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(Austonia/Instagram)
Austin has no shortage of personalities with a large social media following. From food to motherhood, we've got you covered on Austinites that have blown up on Instagram.
Here are 15 Austin-based female influencers you may want to check out.
Foodies
1. Rachel @austinfoodstagram
In five years, Rachel Holtin grew her Austin food Instagram page to over 91,000 followers. She made the account to post photos of her food adventures in Austin and gained popularity quickly. She has since made Austin Foodsta, a blog.
2. Koko @atasteofkoko
Starting out as a blog in 2010, Jane Ko, known as Koko, has expanded her platform to social media with over 77,000 followers on Instagram. She posts about different restaurants around Austin, as well as lifestyle content.
3. Kelsey @somuchlifeblog
Kelsey Kennedy started her So Much Life blog in 2016 as a helpful guide to the best restaurants and fun things to do in Austin. While still featuring the same kind of content on her Instagram, it has gained over 27,000 followers.
Lifestylers
4. Camille Styles @camillestyles
Popular Austin influencer Camille Styles has racked up 165,000 Instagram followers over the years. She is the editor-in-chief of CamilleStyles.com. Her Instagram page features lifestyle content, including home design and her everyday life.
5. Ava @ava.gg
Video game and lifestyle influencer Amanda Myddleton, known as Ava, is a popular Twitch streamer with a YouTube channel. Her Instagram page has over 81,000 followers, featuring her travels and video games.
6. Rachel @rachelprochnow
Lifestyle blogger Rachel Prochnow spreads positivity in her Instagram captions. Her pastel-colored themed Instagram page has almost 40,000 followers.
Fashionistas
7. Emily Herren @champagneandchanel
With a whopping 1 million followers, Emily Herren, showcases herself in effortless outfits available for purchase.
8. Ashley @dtkaustin
Stylist and Dressed to Kill owner Ashley Hargrove has grown an Instagram following of 155,000 followers. Her page follows a strict black and white atheistic of outfits and accessories.
9. Larissa Kate @larissalampiteli
Designer Larissa Kate launched her brand Larissa Kate Lingerie in 2016. Her Instagram showcases her style and designs she creates. She has gained over 18,000 followers.
Health and Wellness
10. Jo @joplacencio
Co-founder of women empowerment group Glam Soriee, Jo Placencio has a pink aesthetic on her Instagram feed with health and wellness products, as well as fashion. Her page has 141,000 followers.
11. Natalie Paramore @natalieparamore
Natalie Paramore found her passion for writing and taking photos in 2011 when she started her blog. Her Instagram, filled with healthy eating, her baby and fitness, has almost 25,000 followers.
Mothers
12. Olivia @livvylandblog
Olivia Watson, lifestyle blogger of Livvy Land, often used to post about style but since having her child, her Instagram and blog contain a lot more mommy and family content. She has 311,000 followers.
13. Sarah @deliveringmotherhood
Mother of three Sarah Viebrock is a labor and delivery nurse, as well as the motherhood content creator of Delivering Motherhood. Her content aims to help moms with living a healthy and balanced life. She has gained almost 57,000 followers.
Interior artists
14. Lee Anne Benjamin @leeannebenjamin
Home and style guru Lee Anne Benjamin posts home decor and fashion on her Instagram that has 459,000 followers. She has a blog Life by Lee and Youtube channel with fashion and home tips. Her husband Dylan Benjamin also runs his own blog and Youtube channel.
15. Erin Ruoff @hi_lovely
Erin Ruoff, home and lifestyle blogger of Hi Lovely, often features home design on her Instagram. She has over 45,000 followers on Instagram.
'We have only begun to fight': Save Austin Now seeks legal help in battle over no-camping petition
5h
(Kevin Ludlow)
The petition, if validated and approved by voters this November, would have reinstated a city ban on public camping.
