Cover Story
How Marcus Baskerville became the unlikely face for a beer-focused initiative to address racial injustice
The smell of blood and the sound of the highway wind whipping around his Mustang GT are the details Marcus Baskerville remembers most vividly from the night his personal relationship with the police changed forever. More than 10 years ago, a fight broke out at a Sacramento, California house party he and his cousin attended,…
San Antonio Viet-Cajun eatery Pinch Boil House opens new location in Alamo Heights
Folks who acquired a taste for Pinch Boil House’s Southeast Asian-inspired seafood and street fare now have a second location at which to indulge, this one in Alamo Heights. What began as a series of Viet-Cajun crawfish boils from co-owners Andrew Ho and Sean Wen has evolved into a mini-empire that’s grown beyond the pair’s downtown location.…
Don’t quit that day job, San Antonio: El Pasoan named spice company’s ‘director of taco relations’
After teasing San Antonio foodies this summer with the creation of a “director of taco relations” position, spice purveyor McCormick this week selected El Paso native Jo Luna to fill the role. The newly created gig promised a staggering $100,000 salary for four months of Mexican food-focused work. Taco ’bout a dream job. The Maryland-based company rolled…
As San Antonio’s CPS Energy resumes disconnections, its approval drops to 44% in new poll
Public approval for CPS Energy, stung by its handling of February’s blackouts and its looming request for a double-digit rate increase, has plummeted by 25% since the fourth quarter, according to a new Bexar Facts survey. The approval rating for San Antonio’s municipal utility sits at 44% in the poll released Tuesday. Just 13% of…
San Antonio boozy drink chain SipIt Daiquiris To-Go will open new location in Cibolo
Residents of Cibolo are about to get a frozen shot of “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere.” SipIt Daiquiris To-Go will open its fourth and latest location Wednesday in the Northeast San Antonio bedroom community. The Alamo City-based company took to Facebook to share news of the expansion. In addition to its namesake drinks, the shop at 3893 Cibolo…
Phoebe Bridgers raising money for Texas abortion funds with cover of Bo Burnham’s ‘That Funny Feeling’
If you got your heart broken by Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher and Bo Burnham’s Inside and are looking for another round, we’ve got the perfect thing for you. On Oct. 1, Bridgers released a cover of Burnham’s “That Funny Feeling” — one of the tracks featured on the comedian’s landmark 2021 special — via her Bandcamp.…
Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava opens first San Antonio location
Washington, D.C.-based Cava — a fast-casual brand known for customizable Mediterranean bowls — has opened its first San Antonio location, which is now serving in Lincoln Heights. Cava’s Chipotle-reminiscent model allows hungry customers to fill bowls to the brim with their choice of spreads, proteins, dressings and toppings. The new spot, located at 999 E.…
San Antonio man charged in January 6 insurrection slapped with 45-day prison sentence
Matt Mazzocco of San Antonio was sentenced Monday to 45 days in prison and 60 months of community service for his alleged role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Texas Public Radio reports. The 38-year-old former loan officer was one of the first Capitol rioters to plead guilty to charges of misdemeanor parading, demonstrating or unlawful…
Planned Parenthood South Texas offering free ‘morning-after pills’ at its San Antonio sites
In the wake of Texas’ near-complete ban on abortions, Planned Parenthood South Texas is offering free emergency contraception t0 people who request it at its health centers. The over-the-counter medication, often called a “morning-after pill,” is designed to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies if taken within three days of unprotected sex. The free pills are…
New Kids on the Block to Rick Roll San Antonio with nostalgic Mixtape Tour in 2022
Aging teen heartthrobs the New Kids on the Block are back again for a redux of their Mixtape Tour. The 2022 iteration of the traveling nostalgia package will include 50-plus dates, among them a Saturday, May 21 stop at San Antonio’s AT&T Center. The ’80s boy band last played the Alamo City in 2019 on the…
Whitney Cummings will hit San Antonio as she adds 30 cities to her stand-up comedy tour
Actor, comedian and podcaster Whitney Cummings is back on the stand-up circuit. On Monday, she announced 30 additional cities for her Touch Me tour, including an appearance at San Antonio’s Tobin Center on April 3 of next year. Perhaps best known for her eponymous NBC series Whitney, Cummings also co-created and co-wrote 2 Broke Girls…
VIA expands its transit-on-demand ride share service to Northwest San Antonio
VIA Metropolitan Transit has expanded its on-demand ride-sharing program VIA Link to Northwest San Antonio. VIA debuted the new transit on-demand zone, its third, on Sunday, October 2. The region covers 14.4 square miles running along Loop 1604 from Babcock to Culebra and on Bandera Road from Loop 1604 to Mainland, providing service connecting the UTSA…
CDC is all like, ‘Use a window fan if you plan on celebrating upcoming holidays indoors, that should be fine’
Don’t pack away those summer fans just yet. As we navigate yet another spooky holiday season under the heel of the devastating COVID-19 virus (though, this time, 51.2% of Texans are fully vaccinated), we must also navigate new recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to new guidelines released Friday, the CDC doubled…
