Cover Story
West Sixth Shooting Leaves Four Dead, Shakes Austin Nightlife District
Austin’s deadliest mass shooting in six decades tore through West Sixth Street early Sunday, killing four people, including the gunman, and injuring 13 others near Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden. According to APD Chief Lisa Davis, just before 2am on March 1 the suspect drove a large SUV around the block several times before stopping near…
News
Texas Dems Turn Up on Election Day
Here’s that strange feeling again – hope. After Tuesday’s primary election, you have to have at least a little. First of all, there are the voting numbers. As Tuesday dawned, the Houston Chronicle reported that Texas had shattered the previous record for the number of people voting early in a primary. All told, 2.5 million…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: Feb. 26 – March 4
State Election Results: Election day, and the days leading up to it, were historic for Democrats in the state, setting record numbers for primary voter turnout. Despite both Williamson and Dallas counties seeing voting result delays due to the Republican Party in both counties disallowing voting at countywide sites, the results began to slowly roll…
Texas Plans Second Execution of the Year
Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son. He admitted he was aggressive and had trouble controlling his anger, stating that he was “sorry about everything.”…
Pooja Sethi to Fill Her Predecessor’s Shoes in HD 47
After a long, tense day at the polls, Pooja Sethi said that she was looking forward to some much-needed rest after winning the Democratic primary in the Texas House, District 47 race. Sethi, who formerly served as chief of staff for former HD 47 Rep. Vikki Goodwin, celebrated as she beat out – by a…
Pflugerville Dems Cheer On Wins in Texas House District 50, U.S. House District 11
Some big-name musicians, when they’ve got a packed show, don’t let anyone in the club see them until it’s time to go out and play. It makes their entrance more dramatic. Maybe that’s what was going on with Samantha Lopez-Resendez at the Pflugerville Democrats watch party on Tuesday night. Lopez-Resendez was the front-runner in a…
Garibay and Tovo Emerge From a Crowded HD 49
Minutes before the first early voting results were released, in a campaign office full of neighbors and supporters on West 24th Street, we asked Kathie Tovo how she was feeling. “Well, you know, super nervous,” she replied. “If there’s a runoff, I’d love to be in it. If I am, we’re going to work twice…
Voters Split on Who to Fill Gómez’s Seat at Travis County Commissioners Court
The question of who will take over Margaret Gómez’s seat as commissioner of Travis County Precinct 4, vacant for the first time since 1995, will have to wait till May. Dove Springs’ longtime constable George Morales took the lead with 36.9% of the vote, with three-time candidate and Del Valle ISD Trustee Susanna Ledesma-Woody 450…
Edwards Aquifer Nears Emergency Drought Conditions
Austinites who have been around at least a decade may remember that back in the summers of 2015 and 2016, Barton Creek flowed from Barton Springs into South Austin, pocketed with deep green, swimmable water holes. That’s because in both years, Central Texas had over 20 inches above average rainfall as measured at the airport…
Council Pinches Pennies While Working to Regain Public Trust
It was all about trust at City Hall last week. That started with City Council Member Marc Duchen getting his efficiency audits. Council approved a new city ordinance on Feb. 26 creating the Comprehensive Efficiency Assessment Program, a series of rolling audits of the city’s 40-plus departments that will be conducted by independent consultants and…
Talarico Clears First Hurdle to Take Back Texas
As the clock ticked late into election night, it was still unclear who would win the U.S. Senate race. That’s because voting results from two counties across the state – Dallas and Williamson – were delayed following mass confusion about where to vote, the result of the Republican Party in both counties refusing to agree…
March 2026 Democratic Primary Election Results
We’ve only included results in contested races. Incumbents are denoted with an (i). In races in which no candidate received 50% of the vote, the top two vote getters will go to a runoff election on May 26. Below numbers are unofficial; at press time, some statewide polling locations were not 100% reported. We’ve only…
Music
A Scene in Snapshot: The 2025-2026 Austin Music Awards Celebrate All
If you’re a time-tested Live Music Capital pro, the Austin Music Awards mean watching your favorite acts celebrate each other and collaborate onstage in one-night-only fashion. If you’re new to the city and found yourself in the crowd: Congratulations, you just cut straight to the heart of Austin’s intergenerational, genre-spanning music scene. This year’s show…
Music Notes
Bring Back the Music Festival Friday 6 – Saturday 7, Rustic Tap South by Southwest’s condensed schedule has inspired some venues to host their unofficial shows either side of SX week. Rustic Tap will host a free, two-day event featuring a slew of local artists. Standout names include Friday headliner Money Chicha and Lew Apollo.…
