Cover Story
Red River Cultural District Fights for Immortality
Since the Red River Cultural District issued its public letter to the city of Austin on Sept. 8, calling for city-level incentive, regulatory, and rebate programs, preservation measures, and financial investment in light of several venue-hosting properties being listed for sale, much scrambling and fist raising has occurred – and a good bit of towel…
News
The Road to Open the Polls
It’s the first week of early voting for a decisively high-stakes midterm election. Nearly 41,000 Austin-area voters cast a ballot on Monday. The Travis County Elections Division reports they’ll open a record 201 polling places on Election Day. But getting to this point was not seamless for the county, local election officials told the Chronicle.…
Paranoia Spreads as Election Officials Prepare for Federal Intervention in Midterm Elections
“I think this is an environment where, if you’re not paranoid, you’re kind of crazy.” David Axelrod, the architect of Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential runs, offered this assessment during a Sept. 29 sit-down at the Economic Club of Chicago. Speaking beside his Republican counterpart, Karl Rove, Axelrod said he worries that Donald Trump…
Social Service Spending Draws a Closer Look After Council Took a Vote Without the Full Picture
At today’s City Council meeting, the dais will consider a proposal that would direct City Manager T.C. Broadnax to include geographical data in future reporting on social services so that the city can better understand which Austinites are benefiting from the services. The vote comes after Council made a $4 million decision at its Sept.…
Southeast Supermarket Fears the City’s Light Rail Project Could Shutter Business
For the last few years, the Riverside location of JD’s Supermarket has been more than just a place to buy groceries for Southeast Austinites. It is a place where neighbors can find fresh food and traditional Latino products, families gather for meals, and individuals without cars can shop close to home. Now, store representatives fear…
Parent Petitions to Close Webb and Burnet Middle Schools Called Into Question
By Thursday night, Oct. 15, Austin Council of Parent Teacher Associations’ president, Crystal Brothwell Hernandez, announced that volunteers had collected petition signatures from over 50% of parents at Burnet and Webb middle schools, asking the Texas Education Agency to close the two campuses instead of taking over Austin ISD. The two AISD campuses received a…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: Oct. 15-21
Amazon’s Dog’s Head Plans: More information regarding the development of an Amazon robotics manufacturing plant on the East Austin land known as Dog’s Head has been revealed. According to state filings, construction of the site will begin in mid-November, with an expected completion in July of next year. Amazon is set to become the first…
Music
Music Notes
Tvlormvde & East Fourth Mafia Saturday 24, Cheer Up Charlies Over the years, Austin-based musician Tvlormvde has dipped into several genres: Auto-Tuned rap akin to fellow Houston native Travis Scott, alt-R&B (Smile for My Friends & Cry Later series), alternative, and a more recent pivot toward breezy indie-pop. Last week, he released the second single…
A City of Blues, Margaritas, and Neighborhood Bar Stools
Every weekend in the Texas capital is a jam-packed choose-your-own-adventure story that forces curious event-enjoyers – like this columnist – to make peace with FOMO and learn to love logistics. While my colleagues trotted their Shiba Inu across Pease Park for the Shiba ATX Pawrade and tasted culinary creations from local chefs at Hot Luck,…
Arts + Culture
Hoping for the Best
“Esperanza” means hope. And it’s hard not to feel hopeful walking into Trinity Street Players’ latest production, a coordinated effort in partnership with Teatro Vivo founders Rupert and JoAnn Reyes. I was new to their work, but was intrigued by their reputation for spotlighting local issues, elevating Latino creators, and telling stories that are too…
The Hidden Room Stages the Spiritual Showdown of Houdini vs. Doyle
One hundred years ago this Halloween, the world got a little less mysterious. Harry Houdini, master magician, died. Now, a century past the occasion, the Hidden Room marks the infamous event with Houdini Speaks to the Living, an encore presentation that gets more eerily relevant as time goes by. Hidden Room’s Master of Company Beth…
Anchor Recounts a Life Unmoored
In the heart of Downtown Austin, Terrance Wedin’s unnamed protagonist is scraping the bottom of life’s barrel and getting high on whatever he finds there. Having moved to the city from Virginia because “it wasn’t New York or Los Angeles and it wasn’t Roanoke or Richmond,” the mid-20s straggler vaguely dreams of acting or screenwriting…
New Community Spaces to Shop, Read, and Eat; Talarico on the Town; Flowers for Dr. Farmer
