Cover Story
Texans Head To Colorado For Medical Marijuana Therapy
Former San Antonio resident Sherise Nipper suffers from intractable epilepsy. It wouldn’t be unusual for her to have to have more than a dozen seizures a day. Confined to a wheelchair, there was no light at the end of the tunnel for her and her family. “I was on every kind of prescription you can…
City Of San Antonio Dismisses The Chow Train’s Citation
Update: Tuesday, July 14, 2015, 7:15 p.m. Joan Cheever gave this statement to the San Antonio Current: “I’m happy to hear that the City realized that the people of San Antonio will not stand for prosecution of this sort. It was and is an unjust prosecution, but the ordinance is still on the books and…
5 Shows To See This Week
Tuesday, July 14 Kottonmouth Kings As labelmates of the Insane Clown Posse, Kottonmouth Kings have a built-in audience of Juggalos, the cult fanbase of ICP. But instead of focusing on “Miracles” and forming their own religion (seriously) like their Psychopathic Records brothers, Kottonmouth Kings focus all their energy on bong rips. One of their more…
Audition To Be A Ghoul At 13th Floor Haunted House
Have you ever wanted to growl like a werewolf in public? Eat Jello brains and drink Bloody Mary’s until you’re trashed? Lusted to scare children? Or jam out to scary sounds CDs? If you answered yes to any of the above, you’re most likely a shoe (boo?) in to be a monster at one of…
Boris Diaw Wrote A Children’s Book About His Wild Vacation
The San Antonio Spurs have had quite the busy off-season. To kick-off the Spurs’ summer vacation, part-time basketball superstar and part-time daredevil Tim Duncan, went indoor-skydiving. Then, the dominoes began to fall. Tony Parker went to China, Kawhi Leonard went clubbing with Snoop Dogg and Tiago Splitter got lost in Atlanta somewhere along the way.…
Bat Loco Takes Off In A Week
One of San Antonio’s battiest summer activities returns in a week. The San Antonio River Authority announced today that Bat Loco starts next Tuesday. During the summer, Mexican free-tailed bats roost under Interstate 35 at the intersection of Camden and Newell streets. You can bring a chair there during the summer months and hear a…
Billy Idol Tickets Go On Sale At Tobin Center Friday
Arena-punk Billy Idol is bringing rock ‘n’ roll to SA in support of his new album Kings & Queens of the Underground. The 80s bad boy will be at the Tobin Center on October 5. While the Sex Pistols induced riots back in ’78 San Antonio, Idol will most likely provoke the audience to dance with…
Say Goodbye to Two EZ’s Locations
Our favorite place to get curly cheese fries and California inspired brick-oven pizza’s is closing down some area locations. The restaurant has shut down its Quarry location with nothing more than a Dear John taped to the front door. It appears that the only place left for an EZ’s addict to get their fix is…
New Investor Will Help Blue Bell Return To A Freezer Near You
If you find yourself reaching for a tub of Blue Bell’s Homemade in the Shade in the near future, you can thank Big Oil for the bailout. The Brenham-based ice cream company, still reeling from an April recall after a Listeria outbreak, announced today that Fort Worth investor and oil and gas tycoon Sid Bass…
Nike Will Pay A French Sculptor $75K For Defiling His Work — With Tony Parker’s Jersey
A French court slapped Nike with a $75,000 fine for using a famous sculpture of Winston Churchill for promotion in violation of the artist’s rights. The San Antonio Express-News reported that the artist — Jean Cardot — sued Nike and the promotional company behind the stunt. Footwear giant Nike has been fined €67,500, the equivalent…
‘Gang Money Run’ Makes Mad Dash For Mediocrity
Gang Money Run is the kind of trivial action flick that ran rampant in the late 90s right after director/writer Quentin Tarantino released Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. It was during a time when wannabe quirky gangster movies like Suicide Kings, Boondock Saints, and Things to Do in Denver When Your Dead tried to piggyback…
U.S. Military Will Allow Transgender People To Openly Serve Their Country
With so many barriers to LGBT equality being broken in recent years — and this historic Supreme Court ruling striking down same-sex marriage bans — the military is going to tackle its last discriminatory practice. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Monday that the Defense Department will study “readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve…
Boy Scouts Of America Moves Closer To Ending Ban On Gay Adult Leaders
The Boy Scouts of America took another step toward ending its ban on gay leaders, the organization announced today. The group’s Executive Committee unanimously voted to end the ban, according to a news release. The BSA, one of the nation’s largest youth organizations, has allowed gay youth since 2013. But until now, it has stuck…