Arts + Culture
UT Landmarks Features Creatures at Public Art Spots on Campus
As the spring semester kicks into full gear, students and working professionals alike are battling increasing stress. The University of Texas at Austin’s public art program, Landmarks, along with the Longhorn Wellness Center, is pulling out all the stops to help everyone de-stress by pairing art with animals. On March 11, the annual “Paws for…
Screens
The Bride! Review: Frankenstein’s Riot Grrrl
In punk cinema, you’re either a Derek Jarman or an Alex Cox. Jarman was a master of subversive control, a genius in finding beauty in ugliness and perversion in the divine. Alex Cox threw everything at the wall and hoped something stuck. There are moments in The Bride!, writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s violent, stylized revamp of…
Hoppers Review: Pixar Becomes One With Nature
Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda) is no Doctor Dolittle. She loves animals – a lot more than she does people – but all she can do is watch. Luckily, her college biology professor (Kathy Najimy) has built a robot beaver body that, through brain transfer science, she can pop her mind into and then…
Food
Kiin Di Grows Up – But Keeps the Heat
I am starting to realize my reviews often reveal more about my personal baggage than the restaurants themselves. Case in point: Kiin Di recently left me a complete mess, but it’s a tale as old as time for me. I have always loved spicy food, but my body has never fully agreed. Even as a…
Columns
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Oak Apple Day was an English, Welsh, and Irish public holiday, observed annually on May 29 to commemorate the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. The T in T-shirt stands for its shape when laid flat, which resembles the letter T. It was first manufactured during the Spanish-American War in 1898. Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf…
Day Trips: San Luis Pass Bridge, Galveston
The tolls on the San Luis Pass Bridge have been discontinued after 59 years. The bridge connects the western tip of Galveston Island to Follett’s Island in Brazoria County. The coupled FM 3005 and CR 257, the Bluewater Highway, hugs the coastline of the barrier islands from Galveston to Surfside Beach. It is one of…
The Luv Doc: Saturday Sloth
Dear Luv Doc, I started a New Year’s resolution this year of going to the gym every day after work and in the mornings on the weekends. Last year I gained some weight after a breakup and spent most of the year depressed. I knew something had to change and it felt like the gym…
Qmmunity: Might as Well Have Fun
Reader: Things aren’t looking so hot. Recent news for transgender people continues a downward trend, with Kansas’ sudden delegitimizing of all driver’s licenses bearing a gender not matched by the owner’s birth certificate being one of many stomach-churning headlines my mental teeth masticated this weekend. Were I some great mind attuned to political trends, cultural…
Opinion: Waiting for Sunset: What a UT Campus Iftar Looks Like
Austin is a city built on routines. You don’t have to have one, but you’re most likely a part of someone else’s. We have our specific routes to avoid MoPac traffic and our usual spots for a quick lunch. Everyone is moving fast. Not fast enough to completely get lost, but not slow enough to…
Coffee & a Joint
I got this feeling inside Can’t find no balance in my mind I must be missing the point I need a coffee and a joint. When I’m feeling the way Little Stranger describes, I settle in at a table at LazyDaze, Austin’s Amsterdam-style cannabis cafe. You can often find me at the one on Menchaca…
Feedback: March 6, 2026
Dog Whistles Dear Editor, Watching Republican members of Congress these last two days follow the president’s flip-flopping on the Iran war justification reminds me of sheep herds pivoting quickly in response to their herding dog’s immediate obeyance to his master’s whistle. No thinking. No questions. No doubts. Our founders wisely created three branches of government,…
How Christian Ramirez Went From LA Galaxy Castoff to Austin FC Hero
Attend an Austin FC match at Q2 Stadium and you’ll observe plenty of things original to the Verde and Black experience – green rubber chickens and live armadillos come to mind. You’ll also notice a few things adopted from the wider world of top-flight soccer. For example, when Austin FC scores a goal, PA announcer…
The Common Law
I just moved to Austin. Is it legal to carry my gun in my car? It depends on the facts. As a general rule, yes, it is legal for a law-abiding adult to carry a gun in their car in Austin and throughout Texas. But there are fact-specific situations where it could be illegal to have…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In systems theory, “critical points” are moments when long periods of small changes gradually accumulate, and then suddenly erupt into a big shift. Nothing appears to happen for a while, and then everything happens at once. Ice becomes water, for instance. I suspect you’re nearing such a pivot, Pisces. You’ve been…
