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(Pasko Maksim/Adobe)
Temperatures in Austin are forecasted to reach 102 degrees on Saturday, and it only gets better from there.
Sunday and Monday may get as hot as 104 degrees. It won't cool down again (and by "cool down," we mean drop below 100 degrees) until next Thursday.
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Austinites gathered at Huston-Tillotson University on June 7 to protest police brutality. (Emma Freer)
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley received intense criticism for the police killing of Michael Ramos, an unarmed Black and Latino man, last April and his department's response to mass protests over the summer. When he announced his retirement Feb. 12, he said the criticism did not factor into his decision. But it will undoubtedly shape the nationwide search for his successor.
<p>Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said the top job at the Austin Police Department, which he led <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/17/austin-police-chief-expected-become-houstons-polic/" target="_blank">until 2016</a>, used to garner 70 or 80 applicants. But that's no longer the case. "People are hesitant to apply for cities with misguided, reactionary city councils," he told Austonia. "It's having an effect."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="5504" data-rm-shortcode-id="96e9f29ffc172496d8aa95127a85a11d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxODA1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTY0MjI0MX0.gsxH8NI0XAzKUy07oxjquViBcS-VVwjEYTY5DJ-0ywE/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="8256" id="2f293" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo at George Floyd's funeral on June 8, 2020 in Houston. (Bob Daemmrich)</small></p><p>There is also the challenge of hiring a police chief at the same time as many other major cities across the country. Acevedo estimates around a third of the police executives who belong to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, of which he is president, have either left their jobs or been asked to leave in the last year due to political pressure.<br/></p><p>"Some of these elected officials are tripping over each other to be able to demonstrate they're reform-minded ones, when they're no different from the right-wing extremists who look at everything through the prism of political theater, and that's really damaging the long-term health of policing across this country," he said. </p><p>Austin City Council Member Greg Casar, an avowed progressive and the architect behind recent cuts to APD's budget, agreed that heightened public scrutiny and the city's ongoing effort to reimagine public safety will influence the search process. But he doesn't see this as a bad thing. "I think that we will find candidates who want to bring the community together in Austin," he said, "around making police better." </p><p><strong>The ideal candidate</strong> </p><p>Dennis Kenney, a professor at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice and a former police officer, said the role of police chief is a politicized position that has grown even more so in the post-George Floyd era. In addition to managing overall department strategy, police chiefs also have to contend with strong unions, binding labor contracts, city management, a broken mental health care system, declining budgets and a divided public. "It's something of a nightmare job right now," he added. </p><p>Progressives and criminal justice reform activists want a chief who can improve accountability and transparency while addressing racial disparities among arrests and use of force incidents. </p><p>NAACP Austin President Nelson Linder believes Austin's next police chief should be more visible and engaged with the community, while also capable of holding his or her officers accountable when they make mistakes. </p><p>"Chief Manley had a very challenging tenure because, in essence, he got hijacked, first with the Austin bomber and then with the George Floyd death," he said. "I think he's a very committed policeman, but I think he was not prepared for the escalation of police issues around the country and in Austin." </p><p>As an alternative, Linder suggested someone like Frank Dixon, a former APD assistant chief who went on to lead the Denton Police Department and now serves as the city's interim assistant city manager. "There are people out there who can meet this criteria," he said.</p><p>Others would like to see a chief who can rebuild a beleaguered department. </p><p>Ken Casaday, president of the Austin Police Association union, wants a chief who can address APD's years-long staffing shortage and support its officers. "It will take a very, very special person to come to this department and start the healing that it needs from a very brutal contract negotiation … (and) the de-policing issue," he said. </p><p>APA members have thrown out names of people they would like to see in the top spot, Casaday said, including:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>APD Assistant Chief Robin Henderson, a Black woman who was promoted shortly after allegations of racism rocked the department's top ranks;</li><li>APD Commander Donald Baker, who joined <a href="https://www.statesman.com/NEWS/20160924/Police-commander-joins-discrimination-lawsuit-against-APD" target="_blank">a discrimination lawsuit</a> against the city in 2016, claiming he faced retaliation for pointing out that older and minority officers were being transferred from an elite division;</li><li>And former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, who retired <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/former-seattle-police-chief-carmen-best-makes-debut-on-nbc-news-today-as-a-contributor/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">last September</a> in protest over the city council's plan to cut the department's budget and lay off officers.