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Axios Austin
Austin-Bergstrom's on-time departures dip
Data: BTS; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/AxiosAustin-Bergstrom International Airport saw a dip in the number of on-time departures in November from the previous month, according to the latest Bureau of Transportation Statistics data.By the numbers: 76.5% of domestic flights from Austin's airport departed on time in November 2022, per the data, down from 82% in October.That's compared to the national rate of 81%.Why it matters: 2022 was a record-breaking year for ABIA, and on-time departures give a window into how the airport is managing that growth.Passenger traffic surpassed 1.8 million in November, up 16% compared to November 2021.State of play: At the...
Finding safety, friendship at ATX Hot Girl Walk
It's been nearly six months since Austin newcomer Maddie Scales organized her first Hot Girl Walk on the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail.Now — 21 walks later — the group is still going strong, and Scales has seen as many as 45 women show up for the weekly walk on Wednesdays at 6:30pm.Catch up quick: The Hot Girl Walk, coined by Mia Lind on TikTok in 2021, quickly became a popular form of exercise, especially among Gen Z and millennials. A hot girl walk typically consists of a 3- to 4-mile walk, with a few essentials — think curated playlist and earbuds...
Vote for Austin in the Axios pizza bracket
Data: Axios survey; Bracket: Jacque Schrag/AxiosWe're coming for you, California Pizza Kitchen. What's happening: Austin edged out Seattle in the latest round of the Axios pizza tournament to make it to the Elite Ate.In the previous round, we shredded San Antonio like Parmesan. Who's next: San Francisco. Finally, a formidable opponent. Why it matters: Axios readers in the winning city will get a pizza party!What they're saying: Last year we asked you for your favorite pizza places in Austin.Via 313, Home Slice and Pieous all ranked right up there. The bottom line: Stuff that ballot box. Cast your vote here by 3pm today. Get more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
We tested ChatGPT's Colorado knowledge. Here's how it did.
ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot that launched late last year, is poised to transform how we learn, work and live.But it's also breaking the Internet because, to be honest, it's pretty fun!Zoom out: ChatGPT is a free site that lets users pose questions and give directions to a bot. It's trained to respond with term papers, sonnets, recipes — almost anything.The tech has already proved to be much more advanced than many in the tech industry had expected, Axios' Erica Pandey, Dan Primack and Ina Fried report.Inspired by our colleagues at Axios San Antonio, we decided to test the chatbot's...
A North Austin strip mall is home to excellent Middle Eastern fare
I recently stopped by Usta Kababgy, a halal Middle Eastern spot between Sportskingdom Plus and Action Pawn in the Northgate Shopping Center, at North Lamar Boulevard and West Rundberg Lane.It's a classic strip mall joint, one whose hominess belies the wide, uncharming parking lot that serves as its front porch.Contemporary Iraqi music is on the playlist at the roughly decade-old restaurant, which has large photos of mosques overlooking comfortable booths — a screen separates the dining room from a prayer area.What we ate: The baba ghanoush, the Adana kebab platter, a chicken shawarma wrap and a side of falafel.Everything was...
15 biggest events in Austin this year
New year, new dates to lock into the calendar now. Here’s what to look forward to in Austin in 2023. 1 big event: SXSWMusic, film, tech, comedy and more will be center stage at the 2023 South By Southwest (SXSW) conference. When: March 10–19Where: Various locations in Austin. Details: Information for attendees is here.More events this year: 🎭 Feb. 14–19: Disney's "Aladdin"🏃♂️ Feb. 19: Austin Marathon🤠 March 10–25: Rodeo Austin🎭 March 28–April 2: "Ain't Too Proud"✊🏿 April 1: Urban Cultural Festival🇯🇲 April 21–23: Austin Reggae Festival🎭 May 9–14: "To Kill A Mockingbird"📺 June 1–4: ATX TV Festival🎭 June 13–18: "Hairspray"🎬 Sept. 21–28: Fantastic Fest🎶 Oct. 6–8 & 13–15: Austin City Limits🏎 Oct. 22: U.S. Grand Prix🎞 Oct. 26–Nov. 2: Austin Film Festival🌭 Nov. 3–12: WurstfestGet more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
Tips for buying, selling a house in Austin in 2023
Interest rates might be rising, but it's still a good time to buy a home in Austin.Driving the news: The Federal Reserve slowed down its campaign of interest rate increases last week, raising its target interest rate a quarter percentage point after months of more aggressive steps, and signaled that more increases are ahead.Why it matters: Rising interest rates make borrowing more expensive, which could price already fatigued buyers out of the market.Yes, but: Average home prices started to creep down, especially in Austin's suburbs, and higher interest rates have helped calm down the competition.What they're saying: We checked in...
