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(Carolyn Broussard)
🎨 ART04 Studio Tour
Tour some of Austin’s diverse creatives as they open their studios. Metal Sculptor Barry George will donate part of his proceeds to the Save Our Springs Alliance.
Starting at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday | Thornton Road Studios, 2309 Thornton Rd.
🥃 5th annual Texas Whiskey Festival
Sip your way across Texas by tasting more than 100 whiskeys, meet the people from the 36 distilleries who made them and sing along to Piano Punch dueling pianos. Tickets start at $89 and visitors must be 21 to attend.
Starting 6 p.m. Friday or 5:30 p.m. Saturday | Star Hill Ranch, 15000 Hamilton Pool Rd.
🐱 AHS 8th Annual Kitten Shower
The Austin Humane Society is bringing back its 8th annual Kitten Shower, featuring children’s activities, a bake-off competition, kitten yoga, a kitten donation drive and local vendors. Admission is free.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday | Austin Humane Society, 124 W. Anderson Lane
🌏 CelebrASIA 2022
Celebrating Asian American Pacific American heritage month, CelebrASIA is returning with live music, activities for all ages and local food vendors. The event is free and open to the public.
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday | Asian American Resource Center, 8401 Cameron Rd.
🦞 Keep Austin Weird® Twist ‘N Snap Crawfish Boil
Over 10,000 lbs of crawfish—enough to go around—are guaranteed at Fiesta Gardens this weekend, plus extra bites from local restaurants. While you munch, enjoy games; live music from Calder Allen, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Zach Person and more. Tickets start at $14.99.
Starting at 11 a.m. Saturday | Fiesta Gardens, 2101 Jesse E. Segovia St.
🍷 Wild World Texas: A Natural Wine & Farmhouse Beer Festival
More than 200 different types of natural wines, beers and fermented foods in a salon-style tasting at Jester King this weekend. Plus, you can gaze at the farm’s goats all the while. Tickets start at $65 and visitors must be 21 to attend.
1-6:30 p.m. Saturday, 12-6:30 p.m. Sunday | Jester King Farm and Brewery, 13187 Fitzhugh Rd.
🍾 Mimosa Fest 2022
Celebrate National Mimosa Day a little early at Mimosa Fest 2022, at this “boozy, bougie, brunchy day party” perfect for the drink’s enthusiasts. Expect live music, food and all the mimosas your heart could desire. Tickets start at $45 and visitors must be 21 to attend.
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday | Fair Market, 1100 E 5th St.⚾️ Round Rock Express vs. Oklahoma City Dodgers
Catch our local Minor League play against the Oklahoma City Dodgers play at home this week. Tickets start at $10.1:05 p.m. Sunday | Dell Diamond, 3400 E Palm Valley Blvd.
⚽️ Austin FC vs. Real Salt Lake official watch party
Austin FC is facing Real Salt Lake in an away game this weekend, but true Verde fans can still support from home at the official watch party. Arrive early as space is limited.
Kickoff at 8:30 p.m. Sunday | The Pub, 214 W. 4th St. Suite A
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The Longhorns lost 10-5 in the College World Series final Thursday night. (Texas Softball/Twitter)
Texas' unlikely run to the Women's College World Series came to an end as Oklahoma softball took home its second straight softball title with a 10-5 win Thursday night.
The Longhorns were unseeded before pulling off an unprecedented run to the finals, where they lost 16-1 in a blowout for the first game of the best-of-three series Wednesday.
But Texas brought the bats in the second bout. Texas' standout pitcher Estelle Czech struck out Oklahoma's biggest hitter, Jocelyn Alo, to keep the Sooners scoreless in the first inning, and a series of RBIs put the Longhorns up with a 3-0 for three innings straight.
A couple of hits and a Longhorn throwing error put the two teams neck-and-neck by the end of the fourth inning. The Sooners' signature dominance was delayed to the fifth inning, when Oklahoma catcher Kenzie Hansen popped her first homer of the year to help the team to a 6-2 lead.
Once Oklahoma had grip on the game, they kept the Longhorn offense to quick innings while earning four more points on another home run from Grace Lyons.
With two outs in the final inning, the Longhorns put up their final fight. Texas freshman Mia Scott ripped one past the Sooners' outfield, ricocheting off the top of the wall and back into the field. The home run gave Texas a 10-5 finish as they ended their underdog fight to the final in Oklahoma City.
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(José Garza/SFGovTV)
Chesa Boudin and José Garza share the rare handle of “progressive prosecutor”—Boudin in San Francisco and Garza in Austin.
Former public defender Boudin was voted out by nearly 60% of voters on Tuesday, after being elected by a slim margin in 2019 with a platform of police reform, criminal justice reform and addressing racial inequality. His opponents argue his policies threaten public safety.
As Travis County District Attorney Garza remains in office, halfway through his four-year term, he is so far silent on Boudin’s landslide defeat. Repeated calls to the D.A. by Austonia for his comment were not returned as of publication.
Boudin’s stances closely reflect fellow progressive Garza’s platform
Garza and Boudin have a similar track record: Both have received endorsements from progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-VT; serve progressive cities; believe in holding law enforcement accountable and have been criticized for not being tough enough on criminals.
During his tenure, Boudin eliminated cash bail, reduced the prison population and brought nine criminal conduct cases against officers for misconduct.
Likewise, Garza obtained indictments of five Austin police officers, two sheriff’s deputies, an assistant county attorney and a sheriff on charges including tampering with evidence and murder. Distrust between Garza and Austin police is at a high level.
But there are key differences
San Francisco is facing three major types of crime: Murders, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts have increased significantly since 2019. While a report by KXAN last October showed Austin shared a “sizable jump” in homicides in the past 18-24 months, the homicide rate remains at 7.69 per 100,000, which is lower than both Dallas and San Antonio.
San Francisco’s housing crisis doesn’t seem to be improving and neither does public perception of the expanding homeless population, but since Austin reinstated the camping ban in May 2021, the housing crisis has leveled off locally.
Plus, while Boudin narrowly scooted by in his election, Garza topped opponent Margaret Moore by 3%, followed by 68% in the runoffs and 70% of the votes in the general election in 2020.What the opposition is saying
The Austin Police Association took notice of the San Francisco election, and the similarities that Boudin and Garza have shared. APA president Ken Casaday told Austonia the results were not surprising to him.
“San Francisco citizens became tired of the lack of prosecution of cases,” Casaday said. “The APA plans on allowing the citizens of Austin to make the decision on how to handle our D.A. After all, he was voted in by the citizens just like D.A. Boudin was two years ago.”
Casaday continued, “D.A. Garza is no different than Mr. Boudin. They were funded by the same people to do what they’ve done. In fact, Mr. Garza has never prosecuted a case in his life which makes it tough to understand the complexities of prosecuting cases.”
Austonia reached out to the office of congressional candidate Greg Casar and Judge Andy Brown, as well as organizations that have endorsed Garza, including Austin DSA, Black Austin Democrats and the Austin Justice Coalition but was not able to hear back for comment at the time of publication.
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