Peter Pan Aims for Historic Landmark Status Amid Property Ownership Change

byJanelle Tanguma

AUSTIN, Texas – The owners of a 75-year-old miniature golf course hope a historic landmark status designation will save them from closure. Margaret Dismukes Massad’s family has owned Peter Pan Mini-Golf since it opened in 1948. Her father, Glenn Dismukes, was one of the original founders along with his brothers and was the artist of […]

Students Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with an Orisha Dance Workshop

byMiranda Cazares

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin hosted an Afro-Cuban Orisha dance workshop at the Recreational Sports Center, on Sept. 29. The event was one of several activities associated with Hispanic Heritage Month, a celebration from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 that recognizes the significant contributions of Hispanic/Latinx Americans. The Orisha workshop represented […]

Small Businesses Face Challenges of Rising Costs of Rent

byLauren Feldott

WESTLAKE, Texas – Austin continues to grow with the addition of large companies like Google and Tesla, and as a result, new residents create more competition for existing small businesses. For some older, local businesses, this means trouble with rising rent. Some successful ones, however, have something in common: community. Perriberri, a clothing boutique, has been […]

UT Students Practice Mindfulness at Poetry on the Pond

byLane Rice

AUSTIN, Texas – Hundreds of students listened to poets read their work outside near the University of Texas at Austin’s turtle pond. Poetry on the Pond is a collaboration between the Wellness Ambassadors Program and Humanitas Student Well-Being Collective at the university, to provide students a break from their studies and time to be present with their […]

The Orange Bike Project Seeks Funding for Continued Growth

byMariela Villela

AUSTIN, Texas – Biking on campus just got easier through a program to help students rent and learn to work on their bikes. The Orange Bike Project is a nonprofit organization based in the ground floor of UT’s 27th Street Garage. The group provides bike rental and maintenance services to students. UT’s Green Fund – […]

Cricket-Infested Homes Keep Pest Control Companies Busy

byRobert Gonsoulin

AUSTIN, Texas – Crickets are a nuisance across Travis County as they infest thousands of homes and buildings. The large amount of rainfall in the spring created ideal conditions for the insects to lay their eggs. Their presence increases around late September and early October when they hatch. Pest control companies have been busy, sending […]

Black UT Austin Students Create Wellness Week for Mental Health Awareness

byEdly Termilien

AUSTIN, Texas – Dozens of women came together at Pease Park Conservancy on Oct. 1 to celebrate self-love. The students are part of the Black Women’s Wellness Organization (BWWO), which strives to create a positive environment to support Black women’s wellness and academic and professional success. BWWO hosts a week of events once a year […]

Public Ed Advocates Want to Give Abbott’s School Choice Proposal the Boot(s)

byAbby L. Johnson

Thousands of people rallied with signs of protest and boots in hand at the Texas State Capitol on Saturday to protest a proposed voucher-like program they fear will take away significant funding from public schools.
The rally took place just days before the third special session of the 88th Legislature was to begin Monday. Gov. Greg Abbott called for the special session after House Bill 100 failed to pass in this year’s regular session. 

At Barton Springs, a Celebration of Life and a Final Goodbye to a Tree Named Flo

byIsabella McGovern

As the sun went down over Barton Springs Pool, dozens of people said goodbye to “Flo,” a 120-year-old pecan tree set to be cut down the next day.
“I think of Flo as a symbol of our love for trees and our love for nature and Mother Earth,” Austin arborist Don Gardner told the crowd. “We used to always be a lot more connected to trees than we are now, and I’m so happy to see those who still have some sense of that.”
Flo has leaned over Austin’s spring-fed pool since 1925, but the city’s parks department and tree experts determined it must go because of Kretzschmaria deusta, a root and trunk fungus known as brittle cinder that weakens trees and has no treatment. 

Slideshow: Mermaids Float Through Downtown San Marcos

Mermaids and other seafaring people and creatures descended upon San Marcos to celebrate the annual Mermaid Capital of Texas Festival on Sept. 23.
The festival celebrates the history of the Aquarena Springs Aquamaids, women who dressed as mermaids and performed underwater acts when the Aquarena Springs amusement park operated in San Marcos more than two decades ago.
The festival also celebrates the San Marcos River, which runs through the city, and promotes the conservation of the river.

