Local news and fun, every day 6am.
Featured
austonia newsletter
Most viewed

Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune
Armed protesters guard the memorial of Garrett Foster, who was shot and killed during a protest against police brutality in Austin on July 25, 2020.
By Jordan Vonderhaar
Throughout the summer, cities in Texas and around the country have seen protests and demonstrations against police brutality. On Saturday, protesters and law enforcement clashed in Austin, a week after protester Garrett Foster, who was openly carrying an AK-47 rifle — which is legal in Texas — was shot and killed by Daniel Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant, when he approached his car. Perry drove away, then called the police. Perry was released without being charged. Since then, questions have been raised about who was the aggressor.
Foster's death fueled tensions Saturday night in the downtown streets of the state capital as demonstrators again gathered and local and state police turned out in massive force. Tribune photographer Jordan Vonderhaar was there to document the protest. Here's what he saw.
State police in riot gear form a line along Congress Avenue and advance toward protesters to remove them from the street.
Jordan Vonderhaar
Armed protesters ride in the back of a pickup truck from a rally at the University of Texas to a memorial for Garrett Foster in downtown Austin, minutes after hearing of clashes between other protesters and police.
Jordan Vonderhaar
A man with a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder stands among protesters who have gathered at the Garrett Foster memorial in downtown Austin.
Jordan Vonderhaar
A protester confronts police in riot gear.
Jordan Vonderhaar
Mounted officers from the Austin Police Department clash with protesters on the corner of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue in downtown Austin.
Jordan Vonderhaar
Mounted officers from the Austin Police Department clash with protesters on the corner of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue in downtown Austin.
Jordan Vonderhaar
State police were present large numbers.
Jordan Vonderhaar
Jordan Vonderhaar
A protester armed with a baseball bat kneels in the street with fist upraised as protesters clashed with police in downtown Austin on Aug. 1, 2020.
Jordan Vonderhaar
Members of the far-right Proud Boys militia stand on Congress Avenue across from the Garrett Foster memorial in downtown Austin.
Jordan Vonderhaar
A woman with her hands zip-tied waits to be loaded onto a bus after being arrested during protests against police brutality in downtown Austin.
Jordan Vonderhaar
Police load arrested protesters into a Travis County Sheriff Department bus.
Jordan Vonderhaar
A police officer sprays a protester with pepper spray as demonstrators clash with police in downtown Austin
Jordan Vonderhaar
A heavy police presence marked Saturday's protest in downtown Austin.
- Man who shot Garrett Foster reveals identity - austonia ›
- Joe Rogan says he's moving to Texas 'soon' - austonia ›
- Austin protestor Garrett Foster killed by driver - austonia ›
- Video fires up effort to remove APD police chief after protests - austonia ›
- Several arrested in Austin during downtown protest for Breonna Taylor - austonia ›
- Austin braces for election-week unrest - austonia ›
- Austin police prepare for election-week protests - austonia ›
- Daniel Perry, who shot Garrett Foster, releases polygraph - austonia ›
- Gov. Abbott dispatches National Guard to Austin amid election - austonia ›
- Austin police say no known threats ahead of inauguration day - austonia ›
- Army Sergeant Daniel Perry charged in shooting of Garrett Foster - austonia ›
- Austin police find two dead in a West Austin home Friday - austonia ›
- Video footage from Austin protest shows Garrett Foster in interview ... ›
- Austin shooting: Mother of victim killed at protest says Garrett Foster ... ›
- Soldier who shot Austin protester Garrett Foster reveals identity ... ›
- Garrett Foster Brought His Gun to Austin Protests. Then He Was ... ›
- Daniel Perry confirmed to have shot Austin protester Garrett Foster ... ›
Popular
(Pexels)
Jerry Lee, co-founder of professional training company Wonsulting, applied to 300 jobs using three fake resumes to do an experiment.
As he detailed on TikTok, he was trying to see the rate that each resume got ghosted. And while one of the resumes had a 14% interview rate—a result he wasn’t surprised by given that Facebook was listed on the resume—recruiters still ghosted 57% of the time.
