The Austin Chronicle

Day Trips & Beyond: March Events Roundup • The Austin Chronicle Eagles have landed. The bald eagles’ nest is littered with a half-eaten fish and feathers from prior meals. Sadly, on Feb. 10, Kayleigh Bucur, executive director of the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center outside of Seagoville in North East Texas announced the death of one of the two eaglets hatched on Jan. 24 and 25. […]

The March wildflowers are beginning to pop so it must be time for a day trip. Here's our monthly roundup of out-of-town events.

Qmmunity: Might as Well Have Fun • The Austin Chronicle Reader: Things aren’t looking so hot. Recent news for transgender people continues a downward trend, with Kansas’ sudden delegitimizing of all driver’s licenses bearing a gender not matched by the own...

In this week's Qmmunity column, times are tough, but queer people are tougher and also more fun.

Texas Plans Second Execution of the Year • The Austin Chronicle Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and ...

Texas plans the second execution of the year with Cedric Ricks set to be killed on March 11.

Pflugerville Dems Cheer On Wins in Texas House District 50, U.S. House District 11 • The Austin Chronicle Some big-name musicians, when they’ve got a packed show, don’t let anyone in the club see them until it’s time to go out and play. It makes their entrance more dramatic. Maybe that’s what was going on...

Pflugerville Dems cheer on wins in Texas House District 50 and U.S. House District 11.

Council Pinches Pennies While Working to Regain Public Trust • The Austin Chronicle It was all about trust at City Hall last week. That started with City Council Member Marc Duchen getting his efficiency audits.  Council approved a new city ordinance on Feb. 26 creating the Comprehen...

Council approves series of rolling audits of the city’s 40-plus departments.

Kiin Di Grows Up – But Keeps the Heat • The Austin Chronicle I am starting to realize my reviews often reveal more about my personal baggage than the restaurants themselves. Case in point: Kiin Di recently left me a complete mess, but it’s a tale as old as time...

RESTAURANT REVIEW: South Lamar’s Thai favorite trades the trailer for a fast, fiery dining room.

Garibay and Tovo Emerge From a Crowded HD 49 • The Austin Chronicle Minutes before the first early voting results were released, in a campaign office full of neighbors and supporters on West 24th Street, we asked Kathie Tovo how she was feeling. “Well, you know, super...

Montserrat Garibay and Kathie Tovo emerge from a crowded HD 49 field and head to a runoff.

Pooja Sethi to Fill Her Predecessor’s Shoes in HD 47 • The Austin Chronicle After a long, tense day at the polls, Pooja Sethi said that she was looking forward to some much-needed rest after winning the Democratic primary in the Texas House, District 47 race. Sethi, who forme...

Pooja Sethi to fill her predecessor’s shoes in HD 47.

Texas Dems Turn Up on Election Day • The Austin Chronicle Here’s that strange feeling again – hope. After Tuesday’s primary election, you have to have at least a little. First of all, there are the voting numbers. As Tuesday dawned, the Houston Chronicle rep...

Here’s that strange feeling again – hope. After Tuesday’s primary election, you have to have at least a little.

The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: Feb. 26 - March 4 • The Austin Chronicle State Election Results: Election day, and the days leading up to it, were historic for Democrats in the state, setting record numbers for primary voter turnout. Despite both Williamson and Dallas coun...

Election results come in around the state, city mourns losses after Sixth Street shooting, and more of the week’s headlines.

West Sixth Shooting Leaves Four Dead, Shakes Austin Nightlife District • The Austin Chronicle Austin’s deadliest mass shooting in six decades tore through West Sixth Street early Sunday, killing four people, including the gunman, and injuring 13 others near Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden.  Acco...

Austin’s deadliest mass shooting in decades killed three victims and the gunman, wounded 13 others and prompted an outpouring of community response.

Vespaio: An Appreciation • The Austin Chronicle Vespaio opened one year before I started writing for The Austin Chronicle. For the first decade they were in business, Vespaio was my most frequented restaurant, and while the food and drink were alwa...

Saluting Vespaio, an Austin institution, which closed last month after 27 years.

Jack Johnson, Alanis Morissette, Gavin Newsom, Keke Palmer, and More Join SXSW ’26 Events • The Austin Chronicle South by Southwest is so close we can taste it, and to whet our appetite further, a new round of musical guests, star-studded panels, and podcast tapings were announced today. Feel-good Aughts star Ja...

Jack Johnson, Alanis Morissette, Gavin Newsom, Keke Palmer, and more join SXSW ’26 events.

Talarico Clears First Hurdle to Take Back Texas • The Austin Chronicle As the clock ticked late into election night, it was still unclear who would win the U.S. Senate race. That’s because voting results from two counties across the state – Dallas and Williamson – were d...

James Talarico clears first hurdle as he defeats Jasmine Crockett in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary.

Shakey Graves Embraces Constraint, Candor – and a Touch of Corniness • The Austin Chronicle “I don’t want to bore you, but I’m having the best, worst time of my life,” laughs Shakey Graves. That’s more or less the cringe-skirting, gratitude-embracing emotional cornerstone of Fondness, Etc., ...