The group behind a petition to put a citywide public-camping ban on the November ballot in Austin said Thursday that they were "engaging a highly respected local Democratic litigator" in their efforts to fight a city ruling earlier in the week that their petition did not enough valid signatures.
<p>Matt Mackowiak, a cofounder of <a href="http://saveaustinnow.org/" target="_blank">Save Austin Now</a>, <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homeless-camps" target="_self">the group behind the petition</a>, stopped short of saying the group was planning to file a legal contest—but he did put out a call for donations in a post on Facebook. </p><p>Mackowiak, who is also chairman of the Travis County Republican Party, said <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveAustinNow/posts/164372638497514" target="_blank">in a Facebook post</a> that the group has called "a highly respected local Democratic litigator to review the facts, help us determine what additional information is needed, and consider our legal options." </p><p>"Put simply: This is expensive and we need your support right now," he wrote. "We have only begun to fight."</p><p><span></span>Austin City Clerk Jannette Goodall's <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-texas-homeless-petition" target="_self">ruling yesterday</a> was the first time since 2002 that the city invalidated a petition because of lack of signatures, she told Austonia on Thursday.<br/></p><p>The struggle has intensified <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homeless-problem-camp" target="_blank">as residents report growing camps near neighborhoods</a> while a consultant hired by the city is advising that moving the encampments won't solve the city's homelessness issue.</p><p>Goodall used a random sampling method that the city adopted in 2002 in her review, according to a city spokesperson. State law allows cities to use any reasonable sampling method in determining whether citizen-led petitions contain the required number of signatures.</p><p>While Mackowiak was not specific about plans to file, local attorney and activist Fred Lewis—who has spearheaded other citizen-initiated petitions, including one last year that opposed an expansion of the Austin Convention Center— said he would expect the group to file very soon, likely with the state district court.</p><p>This is because the last day for the city to order a referendum in the November election is Aug. 17, according to the state election schedule. </p><p>"You're talking two or three weeks this has got to be decided - at most," Lewis said. "The court may not be able to decide it in that time." </p><p>Save Austin Now filed the petition on July 20, with 24,598 signatures—well over the 20,000 required to put their initiative on the ballot. If validated, it would have allowed voters to decide whether to roll back a year-old city ordinance allowing camping, panhandling, sitting and lying in public spaces. </p><p>But in her review, Goodall discovered several issues: some signers asked to be removed; there were duplicate names; and a second version of the petition was detected, which invalidated others. </p><p>Ultimately, the clerk estimated that there are 19,122 valid signatures on the petition.</p><p>"The probability that checking all 24,201 submitted signatures would find a total of at least 20,000 valid signatures is less than 3 in one billion," Goodall wrote in her ruling. </p><p>Some welcomed the news.</p><p>Chris Harris, director of criminal justice programs at <a href="https://www.texasappleseed.org/" target="_blank">Texas Appleseed</a> and who was involved in a local effort to decriminalize homelessness, called the clerk's ruling "phenomenal" in a tweet on Wednesday. </p><p>"Republican efforts to re-criminalize homelessness & use homelessness as a wedge to turn out conservative voters in November has failed," he wrote.</p><p>Save Austin Now co-founder Cleo Petricek is a self-proclaimed local Democrat. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c4f919f489f18a61a73cb2732faf74c5" id="dec2d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291114147581747201"><div style="margin:1em 0">PHENOMENAL news #ATX!!!
Republican efforts to re-criminalize homelessness & use homelessness as a wedge to turn ou… https://t.co/Nouy3uT91r</div> — Chris Harris (@Chris Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/chrisharris101/statuses/1291114147581747201">1596660575.0</a></blockquote></div>
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(Facebook)
Austin physicians and staff lined the halls of Ascension Seton Medical Center to celebrate the recovery and release of a COVID-19 patient in a "Code Sunshine" video posted this week on the hospital's Facebook page, bringing light to a tough time when hospitals are overrun with COVID-19 cases.