Fans Pay Tribute To Jared Padalecki At San Diego Comic Con
San Antonio native and star in the series Supernatural, Jared Padalecki was overwhelmed by fans’ support at San Diego Comic-Con. Over 7,000 fans at Sunday’s Comic-Con took to lighting candles promoting Padalecki’s “Always Keep Fighting” T-shirt campaign, according to the Huffington Post. View from stage. #ComicCon pic.twitter.com/aIy04Cf6ak — Jared Padalecki (@jarpad) July 12, 2015 Padalecki…
Drax The Destroyer Is Coming to San Antonio
Drax the Destroyer will rip open San Antonio’s newest comic store. Join Dave Bautista in the grand opening of Alamo City Comics on July 25. Bautista, the actor, former professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, will be having an autograph session and will take pictures with fans at Alamo City Comics. A VIP package costs…
Spurs Sign Giant Human Boban Marjanovic, Tallest Spur Of The Duncan Era
What qualifies as “really tall” is different for everyday people and professional basketball players. But by any standard, 7’4″ is really, really tall. That’s the height of Boban Marjanovic, the Serbian center who recently signed a one-year, $2 million contract to become the newest San Antonio Spur, according to Eurohoops.net. Marjanovic is definitely the tallest…
Janet Jackson’s Unbreakable Tour Hits San Antonio Early Next Year
Having grown up in one of America’s most-famous families, Janet Jackson is engrained in U.S. pop culture. She first took the stage in 1974 in Las Vegas as part of the Jackson family’s act, and the rest is history. San Antonio lands in the second leg of her Unbreakable World Tour. Tickets for the January…
People Still Think The United Nations Might Take Over The Alamo
Let’s say it together now people, one more time, just to make sure we’re all on the same page: The United Nations will not take over The Alamo. Somehow, not everyone has received this memo. Since it became clear that San Antonio’s Spanish missions might become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, tin foil hat enthusiasts…
Brace Yourselves, Jade Helm 15 Is Coming
First Obamacare. Then same-sex couples having a Constitutional right to marry. Both Supreme Court rulings likely influenced the federal government’s takeover of Texas, which starts Wednesday — according to the Internet. Sure was nice of them to let the Lone Star State know exactly when the hostilities would start and how long the campaign would…
The Limelight Returns To The Strip With Some Necessary Changes
As I walked up to the VIP grand re-opening of Limelight last night, I felt a vibe in the air that was reminiscent of the old “Slimers”. A buzzing crowd, Lonely Horse jamming on stage, and an overall fun time were to be found last night in this reopened St. Mary’s Strip mainstay. [Slideshow: 21 Photos…
Free Stuff News: Tomorrow Is Free Slurpee Day At 7-Eleven
The second-best holiday on July is almost here. Tomorrow, July 11 (7/11, get it?) is Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven. All San Antonio locations will offer free small slurpees from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. There are over a dozen slurpee flavors for you to mix and match to your brain freezing-est delight. So have…
Unlucky And Locked Up At The San Antonio Zoo
The San Antonio Zoo and One World Conservation created dueling websites over whether Lucky — an aging 55-year-old Asian Elephant — should be moved from the San Antonio Zoo to a refuge in Tennessee. And both organizations disagree on the facts. One World Conservation is a long-time critic of the zoo. The San Antonio Zoo…
San Antonio AIDS Foundation Opens New Testing Office
The San Antonio AIDS Foundation (SAAF) has opened a new testing office in an effort to expand the reach of its services. The organization relocated its STD testing services from its headquarters on East Grayson to a new office located just east of Downtown at 333 South Hackberry. The facility provides free HIV, syphilis, hepatitis…
Daughters Of The Republic Of Texas End Alamo Management, But Library Still In Flux
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas will end their custodianship of The Alamo today, marking the first time in over a century that the organization has not managed the Shrine of Texas Liberty. The Daughters have managed The Alamo for 110 years. But in March, Land Commissioner George P. Bush and DRT President Ellen…
Nina Diaz Is Playing The New Limelight Before Heading West On Tour
Nina Diaz heads west later this month for a string of shows in Arizona and California. But before she embarks on her Left Coast mini-tour, you can watch her perform at Limelight on Monday, July 20, with opener Alyson Alonzo. Limelight closed in January after Deric Wynne of 502 Bar took over ownership. The venue reopened…
I Will Not Eat Your Brisket Sandwich, Starbucks
