Cover Story
Why San Antonio’s Indie Coffee Shops Are Here To Stay
The sign for the Huebner Express convenience store advertises the necessities: coffee, snacks, cold soda and beer. Travel about 10 miles south on I-10 and then east on Loop 410 and you’ll pass a shuttered gas station that once sold similar wares. For San Antonio’s coffee cognoscenti, these shops have become North Side pilgrimage points…
Star Trek, Patricia Vonne and Killin’ Fellas: A Guide To The 2015 Alamo City Film Festival
San Antonio’s first annual Alamo City Film Festival, occurring next month during Alamo City Comic Con, will host a wide variety of indie films, ranging from thought-provoking documentaries, quirky dramas, high-intensity action films, all the way to Star Trek. From Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13, catch the action at the Lila Cockrell Theatre, 200 E. Market…
Debate Post-Mortem: Ted Cruz Says Ellen Page Is Part Of ‘Assault On Religious Liberty’
Seems like Texas Senator and aspiring presidential candidate Ted Cruz did not know who it was that publicly challenged him while he led a media pack for a photo op BBQing at the Iowa State Fair last week. Now, of course, we all know it was none other than actress Ellen Page, who took Cruz…
Councilman Ron Nirenberg Suggests Year-Round Water Restrictions
After a 50-day respite from years of water restrictions, the dog days of summer are leaving San Antonio high and dry once again. A solution? Practice year-round water thriftiness by making Stage 1 Restrictions the norm. That’s what Councilman Ron Nirenberg suggested today in a memo. “The cheapest, most available water is the water we…
After A Restraining Order and Computer Hacking Claims, Alamo Library Divorce Gets Messier
Changing the locks on the doors, swapping legal notices, accusations of hacked computers. It’s not the product of Ashley Madison-fueled relationship ruination. It’s the plot of the latest development in the messy saga between the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and the state’s General Land Office. The Daughters of the Republic of Texas filed…
Paramour, Downtown’s First Rooftop Bar, Opens Thursday
The day more than a year in the making is finally here: Paramour (102 9th St., Suite 400) will open Thursday, August 27 at 4 p.m. Paramour, opened by General Manager Chris Ware (previously at Arcade Midtown Kitchen & Bohanan’s Bar) is SA’s first downtown rooftop bar (if we don’t count the upstairs seating area for…
We’re Looking For Creative And Witty Editorial Interns
The San Antonio Current is looking for several interns to join our editorial team as bloggers. As an intern at Current there’s no getting coffee, filing, or making copies. Our interns spend their time doing meaningful work: researching, writing, and pitching story ideas for our website. You will be expected to churn out relevant, witty,…
Austin Mahone Headlines MixFest At Tobin Center
The Tobin Center and Mix 96.1 announced the lineup for MixFEST on Saturday, October 17, featuring SA native Austin Mahone, Alessia Cara, Kaya Stewart, Daya and Bea Miller. By the metric of YouTube hits, Mahone is far and away the most famous musician to emerge from San Antonio. Two of his productions — “What About Love”…
The DoSeum Is Throwing Another ReDo Recess For Adults
I’ll try not to use a ton of exclamation points in this post, but it’s difficult to not be super jazzed about The DoSeum’s (2800 Broadway St., 210-212-4453) next ReDo Recess event! (My bad) Set for Friday, September 18 from 6:30-9 p.m., ReDo Recess opens The DoSeum’s doors to adults 21 and up. No kids…
The Last Word Is Hosting The Official PechaKucha Vol. 19 After Party
If you can’t make it to PechaKucha Vol. 19 tonight at the Empire Theatre, do what the cool people do and just attend the after party. The Last Word (229 Houston, 210-314-1285, thelastwordsa.com) is hosting the official PechaKucha after party tonight at 10:15 p.m. Bartenders will be serving the official PechaKucha cocktail, the “Pecha Punch,”…
Greg Abbott Is Just Like Hillary Clinton
