Cover Story
U.S. House Candidate Claire Reynolds Searches for Blue Dots in West Texas
Claire Reynolds stood before a group of 30 neighbors at the Pflugerville Library on a recent July day and explained how she came to be running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “I was living my life, working at the State Bar of Texas, and I woke up one morning and found…
News
The Refugee Collective Bridges the Gaps in Immigrant Services
When Refugee Services of Texas closed its doors in 2023, it was not the first or last roadblock for refugees and asylees in the state. In January 2025, by order of Donald Trump, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was suspended. Six months later, a new travel ban was issued. Then, the One Big Beautiful Bill…
Microplastics Found in Barton Springs, Blue Hole, and Lady Bird Lake
Microplastics have been detected in Barton Springs, Blue Hole, and Lady Bird Lake, according to the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center’s first statewide report of plastic pollution in Texas waterways. The ETRPC analyzed data from 77 sites around the state, from the Red River to the Rio Grande, determining that 76 of those locations…
AISD to Close Paredes Middle School
Less than a month before the new school year begins, on July 22, Austin ISD unexpectedly proposed the immediate closure of Paredes Middle School, with trustees to vote Thursday night, July 30. The Southeast Austin campus was home to 848 students and 88 staff last school year. Trustees approved the school closure Thursday night with…
Where the Texas Hemp Market Currently Stands
When a consumer walks into a Texas hemp shop, chances are that the shelves look different than their last visit. And that’s not solely because products are flying out the door. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed Senate Bill 3, legislation that would have banned hemp products containing THC, and instead ordered the Department of…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: July 23 – 29
Waterways Ban Lifted: Austin’s waterways ban was lifted on Monday, July 27, after being in effect since July 17 with multiple extensions issued following immense flooding throughout Central Texas. Personal and commercial watercraft, wet bikes, motorized surfboards, canoes, kayaks, paddleboards, and similar devices are now allowed on Lady Bird Lake and the Colorado River downstream…
Faith Leaders Demand Texas Hold ICE Accountable
Over 30 religious leaders from across the state gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday, July 22, for a news conference to address the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE agents in Houston earlier this month and to demand the governor and Legislature assert their power over federal immigration operations. On July 15, Gov. Greg…
Music
Music Notes
Alexi 8bit Saturday 1, the ABGB Austin indie-pop artist Alexi 8bit is set to release her new single, “Bloom,” this Friday. The breakup-themed track is the UT alum’s first release since her October 2024 EP, Creature of Loneliness. Previous collaborator TV Wonder (“O! My Kitchen”) and Marcus Bell join the single’s free release party on…
Pop Performer Quentin Enters Their TOMGIRL Era
“I don’t think I’ve really ever gone onstage just as myself,” Quentin mused, two days before the release of their new album, TOMGIRL. Ahead of an LP release show at Factory on 5th, the musician told me they were determined to step into the spotlight with all of them on display – it’s what this…
Sittin’ With Blaze Brings Austin Outlaw to New Audiences
Happenstance and community are the forces that’ve kept Blaze Foley’s music trickling to new audiences since the Seventies. Kevin Dehan, aka Cactus Lee, decided to give the renegade songwriter a heartier listen after former Chronicle Music Editor Kevin Curtin heckled him at a show. “Within the second song, he just starts yelling out in the…
The 4411 Chase the Feeling of a Never-Ending Summer
The 4411 captures the bittersweet pull of looking back on Haven’t Seen You in So Long, a five-track meditation on the people and moments that shape us long after they pass. Following last year’s debut EP We Killed the Sun, vocalist Cogan McBride, drummer Tomas Gerlach, guitarist Alan Holmquist, and bassist Nick Speer expand their…
Dorio Undercover
Suddenly my dusty car is a silver 1996 BMW convertible and I can’t take my foot off the gas. Punchy hi-hats burst out, and Dorio counts down from three. Once they decide it’s time to go, earworm guitar licks and acidic keys take over. We’re all in for the ride. Alter egos and archnemeses abound…
William Harries Graham Straddles Future and Past
In many ways, William Harries Graham’s latest EP feels like a coda to his exceptional 2024 coming-of-age LP, Annie’s House, but also a bridge that allows him to look forward. If the last album burrowed in the fertile ground of mid-20s relationships and heartbreak, Belrose Motel strikes more reminiscent than rawly immediate, a reflective reaping…
