VOl. 42 NO. 22 January 27, 2023 - The Austin Chronicle
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J a n u a r y 2 7, 2 0 2 3 VO l . 42 • N O. 2 2
yes and
Trust Is The
Vibe at Fallout
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The Downtown comedy club celebrates its fifth anniversary
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by looking to the future By Va l e r i e lo p e z // pag e 22
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ic POll O
Also EndlEss HigHway: THE nEw i-35 p.14 PlanT-BasEd JaPanEsE Food aT nori p.36 BassisT on BassisT Q&a: KinsEli BaricuaTro and Marcus BEll p.38
JaNuary 27, 2023 Last Week to Vote in the Austin Music
VoL. 42, No. 22
Poll (Plus Some Exciting News About
Cover story the Austin Music Awards)
Publisher Nick Barbaro
AssociAte Publisher Cassidy Frazier
Editorial
editor Kimberley Jones
MAnAging editor James Renovitch 22 trust is Monday at midnight, it’ll be pencils down Feb. 26, at the Mohawk, emceed by “Dolly
news Mike Clark-Madison
AssistAnt news Maggie Q. Thompson
tHe viBe at for this year’s Austin Music Poll, but you’ll of ATX” drag artist Brigitte Bandit. Other
culture Richard Whittaker Fallout The probably want to get to work on your ballot enticements? The just-announced perform-
Music Rachel Rascoe Downtown
Food Melanie Haupt comedy club before then, what with 51 categories to get er lineup includes Jackie Venson; Como
stAFF writer Austin Sanders celebrates its through. One of those categories is Las Movies with Sabrina Ellis; Kelly
fifth anniversary Best Bassist; get to know a couple of Willis, Brennen Leigh, and Melissa
EvEnt listings by looking to the
sPeciAl screenings & coMMunity listings future by VAlerie the nominees, Kinseli Baricuatro Carper; Keeled Scales Family
We have
Kat McNevins
Arts listings & Food events lopez and Marcus Bell, via their fun, Band featuring members of
aN issue
Wayne Alan Brenner
club listings Derek Udensi free-association Q&A on p.38. Good Looks, the Deer, and Sun
QMMunity listings James Scott So what happens after the June; Blakchyl with Medellin
Contributing WritErs deadline to vote passes? I’d say by Ki m ber ley Collection; Die Spitz; and a spe-
FilM Marjorie Baumgarten
dAy triPs Gerald E. McLeod that’s when our Austin Music Jones cial pre-show set by Eve Monsees
the verde rePort Eric Goodman coVer photo by John Awards planning team kicks into and Mike Buck.
beer Eric Puga AnDerson / Design by
Mr. sMArty PAnts R.U. Steinberg zeke bArbAro
high gear, but they've already been Vote now in the Austin Music Poll
ProduCtion running a full tilt for weeks (months?) ballot at vote.austinchronicle.com, then
Production / Art director Zeke Barbaro now. Winners will be revealed at the 41st cruise over to austinchronicle.com/ama to
AssociAte Art director Lauren Johnson
Annual Austin Music Awards on Sunday, buy your tickets to the big show. n
4 Feedback
web / digitAl director Michael Bartnett
web consultAnt Brian Barry 31 tHe verde report
grAPhic designer Jeff Gammill by eric gooDmAn
stAFF PhotogrAPhers John Anderson, Jana Birchum
4 opinion For All Their Wins, 34 special screenings
ONLiNe This WeeK
ProoFreAders Lina Fisher,
Jasmine Lane, James Scott Abbott, Patrick, and Paxton
36 Food
interns Joelle DiPaolo, Have Lost So Much More
Katherine Karp, Dex Parra
by Al linDsey
advErtising & They Can Do a LoT of TriCks UMI and DannyLux
MarkEting
Advertising director Cassidy Frazier
oPerAtions MAnAger Trace Thurman
6 News 36 restaurant review:
nori by melAnie hAupt
headlined Sunday’s Hi How Are You Day concert, com-
memorating the birthday of late Austin musician
MArketing & engAgeMent MAnAger 6 austin at large 37 Food news BuFFet Daniel Johnston.
Cassie Arredondo by mike clArk-mADison by WAyne AlAn brenner
Public relAtions Sarah K. Wolf
8 Music poll Ballot
38 Music sounDs Like MarCh SXSW Music 2023’s third lineup
senior Account executives
Jerald Corder, Carolyn Phillips
Account executives David Kleppe, 10 Tenant-screening algorithms announcement rolls out a wealth of local and interna-
Courtney Smith-Bush, Chelsea Taylor, compound housing crisis; Bill
Gloria Williamson of the Week; Point-in-Time 38 Bassist on Bassist Q&a tional artists, ramping up for the quickly approach-
ISABELL A MARTINEZ
clAssiFieds / legAl notices Bobby Leath Eavesdropping on Kinseli
luv doc / circulAtion / sPeciAl events Dan Hardick
Count returns; a cost-of-living ing March 13-18 fest.
nAtionAl Advertising Voice Media Group raise for state employees?; Baricuatro and Marcus Bell
(888/278-9866, vmgadvertising.com) Central Health, Ascension go by lAiken neumAnn
offiCE staff
to court; state admits execu-
40 deB o’KeeFe oF Jason & DaiLy is Dunzo Popular Austin juicery The Daily Juice
tion drug is expired; more
shuttered its remaining three locations on Jan. 22. At UMI performs at this year’s Hi
controller Liz Franklin deB sues 101X owners
oFFice MAnAger / subscriPtions Carrie Young 14 endless HigHway TxDOT Lawsuit alleges misogyny and press time, owners were auctioning off kitchen equip-
How Are You concert at Emo’s
credit MAnAger cindy soo lumbers toward its long-held discrimination by owner Bob
inFo desk Zach Pearce vision for a new I-35 Sinclair, station countersues ment to pay final bills and give staff bonuses.
systeMs AdMinistrAtor Brandon Watkins by mike clArk-mADison
doggone it where’d i Put those clAssiFied by JuliAn toWers AnD rAchel
docuMents Hank rAscoe ausTin PsyCh fesT reTurns The offsite precedent to Levitation (still happening in October) relaunches in
CirCulation
Cassie Arredondo, Perry Drake,
20 Calendar 42 paper cuts + crucial
concerts
collaboration with Resound Presents on April 28-30 at the Far Out Lounge.