Conservative patriots all across the United States have rightly criticized presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for using a private email server to conduct State Department business. As the Washington Post notes in its primer on the controversy, officials who do this risk security and jeopardize the government’s ability to adhere to open record laws. In early…
5 Shows To See This Week
Tuesday, August 25 PechaKucha A professor, chef and guitarist walk into the Empire Theatre … no, this isn’t the set-up for a bad joke, but it’s time for another night of stimulating presentations and mingling. PechaKucha, “chit-chat” in Japanese, invites San Anto creatives to share their passions using PowerPoint (20 slides for 20 seconds each).…
Jeb Bush On Anchor Babies: It’s More Related To Asians
We get a laugh every time the Republican circus travels to the Rio Grande Valley. Yesterday, former Florida governor and wannabe president Jeb Bush became “frustrated” and “visibly irritated” after border reporters pressed him on his use of the term “anchor babies,” which is an ugly term used to describe kids born to parents who…
Tickets For Gruene Music & Wine Festival Go On Sale Next Tuesday
It’s that time of the year again, for Gruene Music and Wine Festival starting Thursday, October 8 through Sunday, October 11. Tickets for the four day event go on sale starting Tuesday, September 1. Gruene Historic District is hosting the four day event where there will be door prizes, speciality beer tastings and a Tucker Marshall…
Houston Dunces Protest First Day Of Classes At Arabic Immersion School
A protest at an Arabic immersion school in Houston sets a high bar for xenophobic Americans looking for a new low. The Houston Chronicle reports that red-, white- and blue-clad patriots waved Israeli and American flags outside of the Houston Independent School District’s new Arabic Immersion Magnet School, which is attended by more than 100…
Fairview Coffee Bar & Grub Is Now Open
The coffee coverage doesn’t stop because the Coffee Issue hit stands last week… Fairview Coffee Bar & Grub (3428 N. St. Mary’s, 210-731-8009) opened Monday morning at 7 a.m. The shop is located in the same shopping center as the new location of Pizza Classics, SA Pops and the now-closed Joseph’s Bakery. The shop will…
More People Will Likely Vote For Tobin Hill “Mayor” Than U.S. Prez
(Note: The headline is clearly a joke…we hope.) Did you know there’s an unofficial mayor of Tobin Hill? Did you know this position is now a hotly contested ticket with five — count them, five — candidates vying for this mostly fake seat? Yeah, that’s a thing now, and it’s being paired with multiple debates, the…
Watch The Texas A&M Kingsville Marching Band Perform Selena’s ‘Como La Flor’
Count us as new members of the Javelina Marching Band fan club. The Texas A&M University — Kingsville band will perform an exhibition show this year called “The Music of Selena.” Over the weekend, the band posted a video of the first third of the show — a rendition of Como la Flor. Here’s video…
After Indictments, Most Texas Republicans Think Attorney General Ken Paxton Should Resign
After three felony indictments for securities fraud, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton no longer has the support of many of the folks who voted him into office. A poll of likely Texas Republican voters found that 62 percent of them believe Paxton should resign. More than half of voters who themselves identified as Tea Party…
Blue Bell Reveals First Flavor To Land On Texas Shelves
Texas is finally getting Blue Bell back, starting with classic vanilla. But you’ll have to go to Austin to get it. The company said product lands on shelves in the Brenham, Houston and Austin areas, as well as parts of Alabama, on August 31. Here’s what to expect with the limited roll-out of Blue Bell:…
Live and Local: Death at Paper Tiger
The story of Death almost plays out like a music fairy tale, one not lacking in tragic currents. That tale is explored in a new documentary A Band Called Death, which traces the band’s inception in Detroit “Drag City” in the early 1970’s to the band’s recent reincarnation. Although grown up by the sounds of…
Silent Bob Speaks! A Candid Q&A With Kevin Smith