<p>The patient was released last month from the Austin hospital after a battle with the illness, though no other details were released for privacy reasons. </p><p><a href="https://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Local-hospital-celebrates-discharge-of-first-COVID-19-patient-to-recover-569527181.html" target="_blank">"Code Sunshine"</a> and the attendant celebratory videos have become ubiquitous in the national social media conversation about the pandemic, providing success stories among a rising death toll both in Texas and nationwide. </p>
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(The 19th*)
CEO of The 19th* Emily Ramshaw (left) will be interviewed by the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle (right) next week.
The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is taking her turn at being the interviewer, putting Austinite Emily Ramshaw—a longtime local journalism trailblazer and co-founder and CEO of The 19th* news organization—in the hot seat at the organization's virtual summit event next week.
<p>"She asked if she could interview me on 'storytelling that lifts up those who are too often underrepresented in the media,' and 'what it means to build a media outlet with gender equity, diversity and community at its core,'" Ramshaw wrote on Twitter on Thursday.</p><p><br/></p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="316fd074948110ce8e4d6b9da4ed2554" id="d0a31"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291373727331082240"><div style="margin:1em 0">She asked if she could interview me on “storytelling that lifts up those who are too often underrepresented in the… https://t.co/GaDLEw8DyR</div> — Emily Ramshaw (@Emily Ramshaw)<a href="https://twitter.com/eramshaw/statuses/1291373727331082240">1596722463.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><br/></p><p><span></span>The interview closes out the 19th* Represents 2020, a week filled with events commemorating the suffrage centennial, on Friday, August 14. The summit includes conversations with prominent women in politics, civic engagement, journalism and the arts. The <a href="https://summit.19thnews.org/speakers" target="_blank">lineup of speakers</a> includes Kamala Harris, Melinda Gates, Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams and Meryl Streep, to name a few.</p><p>The 19th*, a new nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom focused on <a href="https://19thnews.org/2020/08/americas-first-female-recession/" target="_blank">gender and politics</a>, launched its <a href="https://19thnews.org/" target="_blank">news site</a> this week. The organization is named after the 19th amendment, in which women were given the right to vote—but the asterisk stands for the "unfinished business" of the amendment, as voter suppression is still happening today. </p><p>Ramshaw is also former editor-in-chief at the <a href="http://texastribune.org" target="_blank">Texas Tribune</a>, another groundbreaking nonprofit journalism organization based in Austin.</p><p>In an interview with <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/meghan-markle-the-19th-represents-summit-interview-emily-ramshaw" target="_blank">Glamour Magazine</a>, Ramshaw described what it was like to keep Markle's booking a secret over her young daughter's desperate desire to spread the news: </p><p><em>"Just as Ramshaw was gearing up for the site's debut, she and her husband made the decision to send their daughter back to daycare "because we couldn't get across the finish line with her at home," Ramshaw says. "So she walks straight in, bursts into the room, and declares, 'My mommy is going to talk to a princess!' Thank god no one believed her."</em></p>
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(Magnolia Network/Instagram)
HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines are bringing back "Fixer Upper" but on their new network soon to launch.
"Fixer Upper" stars Chip and Joanna Gaines are casting Season Six of their beloved Waco-based home-improvement show, slated to return to your screens on their new cable channel, Magnolia Network, early next year.