Tom Fairchild, Ruben Flores, Andrew Gerfers,
22 Culture 43 cluBs listings shoaL Creek saLoon Burns On Jan.
Eric McKinney, Grant Melcher, Matt Meshbane,
Paul Minor, Peter Oberheide, Rich Russell,
Jonina Sims, Zeb Sommers, Bryan Zirkelbach 44 Music notes Austin Fire Department at 17, an arsonist set fire to the North
Contributors 21 QMMunity by JAmes scott by Derek uDensi
Shoal Creek Saloon Lamar bar’s deck, but a rapid response
24 Five sHows to ligHt up
47 Back
Bob Abelman, Leena Alali, Carys Anderson,
Marjorie Baumgarten, Brant Bingamon, Rob from AFD saved the building and doors
Brezsny, Kevin Curtin, Lina Fisher, Christina
Garcia, Ryan Hennessee, Raoul Hernandez, Sam
tHe stage opened a mere hour late for lunch.
by richArD WhittAker
Hurt, Abby Johnston, Matthew Monagle, Laiken
tHe luv doc
Neumann, Jenny Nulf, Mars Salazar, Trace
Sauveur, Jen Sorensen, Michael Toland, 24 arts events coMiX Drive-in heisT ... Last week thieves
Tom Tomorrow, Julian Towers 26 arts review Ride the Mr. sMarty pants struck the Blue Starlite Mini Urban
Wave by bob AbelmAn
Drive-in’s Downtown location, stealing
27 coMMunity events
28 day trips
48 Classifieds thousands of dollars of equipment.
by gerAlD e. mcleoD 54 crossword
30 Movie reviews Fear, Free will astrology The GooD oLD Days Protesters rallied
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austinchronicle.com JANUARY 27, 2023 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 3
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We reserve the right to edit all submissions.
Letters may not be edited, added to, or
FOR ALL THEIR WINS, ABBOTT, PATRICK, AND
changed by sender once we receive them.
NO RED SCARE THERE General email address: mail@austinchronicle.com
PAXTON HAVE LOST SO MUCH MORE
Dear Editor, Letters online: austinchronicle.com/feedback
With the Texas Legislature kicking off another Mailing address: The Austin Chronicle,
session, there were a number of proposed rules PO Box 4189, Austin, TX 78765
amendments submitted by lawmakers. As an election clerk (for the first time trying to get their kids gender affirming
One, from Rep. Bryan Slaton (R- Royse City), ever!) during the early voting in late care of child abuse; pass an anti-abortion
would have required committee chairs to pro- DON’T CRUCIFY CLAUDIO October and early November just passed, law that bans it at six weeks, when most
vide an official statement on whether they I was not allowed, nor did I want, to advise pregnant women don’t even know they are
support Marxism. voters as to which candidate (or proposi- pregnant, and turns public members into
Well, Mr. Slaton may (still) live in fear of the “red “This is really a premature
tion) they should vote for. I was there to vigilantes who can collect up to $10,000
scare” but I would suggest there are more serious condemnation of Claudio based on the
Berhalter side of the story. The Reynas’ assist them with the voting process: sign- from anyone who even gives an abortion
and contemporary threats facing this country. ing in, how the voting machines worked, seeker a ride to the clinic; pass a so-called
When a former president (guess who?) story, while unfortunate and unflattering,
is just as plausible and doesn’t warrant using the ballot scan- “constitutionacarry”
tweets that parts of the United States
Constitution should be “suspended” (because crucifying anyone. Let’s not forget that
Gregg blasted Gio publicly over a matter
ner, and lastly (and the
most fun, especially if
“What have they measure that allows
anyone 21 years
of nonexistent “voter fraud”) I believe Rep.
Slaton should have demanded an official and that should have remained internal, and a kid was along), giving lost? Compassion, or older to carry a
on-the-record denunciation of fascism. Don’t was very quick to insinuate blackmail.
Everyone needs to take a step back
them an “I Voted” or “Yo
Voté” sticker to put on
empathy, inclusivity, handgun concealed
with no permit and no
tolerance, the Way
hold your breath.
Joe Pastusek and let the USSF complete their their shirt or blouse. training; and fight any
investigation before calling for Claudio’s
head or mixing Austin FC into this.”
But if I could have
advised them, I would
of Jesus of Nazareth, attempt to raise the
age to buy any firearm
– Verde Fan via Reader Comments have literally shouted, and any pretense to 21 (18-year-olds can
U P D AT E D DA I LY Re: “The Verde Report: Claudio Reyna’s
Future With Austin FC Uncertain After Ugly
“Don’t vote for Abbott,
of being truly now buy two AR-15s on
Paxton, or Patrick!” their 18th birthday, as
AUSTINCHRONICLE.COM/POSTMARKS USMNT Scandal” (Jan. 13)
That Turgid Trio – like representative of the shooter in Uvalde
DeSantis in Florida, Ron
Johnson in Wisconsin,
Texas and Texans.” did); plus oppose any
measures that would
and No. 45 everywhere take assault-style
– have weaponized bigotry and dis- weapons out of the hands of anyone
and misinformation, and they are who is not active-duty military
all big-time losers. (Just as an aside, BY AL or in law enforcement. I am a
I have vowed never to say or write L I ND SE Y lifelong hunter and gun owner,
No. 45’s name until he is locked but also a Vietnam veteran, and
away in a federal prison for the rest I know those guns were designed
of his natural life, for multiple crimes, with one purpose: to allow someone
including treason, since organizing and to kill multiple human beings as quickly
inciting an insurrection is a treasonous act as possible. Also, just for good measure,
against the government of the United States.) the Turgid Trio has done nothing
The Turgid Trio may have won their races on substantive to fix the electrical grid. They
Nov. 8, 2022, but they are still losers, in my blamed the deadly disaster of February
humble opinion. 2021 on some ERCOT executive and fired
And what have they lost? Compassion, him, with great fanfare. But if we have
empathy, inclusivity, tolerance, the way another killer storm like that one, the
of Jesus of Nazareth, and any pretense of same disaster will happen.
being truly representative of Texas and Wake up, Texans. ■
Texans. I believe they are terrified of losing Dr. Al Lindsey is an 82-year-old native Texan;
the votes of the 25% or so of Texans, and husband, father, grandfather; retired family
U.S. citizens, who are white nationalists/ doctor; Vietnam veteran; volunteer teacher’s
supremacists and Second Amendment aide at elementary schools; and “Yellow Dog”
Democrat. The sentiments expressed in this
fanatics. So they support the banning of op-ed are strictly his own; and he neither
books and teaching of anything about race pretends nor wants to be speaking for either
or slavery in our public schools; accuse the Elections or any other division of the Travis
parents of transgender youth who are County District Clerk’s Office.