Starbucks, I’m not going to purchase a brisket sandwich from you. I’m just not. I’m on board with many of your other offerings. Cheap drip coffee? Count me in. Stale-ish breakfast pastries? Yup. Breakfast sandwiches that are always way too hot and leave a weird film in your mouth? Sure, whatever. But I now know…
Texas Doesn’t Want Its Youth To Know About Slavery
Slavery had little to nothing to do with the Civil War. Amazingly, history textbooks scheduled to land in classrooms and on desks around the Lone Star State this fall will push this misguided and misinformed theology of diehard deniers of truth. The Washington Post summed up the stupidity well. Five million public school students in…
5 Can’t Miss Food And Booze Events This July
Thursday, July 16: The Hangar Bar & Grill is rolling out their monthly Craft Beer Tasting event with a new array of samples. Featured on the tasting list are SweetWater, Freetail, Saint Arnold, Boerne Brewery, Sierra Nevada, Southern Tier and Big Sky Brewing Co.’s. Participants will also be included in a house raffle. $5, 7-9pm, 8203 Broadway, (210)…
Sunday’s Hippie Fest Has Been Cancelled
If you had tickets to see Rick Derringer and company at Sunday’s Hippie Fest at the Tobin Center, you’re going have to get nostalgic about the free-loving, but tumultuous 60’s another time, because the concert has been cancelled. The Tobin Center is refunding all ticket holders. If you have any questions or want to express…
10 Shows To See This Weekend
Thursday, July 9 Holy Ghost! Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel, the Brooklyn synth-pop duo known as Holy Ghost!, hit the Brass Monkey for a vinyl DJ set exploring the inspiration for this drum machine-heavy, dance-friendly crew. Free, 10pm, Brass Monkey, 2702 N St Mary’s St, (210) 480-4722 Thursday, July 9 El Campo When I first…
10 Things You Have To Do This Weekend
Thu 7/9 Drunk with the Starry Void New York-based painter, printmaker, sculptor, needlepointist, photographer and performance artist Lesley Dill is getting quite cozy with our fair city. “Lesley Dill: Performance as Art,” a kind of retrospective and overview, has been on view at the McNay since June 10. The exhibit, which focuses especially on Dill’s…
Read Tim Duncan’s Adorable, But Fake Welcome Letter To LaMarcus Aldridge
Funny or Die went and imagined what a polite welcome letter from the dispassionate, yet completely lovable Spurs’ veteran Tim Duncan would look like. The website poked fun at the generally serious Duncan by publishing a fake handwritten note he didn’t write to his soon-to-be teammate LaMarcus Aldridge. Fake, or no, we’re going to pretend…
Controversial Boxer Tony Ayala Jr. Died From ‘Heroin Toxicity’
Tony Ayala Jr., a promising boxer who spent the prime of his life in prison for raping a neighbor at knife-point, was found dead in his family’s West Side gym last May. The San Antonio Express-News reports that the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Thursday that Ayala died from “heroin toxicity.” According to a…
‘The Price Is Right Live!’ Adds Third Show For San Antonio
San Antonio, come on down! Again. And again. Evidently San Antonio’s Plinko demand is strong, as The Price Is Right Live! has added a third show at The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts for September 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the first show sold out in 12 minutes. A second show was added…
Limelight Returns To The St. Mary’s Strip With VIP Grand Re-Opening
Taking its rightful place back on the St. Mary’s strip, music venue Limelight is ready for a return welcome this Thursday, July 9 as warm as its Goosebumps green glow. With a complete makeover, new direction and a cutting-edge sound system in the mix, Limelight’s returning to its glory days. There’s no better way to destroy…
Turn Your Tortilla Into A Playable Record Through The Transformative Power Of Lasers
Tortillas. You have them in your house, most likely. You can eat them. They’re delicious, and they are the bedrock of God’s greatest gift: the taco. But did you know they can also play music? They can, apparently! In April, a stupid (and mildly racist) video popped up on YouTube of a tortilla spinning on…
Waffle House Responds, Waffle House Fan Sorry For Hurting Migas’ Feelings
And now an update to what may very well be the most important issue our city has ever faced: San Antonio’s egregious lack of a Waffle House franchise. Yesterday, we reported that a new Twitter campaign to bring Waffle House to San Antonio began online this week. The response has been overwhelming because, wouldn’t you…
7 More Ways to Get Your Drink/Grub On This Weekend
Thursday, July 9: New, Prohibition-style restaurant The General Public will open at The Rim Shopping Center for lunch and dinner. The menu by Chef Daniel Menchaca will feature twists on home-style favorite dishes such as Mama’s tamale pie, tempura-style shishitos & ‘shrooms, and jumbo lump crab cakes. Prices vary, 11am-midnight Sunday-Thursday; 11am-2am Friday and Saturday; 17619…
$1 Bottled Beers at Hills & Dales, Get ‘Em While They’re Cold!