Billie Eilish says she almost dropped from Austin City Limits Festival over Texas abortion ban
Count Billie Eilish among those enraged over Texas’ near-complete ban on abortions. During her Saturday night set at the Austin City Limits Festival, the Grammy-winning superstar said she nearly dropped from the lineup of the massive festival over the state’s restrictive news law. “When they made that shit a law, I almost didn’t want to…
Analysis: In the drive to get new Texas political maps, racial representation takes a back seat
The Republican majority’s proposals for all of the state’s political maps are out, and each is skewed in favor of the same voters: white Republicans. One thing leads to the other. Republicans hold all of the statewide offices, along with majorities in the state’s congressional delegation, the Texas House and Senate, and the State Board…
New film series Raza Cósmica will feature Latinx science fiction in free screenings across San Antonio
After a year’s delay due to the pandemic, a new science fiction film series is finally coming in for landing in the Alamo City. The inaugural screening series of film programming organization MonteVideo, Raza Cósmica: A constellation of classic and contemporary Latinx science fiction will feature four screenings throughout October, showcasing 10 films and 12 filmmakers,…
City rejects proposal from San Antonio’s police union, saying it would weaken disciplinary recourse
During contract talks, city officials rejected a police union proposal they said puts the burden on the city to show why officers fired for disciplinary problems shouldn’t be reinstated, according to the San Antonio Report. The rejection came Friday during the first talks between the two sides since the San Antonio Police Officers Association’s existing labor…
Adelman negotiating to bring brewery to San Antonio’s Five Points area
Downtown developer David Adelman has purchased a warehouse in an industrial area near the Five Points neighborhood and is talking with a brewery about locating there. The roughly 11,000-square-foot warehouse, 1606 N. Colorado St., near Culebra Road, is “a beautiful building,” with an exterior of D’Hanis brick, he said in a phone interview. Adelman declined…
San Antonio-area Boogaloo Bois follower admits to firing shots at police station during riot
A Boerne man associated with the far-right Boogaloo Bois admitted in federal court Thursday that he crossed state lines to instigate chaos during George Floyd protests last summer, Minneapolis Public Radio reports. Ivan Harrison Hunter, 24, pleaded guilty to a single count of rioting, according to the MPR story. He conceded that on May 28, 2020,…
South Texas was already a political battleground. New maps could alter game plans.
The initial redistricting maps released this week are raising fresh questions about Texas Republicans’ hopes of flipping seats in South Texas. After President Joe Biden underperformed there last year, national and state Republicans charged into the 2022 election cycle determined to show they can make inroads in the predominantly Hispanic region. Speaking Thursday in Austin, Gov.…
Saturday’s ‘Bans Off Our Bodies’ march in San Antonio will happen, rain or shine
Organizers of a march Saturday in San Antonio to protest rising attacks on abortion rights say the rally will go on regardless of weather conditions. The march will start at noon at downtown’s Milam Park, 500 W. Commerce St. It’s one of more than 600 such mobilizations taking place in cities across all 50 states. The…
Striking San Antonio Symphony musicians receive pledge of $10,000 in support from Baltimore
After a call to action by the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) to support the San Antonio Symphony’s striking musicians, the Baltimore Symphony Musicians have pledged $10,000 to the cause. “In response to this ‘CALL TO ACTION’ the @bso_musicians have unanimously approved a gift of $10,000 to support our brothers and sisters,…
Judge denies Texas attorney general’s request to block San Antonio ISD’s vaccine mandate
A San Antonio District Judge denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for a temporary order stopping San Antonio ISD from requiring teachers and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19. District Court Judge Mary Lou Alvarez denied the injunction Friday following a two-hour hearing, according to a KSAT report. Attorneys for Paxton’s office indicated they…
Election Audit, Hispanic Elvis: The top 10 headlines in San Antonio this week
Surprise, surprise: the “forensic audit” of the 2020 election that Gov. Greg Abbott ordered up last week at the command of former President Donald Trump will likely come with a big bill. And Texas taxpayers are probably going to be on the hook, according to the Current’s most-read story of the week. The article draws…
Snoga Bar-B-Q closes, Texas taco cities: San Antonio’s biggest food stories of the week
This week, Current readers reacted with disbelief as a “study” ranked San Antonio as the fourth-best taco city in Texas. To add insult to injury, the Alamo City was placed below Austin, Dallas and Round Rock. Also among our most-read food articles was a report that the South Side institution Snoga Bar-B-Q was closing its…
Texas schools have reported more coronavirus cases in two months than they did in the entire 2020-21 school year