</li></ul><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1428" data-rm-shortcode-id="8132a86e9ae31f95ddb98ab7946fe9f8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTcxODI3Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTQxNjE3N30.Gl-i_lPrRXKD-H4pz1P5C_DROCqxLWk4Yvmx5v2VlQk/img.png?width=980" data-width="2000" id="62ded" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">APD Assistant Chief Robin Henderson, APD Commander Donald Baker and former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best. </small></p><p><br/></p><p>These competing priorities can lead to unmeetable expectations. "The problem that you've got as chief is: You're expected to come up with solutions that don't exist—or at least aren't likely to be doable—to address social problems that we can't even agree (on) and to do so in an organization that you have limited control over," Kenney, the John Jay professor, said. </p><p><strong>The search process</strong> </p><p>Another challenge is the nationwide game of police chief musical chairs currently underway. </p><p>This search will be different than the one City Manager Spencer Cronk conducted in 2018, in the wake of the Austin bombings, in which he named Manley, then interim police chief and one of Fortune's <a href="https://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/04-30-19-ifortunei-names-austin-police-chief-one-of-the-worlds-greatest-leaders/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">top world leaders</a>, lone finalist. In <a href="http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/pio/document.cfm?id=354966" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a Feb. 12 memo</a> to City Council announcing Manley's retirement, Cronk wrote that he would "immediately start to conduct a national search for our next Chief and look forward to an extensive engagement with our Austin community in that process." </p><p>In addition to heightened public scrutiny, there will also likely be more competition. "There's a kind of circuit of chiefs who move from one place to the next," Kenney said, adding that protests and politics are leading to a wave of chief resignations and retirements. "That's kind of uniformly hitting chiefs around the country. So where do you recruit your new chiefs from?" </p><p>Headhunting firms will help, such as the California-based Public Sector Search & Consulting, which exclusively recruits police executives. "While demonstrably smaller, the folks in the pool are really committed to reimagining policing and advancing it to the next level," CEO Gary Peterson <a href="https://www.axios.com/police-chief-hiring-changes-public-vetting-d9e53d13-1469-4d63-800a-b64625cb2740.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recently told Axios</a>.</p><p>Casar is both optimistic that such a candidate is out there and pragmatic about what a new chief can accomplish. "It's not all on them," he said. "In the end, we'll need the city manager to be committed to change. We'll need the community and all of our city employees to shift." Still, this is a unique opportunity. "We usually have to wait years before there is change at the top of the police department," he said, "so we really want to get this one right."</p>
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(Claire Partain)
Long before the craze rolled into 2020, roller skating has held deep ties to Austin.
When the pandemic left a nation stuck at home and even "Tiger King" got old, thousands hopped on wheels to spice up quarantine life and stay active—and the sport has grown in popularity into 2021.
<p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@anaocto/video/6820959572849626373?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1" target="_blank">TikTok creators</a> have garnered millions of views as the embodiment of retro cool on wheels, while trick skaters on Instagram have gained traction as street-savvy adrenaline junkies. Demand for skate shops grew exponentially: from March to August, roller derby legend <a href="https://www.instagram.com/estrojen/" target="_blank">Estro Jen's</a> Southern California skate brand <a href="https://www.moxiskates.com/" target="_blank">Moxi Skates</a> grew by <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rollerskating-pandemic-black-community_l_5f32f0fac5b64cc99fdf2153" target="_blank">nearly 1000%</a> from March to September she told the Huffington Post. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="19f83d4fb12cca8e4c1512ba022b104d" id="0fee3"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3T75ShnJ5/" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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</div></blockquote></div><p>The sport is nowhere near new to Austin, however.<br/></p><p><strong>Deep ties to the city</strong></p><p>In 2003, Austin made waves as the site for the first-ever professional flat track roller derby league in the world. Born from a mix of authentic Austin weirdness and the city's rep as the live music capital, the <a href="https://www.texasrollergirls.org/" target="_blank">Texas Rollergirls</a> pioneered a standardized flat-track formula and became known worldwide as the founders of the modern roller-derby movement. With <a href="https://www.texasrollergirls.org/who-we-are/travel-team/" target="_blank">outlandish names</a> (Shutem Up Buttercup or Thugs Bunny), unapologetic aggressiveness and the fierce aura of girl power, the Rollergirls warranted enough attention to inspire a <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497306/" target="_blank">documentary</a> and help create hundreds of professional leagues around the world. </p><p>Founding Rollergirl member Amy Sherman, who created the measurements for the official flat track still used today, said that the city's love for entertainment and live music made it a perfect place for roller derby to flourish. </p><p>"I think that Austin just being Austin lends itself really well to accepting this sport," Sherman said. "In the very beginning, it was kind of more about the music culture as we were learning how to skate and do tricks. We would have bands play at halftime, and so they kind of helped us with the draw, but we don't need bands anymore because now we're the attraction."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="629" data-rm-shortcode-id="754b3175cba33840a9f341f240640dbe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTYzNDMwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDg4NDg2Nn0.8GTqPYPkMxjZesPhLheJeT2pD7jBtEGnOEQt1-sm25s/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="1024" id="fdd37" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">(Texas Rollergirls Travel Team/Twitter)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>Since the beginning, Sherman and the six other founding members sought to make roller derby as accessible as possible. A flat track, as opposed to the former banked track, could be played anywhere with a large flat surface. The non-profit league also spent as much time traveling to help create leagues in other cities as they did playing the actual sport, an effort that has paid off with over 600 leagues in the world in 2021. To Sherman, it's the "for the skater, by the skater" mindset and grassroots aspect of the league that has kept this type of roller derby successful for nearly 20 years.