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Axios Austin
Elizabeth Crook novel selected as Texas Great Read
A novel by Austin writer Elizabeth Crook has been selected as the National Book Festival's 2024 Texas Great Read for adults.Why it matters: The recognition is the latest sign of Austin's literary muscle.Zoom in: "The Which Way Tree," a sweeping 2018 novel set in the 1860s Hill Country, follows the resolve of a young girl determined to hunt down a panther that mauled her and killed her mother.What they're saying: "We liked how it was set here and had an iconic feel to it," Michele Chan Santos, coordinator of the Texas Center for the Book, tells Axios.She selected the book...
Austin's childhood opportunity gap
Data: Brandeis University; Map: Jared Whalen and Alice Feng/AxiosA new map throws into relief Austin's child opportunity gap — or how children in some neighborhoods are less likely to graduate high school than peers living just a couple of miles away.Why it matters: Children who grow up in high-opportunity neighborhoods tend to be healthier, have higher incomes in adulthood and even typically live longer, per the Child Opportunity Index 3.0.The big picture: The index measures social and environmental factors such as school quality, parent employment levels, neighborhood income, park access and air pollution.Austin has a child opportunity gap of 73...
Restoration in the works for Travis County Courthouse
An art deco building that played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement locally could soon get a makeover.Why it matters: The Travis County Courthouse on Guadalupe Street downtown is where Heman Marion Sweatt, a Black postal worker from Houston, brought a 1946 lawsuit against the University of Texas to force it to integrate after he was denied admission to the law school on the basis of his race.Driving the news: Citing the historic case, county commissioners this week will ask the Texas Historical Commission for $10 million toward the restoration and rehabilitation of the courthouse, built in 1931.It's...
Travis Heights Elementary students create hijab project
Three Travis Heights Elementary students have created a project to help their peers understand why they wear hijabs — and have even secured funding to spread their message throughout their school.Why it matters: Travis Heights has a large population of Afghan students who wear hijabs, and the project by the fourth graders aims to spread understanding and inclusivity at their campus.The Afghan students are refugees who fled the Taliban with their families. Many of their parents worked for the U.S. government.How they did it: The students and friends — Yasamin, Hoda and Fatima — first tackled a question as part...
Five questions with Why&How's Bruce Kalmick
Bruce Kalmick, CEO of Austin-based artist management and music company Why&How, has spent over a decade plucking up-and-coming artists from Texas and across the country.Catch up quick: Kalmick bet on Austin, despite the pressure to create his business in Nashville, and he hasn't strayed from his Texas country roots.Kalmick, a Texas State University alum and a former Triple 8 Management partner, founded Why&How in 2020.His team quickly developed a broad roster of artists, including country stars like Chase Rice and Whiskey Myers, pop bands like Saint Motel and Echosmith, Icelandic rock band Kaleo and blues singer-songwriter ZZ Ward.The team also...
Why the University of Texas is unlikely to divest from Israel
Pro-Palestinian protesters on the University of Texas campus have made a specific request of university officials that's very unlikely to be entertained — divest from weapons manufacturing companies selling arms to the Israeli military.Why it matters: Apart from whether divestment makes sense as a fiduciary or moral matter, the university's unwillingness to bend on its portfolio is overdetermined by state politics.UT is a public institution overseen by a board of regents appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott and confirmed by state senators.The big picture: Protests at UT and campuses across the country have sought to use divestment as a tool to...
Why cookie company Tiff's Treats is getting into gold
Austin cookie delivery firm Tiff's Treats is branching out from chocolate chips to gold bullion.Why it matters: Riding a wave of global interest in the precious metal, the new initiative is a way for the cookie delivery company to expand its appeal in this Amazon-fueled age of immediate gratification.How it works: Instead of paying about $21 for a box of a dozen chocolate chip cookies to be delivered to your friend, coworker or loved one, you can now pay roughly $2,500 for what the company deems its "bullion bundle" — a box of cookies plus a one-ounce, 24-karat bar of...