Students in Texas public schools are facing another year upturned by COVID-19 as the highly contagious delta variant spreads, mask mandates are inconsistent and children under 12 cannot yet be vaccinated against the virus. Two months into this school year, the number of reported coronavirus cases among students has surpassed the total from the entire…
After signing bill that cut illegal-voting penalties, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott now wants them increased
On Thursday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Legislature to stiffen criminal punishment for early voting. That demand comes less than a month after he signed a bill that reduced the same penalty. Under a controversial bill Abbott championed that adds new voting restrictions in the state, the penalty for casting an illegal ballot…
Knocked Loose’s San Antonio show on Thursday was a lesson in how to command a crowd
At first, I wanted to review Thursday’s sold-out Knocked loose concert at Vibes Event Center because of one of the opening acts, Gatecreeper. I’d never even heard of the headliners until two days ago, but I needed to see what the fuss was all about. The venue, Vibes Event Center, is located on East Houston Street…
San Antonio haunted houses to check out now that October is finally here
October’s arrival signifies that the Halloween season is upon us in earnest, and San Antonio’s haunted houses are now, ahem, luring in visitors. If you’re looking to get scared shitless in preparation for All Hallows’ Eve, these four local haunted attractions are now open for horror business. Haunted Oaks: Looking for unchartered scares? Haunted Oaks…
Texas’ GOP-drawn redistricting maps look ripe for defeat in a court challenge, legal scholar says
The redistricting plans so far put forth by the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature aren’t just likely to face lawsuits, a top voting-rights legal scholar predicts: they’ll likely face courtroom defeats. “Seeing the proposed plans now by the state, they’ll be easy to beat,” said Albert Kauffman, a St. Mary’s University law professor who spent two decades as senior…
Taco Cabana celebrates National Taco Day with $1 tacos Monday, October 4
What’s better than a taco? A cheap taco! On Monday, October 4, Taco Cabana will offer its bean and cheese, shredded chicken and ground beef tacos for $1 apiece to celebrate National Taco Day. There’s no purchase limit, meaning fans of the Tex-Mex chain can nosh on tacos to their heart’s content. The dollar tacos are…
City of San Antonio opens call for 2022 list of creators pre-qualified to work on public art projects
This week, the City of San Antonio announced an open call for its 2022 list of artists and support-service providers who are pre-qualified to work on public art projects. The Department of Arts & Culture is looking for applicants from both within and outside San Antonio to develop public art projects across the city, according to…
Ted Cruz praises men in NBA for refusing vaccines while he rejects women’s right to abortions
No stranger to wildly contradictory political stances, Sen. Ted Cruz staked yet another one on Wednesday — this time involving body autonomy. On Twitter, the Texas’ fully vaccinated junior senator heaped praise on male NBA players who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying he stood with anti-vax players Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal and others. He…
Photographer and filmmaker Bill Daniel assembles exhibition exploring America’s railroad culture
While reading the article, we recommend checking out this railroad mix, featuring classic train and hobo songs, clips from rail graffiti artists, audio from Who is Bozo Texino?, and music mentioned in the piece: mixcloud.com/sasound/rail-practitioners The railroad is a mainline into the heart of the American myth. “In America, trains are foundational to pretty much…
Slab Cinema features Disney prequel Cruella at Mission Marquee Plaza Saturday
A prequel to the Disney classic 101 Dalmations, Cruella is the live-action origin story of the world-famous villain Cruella de Vil. Born as Estella, Cruella de Vil sets out to make a name for herself in the London fashion industry during the ’70s punk revolution. Life isn’t easy for the young and cunning Estella, which…
San Antonio’s ‘Hispanic Elvis’ gets a mural tribute from street artist Colton Valentine
The Alamo City has played host to plenty of colorful characters, from Spurs Jesus to toilet seat museum creator Barney Smith to Mike Yuchnitz, the eccentric optician dubbed “San Antonio’s Tiger King.” Which is why we’re thrilled when one of our flamboyant local celebs lands art world recognition. And right now, the light is shining…
Meadow Neighborhood Eatery in San Antonio will hold October 21 Oktoberfest celebration
Chef-owner PJ Edwards of San Antonio’s Meadow Neighborhood Eatery will give his seasonal, Southern-inspired fare a German twist at an Oktoberfest event he’s staging next month. The party will take place Thursday, October 21 at the Alley on Bitters, where where Meadow is located. Beyond the expected food and drink, the celebration will include a beer stein-holding competition, a…
Former Tosh.0 host Daniel Tosh comes to San Antonio Thursday as part of stand-up tour
Up until last year, the controversial comedian was hosting the popular Comedy Central TV series Tosh.0, a gig he started back in 2009. The series was renewed for another four seasons in early 2020, but the network decided to reverse course and cancel it. “After 12 years together, Comedy Central and I are consciously uncoupling,”…
New smoothie joint, Kineapple, at San Antonio’s Pearl complex now open
