Cover Story
All That Remains
Roxanne Paltauf vanished three years ago, leaving her family with only memories and investigators with few clues
Lowell Lebermann Dies
Major Democratic activist, former council member and UT regent dies
Important Home Games for the Aztex This Weekend
The latest news on the Aztex and the Copa Aztex
The ‘Statesman’ Shares Their Ignorance of Soccer
Nick Barbaro lays into the ‘Statesman’s Ken Herman
Dallas Stars to Play Exhibition Game in Cedar Park
It’ll be the Stars vs. the Stars in September
The Perilous Position of John Cornyn
Tea Party booing the latest blow to the Texas senator
Then What Happened?
J-Live, Major Lazer, and more
This Week’s Waste of Time
Playing God as Airport Security
Lip Disservice Con Queso
Oh, Texas, has the news from Fort Worth settled down a bit too much for your liking?
Marijuana Coast to Coast
Hot pot news from California and Washington, D.C.
Lose the Battle, Win the War?
Hustlers experiment en route to the Texas Rollergirls championship
Pearce, Scott and HB3
Did commissioner of education ignore legislative intent of last session’s accountability reforms?
Best of 2009 (So Far)
A mid-year walk through Geezerville
Pearce Middle School to Close
School commissioner announces closure with little warning to district
Ron Artest Composes Tribute Rap for MJ
Controversial NBA star pays tribute to the controversial King of Pop
Texas Stars to Play in AHL’s West Division
Alongside Houston, San Antonio, and four others
Turn Off Your Sprinklers
Austin Water Utility issues urgent ban after contractor wrecks water main
Who Wants the Mansion?
Quick update on who may (or may not) be running with governor
MP3: Sweet Tea, “If I Were a Carpenter”
Bastards and Angels collide
Michael Jackson Memorial Simulcasts Today in Austin at High Noon
Michael Jackson Memorial simulcasts in Austin
On the Radio!
Today at 6pm, Andy is on KOOP radio!
Ghostbusters Game Review (Xbox 360 / Playstation 3)
Review for Terminal Reality and Atari’s Ghostbusters (Xbox 360 / Playstation 3 version)
Tickled Pink
Pink moves to Dripping Springs
Developing Story
AFF honors Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz
Independent (Roller) Women
Texas Rollergirls preview championship lineups with final regular season bout
Off the Record – 33 RPM
Floating down to Whitewater on the Horseshoe, scoring Free Drugs with Harlem, and paying tribute to Sky Sunlight Saxon and the King of Pop
A Very Special Sine Die
Governor gets all of what he needed, none of what he wanted from special session
The Mortars Are Still Firing
Trailer for Casey Porter’s next web doc on his time in Iraq
The Common Law
Austin Water Restrictions
Day Trips
Pendery’s World of Chiles and Spices offers ‘gourmet spices for the discerning chef’
Transit Union Resists Giving Up Pay Raise
Cap Metro’s budget woes fail to impress union
Kambakkht Ishq
Not reviewed at press time. This Hollywood-set battle of the sexes stars two Bollywood stars.
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar cleverly distills this weekend’s news overkill, so you don’t have to
Gay Place
Fort Worth cops open up a six-pack of whoopass just in time to celebrate the anniversary of Stonewall
Political Sage Creekmore Fath Dies
Longtime Austin resident served under FDR
Whatever Works
Confessions of a cranky misanthrope.
Wine of the Week
Terredora di Paolo offers delights from the birthplace of wine
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Small places with big names, solving the mystery of white meat, and more
Arts Review
This thought-provoking exhibition plays off memory’s elusive, fluid nature
Management
This romantic comedy about a saleswoman and her stalker strains credibility.
Phases & Stages
Wilco Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch) The Beatles’ White Album and Metallica’s black blockbuster included – and countless eponymous albums and songs in between – self-titled discs telegraph both a certain absence of inspiration (a name for the work) and either obstinacy or hubris in its creators eschewing the need for a brand regardless of the…
Lyceum Poll: Texans Full of Surprises
Texans may be learning to love their gays – not as much as their voter ID, though
Phases & Stages
Vieux Farka Touré Fondo (Six Degrees) Dedication to Ali Farka Touré, Mali-to-Mississippi guitar whisperer, again stamps written coda to a musical séance by his six-string spawn, Boureima “Vieux” Farka Touré. Where the late-twentysomething’s (Vieux = old man) eponymous debut played tribute to the fallen all-time blues elder through a traditionally minded spell of originals and…
Missing in Austin
Message to parents: Get to know your kids
Developing Stories: Learning From Denver
More insights from the Congress for the New Urbanism
Phases & Stages
Son Volt American Central Dust (Rounder) Jay Farrar has long shared Neil Young’s rustic vision of America, but never with the somber precision of American Central Dust. Son Volt’s third album since Farrar reassembled the band in 2005 with Austin bassist Andrew Duplantis in tow, Dust kicks up a darkness that previously only surfaced on…
Split Decision
At last week’s open forum, the film community gathered to discuss the future of Austin Studios
New Urbanism Comes to East Riverside
Tranforming car-heavy Riverside into a pedestrian-friendly place to live and work
Phases & Stages