Shakey Graves embraces constraint, candor – and a touch of corniness on upcoming album. www.austinchronicle.com/music/shakey...

Hoppers Review: Pixar Becomes One With Nature • The Austin Chronicle Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda) is no Doctor Dolittle. She loves animals – a lot more than she does people – but all she can do is watch. Luckily, her college biology professor (Kathy Najimy) has...

MOVIE REVIEW: Pixar becomes one with nature in Hoppers.

Op-Ed: “Affordability” Should Mean Being Able to Afford Time Off, Too • The Austin Chronicle In Washington, Democrats have a top priority: helping people afford the things they need to live well – a home, food, health care, child care. I agree that should be our top priority. But a few months...

OPINION: Austin congressman and new dad Greg Casar reflects on America’s time-off crisis.

Historic Littig Community Resists Elgin’s Proposed Treatment Plant • The Austin Chronicle Gena Gonzalez received a notice from the city of Elgin in October of last year, alerting her that the 38-acre tract of land just over her property line would be annexed for a wastewater treatment plan...

Historic Littig community resists Elgin’s proposed treatment Plant.

Historic Landmark Commission Shut Out of Barton Springs Bridge Decision • The Austin Chronicle Members of the city’s Historic Landmark Commission were blindsided this month when they were asked to sign off on the demolition and replacement of the 100-year-old Barton Springs Road Bridge – more t...

Historic Landmark Commission shut out of Barton Springs Bridge decision.

Blood Donations Urgently Needed After Sixth Street Shooting • The Austin Chronicle In the wake of this weekend’s tragic mass shooting on West Sixth Street, the city of Austin and the nonprofit We Are Blood are urgently asking for blood donations to treat those injured in the attack ...

The city urgently asks for blood donations after Sixth Street shooting.

Suspect Dead in Downtown Austin Mass Shooting • The Austin Chronicle Three people are dead and at least 14 more were injured in an overnight shooting after a gunman opened fire on crowds in Downtown Austin in the early hours of the morning. The gunman, not yet named, w...

Police have not named the gunman killed by police last night. The shooting is being investigated as “potentially an act of terrorism.”

Come on Down to the 2025-2026 Austin Music Awards  • The Austin Chronicle No big changes this year. As we’ve done since 2024, The Austin Chronicle presents the Austin Music Awards at Antone’s Nightclub on March 1 with a curated presentation of trophies and even better selec...

The Austin Music Award winners are here; our 44th annual affair celebrates ’em tomorrow.

From the files of Mr. Smarty Pants: In April 1944, a person in Louisiana made the last confirmed sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker.

Day Trips: Martin Creek Lake State Park, Tatum • The Austin Chronicle Martin Creek Lake State Park is a small East Texas park that hits above its weight with its beauty. The campgrounds are almost like having your own secluded cabin in the woods on a small lake. There’s...

DAY TRIPS: Martin Creek Lake State Park in Tatum.

In this week's comics, Sparky the Penguin announces his presidential campaign.
Read all the funnies: austinchronicle.com/comics

Austin FC Flexes New “Attractive” Style In Season-Opening Draw • The Austin Chronicle Austin FC opened its 2026 season amid all the usual hoopla Saturday night, and it didn’t take long for the football club to resume tormenting its avid supporters. Seeing what would’ve been a highly sa...

Austin FC's home win evaporates in final minute of regulation play, but there’s still plenty cause for optimism.

Homing In With New DORF Gallery Show • The Austin Chronicle What does it feel like to be home, or to want to be? In “Homeward Bound,” artists Josue Bessiake, Esther Marie Hall, and Bárbara Miñarro explore the expansive concept of the home as not just a place t...

Artists Josue Bessiake, Esther Marie Hall, and Bárbara Miñarro explore what it means to be “Homeward Bound” at DORF Gallery.

Old Spaces Reward Modern Patience • The Austin Chronicle New places may feel a dime a dozen in our chameleon city, but two specific approaches at Cherrywood Center and Downtown Austin Space Activation are giving preexisting buildings a new lease on life – p...

Cherrywood Center and Downtown Austin Space Activation program pioneer space-saving approaches.

The Austin Chronicle Presents People To Wave To: Virginia Creeper • The Austin Chronicle Some bands describe their evolution in careful, considered terms. Virginia Creeper puts it more simply: They’ve been getting “progressively louder and weirder” as they go. What started as alt-country ...

As part of our live music video series, we talk with alt-country project Virginia Creeper as they unveil their weirder, heavier third album.

“Milk Punch” Welcomes a New Contemporary Gallery to Austin • The Austin Chronicle In a cozy residential stretch of West Sixth, a green gallery beckons from the sidewalk with tall windows that let afternoon light drench the room. Inside, a big bowl of milk punch sits atop a table wh...

VISUAL ARTS REVIEW: “Milk Punch” welcomes a new contemporary gallery to Austin.