</p><p>The pandemic has turned back the clock in more ways than one. Just as many are channeling the '70s in their funky bell-bottom roller skating videos, many traditional roller derby athletes are moving back to the streets to stay on wheels at a safe distance.</p><p>Sherman said that many veterans are now going back to their roots as outdoor skating becomes increasingly popular. </p><p>"It's kind of come full circle," Sherman said. "In the early days, there were a few of us that were involved in the skateboarding community as we were getting the Rollergirls rolling, and we would go and skate at skate parks. And then when roller derby got going, a lot of those park skaters came and focused on the roller derby aspect a little bit more. Now, a lot of derby skaters that can't skate because there's no contact sports right now have taken to the parks again."</p><p>The derby girls are joined by a growing movement of outdoor skaters who pull tricks alongside skateboarders at local skate parks.</p><p><strong>A new era of skating</strong></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ecc87dc56398c9434a69e764172d9f7" id="b1356"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CIw7QxpF7kK/" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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</div></blockquote></div><p>For former trapeze artist Amanda Alexander, street skating has been a therapeutic way for her to transition from the adrenaline rush of circus acrobatics. After a friend strapped on some skates on here, there was no going back, and Alexander has committed ever since.<br/></p><p>"Skating really blew my mind as being equal to the adrenaline rush of circus but being way more simple because you can just strap on your skates and go," Alexander said.</p><p>Since she started two years ago, skating has also become "free therapy" and an escape from the daily stresses of life.</p><p>"You just kind of forget about all the stupid stuff that's really not all that important in life and when you walk out of here you just feel at peace," Alexander said. "I feel like it's definitely a free form of therapy at this point."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="2736" data-rm-shortcode-id="3b6cf08466e0116e90e28e6162aa6a4c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTYzMzU3Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTcwOTU5MH0.cNi7hL_rlo_honnqkodRoP2RxIxIvfLdsel-nDCKPsY/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="3593" id="d427c" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Street skaters Amanda Alexander (left) and Andrea Phillips take a break at House Park in Austin. (Claire Partain)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>For fellow skater Andrea Phillips, outdoor skating is as much about the people as it is the sport. While Phillips had long been one of the only female skaters and few roller skaters on the ramps at her favorite skate park, new visitors come and go much more frequently now.<br/></p><p>"With skating culture, we're all just so weird and all goofballs," Phillips said. "Nobody really cares here, so you can just get away with so much and it's always just fun and nobody is ever super competitive. When it boils down to it, we're just adults playing with toys so there's no judgment."</p><p>Both Phillips and Alexander are members of a team themselves. The group, known as <a href="https://www.grindstoneskate.com/" target="_blank">Grindstone</a>, consists of 10 "dirty southern roller skatin'" trick skaters. According to Alexander, the Grindstones were created by a fellow Austinite who looked to sponsor some local skaters with her toe-stopper company. </p><p>From a mystery skating ramp in the middle of the desert in Marfa, Texas to New Orleans, the skaters have since formed a tight bond as friends with a deep common interest. Despite strong personalities, Phillips said all of the players manage to get along.</p><p>"We all have different styles, but we're all super aggressive with whatever we do," Phillips said. "We all just get together, skate, wreak havoc, and travel, although that has slowed down because of COVID. I've never seen 10 alpha females work together in one unit, it's mind-blowing."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="68f4bad2f506ab9416b8b47ec0c3c3f1" id="24e57"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CFATfvqjIv6/" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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</div></blockquote></div><p><br/></p><p>While neither Phillips or Alexander have an interest in roller derby, many derby athletes have crossed over to the Grindstones during the pandemic. Similarly, Sherman said that she is inspired by roller derby players who could bring more players onto the Rollergirls after COVID cases go down.</p><p>"I find it really inspiring that some of those roller derby skaters have now taken to the skate parks and more street skating, and I think it's helped inspire some of the more average skaters," Sherman said. "I definitely think that will bring more people into the league and people will want to expand their horizons and not be afraid anymore to get out there, because it can be intimidating."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="2334" data-rm-shortcode-id="c743406116e0d4992f6c7ba53159e856" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTYzMzU5OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTc2MTg0OH0.lWdUL3yrqrMfwmyB3OSvxXlZxcabci6No3RX1k-1pIc/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="2865" id="5061f" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">(Claire Partain)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>For Phillips, the future of outdoor roller skating lies in making the sport available to all. Phillips said that she hopes the Grindstones eventually tour different cities, teach classes and inspire young athletes along the way.</p><p>"We're trying to teach people and teach legitimate classes so we can get everybody going," Phillips said. "There's people in po-dunk towns who have never seen roller skating. If someone had rolled into my town when I was 10 and shown me roller skating, I'd have been in a lot less trouble."</p>
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Following the purchase of a converted 34-foot-long van, Addicus' Legacy Dog Rescue's pups headed to their forever homes in style during its maiden voyage last week.
