Cover Story
Little Mazarn’s Intergenerational Growth
The national music industry grinds to a halt in the wintertime. Good thing we’ve got live music at home. Each January, the Red River Cultural District, Austin’s live music epicenter, ditches the cover fees to produce Free Week, a locals-only music festival that guarantees working musicians and music venue employees get a paying gig. The…
News
AISD Enters Enrollment Season
As Austin ISD students return to their classrooms for the spring semester, the district is preparing to dive into enrollment season. This year, enrollment decisions will look more complicated for some Austin families, especially for the roughly 3,500 students affected by the school closures and state turnaround plans approved by the board of trustees on…
Texas Creates a New Path for Rape Kit Testing
Nationally, about one in three survivors of sexual assault ever report their experiences to law enforcement, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network. Texas is betting that gap is partly about what comes after a report, and a new state program now allows rape kits to be tested for DNA without filing a…
75,000-Square-Foot Medical Cannabis Facility Opens in Bastrop
Texas’ medical cannabis program just expanded dramatically. When House Bill 46 took effect Sept. 1, it broadened the Texas Compassionate Use Program to include more than 100 qualifying conditions. TCUP allows approved physicians to prescribe low-THC cannabis for PTSD, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, and over 100 other serious illnesses. When Texas first legalized medical cannabis…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief
Travis County Extends Burn Ban: Last week, the Travis County Fire Marshal’s Office issued a burn ban in unincorporated areas of Travis County, effective through Tuesday, Jan. 6. Now, the ban has been extended through Tuesday, Feb. 10. A press release from the fire marshal’s office said the extension is due to continuous dry conditions,…
Five Years After Its Approval, Project Connect Plans Proceed
Since the defeat of the property tax increase known as Proposition Q, City Council Member Krista Laine has looked with fresh eyes at the expensive infrastructure projects Austin has committed to over the last five years. These include the creation of a new convention center, which the Chronicle examined last week. They include the “cap…
Music
Join the Team (Trust)
Bass was never Dan Mabray’s chosen instrument. JD Brunson III teaches drums, but he doesn’t play them with rambunctious garage rockers Friday Boys. Guitarist Elday Kornberg had only ever written music solo. In forming staunchly collaborative project Team Trust in 2023, the latter surmises, “we all became beginners.” Thus arrives the playful, kaleidoscopic art-punk of…
Life Is But a Dream With KindKeith
Keith Galloway Jr.’s earliest lessons were in the rhythm of a church, their stepfather’s basslines, and the gentle insistence of family who saw music as more than just a hobby. The Fort Worth native began playing piano at 5 years old and, in sixth grade, adopted the moniker KindKeith during a class icebreaker, kicking off…
Music Notes
Elvis Birthday Jubilee Saturday 10, Continental Club For almost 40 years, Ted Roddy has paid serious homage to the late Elvis Presley. He gathers a full ensemble – complete with backing vocalists, horns, and other instrumentation – twice annually to honor Elvis. This edition of his long-running tribute show sees Ted Roddy’s King Conjure Orchestra…
Arts + Culture
How to Hit Your 2026 Resolutions, Locally
Here’s a cold water wake-up: All those new goals you created when the clock hit 12am, January 1? You’re already almost a week late on starting them. Ay-yi-yi. Don’t fret just yet, though. Bat City’s got a great deal of local clubs, groups, and gatherings that can help you hit all those to-dos of 2026.…
Screens
Dead Man’s Wire Review: A Debt to History
What responsibility does a filmmaker owe to the past? It’s a complicated question, balancing historical accuracy with the needs of narrative. Recently, Hamnet played against what little we truly know about the Shakespeares and got a big pass because 16th century Stratford-upon-Avon is so long ago and so far away. Conversely, that means the closer…
TV Review: Another Shift at The Pitt
“And so it begins.” That’s how attending physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) greets a new shift at the bustling Pittsburgh ER nicknamed the Pitt. I felt the same kind of starter-line anticipation at the return of HBO Max’s breakout medical drama, which won the Emmy last year for Outstanding Drama and was, in a…
Food
A Retro Diner in a Fast-Changing Neighborhood
When it comes to Austin neighborhoods that have taken a speed run through the gentrification gauntlet, East Austin stands out as the prime example. An area once populated by residential homes and small businesses not designed to attract high-dollar spenders or visiting tourists, it now contains Michelin-recognized restaurants, high-end cocktail bars, chic boutiques, and expensive…
Columns
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The long pepper, once a common spice, is barely known outside of India. Overheard at Capitol Cleaners: You can’t dry clean a leather jacket anywhere in Austin. Try Dallas or Houston. Australians used to add the suffix “oh” to end of some occupation names. Examples that date back to the late 19th century: “milk-o”, “rabbit-o”,…
Qmmunity: The Me I Know
Afternoon – or maybe morning, or even evening – to you, dear Reader. Do you ever feel totally figured out? I always imagine myself an easy read, TBH, with themes and metaphors clear as day written across my big dumb face. This is somewhat true given my inability to tamp down on facial reactions –…
The Luv Doc: High School Boyfriend
Hey Luv Doc, My question might be a bit complicated, but I feel I’ve been lost for months on this one. You see, me and my ex are talking again, and by talking I mean doing everything couples would, just… taking it slower? Just trying to figure out what we want I guess. We started…
Day Trips: Matagorda Bay Nature Park, Matagorda
Matagorda Bay Nature Park is literally at the end of the road south of the fishing village of Matagorda. FM 2031 runs into the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Colorado River making for one of most diverse parks in the Lower Colorado River Authority’s inventory of parks. Like many of LCRA’s more…
California Sober
Her dad was her best friend. At times, Jae Graham-Anciso tells me, he would play the role of mom and dad at the same time. All the while, he was struggling with alcohol. Jae says that both her parents suffered from different types of cancer and both had cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol,…
Feedback: January 9, 2026
Cents and Sensibility Dear Editor, Contending that capital projects like I-35 cap and stitch, Project Connect rail, and the convention center do not impact General Fund spending for public services is incorrect [“Debates Over Convention Center Continue Following Austin United PAC Lawsuit,” News, Jan. 2]. The projects are financed by municipal debt. Debt service is…
The Common Law
I was driving in Tarrytown recently and a kid in his early teens zoomed past me on an e-bike going really fast. The way he was riding and weaving through traffic seemed a lot more like he was on a motorcycle. Are underage kids actually allowed to ride e-bikes at high speeds on public roads?…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The coming months are ripe for sacred audacity: boldness with a conscience and courage guided by kindness. Imagine you’re a Benevolent Initiator, whose superpower is to kindle beginnings without causing disruption and unease. Practice brilliant, incremental nudges and tweaks rather than grand interventions. If you’re hesitating to say what needs to…