Got something to get off your chest?
The Chronicle welcomes submissions of opinion pieces
on any topic from the community. Find guidelines and
tips at austinchronicle.com/contact/opinion.
4 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 27, 2023 austinchronicle.com
austinchronicle.com JANUARY 27, 2023 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 5
News
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It’s easy to be angry, hard to stay focused.”
– Jen Wiseman, organizer of a pro-abortion protest at the Capitol on Sunday, the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (read more at bit.ly/3HakAIr)
HEADLINES
HE’S THE ONLY ONE FOR ME, JOHN-LENE This week
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appointed only one Democrat,
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, to chair a Senate
committee. Some conservative activists wanted to
ban Democratic chairs entirely from the 15 positions.
DO WE EVER CROSS YOUR MIND Dozens of Texas
prisoners in solitary confinement continued into their
third week of hunger striking this week. Prisoners from
around Texas have been urging the state to end solitary,
a practice that the United Nations deemed torture.
WHY’D YOU COME IN HERE FILING THAT BILL Gov.
Greg Abbott last week indicated support for a Senate
bill filed by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, that would
ban foreign entities from China, Iran, North Korea, and
Russia from buying land in Texas. Opponents say this
will lead to an influx of anti-Asian attitudes while doing
nothing to curb national security threats.
TWO DOORS DOWN THEY’RE PARKIN’ & HAVIN’ A
PARTY Austin City Council’s Mobility Committee rang in
the new year with the announcement of a plan to address
the years-long parking snafu along South Congress via a
“parking and transportation management district,” which
would put meterless paid parking along SoCo.
Gothess Jasmine (l) hosts the Texan Feminist Throwdown, GRID OF MANY CREDITS An untested plan to fix the
a one-night benefit concert on the 50th anniversary of state’s grid has created major rifts in the Lege. It would
Roe v. Wade, at Distribution Hall Jan. 22 create “reliability credits” that electricity providers
would purchase from power generators, with credits
representing power generators’ commitments to deliver
electricity when the grid is stressed. Environmentalists
Not Fixing What’s Broken
PHOTOS BY JOHN ANDERSON say the plan will bring more natural gas power plants to
Texas, while gas fans argue the “performance credit
mechanism” won’t bring enough.
IT’S ALL WRONG AND IT’S STILL NOT RIGHT Pam
Watts, the partner of a woman killed in an accident
Abbott, Patrick engage in disingenuous property tax politics, while Texas suffers caused by San Marcos cop Ryan Hartman’s drunken
What the state of Texas does, especially and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are down with economic growth. That can be overruled by driving, says she rejects the weeping apology he gave in
when the Legislature is in session, has a giving half of the surplus “back to Texas a simple majority vote in both houses, but court. Hartman wanted the judge to reinstate his job
unique impact on Austinites, and the proper- taxpayers” in the guise of property tax it’s a testament to the brokenness of Texas with back pay. “Ryan has had 22 months and 15 days to
ty-tax pandering that the GOP regime relief. Ultimately, this $15 billion politics that nobody has the stones to actu- show remorse,” Watts said in her statement.
is now turning up to 11 is an obvi- spend is expected to translate into ally take that vote.
ISLANDS IN THE GREENWAY The second phase of the
AUSTIN
ous case in point. To catch you up, about $300 in relief to each of
Texas has nearly $33 billion in the state’s residential property MAYBE ASK CPS ABOUT THAT three-part Waterloo Greenway project is set to break
extra money, the largest budget AT LARGE owners. I don’t know about you, If Texas politics weren’t broken, the Lege ground this spring. The Confluence, as it’s called, will
connect Fourth Street to Lady Bird Lake through a
surplus ever. Mostly, that’s due but my property tax bill last could simply send everybody in Texas a
to inflation driving up sales tax BY M IK E CL A R K - year was about $10,000, so I’m check for $300, or whatever, and accom- system of interlocking trails. Once complete, visitors
will be able to walk without ever interacting with cars.
collections, along with the federal MA DIS O N not even going to notice a $300 plish the same ends more equitably. But
funds from COVID relief, the infra- discount. (Ultimately, we’re just the state’s GOP leadership knows where
structure bill, and now the Inflation shifting the burden onto commer- their voters are, and since Texas has the I WILL ALWAYS LOAVES YOU This week the Travis
Reduction Act, which are allowing the cial property owners for a spell.) lowest voter participation of nearly any County Commissioners Court approved a $35 million
state to spend less of its own money. Part of the game here is that state lead- state, the electorate is wildly unrepresenta- contract for homelessness nonprofit Mobile Loaves
The surplus has almost nothing to do ership does not want to bust the consti- tive of the state as a whole. It’s as if Texas and Fishes to add housing on its property. Federal
with local property tax collections, but in tutional spending cap – the state budget outsourced its electoral participation to funds come from the $110 million TravCo marked in 2021
their infinite wisdom, Gov. Greg Abbott cannot grow faster than the state’s rate of to address the housing and homelessness crises.
CONTINUED ON P.9
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8 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 27, 2023 austinchronicle.com
NEWS � CULTURE � FOOD � MUSIC
support
AUSTIN AT LARGE CONTINUED FROM P.6
Idaho or the Dakotas. A note on last week’s column: The city
But there’s really no need to resort to of Austin felt I took a cheap shot at City
FrEE prEss.