After announcing opening plans earlier this month, Pearl Bottling Department’s newest addition, Kineapple, is now serving up smoothies, healthy snacks, salads and coffee. Smoothie aficionados can expect Kineapple to blend up concoctions made with modifiers such as plant-based proteins, whey isolate, creatine, turmeric, collagen and even cold-brew coffee shots. The spot also offers coffee from…
San Antonio’s Guadalupe Dance Company marks 30th anniversary with weekend of performances
The award-winning Guadalupe Dance Company will step into the spotlight for its 30th anniversary celebration alongside Mariachi Azteca de America. Performances will include dances from the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Jalisco, Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Puebla. Tickets are available for the in-person event on both nights, but the show can be streamed live online Friday…
Toolman and Trump supporter Tim Allen to perform night of stand-up at Majestic Theatre on Friday
For fans of the iconic Toy Story animated franchise, we really wish we didn’t know that Tim Allen is a Donald Trump supporter. It’s a bad look for Buzz Lightyear to back the human equivalent of Emperor Zurg. But at least the Home Improvement and Last Man Standing star criticized The Former Guy earlier this…
San Antonio’s Wild Barley Kitchen Co. now serving sandwiches, pizza onsite at new location
Wild Barley Kitchen Co. — a San Antonio food trailer known for wood-fired sourdough bagels, bread and pizza — has brought those flame-kissed delights to its first brick-and-mortar location. The operation announced plans for a permanent location back in July, saying it would serve up its sourdough-based wares along with craft beer from the building at 8403 Broadway…
San Antonio’s Tobin Center will host holiday concert by Doc Watkins and his Orchestra
This Christmas is gonna get jazzy. San Antonio’s Doc Watkins and his Orchestra will bring swinging yuletide cheer to the Tobin Center Thursday, December 16 with performance being billed as the pianist and bandleader’s Holiday Big Band Show. Watkins is perhaps best known as the proprietor of Pearl basement bar and venue Jazz, TX. His…
SAAACAM’s Black History Film Series continues with free screening of baseball biopic 42
As part of its Black History Film Series, the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) is screening the 2013 sports drama 42 about baseball player Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American to play Major League Baseball. Robinson joined the league in 1947 where he started as first baseman for the…
Matthew Dowd, former George W. Bush strategist, to run as Democrat for Texas lieutenant governor
Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for George W. Bush’s presidential reelection campaign who later split with the former president publicly, is running for lieutenant governor as a Democrat. Dowd also has worked for Bob Bullock, who in 1994 was the last Democrat elected as Texas lieutenant governor, and faces an uphill battle to unseat Republican…
San Antonio chef Michael Sohocki to close Kimura and Restaurant Gwendolyn, move to Five Points
Celebrated SA chef Michael Sohocki will close and relocate his downtown eateries Restaurant Gwendolyn and Kimura by year’s end, the San Antonio Express-News reports. Sohocki will shutter both restaurants in December and move them to the spot that formerly housed 5 Points Local, according to the daily. He plans to have both back in operation…
Six San Antonio acts among those playing Saustex Records’ Corn Lovers Fiesta festival on Saturday
After presenting his annual Austin Corn Lovers Fiesta music fest virtually last year, Jeff Smith — head honcho of San Antonio’s Saustex Records — is taking the entire chaotic affair back to the meat world. The Fiesta’s 12th installment will take place Saturday, October 2, at Austin venue the Sagebrush and feature 17 bands. A…
Republican Lujan, Democrat Ramirez head to runoff in election to fill San Antonio’s District 118
Republicans had hoped to reclaim Texas House District 118, left vacant this summer by the departure of two-term Democrat Leo Pacheco. They didn’t get that wish in Tuesday night’s special election, but they will get another shot in a runoff to determine who represents the South Bexar County District. Republican John Lujan, who briefly served the…
Dude Perfect brings YouTube antics to San Antonio’s AT&T Center
Though successful nationwide, the comedy ensemble Dude Perfect has strong roots in Texas, having met at Texas A&M. The collective’s YouTube channel is focused on stunts, typically light-hearted and fun, as well as “battles” between two of the five members, which follow the same tone. For example, Dude Perfect holds the world record for most…
Judge orders Texas to release 250 migrants imprisoned under Gov. Greg Abbott’s border arrest spree
A state district judge on Tuesday ordered Texas to release 250 migrants arrested as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s “catch and jail” border policy, the Texas Tribune reports. The arrested migrants languished in prison for more than a month without being charged with crimes, according to the Tribune. Under state law, criminal defendants must be…
Criminal justice group pushing for ballot initiative to decriminalize pot possession in San Marcos
If a criminal justice-reform organization gets its way, the nearby city of San Marcos could stop bringing charges for marijuana possession. Nonprofit group Mano Amiga, which lobbied the city for a cite-and-release policy for weed, wants to land a proposal onto the November 2022 ballot that would let voters decide whether to end criminal prosecutions…