<p>News of the popular show's return to the screen comes after a two-year hiatus, with Season Five ending in April 2018. <a href="https://magnolia.com/network" target="_blank">Magnolia Network</a> will be replacing Discovery's DIY Network and is set to launch early 2021.</p><p>Want to know if your home qualifies for a Fixer Upper treatment? For starters, you need to own your home (or be in the closing stages of it) within 30 miles of Waco and have a $50k renovation budget. </p><p>Learn more about the casting <a href="https://magnolia.com/network#" target="_blank">here.</a><br/></p><p>The network will also debut a new show, "Self Employed," starring Fort Worth, Texas-based entrepreneur Jonathan Morris.</p><p>"Self Employed" will be one of 10 shows to premiere on the network. In the show, Morris will travel across the U.S. and share the stories of small-business owners. The first season will likely focus on Texas towns within driving distance of Fort Worth, <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/08/fixer-upper-reboot-chip-joanna-gaines-revival-launch-magnolia-network-2021-series-ordered-brian-patrick-flynn-jonathan-morris-1203003219/?fbclid=IwAR0Q3shZiut1VjrT0BzvyTM7XRVQxPElpUhPSN1DaqyAiQRMW5Tv6e8DwPU" target="_blank">Deadline reports</a>.</p><p>"All I want to do is champion the people, places and ideas that push culture forward," Morris said in a recent Instagram post.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="08c47ecf486e28dcf3fdaca61381d32b" id="3eb29"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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Austin Mayor Adler talks COVID, inequity, homelessness and policing in 'State of the City' address
05 August
(City of Austin)
Austin Mayor Steve Adler delivered his annual "State of the City" address Wednesday—virtually.
This story has been updated to include quotes from the mayor's speech.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler delivered his annual "State of the City" address Wednesday evening, in which he discussed the coronavirus pandemic, police funding, the local economy, homelessness, transit and equity issues.
<p>Usually delivered to a crowd at City Hall, tonight's address was—as are all things Council these days—virtual.</p><p>"This could have been a speech only about COVID-19," Adler said. Instead, much of his 25-page address focused on the opportunities presented in this moment. </p><p>"Perhaps only at times such as these, where our routines and inertia are so utterly disrupted, can we be freed and forced to dream and act big," he said. "So let's do big things. Let's end homelessness. Let's bring real mobility to Austin. Let's reimagine how we keep one another safe. Let's address race and do something about correcting centuries of injustice because it is the fundamental injustice that fuels so many others." </p><p>Below are some quotes, excerpted from a transcript shared in advance. </p><p><strong>On the coronavirus</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We all want the local economy—and our lives—back as we knew them. But the governor's decision to reopen before we had sufficient testing and tracing in place and before our numbers were low enough compounded the challenge. … Truth is, the virus was never gone. <a href="https://austonia.com/testing-asymptomatic-austin" target="_blank">It just hides</a>, waiting for us to invite it back into our lives." </p><p><strong>On the economy</strong></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Unemployment is at unimaginable levels. Businesses have shuttered - some temporarily and some lost forever. Many of our neighbors don't know how they're going to feed their families or whether they'll be evicted from their homes. Tenants struggle with rent; homeowners and landlords struggle with mortgage payments. Our hospitality and creative workers and industries, so great a part of our economy, are reeling. For many, it's already too late." </p><p><strong>On homelessness</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"To the people <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-texas-homeless-petition" target="_blank">that signed on to the petition</a> because they were desperate for a solution for people experiencing homelessness, I want to say that I share your impatience. Having chosen this more just path, though, and having rejected the false promise of cosmetic fixes, our work is incomplete unless we follow through with the commitment to house the homeless. This will require us to do a better job of inclusively managing shared public spaces." </p><p><strong>On transit</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Project Connect is <a href="https://austonia.com/transportation/project-connect-austin" target="_blank">a bold transit plan</a> for the just and accessible city we aspire to be. It certainly addresses traffic, but it will do so much more. … Project Connect will connect our entire city, creating new opportunity for Austinites, reducing our dependence on expensive personal vehicles, and save lives." </p><p><strong>On police funding</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I want to address police department leadership. … We need not only an openness to consider change but a keen desire to move past the status quo and to look at public safety more broadly than [ever,] mainly focusing on ensuring we're best equipped to deal with unsafe moments when they occur. We need more than just a willingness to accept change <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-city-council-police-policy" target="_blank">if it happens</a>; we need a champion for change at its best."</p><p><span></span>Want to read the whole speech? Here's the transcript. </p><p class="pdf-loader"><a class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bdab21c224a6f214f9ee5a4066743481" href="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/documents/6988/SOTC 2020 FINAL.pdf">SOTC 2020 FINAL.pdf</a></p><p>Make it a game! Adler invited residents to use this bingo card to mark off every topic mentioned in the speech. Can you get to bingo? Share it on social media with #ATXSOTC.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6b0e4c3e305d794e5a8d90586202a727" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="99d54" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNzU2OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Njg4NTY1NH0.wzAmDm1N9F0NflybdxcR9O5shzZ_8EsH-H8Dhs40ywM/img.png?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(City of Austin)</small></p>
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(by Charlie L. Harper III)
No public camping referendum on November ballot for Austin, city rules.
