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There's something deliciously creepy and thrilling about metaphysical events that defy explanation, but I also love stories with a strong historical narrative. Austin's best-known haunted bars fit this description perfectly.
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Late (Tuesday) the City of Austin's outside attorney filed a response to the plaintiffs' (called relators in legal terms) request for a writ of mandamus to force the City Council to amend ballot language for Proposition B.
Proposition B will be on the May 1 ballot as a result of Save Austin Now's petition drive. If voters approved, the resulting ordinance would ban: camping in a public areas, soliciting in designated areas and sitting or lying down on public sidewalks.
Read the full story at The Austin Bulldog.
There is nearly nothing Texas loves more than its Saturday game days, and according to Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte, Longhorn fans can plan to pack the stands again in 2021—pending herd immunity.
<p>As the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 rolls around, a hopeful fan reached out to Del Conte on Twitter this week and asked if the University of Texas is planning for full stadium capacity when the season starts, "assuming the majority of the country is vaccinated."</p><p>Del Conte responded with an optimistic "That's our plan," flashing a hook 'em emoji.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">That's our plan🤘🏽 <a href="https://t.co/0CemSqHt5E">https://t.co/0CemSqHt5E</a><br/>— Chris Del Conte (@_delconte) <a href="https://twitter.com/_delconte/status/1364335682777276420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><p>Texas plans to open the season on Sept. 4 against Louisiana—a start date that is still more than 190 days away. During the 2020 season, stadium capacity was limited to 25%—or about 25,000 attendees. Other sports were limited as well.</p><p>With medical professionals projecting that the U.S. will return to some degree of normalcy this year—Dr. Marty Markay predicting <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">normalcy by April</a> and Dr. Anthony Fauci predicting a much later timeline of the end of 2021—Texas Football celebrations might be in the future. </p><p>However, Austin Public Health has previously said relaxing COVID safety measures—such as capacity restrictions at events—the county would need to establish herd immunity—which occurs when <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-vaccine-eligibility" target="_self">70% to 75%</a> of the population is immune to the disease. Currently, only 11% of the age 16 and older Travis County population is vaccinated with at least one dose. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday; the availability of a third vaccine could speed up the process of achieving herd immunity. And COVID cases continue to decline. </p><p>All in all, UT started collecting deposits for season tickets three weeks ago, inviting fans to become part of the #AllGasNoBrakes era of Texas Football led by new Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, saying the athletic department plans to return to normal on its website.</p><p>"Texas Athletics is currently planning for attendance at 2021 home games to be at 100% seating capacity. We will continue to monitor local COVID-19 health and safety conditions in coordination with NCAA, Big 12, University, state, and local medical partners," the website reads.</p><p>Texas is starting the spring season a little later than normal this year, planning to start the first practice on March 23 and first game pending on April 24. In his weekly newsletter, Del Conte encouraged fans to come out for the first game, saying "you'll definitely want to plan to be in Austin for that one."</p>
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(Michael Barera/CC)
Journalists at the Austin American-Statesman and its six community newspapers won the right Wednesday to negotiate for a union contract.
The National Labor Relations Board in Fort Worth tallied the results of a newsroom election, in which 36 employees voted in favor of union representation and 12 voted against. The NLRB still must formally certify the election.
