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The Austin institution Dart Bowl, a bowling alley also famous for its enchiladas, will close permanently due to a COVID-related slowdown in business, the owners announced on Facebook.
Around for 62 years, Dart Bowl also appears in a number of notable films and TV series. A statement from the business says:
"Familiar to viewers of the Richard Linklater movie, Boyhood, and the Friday Night Lights series which used it as a filming location, the Dart Bowl was founded in 1958 by Donovan's grandfather, Harry Peterson, who was joined in partnership about ten years later by Jerry and Betty Ray. Betty and her son, King Ray, remain involved in ownership and management of the company's three bowling alleys with John Donovan and his wife, Jacy."
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After a truly impactful year on the aviation industry, Norwegian Air announced that due to COVID-19 and government advice discouraging travel, it would abandon its long haul flights to focus on its European audience for the time being.
That means Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is losing two European routes: a nonstop route to London and Austin's sole nonstop route to Paris.
<p>"The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the entire aviation industry," Norwegian Air said in a <a href="https://media.uk.norwegian.com/pressreleases/norwegian-to-focus-on-a-strong-european-network-3064682" target="_blank">press release</a>. "Travel restrictions and changing government advice continue to negatively influence demand for long haul travel, and Norwegian's entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet has been grounded since March 2020. Future demand remains highly uncertain. Under these circumstances, a long haul operation is not viable for Norwegian and these operations will not continue."</p>
<p>Norwegian said that instead, it will continue to offer short haul service to its Nordic customers and to key destinations around Europe. The airline said it plans to reassess opportunities in the future, as the world starts to recover from COVID-19.</p>
<p>Norwegian announced in October 2019 that it would offer nonstop service from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport—the only airline at ABIA to do so. The flights were scheduled to take off in May 2020 and were unfortunately never able to get off the ground. </p><p>British Airways will still provide a nonstop route from Austin to London, though service is temporarily suspended.</p>
<p>Norwegian Air CEO Jacob Schram said he doesn't expect customer demand for long haul flights to recover in the near future.</p>
<p>"Our focus is to rebuild a strong, profitable Norwegian so that we can safeguard as many jobs as possible," Schram said. "It is with a heavy heart that we must accept that this will impact dedicated colleagues from across the company. I would like to thank each one of our affected colleagues for their tireless dedication and contribution to Norwegian over the years."</p>
<p>The airline said it will issue refunds to customers that have been affected by the announcement.</p>
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There's nothing Austinites look forward to more than South by Southwest, and this year, the annual event returns as a digital experience.
<p><a href="https://www.sxsw.com/attend/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SXSW Online</a>, an exclusive digital experience, will take place from March 16-20. </p><p>SXSW Conference announced Austin local Willie Nelson as the event's keynote speaker, along with <a href="https://www.sxsw.com/conference/featured-speakers/" target="_blank">featured speakers</a> Queen Latifah, The Chainsmokers, Matthew McConaughey, Samantha Bee, Sir Richard Branson and many more. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6273e86109ae50582562dc730c9e2b5d" id="2621b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349545529563295752"><div style="margin:1em 0">We just announced more than 200 Conference sessions, over 50 Featured Speakers, and 1 legendary Keynote for #SXSW O… https://t.co/kZGlJmceRD</div> — SXSW (@SXSW)<a href="https://twitter.com/sxsw/statuses/1349545529563295752">1610591702.0</a></blockquote></div><p>More than 200 conference sessions were curated for this year's festival via <a href="https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/" target="_blank">PanelPicker</a> on seven different themes: A New Urgency, Challenging Tech's Path Forward, Cultural Resilience in the Arts, The Rebirth of Business, Transforming the Entertainment Landscape, Connection in Disconnection and An Uncharted Future.</p><p>Sessions include speakers from well-known companies, universities and creative industries such as the <a href="https://www.utexas.edu/" target="_blank">University of Texas</a>, <a href="https://www.billboard.com/" target="_blank">Billboard</a>,<a href="https://www.theartblog.org/2019/12/black-women-make-art/" target="_blank"> Black Women Make Art</a>, <a href="https://www.condenast.com/" target="_blank">Condé Nast</a>, <a href="https://hms.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Harvard Medical School</a>, <a href="https://www.indeed.com/" target="_blank">Indeed</a>, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/" target="_blank">NASA</a>, <a href="https://nanoporetech.com/" target="_blank">Oxford Nanopore Technologies</a>, <a href="https://www.patreon.com/" target="_blank">Patreon</a>, <a href="https://www.siriusxm.com/" target="_blank">SiriusXM</a>, <a href="https://about.twitter.com/en_us.html" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and many more.</p><p>Along with speakers, SXSW has announced Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, her latest docuseries, as a headliner on the opening night of <a href="https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/film/" target="_blank">SXSW Film Festival</a>. Other highlight films include Hysterical, Confronting a Serial Killer, The Hunt for Planet B, Jakob's Wife, Luchadoras, Recovery and Violet. The full film festival lineup will be released Feb. 10. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09d83a44de234224da322c09e0279e65" id="b406f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349793903659126784"><div style="margin:1em 0">We're thrilled to share a preview of the 28th annual #SXSWFilm Festival including the World Premiere of Demi Lovato… https://t.co/deBcu4QzeB</div> — SXSW (@SXSW)<a href="https://twitter.com/sxsw/statuses/1349793903659126784">1610650919.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Registration is open now for the SXSW online pass for $249. The pass covers the entire digital experience including conference keynotes and speaker sessions, workshops, SXSW Film festival, musical performances, online exhibitions, networking meetups, professional development and more. You can register online <a href="https://cart.sxsw.com/products/reg-sxsw-online?_ga=2.92725406.268843889.1610649417-105008521.1610649417'" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>After the cancelation of the 2020 SXSW due to the pandemic, Austinites can look forward to a safe digital experience from home. The festival has not yet announced any in-person events this year due to the COVID-19 surge in Austin, but originally announced it would be a hybrid of in-person and virtual events in the fall last year.</p>
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