Fresh Is Forever, Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone’s latest venture, opened in the Canopy complex on September 25. The DAWA founder and one half of hip-hop duo Riders Against the Storm opened Fresh Is Forever as a community-centered space to sell art, prints, and Mahone’s new clothing line of Austin-emblazoned shirts and hats, in addition to thrifted…
A City of Blues, Margaritas, and Neighborhood Bar Stools
Every weekend in the Texas capital is a jam-packed choose-your-own-adventure story that forces curious event-enjoyers – like this columnist – to make peace with FOMO and learn to love logistics. While my colleagues trotted their Shiba Inu across Pease Park for the Shiba ATX Pawrade and tasted culinary creations from local chefs at Hot Luck,…
Screens
Fjord Review: Anatomy of a Slap
Don’t be such a sheep. That’s how an unruly preteen named Noora (Henrikke Lund-Olsen) taunts her new friend Elia (Vanessa Ceban), goading her to jump out a not-very-high window. As rebellions go, it’s not a dramatic one, but Elia’s parents, Mihai (Sebastian Stan) and Lisbet (Renate Reinsve), run a tight ship. They have to, they…
A Talent for Murder Review: The Talented Ms. Highsmith Takes Another Stab at Tom Ripley
One-hundred and thirty-some years since movies were invented, I think we’ve all gotten the hang of suspension of disbelief. We have imaginations! We can close the gap between a historical person’s true eye color and a different hue for the actor portraying them. That’s especially when a film is already playing fast and loose with…
Wicker Review: The Love That Is Woven in the Heart
Attention, gentlemen seeking matrimony. Apparently, the most desirable man conceivable looks like a young Ron Swanson, has the voice of Alexander Skarsgård, and occasionally creaks. This is one of the first of many morals of Wicker, the delightfully bawdy fable about the most erotic caning since Sylvia Kristel’s peacock backed chair. Adapted from Ursula Wills-Jones’…
Clayface Review: Muck and Murder
Batman doesn’t stop crimes. He prevents Gotham from becoming a horror movie. Look at his villains. A white-faced maniacal poisoner. A half-man, half-crocodile. A man who deals in riddles and deadly traps. Without Batman, the city becomes a mix of creature feature and Saw flick. So, take him out of the equation, and what you…
Wildwood Review: Lovely, Dark, and Deep
The oldest opening to a tale of magic and wonder is a stolen baby. Whether it’s pixies or witches or changelings, an empty crib is a reason for the most unlikely of heroes to take a stand against the uncanny. And so it is with Wildwood, the latest from the stop-motion master craftsmen at Laika,…
Columns
The Luv Doc: Bonne Chance With the France Romance
Dear Luv Doc, I was born and raised in Austin and moved to France about a year ago. I live about an hour outside Paris by train, so when I do day trips I plan my whole day to make the most of my time. One Saturday I had an ambitious itinerary and passed a…
Day Trips: Cascade Caverns, Boerne
Cascade Caverns outside of Boerne takes visitors on a journey following a fault line more than 100 feet underground. Of the seven show caves in Texas, this one feels the least disturbed by human hands even though it is the oldest commercial cave in the state. The cave is 95% alive, and each drop of…
Feedback: October 23, 2026
Guess Who? Dear Editor, I appreciate your recommendation to VOTE NO on Proposition I, but I’d take it a step further [“Chronicle Endorsements for the November 3 Midterm Elections,” News, Oct. 16]. Of course, we all want audits, but that is not what this proposition is about. If this “wolf in sheep’s clothing” passes, it…
Losing Streak Puts Austin FC’s Season on Life Support
A spirited eight-match unbeaten run from mid-August to late September temporarily rescued Austin FC’s 2026 season from death’s door. A three-match losing streak since all but killed it off for good. Earlier this month, we warned in these pages of the daunting stretch that awaited Austin FC following the early October international break, during which…
Qmmunity: Pre-Halloween Stretch
Phew! We’re in the pre-Halloween stretch now, Reader, and that means fitting as many freaky functions into your planner as possible. Since I’ve left trick-or-treat age, I’ve found the real fun is all the days before October 31 – the horror movie screenings, the drag show tributes to horror movies, the bakeries making cookies shaped…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
If you can’t imagine the sound of a dog barking or hear your inner voice, you may be suffering from anauralia or anendophasia. Fussy eating among children is a 20th-century phenomenon, according to author and Michigan State University professor Helen Zoe Veit. A study published in The Lancet described how endoscopists who rely too much…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Are there parts of the past you’re in bondage to? Maybe some shackles are even beloved to you, like a comfortable old belief, a protective habit, or a story about who you are that once helped you but now confines you. If you’re like most of us (me included!), you have…