Austin City Council weighs fate of city manager
As they begin to apportion blame for the handling of last week's winter storm response, Austin City Council members today will scrutinize the actions of the city's top staffer. Driving the news: Mayor Kirk Watson put an emergency item on today's agenda to evaluate the employment of City Manager Spencer Cronk after city officials, to growing frustration, fumbled basic questions about power outages.“The performance review … is to listen to his explanation and hold him accountable,"Council Member Jose "Chito" Vela III, a cosponsor of the item, told Axios in a statement. "All options are on the table.”Why it matters: The...
A 7-story mixed-use development could be coming to South Congress
Data: Kimley-Horn and Associates; Map: Axios VisualsA residential development proposal could transform a 2.84-acre section of South Congress Avenue, with 375 units planned near Live Oak Street.Driving the news: The proposal by real estate development firm Intracorp would replace a senior living facility, two auto repair shops and surface parking on the east side of South Congress. A letter to the city filed on behalf of engineering firm Kimley-Horn and Associates describes the planned site as a "seven-story mixed use development with multifamily residential housing, ground floor retail, below grade parking garage and a separate five-unit townhome."Why it matters: The redevelopment...
Austin mayor faces tough questions after prolonged outages during freeze
He campaigned as someone who could solve Austin's big problems, but weeks into his tenure as mayor, Kirk Watson finds himself on an abject apology tour. The big picture: “The city has let its citizens down," Watson said at a news conference on Friday, as Austin Energy officials once more dodged questions about when power would be fully restored. "It’s unacceptable and I’m sorry."Utility officials tweeted Wednesday morning, "It's possible some customers may be without power for 12-24 hours."They amended that timeline late Wednesday, saying "major restoration efforts" would be wrapped up by Friday evening.On Thursday, they backtracked again, saying...
Here's how you coped with the ice storm outages
More than 250,000 Austin energy customers lost power during last week's ice storm — about half of all homes in the city — and 20,000 Austin Energy customers remain without power.The big picture: We asked how you dealt with the blackouts, the second time in as many years that the city has faced widespread power outages.What you're saying: Many readers only recently got power restored, while others are creeping toward hour 150 without it.We've been without power since around 4:40am Wednesday. I was awake at the time preparing for a 6am work call with a prospect overseas," Casey C. told us.Details: Readers showered at...
Food spoilage a casualty of Austin power outages
One of the casualties of last week's freeze: Perfectly good food.Why it matters: That tragic moment of tossing fast-spoiling food from unlit fridges has played out countless times across Austin.Zoom in: Austin ISD's central warehouse, where thousands of pounds of refrigerated and frozen food are stored for distribution to school kitchens, lost power last week The warehouse is located in South Austin near St. Edward's University.What they're saying: "We have grounds crews picking up limbs, of course, but also electricians, other trades and emergency management team members unloading spoiling food,” AISD chief of operations Christine Steenport said."We will always feed...