The publisher of Advertising Age and other business mags has purchased a cannabis news site
Need more proof that weed is becoming a legit business enterprise as more U.S. states legalize? Crain Communications, the Detroit-based media company that runs a litany of industry publications from Advertising Age to Pensions & Investments, recently acquired Green Market Report, a cannabis financial news site. Yep, you heard that right: Crain Communications is going…
South San Antonio’s Snoga Bar-B-Q will close permanently after 44 years in business
Southside barbecue, comfort food and catering mecca Snoga Bar-B-Q will close its doors this weekend after 44 years in business, according to a social media post. The family-owned eatery, opened by Alvin and Bernice Snoga in 1977, will shutter permanently on Sunday, October 3, according to the announcement. The restaurant didn’t give a reason for…
Bad Takes: Even as we celebrate Banned Books Week, Texans keep asking for school board censorship
Bad Takes is a periodic column of opinion and political analysis. “There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.” — Ezekiel 23:20, 6th century BCE “I can feel his mouth O Lord I must stretch myself I wished he was here or somebody…
Pinkerton’s Barbecue in San Antonio to hold fundraiser for Dyslexia Awareness Month
As part of October’s Texas Dyslexia Awareness Month, Pinkerton’s Barbecue in San Antonio will hold a fundraiser aimed at improving treatment for one of the most common learning disorders. The Wednesday, October 20 Barbecue Under the Stars event will support the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA)’s mission of providing scholarships to train dyslexia therapists. A disorder related…
Twitter slams Sen. John Cornyn for cheering Norway’s vaccination rate after he downplayed COVID-19
Sen. John Cornyn loves to tweet. And he really loves to tweet about COVID-19, sometimes falsely downplaying its danger, sometimes making racist claims about it, sometimes making dad jokes about it and sometimes questioning medical experts over their recommendations. Which may explain why so many Twitter users pounced Monday when the Texas Republican shared an Associated Press story about…
‘It just keeps on happening’: Texas parents fight legislation targeting their trans children for the fourth time this year
Karen Krajcer and Linzy Foster are two friends familiar with the hallways of the Texas Capitol. During this year’s regular legislative session and two subsequent special sessions that followed, the two mothers have shown up with a handful of other parents to advocate for their children who have been caught in the crosshairs of a…
Survey inexplicably rates San Antonio as the fourth-best taco city in Texas
San Antonians don’t just love tacos, we celebrate them. Shit, they’re part of our cultural identity. So, imagine our surprise when a survey popped up that ranks the Alamo City as the fourth-best taco city in Texas. Just what the fresh hell is that nonsense? Apparently inspired by National Taco Day, which falls on October…
Marijuana arrests fell by more than 1/3 last year amid COVID-19 and progress on legalization
Pot arrests fell drastically last year as the COVID-19 pandemic kept people indoors and as more states legalized or decriminalized cannabis, according to a new analysis of FBI data. After parsing through FBI crime stats, the online publication Marijuana Moment reported that cannabis sales and possession arrests accounted for slightly more than 30% of the…
Civic-engagement group Mi Familia Vota is latest to sue Texas GOP leaders over new voting law
Texas Republican leaders have has been hit by another lawsuit — at least the fourth — challenging the legality of the new law they pushed creating additional voting restrictions in the state. On Monday, Civic-engagement group Mi Familia Vota and three individual voters sued in U.S. District Court in San Antonio to overturn the law…
Prog-metal act Tool will play San Antonio’s AT&T Center in February; tickets on sale this week
Prog-metal band Tool, one of rock’s biggest touring acts, will play the AT&T Center on Tuesday, February 22 as part of a 37-stop tour. Tickets for the San Antonio show will be available Friday, Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. local time at AT&TCenter.com and Ticketmaster.com, the venue announced Monday. Avant-rockers Blonde Redhead will open Tool’s 2022…
San Antonio Symphony Musicians strike over breakdown in contract talks
Amid contentious contract negotiations with the Symphony Society, the Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony (MOSAS) announced Monday that it’s called a strike. The group took the action after the Symphony Society’s vote Sunday declaring an impasse in negotiations and imposing the terms of its so-called “Last, Best and Final Offer,” which would slash the…
Texas’ Shiner Beer releases new lager, along with retro labels to commemorate 112-year history
In celebration of its 112-year history, Texas’ storied Shiner Beer has released a new small-batch lager dubbed Shiner 1909. Shiner 1909 is brewed with Heritage two-row barley, Noble hops, proprietary lager yeast and the same artesian water the founders of the east-of-San Antonio discovered more than a century ago. According to the brewery, the resulting…
Alamo Beer to debut official brew of the San Antonio Beer Festival on October 7
Folks looking to get an early taste of the 15th Annual San Antonio Beer Festival can do that Thursday, October 7, when Alamo Beer debuts the official brew of the event — the SA Beer Festival Stout. The limited-series oatmeal stout will be unveiled at the brewery just east of downtown, where patrons can get…