<p>"We're excited to move forward with a voice in our future and to continue to #KeepAustinInformed," the Austin NewsGuild tweeted in response to the election results, which were delayed due to the winter storm last week. </p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Unofficial result is 36-12. The <a href="https://twitter.com/statesman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@statesman</a> is now a union paper.<br/>— Phil Jankowski 🦇 (@PhilJankowski) <a href="https://twitter.com/PhilJankowski/status/1364678508815900673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><p>The Austin NewsGuild announced in early December that they were taking steps to unionize, including submitting the required paperwork to the NLRB to request a union certification election at the Statesman. A secret-ballot mail election is only necessary when newsroom management declines to recognize the union voluntarily, as was the case with Gannett, the Statesman's parent company.<br/></p><p>"We respect the decision by our colleagues," Statesman Editor Manny Garcia said in a statement Wednesday. "We will continue to focus on our public service mission to serve our growing community." </p><p>The NewsGuild cited a need for stability in "an increasingly unstable industry, one plagued by budget cuts, layoffs, a lack of diversity and dwindling resources," according to a Jan. 9 news release. Its members pledged to advocate for increased staff positions, improved benefits, increased safety gear and anti-racist policies. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the NewsGuild's diversity committee sent a letter to management demanding a plan to revive the Spanish-langauge newspaper ¡Ahora Si!, diversify hiring and require implicit bias training, among other changes.<br/></p><p>NewsGuild members join journalists others across the country that have unionized newsrooms in recent years, including at the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Arizona Republic.</p><p>The Dallas Morning News Staff <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2020/10/16/dallas-morning-news-newsroom-employees-win-election-to-form-union/" target="_blank">voted to unionize in October</a>, becoming the first newspaper in Texas to do so. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram staff announced it had unionized shortly after. </p><p>Like many of these papers, the Statesman has faced years of downsizing, hiring freezes and, most recently, furloughs during the pandemic. It has also endured a series of corporate handoffs—three in as many years.</p><p>Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises sold the Statesman to the New York-based publishing company GateHouse Media in 2018, after 41 years of ownership. In late 2019, GateHouse closed its <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gatehouse-gannett-merger-is-official-creating-largest-us-newspaper-chain-2019-11-19" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$1.1 billion takeover of Gannett</a>, becoming the country's largest newspaper company, and pledged to cut costs. (The company now goes by Gannett.) </p><p>Gannett laid off seven Statesman staffers, including veteran sportswriter Suzanne Halliburton and culture critic Joe Gross, in April. Three months later, the company <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2020/07/07/statesman-signs-lease-will-relocate-to-southeast-austin-site-next-year/113857298/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed a lease at MetCenter</a>, a corporate business park that the Statesman will move into next year. Its recognizable riverfront headquarters will be redeveloped. Last October, the company <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-american-statesman-buyouts" target="_self">reportedly offered employees voluntary buyouts</a>. Then, in January, Executive Editor John Bridges <a href="https://austonia.com/new-statesman-editor" target="_blank">announced his retirement</a> after 32 years with the Statesman last month. He was succeeded by Garcia, who previously worked at ProPublica. </p><p>According to the NewsGuild, more than 50 journalists have left the Statesman voluntarily or because of buyouts and layoffs over the last two years, representing a 40% reduction in newsroom staff.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">5/ We're not naive about the reality of our industry & know a union can't stop the shrinkage. But it can help protect our remaining staff & give us a voice in decisions about the future.<br/><br/>It will give our reporters an opportunity to fight for our readers & the coverage they need.<br/>— Austin NewsGuild (@AustinNewsGuild) <a href="https://twitter.com/AustinNewsGuild/status/1339292842569707522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><p>Dr. Victor Pickard, a professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania, told Austonia in December that this push toward organizing is "a rare glimmer of hope in this really dismal landscape."<br/></p><p>Unions at legacy media companies, such as the Statesman, may help counterbalance publishers' singular focus on profit, which often comes at the expense of jobs. But unions alone won't insulate newspapers from a rapidly changing industry. Instead, Pickard said existing newsrooms need to transition to new business models—like the nonprofit Texas Tribune or <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2016/0112/Philadelphia-Inquirer-tests-new-model-with-nonprofit-and-for-profit-benefits" target="_blank">low-profit Philadelphia Inquirer</a>—that help lessen commercial pressures.</p><p>"If we don't do anything the market will just drive journalism into the ground," he said. </p><p><em>This story has been updated to include a response from Statesman Editor Manny Garcia. </em><br/></p>
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