Manager Spencer Cronk by suggesting
any kind of gimmicks or heroic measures; that he might be OK with the Austin Police
the state could easily provide meaningful Association’s attempt to screw up civilian
relief to local property taxpayers by actually oversight at the ballot box, because
using this money to do its job and funding he’s friends with the treasurer of APA’s
straw group. As we noted when we first
all of the parts of state government that reported this story, Cronk has instructed
are endemically underfunded. Like Child the city’s negotiating team to insist
Please consider supporting The Austin Chronicle.
Protective Services and the state foster care on removing oversight from the police
contract, so we should judge him by his For just a few bucks, you can help us keep delivering the news.
system, or simply by increasing the basic
actions rather than by innuendo. I agree,
allotment in education spending so that dis- and should have written something else.
tricts like Austin ISD don’t have to hold tax
rate elections just to pay teachers a living
a u s t i n C h r o n i C l e . C o m / support
wage and spare them the inevitable burnout.
Or by paying for its share of infrastructure.
Take as an example Williamson County, which
is really quite purple now but which has lots
of the aggrieved GOP property taxpayers to
whom Abbott and Patrick have decided to
pander. WilCo property taxpayers funded the
expansion of multiple state highways in the
county, back when the Texas Department of
Transportation was not flush with cash. The
state could pay off those bonds and create
instant tax relief. This same dynamic is true
in many of the swing counties and Lege dis-
tricts that have begun to urbanize – Collin,
Denton, Fort Bend, northern Bexar, as well as
WilCo and Hays. If the GOP wanted to stop
some of its bleeding in these now inner-ring
suburbs, it has real options.
OR MAYBE SOME DECK PLAZAS
Or they could, for example, pony up the
$800 million – a rounding error in the size
of the surplus – to build the deck plazas and
enhanced bridges I discuss in the feature
story this week. According to TxDOT, it
can’t pay for those things out of dedicated
highway funds, but it may end up having to
if, somewhere down the road between now
and the final “record of decision” giving it
the go ahead for construction, it should be
decided that the caps are essential to mit-
igate environmental justice harms caused
by widening the interstate. That drop-dead
date is now near the end of 2025, so there
will be another Lege session between now
and then, so maybe this is not a dead letter.
It would not take any of y’all very long
to come up with other examples of how
Texas government is broken in ways that a
one-time cash infusion would fix. Perhaps
expanding Medicaid, which would help the
local taxpayers of every county with a health
care district, including ours. (We have enough
money to pay for Texas’ share, which the feds
could match 9-to-1, for at least another budget
cycle.) However, we also need to be clear-eyed
about who, in the GOP regime’s view, bene-
fits from increasing state spending on under-
funded programs – the people of Austin, who
will capture the lion’s share of those new jobs.
Nobody in charge of Texas government wants
to do us that kind of favor. n
austinchronicle.com JANUARY 27, 2023 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 9
news � culture � food � music
never-ending story
How tenant-screening algorithms keep cycles of
discrimination going by Dina barrish
Rylan Maksoud signed a lease in October bad source that has biases,” said Andrew D.
2017 for Ion Austin’s cheapest floor plan for Selbst, a postdoctoral scholar at Data &
the following year. But come Christmas, the Society Research Institute, a New York-
West Campus tower’s management told him based nonprofit. Predictive analytics draw
that the floor plan was sold out. They gave on data from potential tenants’ social media
Maksoud two options: Pay more for a differ- profiles, criminal history, credit scores, and
ent unit, or find a new apartment. other personal information.
Maksoud chose to move out. And sue. A 2021 study by the National Bureau of
After settling for $4,500, Maksoud learned Economic Research found landlords
from previous Ion renters that his experi- responded to white renters’ applications
ence was not caused by a “software mal- 60% of the time, while responses to Black
function,” as the property management and Latino renters’ applications were 5.6
company insisted. Year after year, Ion used and 2.8 percentage points lower, respective-
algorithms generated with student income ly. “The idea that you’re screening out for
and rental data to determine just how much who’s likely to pay rent will immediately
the lowest-paying students might spend to have a racial impact,” Selbst said. “Some of
stay in the building. that is based on his- Rylan Maksoud outside Ion Austin, the complex that paid him a settlement over pushing him out JoHn andeRson
“The problem is
that they have all “The problem is that they torical reproduction
of racism, but then because the property values will go down.’” choices made in designing algorithms, along
this data,” Maksoud have all this data. They you end up with a Two undecided court cases in Connecticut with specific legislation, could help. “It’s
said. “They know
exactly how much know exactly how much conclusion in your
algorithm that says
question the legality of SafeRent Solutions,
a widely used tenant-screening algorithm,
hard,” Selbst said. “You’d also need commu-
nity input into what the algorithm should
they can squeeze you they can squeeze you people of color are Humber said. One case addresses the use of be allowed to do and what counts as discrim-
[in rent], and they
do.” Now a University [in rent], and they do.” worse credit risks,
are more likely to
criminal records in predictive analytics; the
other looks at low-income housing vouchers
ination. None of that has been done yet.”
Humber suggests that renters should be
of Texas law student, Ry l a n M a k s o u d default, and have to (what’s known as “source of income” dis- able to defend themselves against poor
Maksoud advocates be evicted.” crimination). In the meantime, the Federal credit scores and that people experiencing
at City Hall against the housing crisis. Nadiyah Humber, a University of Connec- Housing Administration still has zero regu- evictions have greater right to counsel; she
Nearly half – 49% – of Americans say ticut law professor and former housing dis- lations in place to mitigate harms caused to also supports an education campaign about
housing affordability is a major problem in crimination investigator under a Department renters by predictive analytics. the disparate impacts of tenant-screening
their communities, according to a 2021 Pew of Housing & Urban Development grant in “Texas law doesn’t provide much protec- algorithms. “A lot of people that are harmed
Research Center survey. Austin’s afford- Massachusetts, said she witnessed this prej- tion for renters,” Maksoud said. “Landlords by these technologies don’t even know the
able housing crisis makes renters highly udice in a Boston-area case, when she sent take advantage of folks because there’s just prevalence of these tools,” Humber said. “As
vulnerable to property managers’ use of “testers” – investigators posing as prospec- not enough people vested in it. They can opposed to just looking at numbers on a
predictive analytics that can introduce prej- tive applicants – to uncover race-based dis- easily abuse their powers.” database, having landlords deny you based
udice into the tenant evaluation process. crimination. “There was a housing provider What might solutions involve? Maksoud off of the scores alone that are infused with
“Whenever you program an algorithm to who said to the white, male tester, ‘Oh, wow, said his work focuses on electing govern- bias, I think there should be a way for indi-
do something, you have to ask a very specif- it’s really great that you’re considering ment officials who will address the housing viduals to advocate for themselves, to be
ic question. You have to feed it data to train moving here,”’ Humber said. “‘We don’t crisis and on spreading general awareness able to show that they are good renters.