Hundreds of migrants caught in Texas governor’s border crackdown are lingering in jail without charges
Hundreds of migrants jailed under Gov. Greg Abbott’s policy of arresting border crossers for minor property crimes have lingered in prison for weeks without facing charges, according to a Texas Tribune investigation. What’s more, dozens of those arrested have been imprisoned for more than a month without being appointed legal representation, according to the report.…
New San Antonio Zoo train embarks on its inaugural ride Monday
The first of three new locomotives has arrived at the San Antonio Zoo, replacing older, beloved trains that carried passengers through Brackenridge Park since the 1980s, TV station KSAT reports. The first of the new trains embarked on its maiden voyage Monday morning. Zoo officials told KSAT that the older models will remain in operation until…
San Antonio’s Whiskey Cake to host five-course pairing dinner featuring Angel’s Envy Distillery
Farm-to-kitchen eatery Whiskey Cake will hold a five-course dinner showcasing amber spirits produced by Louisville, Kentucky-based Angel’s Envy Distillery. The menu for the Wednesday, September 29 event will include items such as tea-brined duck breast with crispy skin and fried homestead mills cornbread stuffing. The duck will be paired with a STOP, Drammer Time!, cocktail…
Sierra Club says federal report shows Texas didn’t fix root causes of February’s power outages
A recent federal report identifying weaknesses in Texas’ power grid shows that Gov. Greg Abbott and state lawmakers have failed to deal with the root causes of February’s blackouts, the Sierra Club said Monday. In an analysis of the report issued by federal energy regulators, the environmental group said Texas’ Republican leadership failed to address…
San Antonio’s Dakota East Side Ice House to host weekly daytime charity karaoke events
The Dakota East Side Ice House is bringing Sunday brunch to a whole new level with its weekly CARE-E-oke Brunch, benefitting Travis Park Church, a key LGBTQ+ ally. The East Side dining staple is hosting free karaoke events from noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays, featuring food and drink, performances by local talents and a…
San Antonio Public Library will discontinue overdue fines for all patrons starting this Friday
In a move to make its services more accessible, the San Antonio Public Library will stop charging overdue fines for materials returned late starting Friday, October 1. The new policy is made possible through the adoption of the city’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget. “Libraries are for everyone,” SAPL Board of Trustees Chair Paul Stahl said in…
Ahead of Tuesday show in San Antonio, European rockers Volbeat are glad to be back on the road
After the pandemic put touring on hold for months on end, members of Danish rock band Volbeat are glad to be back on the road in the States — much less anywhere. The outfit’s current U.S. jaunt, cheekily titled “Wait a Minute … Let’s Tour,” rolls into San Antonio Tuesday, September 28, marking the outfit’s first…
Live Music in San Antonio This Week: Squeeze, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Magic Sword and more
This week, San Antonio music fans can take comfort in the familiar thanks to legacy touring acts such as ’80s pop powerhouse the Squeeze and folk revivalists the Kingston Trio. But if turning back the clock isn’t your jam — or, perhaps, we should say “how you like to jam” — other options abound, from…
Texas taxpayers likely face a steep bill for ‘election audit’ Trump ordered from Gov. Greg Abbott
While Texas officials have yet to explain how they’ll pay for their probe into 2020 election results in four of the state’s most-populous counties, evidence suggests it won’t come cheap to state taxpayers. Former President Donald Trump last Thursday issued an open letter demanding a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election in Texas, a state…
Amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 deaths this summer, more Texans under 60 are dying
The woman in the San Antonio intensive care bed was on a ventilator, her lungs ravaged by COVID-19. After the staff tried everything they could to help her beat the virus, there was nothing else to be done but try and make her comfortable as her life slipped away. “I’m sorry,” she kept telling Maria…
Beto O’Rourke on Matthew McConaughey: ‘I don’t know how he feels about any of the issues’
Beto O’Rourke says he is still “very seriously” thinking about running for governor — and that he is not surprised Matthew McConaughey, another potential candidate, is polling so well against Gov. Greg Abbott. During an interview at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival, the former Democratic U.S. representative from El Paso praised McConaughey for using his star…
U.S. Labor Department strengthens penalties for employers who steal tips from their staff
Business owners face stiffer monetary penalties for tip theft under new rules published Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor, Nation’s Restaurant News reports. The new rules restore the department’s ability to levy civil penalties against employers such as restaurants who keep workers’ tips — a process made more difficult under the Trump White House.…
Dutch Bros. Coffee, BB’s Tex-Orleans: San Antonio’s biggest food stories of the week