“So just remember that being ghosted is part of the process,” Lee said. “And yeah, it does apply to people who work at these prestigious companies.”
@jerryjhlee 🙋♂️ if you’ve ever been ghosted by a recruiter
Ghosting, or abruptly ending communication with someone without explanation, has been the norm for some employers. They’ve typically had the upper hand in the hiring process after all. But lately, they’re starting to get a taste of their own medicine.
Julia Lyons-Ryle, an HR Performance Specialist, said this trend is fairly recent and has cropped up more as a result of the pandemic.
She works with small to medium-sized companies in the Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley regions, and has considered reasons for why prospective employees disappear without explanation.
One is that it’s harder for companies to form a bond or relationship with a prospective employee over the phone or a Zoom meeting. As a result, job seekers are more comfortable leaving employers on read.
A recent report by HR analytics platform Visier surveyed 1,000 job seekers in the U.K. and 1,000 in the U.S. Of those, a whopping 84% of respondents said they had ghosted an employer or potential employer in the past year and half.
The report noted a few of the top reasons for ghosting, including salary levels that were below expectations, companies had a bad reputation and online reviews, job role descriptions were inaccurate and workers received other, more attractive job offers.
But it’s not just during the interview process that workers are considering ghosting. Just over 30% said they would ghost at the point of the job offer or after their first day on the job.
Who would do that? Well, the survey found that more senior workers are comfortable ghosting. More than 90% of Directors, VPs and C-suite level workers expressed a willingness to ghost on the survey.
Still, there are actions employers can take to avoid getting ghosted. Lyons-Ryle says the company culture begins even before an interview because job seekers can get a feel for a place just from the posting. So, putting a salary range and an accurate job description can be key to hearing back from prospective employees.
There's a lot that companies have to offer, besides just here's a paycheck,” Lyons-Ryle said. “And that's something that a lot of people are looking for, especially after the pandemic, they're starting to look around and say, you know, I can get a paycheck. But can I get something else? A culture or a family, a place to belong?”
- Jobs - austonia ›
- Tech jobs are in hot demand, both benefitting and hurting job ... ›
- Austin tops ranking of best places for tech jobs - austonia ›
- Central Texas sees record job growth fueled by Samsung, Tesla ... ›
- Study: why people are unemployed as millions of jobs open - austonia ›
- Austin-based jobs now open at the —not so boring— Boring ... ›
- Austin ISD plans to cut 632 jobs, raise teacher pay next school year ... ›
- Tesla's Elon Musk says Austin factory could hire 10k jobs - austonia ›
- Report: Elon Musk says Tesla needs to cut 10% of jobs - austonia ›
- Austin TikTok jobs put in jeopardy due to executive order - austonia ›
(Reina/Instagram)
Another Rainey Street bar is closing its doors, marking the strip’s third closure of the year.
Reina, 78 Rainey St., announced that it would close its doors on Sept. 11 via social media on Friday. The city plans to use the lot for construction of a new residential building, The Modern, which will include affordable housing units.
The announcement comes on the heels of both Container Bar and Bungalow closing in March to make way for the development, which will be a 49-story high-rise, with a conditional use permit for a four-story cocktail lounge inside.
“We knew this was coming and that our days were numbered,” the bar said. “It still couldn’t prepare us for the sadness we’re feeling.”
The bar opened just before the pandemic began in January 2020.
“We often think back to when Reina was a place of refuge during COVID,” the post said. “The smiles we saw on people’s faces as they ventured outside of their homes for the first time in months is a memory burned inside our heads forever.”
- Nearly 50-story condo tower in Rainey district expected to break ... ›
- New brewery, The Stay Put will open on Austin's Rainey Street ... ›
- Rainey Street's Container Bar, Bungalow to have last hoorah this ... ›
- Final Rainey Street residential home cleared for demolition - austonia ›
- Complete guide to Rainey Street's bars, food and nightlife - austonia ›