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

(Camp Nowhere/Instagram)
Friday
đž Camp Nowhere 2022
Calling all Porter Robinson fansânow is the time to see the electronic artist in Austin alongside six additional up-and-coming artists in the genre. The mini-fest moves to Dallas the next day and you can get tickets starting at $25.
4:30 p.m. Friday | Germania Insurance Amphitheater, 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd.đ° Coindesk Consensus
Held for the first time in Austin, Coindesk Consensus promises to be the âSXSW of crypto,â with more than 300 speakers slated to talk about Web3, blockchain and the Metaverse. Fidelity Investments CEO Abby Johnson, Edward Snowden and Binance CEO Changpeng âCZâ Zhao will speak. Tickets start at $99 for a virtual pass or $1,299 for general admission.
Times vary Friday-Sunday | The Fairmont & Austin Convention Center, 101 Red River St.
đ Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally
Embrace your inner biker for an extended weekend at the Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally, which is being held in Bastrop for the first time. Live music, rides and motorcycle acrobats will keep you entertained! Tickets start at $25.
Times vary Thursday-Sunday | Mereâs Reserve, 1141 FM 969 Farm-To-Market Rd.đŒ Summer Strut
Link & Pin has invited some of its favorite local artists to display their work during the 2022 Summer Strut, which runs all weekend through Aug. 28, to give them some exposure.
1-5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday | Link & Pin Gallery, 2235 E. 6th St. #102.Saturday
đż Do Not Post exhibit
This exclusive three-week show kicks off on Saturday, running through June 26, featuring never-before-seen large-scale work from owner Lisa Russellâs private collection. The works will all have limited exposure, and be displayed together for the first timeâpictures will not be allowed. Free private walkthroughs can be scheduled at sales@wcc.art.
1-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday | West Chelsea Contemporary, 1009 W. 6th St #120.đł Poetry in the Park
Poetry in the Park is returning for a second time under the shady trees at Republic Square. As a platform for local poets and spoken word artists, this weekend's theme will focus on Pride Month and Juneteenth.
11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday | Republic Square, 422 Guadalupe St.đ Rupi Kaur World Tour
Catch Canadian poet, illustrator and mind behind the poetry book âMilk and Honey,â Rupi Kaur, in Austin. Get tickets for the famous âInstapoetâ starting at $39.
8 p.m. Saturday | Bass Concert Hall, 2350 Robert Dedman Dr.đ Rainbow on the Creek
Celebrate Pride Month during a day in the sun with your fellow Austinites at Moody Amphitheater. The free daylong festival will feature Pride-themed activities and LBGTQIA performances.
12-9 p.m. Saturday | Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park, 500 E. 12th St.
đ¶ The Sounds of The 60âs Tour
Reminisce in the music of the â60s at the Cedar Park H-E-B Center, featuring tunes from The Drifters, The Platters + Cornell Gunterâs Coasters.
7:30 p.m. Saturday | H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, 2100 Ave of the Stars.Sunday
đ Salsa & Heritage Festival 25th anniversary
Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to learn about the shared African roots of Puerto Rico and Mexico at the Salsa & Heritage Festival. Tickets are $30 the day of the festival, $24 for early birds.
3-8 p.m. Sunday | JCC Austin Ballroom, 7300 Hart Ln.
đ Realty Texas 2022 Car Show
Help benefit the Williamson County Food Bank while you enjoy a day full of cars, live music, bouncy houses and food. Plus, you can enter your car for a chance to win a trophy. Tickets start at $10.
9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday | Realty Texas, 2000 S I-35 Frontage Rd Suite P.Popular
(Barkin' Creek Dog Kitchen & Bath)
Pet grooming salons and dog supply stores have seen a rash of at least seven burglaries over the last month, bringing store owners together to try and put an end to the repeated crime.
The break-ins started in late June and have continued every few days at different locations around the city, according to the Austin Police Department and Austin/CentralTexasGroomers Facebook group.
Victims have started sharing their security videos via Facebook, with a nearly identical story each time: A gloved man uses a rock to break through a glass door or window in the early morning hours, takes the cash drawer and splits.
Barkinâ Creek Dog Kitchen & Bath co-owner and CEO Jeff Springer has had two of his four locations hit. Springer said heâs not only out a few thousand in stolen cash but also keys and checks from inside the drawers, plus several thousand dollars in repairs.
âThere's a sense of anger and helplessness combinedâanger because you've been victimized and helplessness because there's nothing that you can do that could have stopped this,â Springer told Austonia.
