Community Unity: The city of Austin is launching its first-ever brand in an attempt to “enhance unity [and] cohesion” across city departments; the unified city logo will replace over 300 current logos of various city services. A city of Austin representative told KVUE that the brand, a collaboration of Austin-based TKO and international design firm Pentagram, took seven years and $1.1 million to complete. Austinites took to social media with their first impressions, calling it a “janitorial company logo” and “money laundering scheme.”
Bible-Centered Curriculum: 300+ Texas independent school districts have elected to use the Christian, Bible-centered curriculum Bluebonnet Learning, which the Texas Education Agency approved at the end of 2024, The Texas Tribune reports. The state is paying school districts a $60-per-student incentive if they use it. Despite needing the extra cash, Austin ISD isn’t opting in. “Our families don’t want it,” AISD Trustee Kathryn Whitley Chu said. “We want curriculum that allows all of our students to feel included and seen. We went with curriculum that is high quality and teaches what students need to know.”
New Chapter for Recycled Reads: Recycled Reads will lose its iconic Burnet Road store by early next year following significant city budget cuts, per the Austin Free Press. Resources including passport services will relocate to the Austin Public Library Yarborough Branch and the tool library will move to the Zaragoza Warehouse near the Cepeda Branch. The fate of community programming such as the bookstore’s free bike maintenance project is not clear, as are details on which libraries would sell used books.
Shut Down and Shut Up: UT employees are without elected representation after the UT System’s Board of Regents abolished the Faculty Senate, per the Statesman. The Board of Regents’ decision was made possible by Senate Bill 37, which looks to limit the size and power of faculty senates at public universities. According to the Austin American-Statesman, UT officials have said a replacement advisory group that would still allow faculty to have input is in the works, but have not described what it will look like.
Celebrating Austin Art, Culture: The Texas Commission on the Arts has designated two new cultural districts in Austin to help strengthen community life and economic development: the Fifth Street Mexican-American Heritage Corridor and Cultural District, home to the city’s leading Latino art organizations and key live music venues, and the Govalle Cultural District, home to the Museum of Human Achievement, Canopy Austin, Ground Floor Theatre, and many more arts-focused groups.
Who’s Running Where: State Rep. James Talarico – a former public school teacher and Dem rising star who made headlines recently for having a sane, thoughtful conversation with Joe Rogan – announced Tuesday that he’s running for U.S. Senate, joining already announced contenders Colin Allred and Terry Virts in the Democratic Party primary. (Beto O’Rourke and Joaquin Castro’s names have also been floated as potential candidates.) Republican John Cornyn has held the seat for 20+ years, but faces a vicious primary challenge from Texas AG Ken Paxton. Austin immigration lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch and labor organizer Jeremy Hendricks are both campaigning to succeed Talarico as House District 50’s representative.
First Amendment Quiet Hours: Student organizations are suing the UT System over the Campus Protection Act, which establishes new rules about on-campus expressive activity, according to The Daily Texan. While authored in response to campus pro-Palestine protests in 2024, the act prohibits all student expressive activities taking place 10pm to 8am and during the last two weeks of the semester, something the lawsuit argues is a violation of the First Amendment.
Burnt Orange Redder By the Day: A UT spokesman confirmed with the Austin American-Statesman this week its plan to “wind down” gender-affirming hormone therapy treatment for its transgender students, ceasing all care by Jan. 1. Per the American Medical Association, gender-affirming care, which helps align a transgender person’s physical appearance with their gender identity, “has been linked to dramatically reduced rates of suicide attempts, decreased rates of depression and anxiety, decreased substance use, improved HIV medication adherence, and reduced rates of harmful self-prescribed hormone use.” At UT at least, students will have to go elsewhere for that lifesaving care.
Austin Remembers: Local firefighters are honoring the New York City firefighters who died on 9/11 by climbing the height equivalent of the World Trade Center at the Pleasant Valley training tower on Thursday. A 24-year tradition, it’s the longest-running memorial stair climb in the country.
Worse Than STAAR: The Lege passed House Bill 8, which eliminates the STAAR exam and replaces it with three tests at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. School advocates say HB 8 only triples the amount of time standardized testing takes from classroom learning. The new testing system will go into effect by the 2027-28 school year or before. “This is no win. This is a terrible bill,” Rep. Gina Hinojosa said from the House floor.
Quote of the Week
“The Austin ‘A.’ It’s more than just a letter. With flowing lines that echo the movement of our rivers, the curves of our hills, and the dynamic energy of Austinites.”
– The city gets poetic describing the new “Austin Brand”
This article appears in September 12 • 2025.