San Antonio foodies had plenty of news regarding changes in the food scene throughout the Alamo City this week, from out-of-town names making their way into the 210 to local entrepreneurs expanding their culinary footprints. The food scene isn’t all that’s changing, as SA’s historic La Villita is also poised to receive some upgrades via…
Tony Gonzales, Haunted Oaks: The top 10 headlines in San Antonio this week
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales has a knack for saying stuff that gets people wound up. Case in point: his refusal during an 2020 interview to identify the KKK as a “terrorist organization.” The pro-Trump Republican, whose district includes San Antonio, made headlines again this week by saying the mounted Border Patrol agents captured on now-viral…
New family-friendly spot Screaming Goat Yard and Tap now open just north of San Antonio
New Spring Branch spot Screaming Goat Yard and Tap offers something for everyone — at all hours of the day, to boot. The dog- and family-friendly restaurant opens bright and early at 7 a.m. on weekdays, serving up coffee and breakfast bites such as chorizo and egg empanadas and an array of croissants. Throughout the…
SOLI Chamber Ensemble launches new season of concerts at the San Antonio Botanical Garden
SOLI Chamber Ensemble opens its 2021-2022 season Monday with a tribute to iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The debut performance kicks off a full season of outdoor concerts at the San Antonio Botanical Garden and ties in with the garden’s Frida Kahlo’s Oasis exhibition, which is on view through November 2. For the concert, San…
Texas-based Frito-Lay launches compostable snack bags as part of sustainability plan
Plano, Texas-based potato chip peddler Frito-Lay Thursday introduced an industrially compostable bag as the first step in a four-year eco-friendly plan. The new packaging is the company’s first step in its goal to design 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, compostable, biodegradable or reusable by 2025. The bags — which house the chip company’s…
Texas Workforce Commission to provide 12 months of free childcare to restaurant workers
It’s no secret that financial hardships caused by the ongoing pandemic have been particularly hard on folks in the foodservice industry in San Antonio, a city whose economy is heavily reliant on service sector jobs. Now, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is looking to relieve at least one hardship by launching a subsidized childcare program…
Hours after Trump’s demands election audit, Texas orders up election review in four counties
Hours after former President Donald J. Trump publicly demanded that Gov. Greg Abbott prioritize legislation allowing an audit of the 2020 election, the office that oversees Texas elections announced it will review the results in four of the state’s largest counties. The announcement by Texas’ secretary of state’s office demonstrates Trump’s continued influence over Republican…
San Antonio rolls out Pfizer boosters, begins offering $100 H-E-B gift cards as vaccine incentive
Following the FDA’s approval of Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots, qualified San Antonio residents now have access to the third vaccine dose starting Friday morning. What’s more, unvaccinated residents now can collect a $100 H-E-B gift card as an incentive to get jabbed. University Health will provide Pfizer boosters starting at 10 a.m. at a vaccine clinic…
Assclown Alert: The expanding list of municipalities that have tuned out Texas AG Ken Paxton
Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark. In the past week alone, his office sued San Antonio ISD to shut down its employee vaccination mandate, won a temporary order halting Paris ISD from enforcing its campus mask mandate and sued three more districts in a bid to overturn theirs. As part of…
San Antonio native Steve Acevedo makes directorial feature debut with sports rom-com Love and Baseball
Two years after making his directorial TV debut with an episode of the crime drama Queen of the South, San Antonio native Steve Acevedo is checking off another milestone on his list of career goals — directing and co-writing a feature film. In the romantic comedy Love and Baseball, Acevedo tells the story of a…
Oregon-based Dutch Bros. Coffee poised to open first of three stores planned for San Antonio
Oregon-based java chain Dutch Bros. Coffee will open its first San Antonio location next month, serving up its namesake caffeinated beverage along with lemonades, smoothies and flavor-infused sodas. The new shop is located at 8614 Potranco Road on the far West Side. A grand opening is scheduled for Wednesday, September 29 with staff unlocking the doors bright…
San Antonians can relive the heyday of ’90s sitcoms with Friends! The Musical Parody
If no one told you Friends! The Musical Parody was coming to the Tobin next Sunday (clap-clap-clap-clap), don’t fret. Tickets are still available. Featuring original musical numbers and recreations of iconic moments from across all seasons of the ’90s-era hit sitcom, the touring performance has been lauded for its uncensored, fast-paced comedy. Mask up and…
Despite winning Texas in 2020, Donald Trump demands Gov. Abbott prioritize election audit
Even though he won Texas during the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump has asked Gov. Greg Abbott to put a bill on the agenda for the current special legislative session that would green light an audit of the results. In an open letter published Thursday, Trump doubled down on the big lie that his…
San Antonio’s ¡Salud! tequila bar now closed; Bentley’s owner will take over the space