A petition to reinstate Austin's ban on public camping—abolished a year ago in a widely-debated move by Austin City Council to address homelessness—does not have enough signatures to make it on the November ballot, Austin City Clerk Jannette Goodall ruled Wednesday.
<p>On July 21, the local nonprofit group <a href="http://saveaustinnow.com/" target="_blank">"Save Austin Now"</a> said they had collected 24,598 signatures—well over the 20,000 required to put their initiative on the ballot in November.<br/></p><p>In reviewing the petition, however, the city clerk said she discovered a number of issues.</p><p>Nearly a hundred signatures were removed because of requests from signers. The clerk's office also discovered that the petition contained two versions of the language being proposed in the ordinance, which led to 397 signatures being removed.</p><p>Of the remaining 24,201 signatures, the clerk's office used a random sample to verify the petition.</p><p>"Of the 6,051 submitted sample lines checked under the sampling method, 1,147 of the sample lines were disqualified on account of being duplicate signatures of registered voters who signed more than once (41), or for other reasons (1,106)," Goodall wrote.</p><p>Ultimately, the clerk estimates that there are 19,122 valid signatures on the petition, which is not enough to make the ballot.</p><p>"The probability that checking all 24,201 submitted signatures would find a total of at least 20,000 valid signatures is less than 3 in one billion," Goodall wrote.</p><p>The petition—and what would have been a November ballot vote had it been validated—called on the city to roll back the <a href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2019-10-18/austin-city-council-reinstates-partial-camping-ban/" target="_blank">year-old city ordinance</a> allowing camping in public spaces. The goal was to reinstate previous ordinances in place before the ban was lifted in June 2019—no panhandling at night, no public camping, no sitting or lying in public places.</p><p>Save Austin Now co-founders Cleo Petricek and Matt Mackowiak believe the clerk's office inappropriately threw out thousands of signed petitions.</p><p>"We are exploring several options available to us, including possible legal action," they said in a joint statement shared with Austonia. "This fight is not over."</p><p>Last summer, the Austin City Council abolished the city's ban on public sitting, panhandling, lying and camping after <a href="https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2019/06/council-postpones-vote-on-camping-panhandling-ordinance/" target="_blank">homeless advocates</a> said such bans criminalize people who live on the street, and trap them there by making them targets for police action and creating criminal records.</p><p>In October, the council revisited the issue and limited where camping was allowed, banning it from sidewalks, near houses, near the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless and other shelters, and outside businesses during operating hours, among other limits.</p><p>In <a href="https://austonia.com/poll-results-homeless-camping" target="_self">an Austonia poll</a> taken shortly after the group turned in their petition, the majority of respondents—nearly 80 percent—said they would vote to ban public camping.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a58ff624bf188fa3986fb9e09bd968a" id="c6512"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1283762901128536069"><div style="margin:1em 0">While the people that serve the unhoused praise the decriminalization of homelessness, the local Republican party &… https://t.co/skyhygVUsq</div> — Chris Harris (@Chris Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/chrisharris101/statuses/1283762901128536069">1594907901.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>This story has been updated to include a statement from Save Austin Now. </em></p>
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