Clearance sale, everything must go! Hills & Dales Ice House (15403 White Fawn Dr.) is liquidating it’s excess random bottled brews to make room for new stock. Starting only a couple hours earlier, the Ice House is selling single bottles for $1 a piece while supplies last, what you see is what you get. Bottles…
Put Up Or Shut Up: Texas Judge Is Done Playing Around With Obama
Andrew Hanen’s about had it with President Obama’s Homeland Security Department and its program to legalize millions of undocumented youngsters and their parents. Well, at least about had it with the department’s apparent shoulder shrug to Hanen’s repeated warnings to get its act straight. Hanen is the federal judge in Brownsville who basically single-handedly made…
Untapped Festival Is Coming To San Antonio
Beer? Good. Music? Good. So already I can’t see why we wouldn’t want a beer- and music-driven festival to grace our fair city. Though details as of yet are scarce, Untapped Festival, which organizes these events throughout Texas, has shared the date for their first stop in San Antonio on Saturday, November 21. The company…
Councilman Warrick Wants Inventory Of Public Confederate Flags In SA
Councilman Alan Warrick asked Mayor Ivy Taylor today to appoint a task force to “review and inventory” all the Confederate flags and monuments in public places in San Antonio. “I do not believe the vast majority of residents who support Confederate flags or monuments have hate in their hearts. The fact that some of these…
SA Woman Wants To Build Medical Marijuana Haven In Colorado For Texans
After Sherise Nipper moved to Colorado to access medicinal marijuana, she found remarkable success. Nipper, who suffers from intractable epilepsy, told the San Antonio Current that she’s gone 65 days without a seizure since making the big move from San Antonio. She credits this success to a combination of CBD oil and THC — two…
Why Cocktail Takeovers Are A Win-Win-Win
Though craft beer takeovers — where one brewery packs in its wares throughout another establishment’s taps — are now commonplace, cocktails have been a bit slow on the uptake. That is, until last winter as bartenders started popping up around town, sharing space with their counterparts and generally having an awesome time doing it. Trends…
Adult Ice Creams At The House
Booze and ice cream? Sounds like an attractive hangover. Just in time for summer, Robert Nickle and his daughter Dani Nickle-Farmakakis opened The House in Southtown offering beer and ice cream … and boozy ice cream. You can order a beer or glass of vino at the bar or get a cup of bourbon vanilla…
Artist On Artist: Gary Sweeney Interviews Phillip John Evett
Phillip John Evett is a 93-year-old local treasure. He’s exactly the kind of artist I had in mind when I started doing interviews: an accomplished, established artist whose name should be a household name in Texas, yet hasn’t received nearly the recognition he deserves. A delightful, charming Englishman with a remarkably sharp mind and quick…
NYC Artist Lesley Dill Gets Us ‘Drunk With The Starry Void’
New York-based painter, printmaker, sculptor, needlepointist, photographer and performance artist Lesley Dill is getting quite cozy with our fair city. “Lesley Dill: Performance as Art,” a kind of retrospective and overview, has been on view at the McNay since June 10. The exhibit, which focuses especially on Dill’s contributions to performance art, gives us a…
The Playhouse Serves Up ‘Water By The Spoonful’
For the first half of Water by the Spoonful, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize, two separate acts compete within a single one-ring circus. In the first, Elliot Ortiz, a former Marine wounded in body and soul by service in Iraq, and his cousin Yazmin, a newly divorced college teacher, contend with a death in…
Jessica Hopper Compiles A Vital Career In Music Writing