¡Salud! — a drinkery known for its impressive tequila, mezcal and sotol offerings — closed Sunday after 16 years in operation, making way for another tenant to take over its Alamo Heights space. Local operator Jesse Tavitas, who owns neighboring bar Bentley’s, is set to take over the property at 8123 Broadway, according to the San Antonio…
San Antonio’s Jerk Shack relocating closed Westside location to Alamo Ranch neighborhood
San Antonio foodies were rattled by award-winning Jerk Shack’s abrupt closure this weekend, but owner Nicola Blaque has told folks not to worry — she’s simply relocating the eatery further north. Blaque told news site mySA that construction on the new space at 10234 State Highway 151 is underway. While she didn’t yet have an opening…
San Antonio Italian staple Guillermo’s will open Pearl-area location this fall
San Antonio’s Government Hill neighborhood will soon welcome the second location of Guillermo’s, a downtown staple serving up hearty Italian fare, the San Antonio Express-News reports. Owner Guillermo Garza told the daily he’ll open the new location of his namesake eatery at 1216 Austin St. in mid-October. The new spot will serve nearly the same…
Texas sued over bill stopping social media companies from banning users for political views
Texas is being sued over its new law barring social media platforms from banning users over their political views by two trade associations that represent some of the industry’s biggest online companies. NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represent Google and Twitter, among other companies in the e-commerce and social media industries,…
Analysis: Abbott’s ‘steel wall’ is one more spectacle as he desperately panders to the GOP base
Give it to Gov. Greg Abbott. The man knows how to create a spectacle. As federal immigration agents worked this week to deal with the recent flood of migrants into South Texas, processing some and dispatching others back their home countries, state troopers cobbled together a miles-long string of patrol vehicles that the Republican governor…
Texas-made sauce will appear on ‘Hot Ones,’ a popular YouTube series where celebs eat fiery wings
Texas’s Yellowbird Foods Bliss & Vinegar hot sauce will have a chance to shine on the 16th season of YouTube interview series “Hot Ones.” Bliss & Vinegar is made with red serrano peppers, tart strawberries and creamy coconut blended into a mellow burn, according to the sauce’s Austin-based maker. The limited edition condiment marks the first…
Feds probing whether Texas’ ban on school mask mandates violates rights of students with disabilities
The federal government is investigating whether the Texas Education Agency is preventing schools from serving students with disabilities by prohibiting districts from having mask mandates, the Texas Tribune reports. The U.S. Department of Education launched the probe Tuesday after the TEA updated its guidance on school mask rules, according to the Tribune. The state agency said…
Síclovía will celebrate outdoor recreation in San Antonio on Sunday
Síclovía will take over Southtown’s streets on Sunday. The all-day, bi-annual community exercise event organized by the YMCA San Antonio closes stretches of San Antonio’s streets to cars, allowing cyclists, pedestrians and others to safely exercise however they see fit. The idea for the free event originated in Bogotá, Columbia about 30 years ago, with…
San Antonio chef behind Cullum’s Attagirl to open Attaboy burger concept in adjacent space
Chris Cullum, the chef behind St. Mary’s Strip favorite the Attaboy bacon cheeseburger, will open a brick and mortar space next door his Cullum’s Attagirl restaurant that will specialize in the stacked sandos. Cullum served the burgers outside of music venue Paper Tiger from 2016 to 2018 via his Attaboy food truck. Eventually, however, focus was solely…
Black jogger wrestled into back of patrol car last year by San Antonio police has sued over the incident
The Black jogger whom San Antonio police wrestled into the back of a patrol vehicle last year in a case of mistaken identity has sued the city, its police chief and the officers involved. The lawsuit filed by Mathias Ometu, 33, accuses two San Antonio Police Department officers who participated in the arrest of “excessive use of…
Live Music in San Antonio This Week: Seth Walker, The Monkees, TV Girl and more
From downtown’s Tobin Center for the Performing Arts to far-flung Floore’s Country Store to the Deco District’s Cool Crest Miniature Golf & Metzger Biergarten, area stages are hosting a wealth of live music this week. If your ears are thirsty for some entertainment, here’s a rundown of recommended gigs by both local and touring artists. Wednesday,…
Corporations were silent as Texas passed its abortion law, but an economic blowback is brewing
In 2017, dozens of Fortune 500 companies, chambers of commerce and tourism groups spoke up against legislation championed by Texas Republican leaders that would have banned transgender people from public restrooms. It ultimately failed. Earlier this year, Texas-based firms including American Airlines and Dell publicly railed against the state’s GOP-backed voting restriction bill, which only…
Guitarist John Scofield, a headliner at San Antonio’s Jazz’SAlive, reflects on a life in music
When it comes to jazz guitar, the heavyweights don’t come much heavier than John Scofield. Scofield, who headlines the Jazz’SAlive festival’s Main Stage on Saturday, September 25, has logged a career spanning five decades. Along the way, he’s played with icons including Miles Davis, Joe Henderson and Herbie Hancock. Acclaimed albums as a bandleader such…