In New Yorker piece, Lawrence Wright examines Austin
Lawrence Wright, the famed Austin-based chronicler of Scientology and al-Qaeda, among many other subjects, has a new piece in The New Yorker examining change in his hometown.Driving the news: In "No City Limits," Wright has put together a kaleidoscopic portrait of Austin, a city he first moved to in 1980.Then, he writes, it was "offbeat, affordable, spontaneous, blithe, and slyly amused, as if we were in on some hilarious secret the rest of the world was unaware of."Of note: Wright plays keyboard for the blues band WhoDo.What they're saying: The piece gets at the oft-noted tensions about a fast-growing Austin....
Insurance claims to mount after Austin ice storm
You parked your 2015 Toyota Corolla on your pretty Austin street innocently enough, but a pecan tree branch, heaving with ice, gave up the ghost due to the ice storm this week. Now your car looks like a John Chamberlain sculpture.Driving the news: A lot of Austinites, despondent over roof or car damage from falling trees, are now looking for help.What they're saying: "I don't have tree insurance, what am I gonna do?" one person in West Campus lamented on Tik Tok about his devastated truck.Be smart: If a tree falls on your house or car, take photos of the...
Austin Energy crews still working to repair downed lines after ice storm
Even with temperatures rising, Austin Energy officials Thursday afternoon backtracked from their earlier prediction that power would be restored by Friday evening. Why it matters: More than 121,000 households, or 22.38% of customers, remained without power as of 6am today. "At this time, we are unable to provide a restoration time," Austin Energy officials said in a tweet Thursday.What happened: Utility officials blame frozen power lines and fallen tree limbs for the outages, which left more than 150,000 Austin Energy customers without power this week — and continue to leave Austin and Round Rock public schools shuttered.It's the city's most...
Ice storm knocks out power to 30% of Austin homes
Roads and trees are beginning to thaw, but this week's winter storm again pushed the city to the brink.The big picture: Unlike the 2021 edition, temperatures in the Austin metro hovered near freezing and residential outages were localized, rather than part of bigger problems with the state's grid.Yes, but: As many as 28% of Austin Energy customers — or more than 155,910 homes — were still without power as of 6am Thursday as ice coated power lines and downed tree limbs.Local EMS and fire officials reported a high volume of calls related to downed power lines and tree branches falling...
Austin's winter storm in photos
News flash: It's been pretty dang cold.The big picture: Ice toppled trees onto roads, cars and houses across Central Texas on Wednesday, so we snapped photos around town — showing a very frozen Austin. A downed tree limb rests on a car in southeast Austin. Photo: Nicole Cobler/Axios Ice covers a tree limb in Austin. Photo: @austinfiredept on Twitter. Trees block a street in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood in South Austin. Photo: Nicole Cobler/Axios Limbs fall on a South Austin house. Photo: Nicole Cobler/Axios Light reflects off ice-covered grass and tree limbs at St. Edward's University. Photo: Nicole Cobler/AxiosGet more local stories in your inbox with Axios Austin.
More than a quarter of Austin Energy customers lose power amid freeze
Freezing rain left thousands without power on Wednesday morning and emergency officials scrambled to respond to dozens of wrecks and downed power lines and tree limbs.Driving the news: The National Weather Service extended its winter storm warning through early Thursday, with freezing rain expected across Texas.As of 11am, Austin Energy reported that more than 25% of its customers were without power — nearly 150,000 — across the area because of the ice weighing down power lines and snapping tree limbs.Nearly 300,000 customers lacked power statewide, most along a swath from San Antonio northeast to Paris. Zoom in: Local and state...
How one Austin realtor regards a Texas proposal to ban Chinese homebuyers
We caught up with Rosalia Chiu, who has worked as a real estate agent in the Austin market for 21 years, to ask her about proposed legislation that would bar Chinese nationals from buying property in Texas.Born in Hong Kong, she moved to Austin in 2002 after a career in consulting and project management in Taiwan and Silicon Valley. She lives in Leander and calls her realty job "retirement community service."She speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese and Taiwanese Hokkien — and at least half her clients are of Asian backgrounds, she tells Axios. Why it matters: State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a...
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