Arts + Culture
Lance Myers Renders a Suspended State of Perfection
You’re not going to hear the glorious din of legendary ska-punk band Gals Panic at West Sixth’s elegant Wally Workman Gallery on the first Saturday of August, 6-8pm. Nor will there be a screening of A Scanner Darkly within that storied residence of world-class art this weekend. But, listen, the person who helped animate that…
Woody Harrelson Joins Armadillo World Headquarters Documentary Team
Woody Harrelson joined the Armadillo World Headquarters documentary team as a producer last week. The feature-length film, currently in development, is directed and edited by Los Angeles-based filmmaker David Brodie and will detail the storied venue’s rise to cult prominence and its legacy as the site of outlaw country-and-beyond experimentation. The stage hosted iconic Willie…
Screens
Sheep in the Box Review: Digital Cuckoo in an Empty Nest
It used to be that a stork delivered babies. In Hirokazu Kore-eda’s near-future science fiction family drama, Sheep in the Box, it’s more likely to be a flying drone. At least, that’s what delivers an advertising hologram from REbirth to the Kotomes, Otone (Haruka Ayase) and Kensuke (Daigo Yamamoto). A happily married couple in the…
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Review: Solid Ground
When a character has been in constant publication for 64 years, there will be times when you’ll like the writing, and times you won’t. Take Spider-Man. My least favorite runs have tended to be the mythology-heavy ones, with all the clones and mystic spider spirits. I prefer the arcs from the early-to-late Eighties, centered around…
Food
Small’s Wine Bar Hits the Right Notes
Despite my fancy tastes, I grew up on Domino’s Pizza. For years, I couldn’t answer how I liked my pies. Thin? Thick? New York? Chicago? I didn’t know, man. Whatever Domino’s is? These days, I’m still pretty pizza-agnostic. Different styles scratch different itches at different times. But I was not expecting a cheeseless pizza to…
Columns
The Luv Doc: A Non-Problem in the Age of AI
Dear Luv Doc, I have a confession. I find my family group chat annoyingly “group-ish.” Over the last few months, my phone has basically blown up about soccer and the World Cup – and I’m not even a fan. Somehow I’ve been drafted into extra time against my will. It feels less like family updates…
Qmmunity: Fatigued Yet Fabulous
What is up, fellow LGBTQs? Are we drinking our water, eating our fiber, and putting down the dang phone so we can enjoy the splendor of life together? Well, even if you’re not doing one of those three things, hopefully you’re still able to enjoy a little event around queer Austin. Last weekend, I sweated…
Day Trips: Walmart Massacre Memorials, El Paso
The Walmart Massacre in El Paso on August 3, 2019, will go down in history as one of the worst acts of senseless violence in Texas. The community’s response will be remembered for its sanctity and love. Using a semiautomatic Romanian AK-47 purchased legally, a 21-year-old white supremacist from Dallas killed 23 people and injured…
Feedback: July 31, 2026
Luv Note Hi Luv Doc, I really liked this last issue [“The Luv Doc: Show Your Scars,” Columns, July 24]. I have no problems but I just wanted to say great job, keep up the good work. I love reading your stuff. Sincerely, Avid Reader Short & Sweet Dear Luv Doc, [Re: “The Luv Doc: Show…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
A portmanteau is a new word formed by blending the sounds and meanings of two distinct words. Examples include brunch (breakfast + lunch), smog (smoke + fog), and jorts (jeans + shorts). You’ll know your olive oil is rancid if it smells like a box of Crayola crayons, according to NY Times writer Michael Sullivan. On a…
Opinion: Texas Needs a War on Fentanyl, Not Hemp-Derived THC
In April 2024, Austin was struck by a nightmare that moved block by block. Over several days, first responders handled 79 suspected overdoses. Eleven people died across Travis and Williamson counties. Preliminary toxicology found fentanyl in all nine Travis County deaths. Those were not statistics. They were people whose families received the phone call no…
Coach Blasts Austin FC’s Lone World Cup Player, Authorities Probe Alleged Abuse Within Academy
You’d have a hard time imagining a more discouraging week for Austin FC than the one that’s just passed, with crises of both the on- and off-pitch variety recently befalling the Verde and Black. On the pitch, the club threw away all momentum gained from its first regular season match following the World Cup break…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Neurologists say that when you vividly imagine performing an action like shooting a basketball or playing piano, your brain activates many of the same networks it uses in real practice. In other words, mental rehearsal can measurably improve your actual performance. Many athletes use this trick. But here’s an interesting twist:…