Nahuatl, Indigenous Language of Mexico, Leaves UT Students with Another World View

byMaria Probert

Soft strums from a wooden guitar and the smell of warm tamales and green salsa that flowed together like a warm hug filled the air of Benedict Hall. About 35 students and faculty gathered at the teachers’ lounge at the University of Texas to listen to Crispin Martinez Rosas, who goes by the artistic name […]

Surviving For A Reason

byAmber Williams

Crystal Chen’s soft voice echoed through the Senate chamber as she recounted nightmares of persecution by her own government for her religious beliefs. In the prime of her 20s, Chen was sentenced to four and a half years of forced labor and torture in China. “I was pinned to the concrete floor and force-fed an all-salt mixture which nearly killed me,” Chen said. The room filled with lawmakers was silent. “Some guards handcuffed me to a radiator pipe,” she continued. “I was left there for three days while a police chief groped my body.” Chen was among a group of victims of political and religious persecution who testified before the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services of the Texas legislature in support of Senate Bill 1040 that would prohibit health insurance companies and other benefit plans from covering organ transplant procedures in which the organs come from a country known to engage in forced organ harvesting — namely China.

Omitting ‘Rare’ When Ordering A Medium Rare Burger

byAmber Williams

As a child Juan Samuel Reyes chose to remain silent even when he had something to say. But now Reyes is one of several students who stutter at the University of Texas at Austin learning to communicate effectively while accepting their stutter through practice, community and advocacy. “I’m in the process of becoming more comfortable […]

Austin Aims to Increase E-Bike Ridership

byJinpeng Li

Few Austin residents use e-bikes for most of their transportation needs, but the city wants to change that. In January the city doubled down on an already existing Austin Energy rebate program, which provides refunds of up to $600 to customers who purchase new light electric vehicles, such as e-bikes and electric scooters, from authorized local dealers. 

LGBTQ+ Parents: “Don’t Say Gay” Bills Threaten Families

byLaura Miguel

House Bill 1155, by Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, would ban teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through eighth grade. 

UT Engineering Students on Track to Maintain Legacy of Longhorn Racing

byDom Bejarano

Thirty-three years after the founding of Longhorn Racing, the organization continues to design, fabricate and test cars for competitions in Formula SAE automotive events around the country.

Lawmaker Takes Aim at Texas Liquor Law

bySamantha Eisenmenger 

Rep. John Bucy, D-Austin, has filed House Bill 1346, which would give counties the ability to allow sales of liquor for off-premise use on Sundays. HB 1346 would empower counties to hold an election and allow voters to decide the matter. Bucy filed a similar bill in 2021, but it never made it to a vote.

Since distilleries cannot sell their bottled product on Sunday, they are at a competitive disadvantage with wineries and breweries, which can sell their bottled products to consumers every day of the week, Bucy said. The measure would allow distilleries to better compete with wineries and breweries, he added.  

Reporting Texas Newsletter – April 21, 2023

Download the April 21, 2023 edition of the Reporting Texas Newsletter

Coloring Austin’s Walls With Latino History

byAna Paola Davila Chalita

Austin’s Gus Garcia mural one of dozens of art works that dot the city on the walls of buildings, parking decks, underpasses and fences — some created by non-commissioned street artists and others by professional artists funded by the city’s Art in Public Places program and by organizations such as the Austin Downtown Alliance Foundation and the Austin Parks Foundation.

Austin’s cultural diversity is represented in these vibrant artistic expressions, and the murals such as the painting of Garcia showcase the city’s Hispanic community and are an integral aspect of the city’s identity. 

Senate Bill Would Create Texas Grid Security Commission

byKeaton Peters 

Under proposed legislation, the Texas Grid Security Commission would develop standards “to ensure that energy, electric power, and fuel supplies are protected and readily available for recovery in the event of a severe outage,” said a spokesperson for Senator Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, who is a sponsor of the bill.