<p>The Austin-based group—which strives to save animals from high-kill shelters and find them forever homes—coordinates dog adoptions, either locally or by transporting them from Texas to waiting homes in New England.</p><p>"We call it 'The Rescue Bus,'" Addicus board member and intake coordinator Mariska Berkley said of the new van. "We send about 60 dogs a month to Connecticut, so we needed a bigger vehicle."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">The new van will transport about 60 dogs per month to waiting adopters in Connecticut from Austin. (Mariska Berkley)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>Although the van can transport about 60 dogs, its passenger list will only include 30 dogs to accommodate bathroom breaks every three to four hours, she said. Any more dogs and the stops wouldn't be a practical length of time, Berkley said. Two drivers and a behaviorist, Jan McDonald, will also be on board, with the behaviorist keeping the dogs as happy and content as possible.<br/></p><p>"It's got to be rough on them," McDonald said of the transport process. "They've grown attached to the fosters they had in Texas and we're taking them away from that foster, putting them in a kennel and getting them on the road. That's automatically confusing and stressful for them." </p><p>The bi-monthly road trip from Austin to Glastonbury, Connecticut, is about 1,600 miles and takes two-and-a-half days northbound, or about 50 hours including stops. After dropping off the canine cargo, the human crew spends the night in New England before heading home the following morning.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..." spellcheck="false">Mariska Berkley, a member of the Addicus Legacy Dog Rescue board, coordinated the group's efforts to land a new transport van that's delivering the much-wanted pets to New England from Austin in style and comfort. (Mariska Berkley)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>Addicus was founded a decade ago when school teacher Phillippa Scott decided to drive from her home in Connecticut to Texas to save six dogs from being euthanized at a local shelter, Berkley said. The saved dogs come from facilities' euthanasia lists or have no chance of being adopted; local vets are used to get the dogs healthy before they are put up for adoption, she said.</p><p>The idea to purchase the transport van was born "out of frustration," Berkley, a Spicewood resident, said. </p><p>Prior to buying the van, the nonprofit organization paid private contractors a fee per dog to bring the animals to New England, a challenge for the group, which is funded mostly through donations, Berkley said. Additionally, the transporters were motivated to crowd the vehicles since their fees were tallied by the number of animals transported, stressing the dogs, she said.</p><p>"The only options we had were either a cargo trailer, an 18-wheeler or one of those Hertz vans or little box vans, and they are not outfitted for comfort by any means," Berkley said, adding that the transport vehicles had to be modified with air conditioning.</p><p>Now, the drivers are paid a flat fee, no matter how many animals are on board, she said. </p><p>The limousine was initially built for people and has two air conditioning systems along with a ventilation system, Berkley said. It was previously used by a dog breeder in Oklahoma, who converted the vehicle to haul dogs so she could take them to show. Berkley said she spied the van for sale on Facebook Marketplace and traveled to Oklahoma to bring it back.</p><p>"There is an overflow of dogs in the Texas area—we have a lot of backyard breeders and we have a lot of rural shelters that don't get any help," said Berkley who has worked with Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. </p><p>The demand for adoption is greater in New England than in Texas, and there's less supply of dogs to adopt, she said. Those northern states have more stringent animal cruelty laws and fewer abandoned dogs than Texas, Berkley said. COVID-19 has also caused an "exponential" increase in the number of dog adoptions, she said.</p><p>On its first trip northward, Addicus partnered with Lucky Lab Rescue and transported its dogs in the new vehicle as well.</p><p>Finding a consistent, safe and affordable method of carting rescue animals across the country has long plagued Addicus, Berkley said. The new vehicle will allow the dogs to be cared for properly along their journey, she said.</p><p>"We are trying to revolutionize the way these dogs are being transported within the rescue groups," Berkley said. </p>
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