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Austin's unaccompanied migrant children
Data: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via N.Y. Times; Chart: Axios VisualsAustin received the fifth largest share of the 530,000-plus unaccompanied migrant children who arrived in U.S. cities between 2015 and 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Why it matters: Unaccompanied migrant children are an especially vulnerable group as federal, state and city leaders spar over sheltering and supporting foreigners who have crossed the border without permission, with states like Texas seeking to crack down hard on illegal immigration."Migrant children, who have been coming into the United States without their parents in record numbers,...
Lego garage sale sees 30-minute wait
An army of Lego figurines stand guard in the garage of Thomas and Erin McKay's Southwest Austin home.It's a sweltering Saturday morning, and the McKays have been up for hours, helping Austinites realize their Lego dreams.What they're saying: "I had a bit of a panic moment when we got everything set up … I didn't know if anyone was going to come," Thomas told Axios from their two-car garage. But after advertising their Lego sale on Facebook Marketplace, the pair received over 100 messages in just 24 hours."Then I went into panic mode the other way," he laughed. "How are...
Southgate-Lewis House reopens in East Austin
A historic East Austin home will reopen this weekend for Juneteenth.Why it matters: The Southgate-Lewis House played a significant role in Austin's history, housing one of the first Black physicians in the city, a prominent educator and civil rights leader and a historian who used the house as a cultural center.Driving the news: Board members of the Southgate-Lewis House will host a grand reopening Saturday."A Juneteenth House Party: Celebrating Black History, Cultivating Black Stories" is free and open to the public, following the city's annual Juneteenth parade and celebration. The home in 1985. Photo: Courtesy of Southgate-Lewis House/Giant NoiseWhat they're...
Austin restaurants brace for heat
As another potentially record-breaking summer looms, local businesses are preparing to zig while the mercury zags up.Why it matters: Adjusting to weather-related challenges is crucial for small businesses, especially as high temperatures often discourage outdoor activities.Driving the news: Central Texas has already seen heat indices up to 115 degrees this month, and Austin-Travis County EMS officials reported a 90% increase for heat-related illnesses compared to this time last year.Austin notched 80 days of 100°F or more in 2023.Threat level: Last summer's extreme heat could have reduced the state's GDP growth by as much as $24 billion, according to Federal Reserve...
Things to do in Austin this weekend
Here's what we're eyeing for weekend plans.🎬 Take in a double feature of "Watermelon Woman," a critique of Hollywood stereotypes, and "Irma Vep," a sidelong examination of the French film industry, at the Paramount tonight. Tickets are $12.🎶 Listen to the band Kamica King and The Peterson Brothers at the Bullock Museum's "Music under the Star" series from 6-9pm tomorrow.🎉 Celebrate emancipation Saturday at the Central Texas Juneteenth Parade and Festival. The parade begins at 10am at MLK and Leona, with a festival from noon-9pm at Rosewood Neighborhood Park.Plus, attend the free Stay Black and Live event at the George Washington Carver Museum at 3pm Saturday.🏈 Root for the Austin Outlaws, Austin's women's tackle football team, as they play the Houston Energy at House Park. Game begins at 7pm on Saturday.🥋 Take a free class in Capoeira Angola at the African American Culture & Heritage Center on Sunday.Youth class at noon, teen/adult class at 1pm.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
Zilker Park's mini train to reopen Wednesday
Zilker Park's iconic mini train is back for the first time since 2019 after years of delays.Why it matters: The train has long been a Zilker Park staple — offering rides since 1961 — but it ceased operations after a storm eroded the ground along parts of the track.Driving the news: The Zilker Eagle, previously named the Zilker Zephyr, will depart for its first official ride at 10am Wednesday.What they're saying: "This is a long time coming," Joy Casnovsky, Austin Parks Foundation's chief mission officer, told Axios during a Monday media event as the train completed its final test rides.Catch...