ACL Music Festival releases 2024 lineup
Austin City Limits Music Festival released its 2024 lineup Tuesday, chock-full of starpower spread over two weekends and nine stages in Zilker Park.Driving the news: This year's headliners are Dua Lipa; Tyler, The Creator; Chris Stapleton; Blink-182; Sturgill Simpson; Pretty Lights; Khruangbin and Leon Bridges.The lineup also includes Carin León, Norah Jones, Reneé Rapp, Foster the People, Kehlani (weekend one), Teddy Swims, Remi Wolf, Dominic Fike and Chappell Roan.Zoom in: The lineup reveal comes on the heels of pop star Lipa's newly released "Radical Optimism" album.She'll make her ACL debut, along with pop-punk band Blink-182.The lineup also includes more than...
Women's sports bar coming to Austin this fall
Austinites will soon have a dedicated bar to watch women's sports.Driving the news: ATX Women's Sports Pub co-founders Debra Hallum and Marlene du Plessis announced the effort last month and launched a crowdfunding effort for some of the startup costs.They've raised nearly $10,000 of their $250,000 goal so far and expect to open the space this fall.Why it matters: Women's sports are having a moment, but there are few places to stream the games.Former Iowa guard Caitlin Clark garnered national attention for the NCAA, bringing record-breaking viewership and ticket sale numbers for women's basketball.WNBA ticket sales have soared — driven...
Cajun restaurant Lil' Easy opens in East Austin
Louisiana dive bar Lil' Easy opens Tuesday in a converted old gas station in the Govalle neighborhood.Driving the news: It's the latest restaurant from 2 Dine 4 Hospitality restaurant group, the same team behind the nearby taco bar De Nada and Sawyer & Co.What they're saying: "I'm excited to bring the nostalgia of my childhood to my city," owner Stephen Shallcross said. "I grew up on boudin and crawfish. Sometimes out of old gas stations. So getting to share authentic Cajun cuisine in a similar setting has been a dream of mine since I opened my first restaurant."Dig in: Lil'...
Why Texas schools are underfunded
Data: Census Bureau; Map: Axios VisualsMore than 9 in 10 Texas students attend inadequately funded schools, per a report that analyzes public school funding nationwide.Why it matters: The state Legislature last increased per-student funding in 2019, leaving cash-strapped school districts eyeing deep budget cuts to make ends meet.Texas ranks in the bottom 10 states in the country for education spending by several measures, including the report by the Albert Shanker Institute, the University of Miami and Rutgers University.Zoom in: The Austin school board is considering asking voters to approve a tax increase in November to pay for teacher raises.The district...
Austin's downtown is still in COVID recovery mode
Data: University of Toronto; Note: Downtown defined as the central location with the highest concentration of employment in each metro area; Chart: Alice Feng/AxiosAustin's downtown saw a bump in activity between March 2023 and February 2024, per new University of Toronto data examining U.S. and Canadian cities.Why it matters: The updated figures are one way to understand which cities are recovering and which are still struggling after the worst of the pandemic.How it works: Researchers at the University of Toronto's School of Cities are using anonymized mobile device location data to estimate visitor activity in the downtown areas of dozens...
Austin's downtown is still in COVID recovery mode
Data: University of Toronto; Note: Downtown defined as the central location with the highest concentration of employment in each metro area; Chart: Alice Feng/AxiosAustin's downtown saw a bump in activity between March 2023 and February 2024, per new University of Toronto data examining U.S. and Canadian cities.Why it matters: The updated figures are one way to understand which cities are recovering and which are still struggling after the worst of the pandemic.How it works: Researchers at the University of Toronto's School of Cities are using anonymized mobile device location data to estimate visitor activity in the downtown areas of dozens...