on, and [this data] might be sourced from a want Black people to move into this area, across Austin. Selbst said transparency into That would be more inclusive.” n
Bill of the Week: eating fetuses the legal Way Such consequences can be expected when you write legislation around problems
that don’t exist. Reuters had to debunk the aborted-babies-in-food myth last month
a s l e A couple of weeks ago we spotlighted a half-baked bill from state Sen. Bob Hall, after viral tweets and Facebook posts from users including “Raw Egg Nationalist”
e x g
T e
a R-Edgewood, which would let pharmacists refuse to dispense abortion-inducing (whose username is, I shit you not, @Babygravy9), claimed that “flavour enhancers
2O
a
drugs with zero justification, even though we live in a state where doctors can made from aborted fetal tissue are being eaten without the knowledge of consum-
a
a
only legally prescribe abortion drugs to save the life of the mother. ers.” There is no evidence of that, and, as we said, it would be a felony. While it’s
a
a
BILL
a
a
Of the
Well, Hall is back with another bill that doesn’t make sense. This one, true that the controversial HEK 293 cell line derived from fetal cells collected in the
Week seemingly written in response to the made-up problem that fetuses are in
Pepsi, inadvertently legalizes eating fetal tissue. Senate Bill 314 says a
1970s has been used to research how sweeteners and flavors affect cells, those cells
have not ended up in food products.
a a
a a
person can’t sell medical, makeup, or food products containing human A problem that does exist relating to fetal remains? Lack of support for parents
23
a
fetal tissue unless they’re clearly labeled. Or, put another way, a person can who must bury their miscarried children. A common thread in miscarriage stories is
a
a
a
a
sell those products, so long as they’re clearly labeled. parents’ sudden realization that they don’t know what to do with remains or who can
a
T a
e x e
a s l e g As you might expect, Texas already has laws around how you can treat human help. House Bill 1452 from Rep. Rafael M. Anchía, D-Dallas, would require health and
Pepsi, which does not contain fetal tissue remains, rendering fetal food products illegal. Abuse of a corpse, which includes life insurance plans to cover the cost of burial or cremation for fetuses with a post-
contrary to unpopular conspiratorial belief selling it and dissecting it, is a felony. Hall’s new bill seems to create a loophole. fertilization age of 20 or more weeks. Now that’s helpful. – Maggie Q. Thompson
PHoTo By Mike MozaRT
10 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 27, 2023 austinchronicle.comVolunteers conduct a census at a tent camp near
Riverside and Pleasant Valley during the 2020 PIT Count
often fluctuate. Even people who have lived
for years on the street occasionally spend
nights in hotel rooms, emergency shelters, or
crashing with a friend. If they happen to do
that the night of the count, they go
uncounted. This reporter’s firsthand experi-
ence participating in the 2020 count is a tes-
tament to how spotty the PIT count can be.
Despite its flaws, HUD continues to rely on
Jana BiRcHuM
the PIT because it’s a practice every CoC,
large and small, can conduct. Some commu-
nities, like Austin and Travis County, have
more sophisticated ways of taking a census
– such as using ECHO’s Homeless
Response System Dashboard, which tracks
After Two Years, Point in Time Count Returns the number of unhoused people living in or
out of shelter on a monthly basis – but most
For the first time in two years, volunteers funding each CoC should receive in its next do not. For the past two years, HUD allowed
will head out into the streets of Austin early budget. In Austin, that number has shrunk as CoC leads like ECHO to submit population
Saturday morning, looking under highway a proportion of the overall amount of funding estimates using the more accurate counting
overpasses, scouring wooded areas, and devoted to ending homelessness, thanks to methods, but for 2023, they and every other
checking behind buildings in an attempt to increased spending from the city of Austin CoC will return to the search-and-find method.
count as many people as possible who are and Travis County, and especially thanks to ECHO Executive Director Matt Mollica
living in Travis County without shelter. the unprecedented level of funding generated said the PIT count is still a critical exercise
The massive effort, known as the Point in through the Finding Home ATX initiative. for the people who provide services to
Time count, is coordinated by the Ending The PIT count is not a particularly effective unhoused individuals, for the Austin commu-
Community Homelessness Coalition – or accurate way of taking a census. HUD nity, and of course for those living without
which serves as the lead agency for the requirements are such that volunteers must shelter. “In places like Austin and in Texas,
Austin-Travis County Continuum of Care (CoC), actually see a person to contribute to the it’s important for unhoused folks to know that
manager of federal funding to combat home- count – even if a group finds every indication a community of people care about their
lessness. The PIT count is a census of people that someone is living in a particular place, well-being and will fight for them,” Mollica told
living out of doors, the results of which are such as by locating a tent and other belong- us. “The more people we can get out there to
compiled into a report by the U.S. Department ings, they’re not allowed to add to the count. have face-to-face interactions with a commu-
of Housing and Urban Development and sent That’s a major flaw in the methodology, nity that too often goes overlooked, the bet-
to Congress to determine how much federal because a person’s unhoused status can ter. Everyone benefits.” – Austin Sanders
Central Health, Ascension In its response, Ascension references 23 agreements since 2013 that it says have
Take each Other to Court satisfied Central Health’s objections, and throws a side-eye at the district’s ample
reserve funds and recent acquisition of the old Hancock Center Sears for a new
Central Health, Travis County’s tax-supported local health care district, announced headquarters, at a cost of $63 million, saying this illustrates how Central Health has
Tuesday morning that it’s filed suit for breach of contract against Ascension Texas. consistently underfunded its own obligation to pay for low-income health care. On
The hospital chain announced a few hours later that it’s returning the favor, bringing Wednesday, Central Health responded to Ascension’s response – as of this writing
an apparent end to a collaboration that dates back to then-Seton Healthcare taking it had not seen the actual lawsuit: “Central Health reserves are for patient care, not
over operations of the city-owned Brackenridge Hospital in 1995; Central Health corporate profit … Ascension apparently wants Central Health to use its reserves to
inherited the relationship when it was formed by voters in 2004. pay Ascension more for doing less. It is not financially responsible for Central
The contracts at issue are services agreements where Ascension Seton’s level of Health to forgo its reserves to further increase profits of the largest, most profit-
federal compensation for low-income hospital care was set in 2013; since then, Central able non-profit hospital system in the U.S.” The district also points out that
Health says, Ascension has restricted access to hospitalization and specialty care for 100,000 square feet of the old Sears (the ground floor, basically) is to be devoted
low-income patients, effectively doing much less work for the same money. Ascension to providing specialty clinical services – “the same specialty services that
disagrees, saying it’s contracted to see 25,000 patients in CH’s Medical Access Program Ascension is not providing to our community.”
