Austin Keeps Day of the Dead Alive

bySaile Aranda

Burning candles and bright orange marigolds decorate San Jose Cemetery II as guests walk through the smoke of copal incense on the Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition celebrated annually on Nov. 1 and 2 for more than 3,000 years.
Joaquin Rodriguez, founder of San Jose Montopolis Cemetery Association, said he thinks these traditions have been happening for so long because it’s a way of having a common language within the community.
Rodriguez, who was adopted, said he always felt connected to Mexican culture although it was never practiced in his home. As an adult, he sought out connections to his birth family and ancestors, which helped him find his heritage. 

Dachshund Owners Celebrate Their Four-Legged Friends at Texas WienerFest

byAlly Bonsall

More than 2,000 dachshunds filled the grounds of Sherwood Forest Faire on Halloween for the fourth annual Texas WienerFest.  
Halloween morning stirred with the pitter-patter of thousands of paws. Adorned in costumes, the tiny dogs traipsed through the morning dew at Sherwood Forest Faire, their low-rider stomachs mere inches from the grass, with their excited owners in tow.
“It’s kind of like this weird little wiener community,” dachshund owner Nicole Brooks said. 

Guadalupe Street Says Goodbye to an 800-Pound Dinosaur and 45 Years of Wheatsville Co-Op

byAdele Doat

Halloween cobwebs cover empty shelves at the Wheatsville Co-op on Guadalupe Street, sending a message of quiet surrender to financial struggle for a store that has long held a special place in the community. “It seeps magic,” General Manager Tanya Carney said.
Sunday was the grocery store’s final day on Guadalupe. Founded in 1976 by a group of UT students, the co-op moved to Guadalupe Street in 1981, Carney said. From now on, Wheatsville will focus its efforts on its South Lamar Boulevard location, she said.  
Declining revenue and feared disruption of the Project Connect Orange Rail Line prompted the store’s closure.

‘Enough Is Enough’: Austinites Demand Change After Cornell Sexual Assault

byGabrielle Caumon and Ella Grady

  Sexual assault survivor Samantha McCoy led protesters at Austin City Hall on Thursday in the wake of the Jane Doe case at Cornell University — but insisted that her organizing efforts weren’t just for her. “We march for those who could not be here,” said McCoy, who organized Thursday’s protest at Austin City Hall. […]

Austin Opera Envisions Dazzling Future Amid Industry Turbulence

byOISAKHOSE AGHOMO

Near a nondescript building in North Austin, if you listen hard, you can hear Mimi and Rodolfo falling in love. 
As the Austin Opera prepares for its upcoming opening of “La Boheme,” it’s on the upswing into a new era – despite the recent turbulence surrounding the classical arts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. And while the actor Timothee Chalamet recently said “no one cares about” opera and ballet, Austin Opera is building its future. 

Boy’s Bike Crash and a Father’s Frustration: City Urged to Improve Safety of Springdale Road

byNoemi Castanon

Nabil Ezzarhouni and his son Rumi were headed home from their afternoon bike ride through the Southern Walnut Creek trail in January when a car hit the 7-year-old  at the intersection of Lyons and Springdale roads. Austin police and emergency services quickly arrived, checked Rumi and determined that while he had suffered bruises and scrapes, he did not need hospitalization.
Austin has invested over $1.3 billion since 2016 to transform its roads for bike safety, according to Austin Transportation and Public Works. But accidents like the one involving little Rumi are common. In 2025, cars seriously injured 22 cyclists, and five cyclists. So far this year, three bikers have been seriously injured, according to Vision Zero dashboard of traffic safety. 
“We need to ensure bikes are safe and have the right to be driven around without having to take a chance,” Ezzarhouni said. 

Amid National Unrest, MLK Community March Urges Austinites to Use Their Power

byOisakhose Aghomo

After a two–year hiatus due to inclement weather, the Martin Luther King Jr. Community March and Festival returned Monday at the Texas Capitol against a backdrop of national political uncertainty — and threats to MLK Day itself
“Our commander in chief is trying to remove this day,” said 61-year-old Austin resident Jackie Sanders. “We’re going to still fight for this day because he (MLK) has earned it and we are here to support and represent.” 

Meet the Team Keeping West Campus Clean, Safe and Connected

bySamantha Rubin

Just after sunrise, blue-shirted ambassadors step into the stream of students along Guadalupe Street trading greetings, answering questions and keeping eyes on the stretch long known as The Drag. 
“In a nutshell, what we’re doing here is hospitality-heavy,” Kevin Morris Sr. said during a recent morning walk-along. “That’s why we’re always talking and vibrant. It’s about visibility.”
The West Campus Ambassador Program was created to address the gap between West Campus’ rapid redevelopment and its lagging safety and beautification efforts

‘House of Cards’: Whisper Valley Residents Want Answers for their Broken Homes

byMax Mazoch

Developers marketed Whisper Valley as having an affordable cost of living thanks to the solar-panelled roofs and a geothermal system that connects to each home to provide energy-efficient heating and cooling. But as their homes age, Whisper Valley residents report failing geothermal HVAC systems and foundations that have left them with bills in the thousands of dollars.