The Low Anthem Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Nonesuch) Just when it seems that indie Americana has devoured most of the indigenous territory at its disposal, the Low Anthem rises from the underbrush. Reissued by Nonesuch, the Rhode Island trio’s 2008 sophomore disc evolves with sequencing that emphasizes the album’s ability to trek equally compelling…
Contracting and Expanding at KLRU
The lights go out on KLRU2 as a new channel takes the stage
Special Session Could End in Fireworks
Governor wants a short and sweet special session
Phases & Stages
Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard ‘Em Are I (Rough Trade) If last year’s 12 Crass Songs was the only recording this Brooklyn-based anti-folk-up ever put out, it would’ve been enough. An acoustic, eclectic, and altogether electrifying interpretation of the UK anarchists’ greatest nonhits, Crass proved Jeffrey Lewis in on the joke even when there wasn’t…
Film News
Local singer-songwriter Jesse Dayton tries on a new role as a psychobilly vampire in Rob Zombie’s Halloween II; plus news on Gary Kent, the TXMPA, and Turk Pipkin
$4 Million Later
Lab leaves town, plagued by accusations of faulty research, money waste, and mismanagement
Phases & Stages
Hanne Hukkelberg Blood From a Stone (Nettwerk) Where 2004 debut Little Things was prismatic and experimental, this third time around finds Norwegian minimalist Hanne Hukkelberg tuning up her machine with muted colors. The slow-building songs boast impressive payoffs (“Crack,” “Seventeen”), and when they have a pulse, they’re propellant and poised (“Bandy Riddles,” the 1980s whiff…
Classics Comeback
Are the great dramas of yore reclaiming their place on Austin’s stages?
Manor Expressway: Oh, the Vehicle Miles You’ll Travel!
Cash and criticism for the $623 million toll road
Event Menu
Foodie events for July 4-8
TV Eye
How much is that male escort in the window?
Playing Through
Spectator sports can crush our most ardent hopes and dreams, and that’s a good thing
Ott Tackles Austin’s Racial Divide
The city manager won’t abide changing the subject when it comes to I-35
Food-o-File
Despite our Natural Grocers fumble, readers keep tipping us off to great new eateries around town
Letters at 3AM
At the crest of Beatlemania, 18 and hungry for life was some kind of way to be
Off the Record
Explosions in the Sky commemorates the Fourth of July, Harlem signs with Matador, floating down to Whitewater on the Horseshoe, and paying tribute to Sky Sunlight Saxon and the King of Pop
Expect the Unexpected
Summertime and the living is … frenzied
Restaurant Reviews
Cafe Blue’s Sunday brunch is highly recommended, but the rest still needs to be worked out
Tough Crowd
The setup: 21 depressives, neurotics, and social misfits walk into a book. Meet comedy’s all-stars.
Arts Reviews
A bureaucratic heaven, as envisioned by a couple of charming clowns, is sweet
Headlines
• Results from three town halls gauging citizen reaction to proposed budget cuts are now available. New or increased fees for the Trail of Lights, South by Southwest security services, parking fines, and development permitting were all widely accepted, along with a controversial proposal to close older pools. Soundly rejected: eliminating supervised summer playground programs,…
‘Dune Shack Summer’
An Austin artist’s residency in a Cape Cod dune shack yields an art show and a book
I Write the Folk Songs
From 1980s MTV Robert Plant look-alike to New Age icon, Marshall Styler knows his way around an eBay melody
Oops!
A story in last week’s issue (“Muny Isn’t Part of UT’s Grand Plans”) incorrectly identified UT professor David Hillis as director of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory. Hillis is chairman of the UT Faculty Council, while Larry Gilbert directs the field lab.
Naked City
• TYC Justice Two years after their arrests, and with mounting public pressure to get them to court, there has been movement in the abuse cases against former Texas Youth Commission employees Assistant Superintendent Ray Brookins and principal John Hernandez. A change of venue was announced on June 25, after the Texas Civil Rights Project…
Hideout Improv Marathon
In hour 40, these improvisers were still in top form: fresh, focused, and incredibly funny
Hooping
Eighty-eight keys are too heavy, too melancholy, says computer-key stroker Laura Scarborough
Page Two: Hypocrisy and Health Care
Toward a list of ingredients for stew
Res Publica
Citizens calendar, July 3-9
Geppetto Dreams Family Puppet Workshops
Twice-monthly summer sessions let kids create puppets of their very own
Lake Eats Revisited
We take a trip down Ranch Road 620 for new bites on the scene
AISD Staff Shake-Up
One day into the new superintendent’s tenure, things already look different
The Hightower Report
Republicans on Health Care; and Wall Street’s Gas-Pump Robbery
Restaurant Reviews
When a group of six spends more than $400 on dinner, most of the food should be at least as impressive as the saddles
Arts Review
Turtle Island Quartet’s tribute to the jazz genius was fresh and thrilling
Public Enemies
Michael Mann’s film is a human-scale biopic of the gangster folk hero John Dillinger.
Luv Doc Recommends: Austin Symphony July 4th Concert & Fireworks
Keep your head down this Saturday. There’s going to be a lot of ordnance whizzing through the air. You might even want to just wet your clothes down before you go outside … oh, wait a minute … you won’t have to – at 100-plus degrees your clothes should be soaked shortly after you step…