but is now seeing 29,000. The district cites Ascension’s own data to refute this claim, This dispute has been brewing for years, and CH and Ascension went though
showing that since 2013 it’s never seen more than 18,239 MAP patients; in 2022, the increasingly tense talks and into mediation without succcess. The district says filing a
number was 14,462. This data is incomplete because, CH says, Ascension isn’t meeting lawsuit was a last resort, and Ascension says the same; both sides insist that they
its contractual obligation to share more info, and that if they really revealed their utili- were being reasonable and the other party said, “Talk to the hand.” Wonder who’s
zation data it would make Ascension look even worse. By asking for declaratory judg- telling the truth? That’s why we have trials! It’s more likely that this all gets settled
ment that Ascension is in breach of the contract, Central Health aims to invoke an out of court, since Ascension is going through plenty of bad press right now, from The
escape clause in the 2013 agreements that would allow it to take back safety-net New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to down here in Austin, where newly
health care, and the federal funding that supports it, to run a hospital itself, as do all of unionized Seton Medical Center nurses plan to hold a candlelight vigil tonight at
the state’s other local health care districts. (In practical terms, CH would someday, per- Ascension’s local Mueller HQ, in memory of the lives lost by Ascension’s understaffing
haps 10 years from now, buy out Ascension’s stake in Dell Seton Medical Center.) and profiteering. – Mike Clark-Madison
austinchronicle.com JANUARY 27, 2023 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 11news � culture � food � music
Texan Palestinians Protest
Israeli-American Council
On Saturday, thousands of Israeli and The Palestinian protesters waved the red
Jewish people gathered at Austin’s and green of their nation’s flag, some
Fairmont hotel for the fifth annual Israeli- wrapped in a traditional keffiyeh, a check-
American Council summit. The IAC, a ered scarf. All wore masks, with many
business conference centered around declining to share any personal identifiers,
Jewish and Israeli growth and activism, fearing retaliation from the Israeli state.
attended by Gov. Greg Abbott, serves as a “From the river, to the sea, Palestine will
social tool to grow connections between be free!” The protesters banged their drums
Israel and the U.S. This year’s summit also as they sang. On the opposite side, attend-
falls on the 75th anniversary of the found- ees of the IAC lingered, taking a smoke or
ing of the Israeli state. coffee break to ogle at the demonstrators.
Right across the street, between the brick At one point, the conference attendees
driveway and grassy land that divides the began to dance to the beat of the drums.
private property of the hotel from Austin’s Yoseph Haddad, an Israeli Arab IAC
Palm Park, gathered a group of Palestinian speaker, left the hotel grounds to approach Protesters rally outside of the the Fairmont hotel during the Israeli American Council summit JoHn andeRson
activists protesting against the IAC and the the Palestinian protesters as closely as he
occupation of Palestinian territories. could. “You don’t know what you’re fighting from contracting entities that boycott Israel. requested police officers to be on-site. Both
“I see the Israeli-American Council as for!” he yelled, wrapped in the bright blue “Through God’s strength, both Texans and the IAC and the Palestinian protesters had
one of the biggest systems of normalization and white of the Israeli flag. “Nobody wants Israelis overcame great challenges. Texas permits to be present. The IAC did not com-
[of Zionism] within the U.S.,” said an orga- to come and talk, nobody wants to come and will always stand with Israel,” he said. “And ment on the event or the protest.
nizer on the Palestinian Solidarity debate. It’s a simple reason – they are afraid.” together, we will use the special connection “Not a single Palestinian except for ter-
Committee who wished to remain anony- The two sides chanted back and forth, a between our two peoples to combat antisem- rorist Palestinians have been evacuated or
mous for her safety. “[They’re] inviting slurry of Arabic, English, and Hebrew. itism and protect freedom around the world.” forced out of their homes,” said Amit Kad-
many known war criminals, many people “You’re crying ‘intifada’ [resistance] from Michael Lau, director of the Fairmont, osh, an Israeli spectator. When asked if he
who have had an active role to play in the Austin and America? Come to Gaza and say said that the IAC bought out the entire hotel was for or against the killings of Palestinian
occupation, and they’re almost glorifying it again,” Haddad said in Arabic. for their event and would not allow members children by Israeli forces, Kadosh said he
them as well as supporting future develop- Abbott has taken a firm stance. Ahead of to be interviewed directly. “We’re physically didn’t have enough information to respond.
ments and further occupation and oppres- the conference, he said in a press release responsible for the well-being of our group Toward the end of the demonstration, an
sion of Palestinians. We stand against that that “the enduring bond between the people and business partners,” Lau said. Detective IAC representative brought two boxes of
and want to show that people across Texas, of Texas and Israel is unlike any other.” In Julian Guzman with the Austin Police water for the protesters. The boxes remained
across all Texans do stand against that.” 2017, he signed a law blocking state agencies Department said IAC organizers themselves untouched. – Leena Alali
a light Meeting as the neW CounCil gets itself sorted
Austin Water) and suggested that instead, the freshman
Alter ought to chair Water. Pool politely pushed back, noting
that the typical ascension route was for newer members to
The new City Council is off to the races, holding its first to discuss, and staff did not have any briefings to present. serve a period as vice chair to gain a better understanding of
regular meeting of the year today, Thursday, Jan. 26. It’s the Most of the discussion focused on appointments to Council how to run meetings before graduating to chair. The issue
first Council meeting Mayor Kirk Watson will chair in more committees, such as the coveted Housing and Planning was left unresolved.