Bouldin Creek’s Peacocks: Old Austin’s Feathered Locals

byMikhelia Williams

Long before tech bros and $8 matchas, the South Austin neighborhood of Bouldin Creek had wandering peacocks in its front yards. Nearly six decades later, the colorful birds are still strutting through driveways, shrieking at sunrise and sunning themselves on porch railings. 
And in true old-Austin, keep-it-weird fashion, most residents like it that way.
Neighbors slow to a stop on Oltorf and Fifth streets to let the peahens saunter across the street. Some even leave birdseed on their steps just in case one decides to drop by. But not everyone who moved to 78704 understood the culture when they arrived.

Generations of Govalle Families Unite Behind Their Endangered School

byNoemi Castanon

Govalle Elementary School opened its doors to East Austin families in 1931. Now, after 94 years of educating generations of East Austin families and serving as the center of their neighborhood, the school could be closed if its accountability rating does not change by the next academic school year.
The families that have called Govalle home for generations have weathered two threats of closure or major changes in the past decade. This fall, the Austin Independent School District proposed transforming Govalle from a neighborhood school into a Montessori-styled elementary that could draw students from throughout the school district. But community opposition to the plan helped to persuade officials to remove Govalle from a plan to close 10 schools and alter others.

For Students and Others Relying on Food Aid, Government Shutdown Hits Home

byDestiny Lewis

More than 3.4 million Texas residents, including over 1.3 million children, rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to federal data. In Travis County, the loss of SNAP benefits will affect approximately 44,895 households, which represent over 87,000 people, according to the city of Austin.

In a Booming City, ‘Making a Place Where We Would Want to Hang Out’ Keeps the Lights On

bySarah Gonzales

When four longtime friends maxed out their credit cards and depleted their savings accounts nine years ago to open a bar, they had no idea who would turn out to see their vision become a reality.
“The goal, the whole time as we were getting things going, is just making a place where we would want to hang out, and I mean that’s still kind of our MO,”  Mike Sanchez said.
Those four friends named the place The Little Darlin’, a South Austin staple off William Cannon Drive — one of a handful of beloved dive bars that define their neighborhoods and manage to hang on as other bars and restaurants come and go.

Rooftop Soccer Aims to Build Community Above Downtown Austin

byLuke Lawhorn

Austin’s soccer popularity can be seen through the sold-out crowds for its Major League Soccer team, Austin FC, and the strength of its high school soccer programs. Austinites also have a thriving network of pickup games running in parks. In a country where medical experts report people are losing fitness and a sense of community, Vanta Athletics is striving to keep the two together.
Vanta is Austin’s first and only rooftop soccer facility, available for memberships for anyone 18 or older. The field, which sits on top of a parking garage at 300 San Antonio St., was built in two days by its founders, Sam Clark and Tanner Friesen, last August.

Fears Grow for Nonprofits That Rely on Federal Funding

byShunya Carroll

When the accordion came to Texas in the tail end of the 1800s, a new sound emerged that became so familiar that it became synonymous with Tejano music. Conjunto was born. “This is special. This is Texas music. You can’t find it anywhere else,” said Piper LeMoine, communications director for Austin nonprofit Rancho Alegre. “You […]

Big Medium, creator of the Austin studio tour, goes dark after 22 years

byShunya Carroll

The future of the Austin studio tour is uncertain after the event’s founder and organizer, the arts nonprofit Big Medium, announced its closure last week. “The gaps are massive,” said Shea Little, a founding member of Big Medium. “There are a lot of artists, a lot of creativity, but not a lot of opportunities for […]

Pflugerville Neighbors, Officials Concerned About Mysterious Homeland Security Facility

byAlex Lamb

Behind a gas station and row of small businesses near a Pflugerville neighborhood sits a freshly renovated warehouse boxed on three sides by tall blue fencing and shiny new razor wire. 
Leaders of the Austin chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation say they have information the facility will be used as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center as the new Trump administration ramps up deportations. They received photos of the interior of the building showing holding cells and what appears to be an interrogation room. 
“We want answers from the local leaders who are supposed to know about this,” said Peishi Cheng, a PSL representative who spoke during a Feb. 1 protest.

Council Considers Reduced I-35 Caps Proposal Amid Concerns of Long-Term Impact

by Madeline de Figueiredo

In Tuesday’s Austin City Council work session, city staff from the Transportation and Public Works Department presented a recommendation to reduce the scope of I-35 caps and stitches, sparking concerns and hesitation among council members and community members about the long-term impact on the city’s future. While the Our Future 35 Vision Plan originally included […]

Texas Goalkeeper’s Work for Others Nets SEC Community Service Honor

byLuke Lawhorn

Like the rest of the University of Texas student-athletes, Megan Hogate received a bunch of Nike athletic gear when she stepped on campus in fall 2021. After watching the shoe boxes pile up in her closet, she decided to do something with them. She would recycle them into Valentine’s Day boxes with heart-filled messages for children at the Dell Children’s Medical Center.
Hogate’s Valentine initiative was just one of many volunteer and community outreach efforts she’s undertaken, earning her recent recognition by the Southeastern Conference to its annual women’s soccer Community Service Team — the first time Texas, a new SEC member, has placed an athlete on the team. She is one of 16 student-athletes chosen for the honor highlighting “an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts.”

Lost in Transition: Rainey Street and a Failure of Historic Preservation

byJenna Wilson

Anita Quintanilla sobbed as her sister drove her back to the airport in 1984. The memories of childhood and adolescence on Rainey Street — the visits to the air-conditioned bookmobile in the dead of summer, and blissful moments running around the spacious yard, raking pyramids of crunchy fallen leaves and climbing cottonwood trees — would […]