “where” but a “when.” Balancing the very clear influences of Hideo Miyazaki, Mœbius, and René Laloux (Strange Planet), first-time feature director…
OBEX Review: A Very Eighties-Coded Oddity
It’s 1987 in Baltimore, Maryland. A Nightmare on Elm Street is about to make its broadcast debut, George Bush Sr. is running for president, the country is in the buzzing depths of a 17-year cicada cycle, and digitizing an image means sending a photo to someone like Computer Conor, who’ll then convert it by hand…
Send Help Review: A Beach Break in Hell
Sam Raimi may be the world’s greatest raisin soup chef. That’s the term Steven Spielberg coined for his early flop, 1941. A bizarre riff on wartime comedies, it just had too many disparate elements that may be fine apart but shouldn’t go together – kind of like raisin soup. It’s almost impossible to get the…
Food
Another Reason to Talk About Venezuela
Strolling around our fair city these days, I’m often reminded of Robert Frost and his whole “do good fences make good neighbors” question and coming to the conclusion: Nope. The fences that have been sprouting up around me lately are tall and black and severe. You can’t see past them, and if you’re inside of…
Columns
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Ikebana is a minimalist Japanese flower-arranging art rooted in Zen philosophy, where every branch and leaf carries meaning. The late Stephen Bruton called Groucho Marx the greatest songwriter because Marx rhymed “appendectomy” with “send a check to me.” In a recent interview with CBC, Jodie Foster said that she speaks French in a higher pitched voice than…
The Luv Doc: Some Sassy Support
Dear Luv Doc, I know this is a downer subject compared to your usual cohort of young and restless suitors and wooers looking for the right moves to secure or ditch a mate. But I have been ditched so to speak. My darling of 38 years died this summer and I am inconsolably bereft. If…
Day Trips: Route 66
Route 66 turns 100 years old this year. The star of song, stage, screen, and highway signage covered 2,448 miles from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, until it was decommissioned in 1985 after being replaced by interstate highways. The “Mother Road,” as John Steinbeck referred to it, crossed 178 miles of the upper Texas…
The Common Law
Last month, this column covered new Texas laws affecting education. However, education is not the only area subject to new laws passed during the 2025 Texas Legislative Session. Listed below are a few other laws passed by the state’s 89th Legislature which may affect Austinites’ day-to-day lives. No HOA Penalties for a Crispy Lawn During…
Feedback: January 30, 2026
Then They Came for Me Dear Editor, I’d like to thank your reader Michael Carey for his letter in your January 23 edition excellently updating Martin Niemöller’s poem “First They Came” to apply to current events. The original poem about Nazi Germany has been frequently on my mind since June 16, 2015. Niemöller began as…
Qmmunity: Warming Up With Q-Updates
Hope everyone’s all melted and mobile after last week’s freeze. A lot of not-so-nice ICE business was afoot in our country, and so keeping your heart, mind, and body warm is key to surviving the continued stormy weather – metaphorically and literally speaking. But you’re still here, now, and I’m happy for that, so let’s…
Op-Ed: When It Comes to ICE Cooperation, Austin Should Not Bend for a Law Still on Trial
Most Americans are unaware that being Hispanic, speaking Spanish, and being present in an area alleged to have a density of undocumented residents can now be enough to justify brief detention and questioning by immigration officers. This practice is being referred to as a “Kavanaugh stop,” named after a 2025 concurring opinion by U.S. Supreme…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In ecology, there’s a concept called “keystone species.” This refers to organisms that have a huge effect on their environment relative to their abundance. Remove them, and the whole ecosystem shifts. I bring this up, Aquarius, because I believe you are currently functioning as a keystone species in your social ecosystem.…