than 20 years, and the first chance he will have to lead a Committee, and intergovernmental committees such as the More broadly, Watson indicated that Council may want to
meeting inside of Austin’s new City Hall building, located Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization reconsider the nature of committees at a “retreat” of sorts,
at 301 W. Second, a relocation he helped secure (CAMPO). which could take place in mid-February, where Council and
funding for during his second mayoral term. CMs broadly agreed on who should serve City Manager Spencer Cronk could meet publicly to discuss
Thursday’s agenda looks to be an easy one. where, with only a few areas of disagreement. Council-manager workflow. “We are a legislative body,”
It has 83 items, with only two items from After today’s meeting, Natasha Harper- Watson explained to his colleagues, “so … in order to do the
Council (one, from Council Member Vanessa Madison will be the new chair of the Housing work and be substantive in doing that work, some items from
Fuentes, would direct staff to lower parking and Planning Committee, Fuentes will chair Council, if not all, should first go to the committee that has
requirements for child care centers) that are the four-person Public Health Committee, jurisdiction” over that policy area.
likely to pass without controversy. The agen- and Watson will chair the Public Safety Doing so would represent a notable change to how Council
da’s most complicated zoning case (the Committee (which, curiously, will have two committees function; currently, they don’t engage in much
planned unit development at Brodie Oaks) vice chairs, Mackenzie Kelly and Chito Vela). substantive policy work and instead mostly serve as a forum
is likely to be postponed, per the request of CM Leslie Pool will continue as one of Council’s two for staff and other experts to present information to three to
Ryan Alter, to the Feb. 9 meeting. That’s all well appointees to the Capital Metro Board of five CMs in a public setting. Watson’s reasoning, which he
and good, because Watson and his fellow newbie Trustees, where she currently serves as the board’s stressed is very preliminary at this point, is that more time
CMs (José Velásquez, Ryan Alter, and Zo Qadri) may well secretary, and will be joined by Vela. Mayor Pro Tem Paige spent on Council resolutions in committees might whip them
need to ride with the training wheels on for a few meetings Ellis and CMs Alison Alter, Harper-Madison, and Kelly will rep- into better shape by the time they land on an agenda before
before they get the hang of things. resent Austin at CAMPO, with Watson serving as an alternate. the full Council – a process more akin to the one used by
Council met Tuesday, Jan. 24, for their first work session of Fuentes expressed concern over Pool chairing both of larger legislative bodies, such as the Texas Senate, where he
the year. CMs didn’t pull any items from the Thursday agenda Council’s utility oversight committees (Austin Energy and served for 13 years. – Austin Sanders
12 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 27, 2023 austinchronicle.comState Admits Execution Drug
Is Expired, Doesn’t Really Care
District Judge Catherine Mauzy tried to announced that Mauzy had no jurisdiction in
keep Texas from killing Robert Fratta. At a the matter. The legal arguments delayed
Jan. 10 hearing on the afternoon of Fratta’s Fratta’s execution by an hour.
scheduled execution, Mauzy agreed with Now, the state is planning to use the
attorney Shawn Nolan that the pentobar- expired drugs again to execute Wesley Ruiz
bital used by the Texas Department on Feb. 1. Nolan has appealed to Ruiz’s
of Criminal Justice to execute trial court to ask that Texas
death row inmates was likely observe the rule of law in its use
expired, meaning that the of pentobarbital. “If the State
state’s mere possession of is to be permitted to take the
the drug, much less its use, life of a person, the least we
is illegal. She also ruled should expect is that it follow
that TDCJ hadn’t denied the requirements of the law,”
Nolan’s contention that the Nolan writes in a motion to
drug could cause “torture, ill the court. “By its own admis-
treatment, or unnecessary sion it has not done so here.”
pain.” The judge issued a tem- Advocates for Ruiz say that
porary injunction forbidding offi- he is deeply remorseful for his
cials from using their expired pento- 2007 killing of Dallas police Officer
barbital on any inmate. Mark Nix and that he has worked to better
Days earlier, the attorney general’s office himself during 14 years on death row. They
argued to the Texas Court of Criminal argue that the jurors at his trial did not consid-
Appeals that they need not follow the laws er the sexual molestation, homelessness, and
that ensure safe use of pentobarbital in brain damage he suffered as a child, evidence
Fratta’s case because executioners do not that could have resulted in a life sentence
provide “therapeutic treatment of injury, ill- rather than death. According to Nolan, several
ness, or disease.” But after Mauzy’s injunc- of the jurors have said that, given the chance,
tion, the judges of the appeals court didn’t they would reevaluate the case. The foreman
bother to opine on whether using expired of the jury supports commuting Ruiz’s sen-
drugs to kill people is legal; they simply tence to life without parole. – Brant Bingamon
Could state employees
Get First Cost-of-Living
Raise in 21 years?
Last Wednesday, state employees rallied at the
Capitol for pay raises and pension increases, which
they haven’t seen since 2015. That last raise was
designed to absorb the increase to their pension con-
tribution; there has not been a true cost-of-living
adjustment since 2002. “Over the last seven years, I’ve
seen dozens of qualified, experienced workers leave
the state because of low pay and unmanageable work-
loads,” said San Antonio employee Sabrina Bedford in State Rep. John Bucy III, D-Austin, wants to see state
a Texas State Employees Union press release. “We’re employee wages go up
here to help our communities, but we have to be able JoHn andeRson
to support our own families, as well.”