Things to do in Austin this week, June 10-13
Here's what we're eyeing this week.🎵 Join an Austin tradition at the annual Blues on the Green concert series. Free performances Tuesday and Wednesday, and the music starts at 7pm.Golden Dawn Arkestra and Riders against the Storm headline.🍿 Enjoy a cozy movie night at Captain Quackenbush's Coffeehouse from 7-10pm Wednesday for a secret movie screening. You won't know what's showing until the lights dim.🎻 Head outside with award-winning violinist Will Taylor, who will lead a free guided nature walk, meditation and live music picnic as the sun sets from 7:30-9pm Monday at 1601 Spyglass Dr.🍺 Sip a beer at the Austin Public Library's books and breweries series Tuesday at Nomadic Beerworks from 7-8pm, featuring "The Summer Book" by Tove Jansson. Free.🥾 Take a hike at the Austin Pride trail run and hike at 6pm Thursday, starting from the Spyglass entrance to the Barton Creek greenbelt at 1601 Spyglass Dr.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
James Beard Awards reach for diversity in Austin
Many of Austin's most celebrated chefs these days are much more likely to reflect the city's diversity than even a few years ago.Why it matters: Recognizing talent in the restaurant industry, the James Beard Foundation Awards — to be bestowed Monday — in many ways define for the general public who counts as an elite chef.Zoom in: Austin's Beard nominees before 2019 were virtually all white, with exceptions like Paul Qui and Rene Ortiz of La Condesa.In 2022, Black Austin chefs were semifinalists for the first time — Amanda Turner of Olamaie and Damian Brockway of barbecue truck Distant Relatives....
How the NAR settlement impacts real estate in Austin
The National Association of Realtors' decision to settle a lawsuit that questions how real estate agents are paid — and who foots the bill — could impact Texas homebuyers this summer.The big picture: If approved, agents won't be able to make offers of compensation in the Multiple Listing Service, the database where real estate agents post homes for sale.Why it matters: The seemingly small change, which a court preliminarily approved in April, is causing major confusion.And with Austin's most fruitful home buying season in full swing, we thought we'd take a look at what the recent major lawsuit involving Realtors...
Tarantula mating season begins in Central Texas
Central Texans might see more furry friends out and about this summer. Unfortunately, we're not talking about dogs.What's happening: Tarantula mating season has begun.Tarantulas are native to Texas and move in greater numbers between May and August, according to Texas A&M Today.The spiders leave their burrows each summer to mate.What they're saying: You can thank the rain and the heat for their emergence, Wizzie Brown, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomology specialist, told Texas A&M Today."This spring has been warmer, so it may begin a little earlier than normal," Brown said. "Usually once it warms up and we get some...
Things to do in Austin this weekend
We've got you covered with weekend plans.🎭 Watch the Austin Playhouse's performance of "Emma," an unconventional adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. Performances every Thursday through Sunday through June 30.🌭 Head to Banger's Sausage Showdown and Country Hoedown on Saturday, with new sausage debuts and country music all day long. First band starts at 11am.🌎 Celebrate the United Nations' World Refugee Day at the Bullock Museum from 11:30am-2:30pm Saturday, featuring a naturalization ceremony, live music, dance performances and samples of world cuisine.🥂 Enjoy bottomless mimosas, music and bites at Wanderlust Wine Company's Mimosa Fest. Doors open at 11:45am Sunday, and tickets start at $48.🎵 Take your kids to Austin Symphony's free Tuneful Tales concerts, with storytelling and music at Austin Public Library branches all month long. Performances Thursday in Spanish and English at 2pm and 2:30pm at the Milwood Library.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
The Long Goodbye brings cocktails lounge and patio to East Austin
👋 Nicole here, sipping a cucumber gimlet at The Long Goodbye, a new cocktail lounge and patio bar in the Cherrywood neighborhood.Driving the news: The complex, which opened in April at 2808 Manor Road, includes Fleet coffee shop, food truck La Santa Barbacha and vintage store Howdy's.Charles Ferraro, who co-owns Hotel Vegas, LoLo Wine and Superstition, partnered with his wife Katrina Ferraro and brother James Ferraro to open the space.Zoom out: The complex is the latest addition to Manor Road, long known as a place for cheaper student housing, a reliably good bite of soul food at Hoover's and a...
Foxtrot to reopen Austin, Dallas locations
Foxtrot will reopen locations in Austin, Dallas and Chicago this summer, just months after abruptly shuttering stores across the country.Driving the news: The Chicago-based boutique grocer told multiple outlets Wednesday that the company will reopen some of the shops this summer.The stores "will maintain the same layout and merchandising, focusing on small and local makers," the company said.It's not clear which Austin locations could reopen.What they're saying: "It's a totally new company starting from scratch, but (we) have the Foxtrot name and the (intellectual property) and a bunch of our locations," LaVitola told Crain's Chicago. "We're like a new startup again.""A new Foxtrot with some old friends. Coming soon," the chain wrote on its website and Instagram.Catch up quick: Foxtrot bet big on Austin, opening popular locations at The Drag, South First, Burnet Road and Second Street that were filled with local artisanal snacks, a coffee bar and wine.The store closures came after the company's 2023 merger with specialty grocer Dom's Kitchen & Market.Store employees filed a class-action lawsuit against parent company Outfox in April, claiming it illegally fired workers without warning.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
Where to celebrate Global Running Day in Austin
It's not quite dawn, and 200 runners are gathered outside Jo's Coffee on South Congress, taking off before the sun is up for a weekly jog around the Capitol.Why it matters: Wednesday is Global Running Day, and running is having a moment in Austin and across the country.State of play: The Morning Jo's, which meets on Tuesdays, is just one of many local running groups that have seen a surge in participants in recent years. On any given week there are dozens of group runs to choose from around the city.Morning Jo's founder Rachel Wimberley tells Axios the group has...