Bipartisan state lawmakers seek campaign security protections
Aiming to safeguard elections against deepfakes and other forms of artificial intelligence manipulation, a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers is pledging to boost campaign protections.Why it matters: Against the backdrop of a loud national conversation about election fraud and the baseless claim of a "stolen" 2020 election, the quiet effort by the Innovation and Technology Caucus of the Texas Legislature is focused on nuts-and-bolts work to address the way AI could warp get-out-the-vote efforts by either party.Flashback: Robocalls in New Hampshire in January used President Joe Biden's manipulated voice to tell listeners their votes were better spent in November and...
Texas lawmakers may strike back at University of Texas over protests
Texas lawmakers may hammer University of Texas faculty after they circulated a letter this week declaring no confidence in university president Jay Hartzell.Why it matters: Tensions are high between the university's broadly liberal faculty and the largely conservative Legislature that controls the university's purse strings.Catch up quick: Faculty are upset with how Hartzell responded to pro-Palestinian protests.The letter, signed by nearly 600 faculty members as of Tuesday afternoon, accuses Hartzell of having "needlessly put students, staff and faculty in danger" by calling police to campus last week and says he "has violated our trust."It also says Hartzell "capitulated to political...
The backstory of how Whole Foods got in the "crookie" game
The backstory behind the creation of a single Whole Foods product — an on-trend cookie-croissant mashup known as a crookie — shows how supermarkets are hungry to find specialty products to draw in choosy consumers.Why it matters: The reverse-engineering of the crookie is a test case for whether the supermarket behemoth can nimbly glom onto a trendy food item as it seeks new ways to satisfy its customers.The Whole Foods version is a brown butter cookie fused to a croissant and appears as if a giant UFO landed on a crescent moon.It's decadent, best consumed, in our opinion, with the...
Fentanyl overdoses surge in Austin
Austin area medics and police responded to a surge in opioid-related overdoses across the city this week, with at least 51 overdoses and eight suspected overdose fatalities within 27 hours.Why it matters: Fentanyl deaths across the Austin area have increased in recent years, and Monday's overdose rate was a 1000% increase from the Austin area's daily average.The highly addictive synthetic opioid is up to 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the CDC, and it's among the most common contributors to overdose deaths in the U.S.Preliminary state data last fall showed that Travis County has the highest rate for...
New Austin trail art encourages conversation
A new art installation made from 32 large alluvial stones on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail encourages strangers to connect with one another.Driving the news: "Conversation Stones" from native Austinite Diego Miró-Rivera is part of TEMPO, a program by The Trail Conservancy and the Economic Development Department's Art in Public Places Program.Miró-Rivera and seven other local artists were selected to create short-term or time-based artworks at various locations along the hike-and-bike trail.Each artist is receiving $25,000 to design, fabricate and install their artwork.Zoom in: Miró-Rivera, a sculptor and land artist, created "Conversation Stones" to invite trail goers to...
Home values are down across Austin
Data: Zillow; Note: Typical home value refers to the average of the middle third of Zillow home value estimates for every home in a given region with a county record, including single-family, condominium and co-operative homes; Table: Axios VisualsNearly every ZIP code in the Austin area saw typical home values decline compared to a year ago, per Zillow data shared with Axios.The big picture: Austin's housing market, once the country's hottest, is now "running in reverse," the Wall Street Journal reports.Zoom out: Austin (-4.1%) and San Antonio (-1.9%) are two of three major U.S. metro areas where typical home values...
What moths can tell us about Austin parks
With just a camera and a UV light, Curtis Eckerman has recorded more than 550 species of moths on the garage door of his South Austin home.Why it matters: There are nearly 1,400 species of moths in Travis County alone, according to Eckerman, and the bugs can tell us a lot about the biodiversity of our environment.Driving the news: Eckerman, the Biology Department chair at Austin Community College, will meet students Friday at Pease Park for a mothing expedition.Each semester, Eckerman's biology students take moth surveys — an effort to teach them about monitoring the biodiversity in city parks and...
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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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