TSEU has an ally in Rep. John Bucy III, D-Austin, who
has filed House Bill 202 to raise the gross salary for state employees by $10,000, including a proportional raise for
part-time employees. The hike would extend to those who work in higher education, who have been left out of state
employee raises since 2003. The TSEU release noted that “spotty merit raises and ‘pay for performance’ schemes are
no substitute for a real, across the board pay raise.” According to a recent state auditor’s report, last year state
employees saw the highest turnover since 2008, with 22.7% leaving due to poor pay and benefits. “What we thought
was bad, the recent report made clear is an unsustainable crisis,” Bucy said. “As legislators we rely on state employees
to provide critical services and support to our constituents,” and understaffing those positions increases wait times for
Medicaid and other services, and contributes to dangerous jail and foster care conditions. – Lina Fisher
austinchronicle.com JANUARY 27, 2023 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE 13news � culture � food � music
endless Highway
TxDOT lumbers toward its long-held vision
for a new I-35 by Mike Clark-Madison
According to the 2020 census, the median- of I-35 to State Highway 45 North and
age Austinite is 33.7 years old. That means South, or basically the Travis County line.
half of the people in town now were not yet Those projects are already underway, hav-
born when the Texas Department of ing qualified for a more streamlined version
Transportation began its journey to rebuild of environmental review than the Central.
I-35 through the heart of the city, with a
“major investment study” that commenced EvErything Old is nEw AgAin A proposed cross-section from the 1994 I-35 design concepts, showing the mainlanes (including
HOV or “managed” lanes) depressed beneath the frontage roads and the adjoining city streets.
in 1989. Back then, the Austin metro area The 1994 presentation includes rendered
Compare this to ...
was home to fewer than 600,000 people; cross-sections of a highway of about 20
today, it’s 2.23 million. lanes, including new high-occupancy lanes
That journey is now in its penultimate and frontage roads, with the mainlanes var-
chapter, as TxDOT has finally gotten to the iously at grade with, elevated above, or
point of releasing its draft environmental depressed below the adjoining city blocks;
impact statement, or DEIS, for the 8-mile the latter of these approaches is what
stretch of I-35 between U.S. 290 East (the TxDOT now envisions for the CapEx
Manor Expressway) and U.S. 290 West (Ben Central, which includes two new “man-
White Boulevard). February 9 is the manda- aged” lanes in each direction. (Managed
tory public hearing that must be held on the how? Since Texas is “in a non-tolled envi-
DEIS, with comments being accepted ronment,” as the DEIS dryly puts it, they’ll
through March 7; likely this fall, TxDOT be HOV lanes and available to buses.) The
will produce the final EIS along with a “goals/visions” included with those 1994
“record of decision,” which allows it to renderings contain themes that have
move forward with what it now calls the echoed throughout the generations into the
Source: txdot
Capital Express Central project. “purpose and need” statement that, under
Deep, deep into the 7,000 pages of the review process established by the
material in the DEIS is a deep cut from National Environmental Policy Act, defines
TxDOT’s back catalog: Appendix U contains the criteria by which I-35 alternatives
a presentation of “IH 35 should be evaluated.
Design Concepts Through
Austin” from 1994, delivered lowering the These include maximiz-
ing the carrying capacity of
by the TxDOT Austin district barrier – even, the constrained I-35 corri-
A rendering of “improved” I-35 bridge crossings at Third Street Downtown, showing the depths of
the highway below. This is a stretch where deck plaza “enhancements” would cover the mainlanes,
to what was then the Austin
Transportation Study and is presumably, dor; improving access to
Downtown, the Capitol Com-
should they be constructed, converting this ditch into an effective linear park.
now CAMPO (the Capital by turning it plex, and UT-Austin while
Area Metropolitan Planning
Organization). In the main into a ditch – in accommodating through
traffic; developing “interfac- highway with more lanes than it currently city of Austin’s mobility and environmental
body of the DEIS, which txdOt’s view es” between the highway has, some of which are “managed,” remains goals, which call for a significant reduction
clocks in at a svelte 517
pages, Appendix U is cited improves upon and surface streets, transit
(including “light rail,” which
the best, if not only, possible way within
TxDOT’s power to address congestion, safe-
in the share of trips made by driving alone,
which is perhaps the biggest contribution to
exactly once – at the the status quo. also proved to be several ty, and environmental deficiencies along climate change that we each make.
beginning of Chapter 2.0,
“Alternatives Including the But covering generations away), and des-
tinations such as the Austin
this 8-mile stretch of highway: See, we’ve
been studying this for more than 30 years,
Is there hope for a consensus around
something like this – not just “no build,”
Proposed Action,” which the ditch would Convention Center, or what’s and the basics have remained unchanged. which under NEPA is always an alternative
references the 1989 MIS
(“Beginning as far back as be even better. now more broadly defined as
the Palm District and Rainey
What else can we do?
As you know from reading the Chronicle,
to be studied, but un-building I-35 in some
meaningful way – to emerge before TxDOT
the late 1980s, TxDOT Street. “Funding issues and there are different answers to that question breaks ground on its preferred I-35 alterna-
recognized the need to upgrade I-35 through a lack of political and public support,” the than the one TxDOT keeps arriving at. If tive (Modified Alternative 3, or Mod-3)?
the region to provide improved mobility”) DEIS reads, “prevented further advance- Austin really put its mind to it, we could Probably not. For one thing, this plan has a
and then summarizes seven more planning ment of these concepts at the time; howev- make peace with a future in which I-35 decades-long head start; for another, the
efforts from 2009 to 2020 that “have er, portions of these concepts have been didn’t exist at all, at least as part of the urban transit system we need – Project Connect –
informed the reasonable alternatives that incorporated into later studies.” core – one where local traffic was distributed still does not exist and is having its own
were carried forward for further study in The current DEIS, unlike the 1994 vision, through improved city streets (and on free- funding issues.
this DEIS.” But what’s striking is how specifically calls out improving safety, both ways that didn’t exist in 1994, such as U.S. Perhaps most importantly, for many
much those 1994 renderings in Appendix U along and across the corridor and for pedes- 183) and where a bunch of trips into the city mobility decision-makers in Central Texas
look like the ones TxDOT has created for trians and cyclists as well as drivers, which center could be handled by a robust mass (including both the current and past Austin
the CapEx Central. is all good, but that’s the most significant transit system. (This is more or less what the mayors, each also a former chair of CAMPO),
There are also Capital Express North and difference. The effect, if not stated explicit- Rethink I-35 community coalition wants to the progress made to date on the CapEx
South projects, which cover the segments ly, is to suggest that I-35 reconstruction as a see.) That would be more in keeping with the continued on p.16
14 THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE JANUARY 27, 2023 austinchronicle.comYou can also read