Sarah Bird publishes new book, "Juneteenth Rodeo"
In the depths of the pandemic, determined to clean her house with a Marie Kondo drive, Sarah Bird, celebrated Austin comic novelist, reached under her bed and rediscovered a dusty cache of rodeo photos she had shot long ago.Why it matters: Those photos, snapped by Bird as a University of Texas photojournalism graduate student in the 1970s, documenting in gorgeous composition and loving frankness the Black rodeo circuit, have now been published by UT Press as "Juneteenth Rodeo."The new book carries Bird's distinctive voice, as she describes traveling around Texas in a falling apart Chevy Vega.What's happening: Bird will give...
Lakes Buchanan, Travis rise after May rains
May's frequent rains delivered welcome relief to the region's parched lakes, Austin's main source of water.Why it matters: Central Texas enters the hotter, drier summer months in a better position than last year, when drought brought water restrictions on car washing, the operations of ornamental fountains and even how restaurants served glasses of water.Yes, but: May was not a drought-buster.The big picture: Lakes Buchanan and Travis are 56% full. On May 1, they were 42% full.Lake Buchanan has risen almost 14 feet over the past month; Lake Travis has risen just over 4 feet during that time.Driving the news: The Lower Colorado River Authority, the quasi-governmental entity that manages the Highland Lakes, on Monday dialed down its drought response from stage 2 to stage 1.Under Stage 1, LCRA water customers, including the city of Austin, are still asked to implement mandatory restrictions to limit water use.What they're saying: John Hofmann, LCRA executive vice president of water, urged conservation."These rains were welcome and it's good to see our water supply reservoirs at higher levels, but the reservoirs are still stressed from years of drought," he said in a statement.Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
Austin's Headliners Club to get an $8 million facelift
The Headliners Club will begin an $8 million renovation of its downtown space after renewing its lease for 30 years.Why it matters: The Headliners Club is working to make itself attractive to a new crop of Austinites while competing with the advent of new, trendy private clubs such as SoHo House and Other Racquet Social Club.Catch up quick: The nearly 70-year-old private club on the 21st floor of the Procore Tower (formerly called the Chase Tower) was conceived by Charles E. Green, the longtime executive editor of the Austin American-Statesman, as a space for journalists and newsmakers to gather.The club...
Mussels get endangered designation
Capping a political and environmental battle that has lasted at least a decade, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is listing seven freshwater mussels found in Central Texas as endangered.Why it matters: The listing of the mussels could have long-term consequences for how much water cities, manufacturers and farmers can pull from Central Texas rivers.Driving the news: The feds announced Monday they are designating 1,577 river miles as critical habitat for the species in four Central Texas river basins — including Austin's Colorado river basin — to protect the mussel species.The species have colorful names like the Guadalupe fatmucket and...
How Austin is battling algae potentially fatal to dogs
The city will undertake the fourth year of a pilot program to slow the growth of harmful blue-green algae on Lady Bird Lake and, so far, the program has seen mixed results.Why it matters: A cyanobacteria outbreak on the lake in 2019 killed several dogs.Blooms have also occurred on Lake Austin, other Highland Lakes and on Barton Creek, where a dog likely died from toxic algae in 2022 after swimming in "Barking Springs," just downstream from Barton Springs pool. The algae is also harmful to humans, who can experience nausea, headache, watery eyes and sore throat if they ingest it.The...
Six places to swim in Austin this summer
It's about to get hot, y'all. Luckily, there are plenty of places to cool down in Central Texas.What's happening: We've rounded up some of our favorite spots for a dip as temperatures hover in the 90s this week.Public poolsThe city of Austin operates dozens of pools and splash pads across the city.Barton Springs: The city's crown jewel remains open year-round.Swim at your own risk hours are from 5-8am Friday through Wednesday and 5-9am Thursday. Barton Springs Pool is open year-round. Photo: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty ImagesBig Stacy: This spring-fed pool nestled in the Travis Heights neighborhood is great for lap...
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Axios Austin, anchored by Nicole Cobler and Asher Price, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.
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