From the gut-spilling mission statement of her first essay, Jessica Hopper has her finger locked on the pulse of popular music, pressing down hard to prompt better work if the stream isn’t up to standard. With a raw idiolect, the rock critic unfurls over 42 essays, interviews, reviews and oral histories her “soul-entanglement with music.”…
Better Late Than Intransigent: Douglas Miles Clarke’s ‘Intransigence’
If you’ve never heard of local, late-blooming singer, songwriter and guitarist Douglas Miles Clarke, it’s high time to amend that. As a Canuck youngster in the ’70s and early ’80s, he played in bands and honed his skills before more pragmatic concerns — college, an MBA from Pepperdine and a career in finance — relegated…
New Doc Paints Tragic Portrait Of Singer Amy Winehouse
Although largely eschewed by influential masters like Frederick Wiseman and the Maysles brothers, the talking head interview has come to dominate the documentary genre, especially in this post-Michael Moore age of the activist doc. It’s an easy narrative crutch, basically the same straight-to-camera explication technique used by every single reality show and it generally leads…
Savage Love: Disunion
I entered into a civil union with another woman in Vermont in 2000. My ex and I were together until 2003, when we decided to go our separate ways. It is now 2015, and my new partner (who happens to be male) and I are expecting a baby and talking about getting married. We live…
Free Will Astrology, Week Of July 6
ARIES (March 21-April 19): How can you fulfill your potential as an Aries? What strategies will help you become the best Aries you can possibly be? Now is an excellent time to meditate on these riddles. One of my Aries readers, Mickki Langston, has some stellar tips to inspire you: 1. One of your greatest…
San Antonio LGBT Activists Recall Decades-Long Fight
When news broke that the Supreme Court had struck down the ban on same-sex marriages, Donna and Jordan Reed were the second couple to apply for a marriage license at the Bexar County Clerk’s office. Donna, 67, and Jordan, 69, have been together for 47 years. Jordan said they’ve been “quietly out,” primarily wrapped up…
Lesbian Immigrant Seeks Church Refuge To Avoid Deportation
Normally, people seek refuge in a place of worship for solace and comfort. For Sulma Franco, it’s to avoid being deported. Franco, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who settled in San Antonio before moving up the road to Austin, where she’s now holed up in a church hoping that immigration authorities won’t bust in to…
Fanciful Barbecue Smoke Hits Stone Oak
It should come as no surprise to most frequent readers that I’m not entirely a fan of Loopland. I blame it on the driving conditions as luxury SUVs whizz by my struggling compact and I never have a clue where I’m going (I accidentally parked at Cornerstone while trying to find my bearings). On my…
Lunchtime Snob: Seeking Knighthood At Royal Pizza
“Lunch Special: 4 Slices and Soda for $3.99.” A frazzling statement. When I saw this advertised, I was intrigued, nervous, searching for fine print that maybe this was only available on the fifth Thursday of the month or that it only included week-old pizza. After skimming Royal Pizza’s menu of unique topping combinations, I was…
5 Ways To Get Your Drink/Grub On This Week
Thursday, July 9 Store Stroll: What’s better than wandering around Central Market on a weeknight, sampling goodies? Strolling while sipping on a diverse range of wines. Stations throughout the store will include sips of Cava, Rose, Riesling, pinot noirs and cabs along with a few snacks during this self-guided tour. Step up your mimosa game…
More Coffee For Southtown, Jason Dady’s Shuck Shack And More
Is Starbucks worried yet? White Elephant Coffee Company has joined the fleet of locally-owned coffee shops in town. The shop, located at 1415 S. Presa, features the usual java drinks, such as cappuccinos, Americanos, lattes and whatnots, along with a few caffeine-free options. Pastries and simple sandwiches are on the way, but owner Jose Carlos…