The stores that were hit:
- June 27: Mod Mutt Salon
- July 2: Rainbow Paws Pet Salon
- July 4: As the Fur Flies
- July 11: Sniff Grooming Studio
- July 23: Hair Oâ the Dog Pet Salon
- July 26: Barkinâ Creek Dog Kitchen & Bath Zilker location
- July 29: Barkinâ Creek Dog Kitchen & Bath South Lamar location
Springer said his first burglary occurred around 2 a.m. at the Zilker locationâthe perpetrator smashed through the door, ripped out the cash drawer, unlocked the unbroken door and calmly walked out. The scene was found by an employee a few hours later.
Springer said they spent the morning rescheduling grooming appointments and cleaning up the glass. Barkinâ Creekâs South Lamar location was hit three days later in the exact same way, by who he believes to be the same person Springer said, and the robbery was discovered around 6 a.m.
âHe left the computersâhe left some very expensive items that are on our sales floor right there,â Springer said. âI think he wanted to expedite the theft and get in and out as quickly as possible.â
While Springer has reached out to police, he said heâs been repeatedly told they are understaffed and are trying to prioritize reports as they come in. He had to fill out the police reports online, as opposed to having an officer dispatched to him, due to staffing issues.
After reaching out to District Five Council Member Ann Kitchen, he was able to get in touch with a district sergeant who helped him upload evidence on Friday.
âThat was frustrating because you expect the police to show up when you're burglarized,â Springer said. âI wanted to make sure that the police were aware that we had a serial burglar on the loose who is targeting dog stores. This is low-hanging fruit given all the evidence that all these stores have collectively together on the guy.â
A report from KXAN said several other store owners have complained about little to no police responseâNancy Rich with As the Fur Flies said police havenât come to take fingerprints on objects the perpetrator touched or evidence.
Springer said in the meantime, they have updated lighting in their parking lots, are converting to a cashless system and looking into stronger glass, but he fears that after the repairs are done, the robber will strike again.
â(Upgrading) the glass is another heavy cost,â Springer said. âWe're a small, family-owned business. We don't have a lot of money to pay somebody to be a full time security guard at each one of our stores. It's just not feasible.â
(City of Austin)
By Willow Higgins
In the summer of 2020, in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dove Springs community members began to wonder how they could better use a section of the local greenbelt that had become neglected. The unmarked trail, which is overgrown and enclosed by a 10-foot flood wall, was once actively maintained and a go-to river access point for residents in the mood for a stroll or a swim. Last week, project partners presented their proposal for a revamp of a section of the East Williamson Creek Greenbeltâwhich theyâve named Donde Corre el Agua (Where the Water Runs)âto the Parks and Recreation Board.
The project team has been working tirelessly over the past year to figure out how to transform the space. Dove Springs residents Blanca OrtĂz, Elena RodrĂguez and Enedina SĂĄnchez, who initiated the project, teamed up with Frances Acuña of Go Austin/Vamos Austin and BjĂžrn Sletto, a UT architecture professor, and his class to pull together a 100-plus-page book that spells out how the project should be approached.
âThe residents and students have been working every single weekend for a little bit more than a year so they could get the language that was needed to be included in this book so we could have a model for how to transform something that looks like (this) into something beautiful and doing it the right way by including the residents and including the neighbors,â Acuña said in her presentation to the parks board.
While some enjoy hiking the trail in its current wild state, steep drop-offs to the creek and eroded riverbanks have prevented neighbors from enjoying it the way they used to. The parcel used to be lined with houses that backed up to the creek, but after the area was hit by a flood, the houses were bought out and removed. Nonetheless, the area has a rich history and holds memories, especially for older residents, that the team worked to honor.
What they have in mind is a beautiful, well-maintained trail with flower gardens, a community garden, rest stops, picnic areas and a play area including swings and volleyball and basketball courts. The trail will also be adorned with murals that tell stories about the community.
âWe prioritized culture preservation and conservation, making sure that the culture wasnât lost in our community,â Acuña said. âWe have been losing (our culture) little by little because of gentrification and displacement, but at least in this space, we were able to come together and see what the residents, between the youth and the older adults, highlighted that they wanted to see.â
Now that the community-activated project proposal is complete, the partners will move on to complete the Neighborhood Partnering Program application, which will include an estimate of the budget and zoning and permitting logistics. Then theyâll identify and begin to implement the projectâs priorities. If they donât secure the funding to complete the project in one sweep, theyâll steward their plan over time.
âThis means a lot to the neighborhood because we have taken so much of our minds and our souls into this project,â Acuña said. âDove Springs is an area that has been neglected and all the work the residents took and the students took to make this happen is something that is admirable for it to become a reality.â