Quite frankly, there is no one else in the world like Kevin Smith. For over 20 years, since he kicked Hollywood’s doors in with his directorial debut, the seminal independent movie Clerks, Smith has forged an iconoclastic career and done so with hustle, a little moxie, and a lot of dick jokes. He is currently…
Police Need Your Help To Find This Woman’s Body
The San Antonio Police Department is offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the suspects who stole a 25-year-old woman’s body from a funeral home last week. Julie Mott’s remains were taken from her casket at Mission Park Funeral Chapel North following her August 15 funeral service. Mott died on August 8 from…
Live And Local: Daniel Johnston At The Paper Tiger
Like the love he lives for and the dreams he materializes, Daniel Johnston gave a piece of his heart to everyone at the Paper Tiger Thursday night. The Daniel Johnston booth was the most happenin’ I’ve seen at a concert, every fan clamoring to take home a piece of the eccentric musician. Art books, signed…
Texas Christian Vlogger Tied To Ashley Madison Forgiven By God And Wife
The great thing about modern Christianity is you only need ask for your Savior’s forgiveness in order to be fully absolved of sin. Even if you’re a vlogger who faked a pregnancy and miscarriage in order to achieve viral fame — and the income that comes with it — while sharing the word of the…
City Employee With Email Address Linked To Ashley Madison Committed Suicide
Reports surfaced yesterday of three City of San Antonio employee email accounts that were exposed in this week’s Ashley Madison account leak. One of those email accounts belongs to an employee who committed suicide on Thursday. It’s unclear at this time if the Ashley Madison hack had anything to do with the employee’s death, the…
Sasha Petraske, Mixologist Who Developed Bohanan’s Bar Program, Dies
We could sit here and argue over who’s got the better Manhattan in town, but none of it would be possible without Sasha Petraske, 42. The man behind New York City’s Milk & Honey was found dead on Friday in Hudson, New York according to The New York Times. He was also responsible for developing…
Bakery Lorraine Is Throwing A French Pop-Up Next Friday
Thirty lucky duckies will be the first to try Bakery Lorraine’s (306 Pearl Pkwy., Suite 110) Wolf & Stone pop-up on August 28. Created by chef Will Reynolds who has worked with the bakery since its early days off Grayson, the menu will feature five French-inspired dishes. The sole seating will take place at 8 p.m.…
Foodie News For Azuca, Hotel Emma And Nectar
Let’s make room for an exploration of rums at Azuca Nuevo Latino (713 S. Alamo St., 210-225-5550). Crafted by chef Rene Fernandez, the Latin Rums and Flavors dinner will be held on Thursday, August 27 at 7 p.m. The menu will include cuisine from Caribbean countries and will be paired with daiquiris, mojitos and other…
Sam Rader, Of The Texas Christian Vlogging Couple Sam And Nia, Is Also An Ashley Madison User
Sam Rader, husband of Christian vlogger couple Sam and Nia, has allegedly been identified in the Ashley Madison hack. On Tuesday, hackers published the personal information of 32 million users of the dating site for cheating spouses. If you’ve been on the internet the past few weeks, you may know of the Terrell, Texas, couple’s…
Something Good Fest At Viva Tacoland Announces Lineup
A booming punk spot established in the ’60s, the original Taco Land shut down in 2005 after the murder of its owner Ram Ayala. In the past few years, it’s returned to new (and meatier) life as Viva Tacoland. Located on primo real estate overlooking the San Antonio River, Viva Tacoland is re-establishing itself as…
A Developer Is Donating The Hot Wells Ruins To Bexar County
Once a flourishing spa that attracted the likes of Will Rogers, Charlie Chaplain and Teddy Roosevelt, the Hot Wells Hotel and Spa — now in ruins — has been the subject of revitalization for years. In the next few months, that may become a reality. KSAT 12 reports that a deal between James Lifshutz, who…
5 Finalists Picked For San Antonio Police Chief
City Manager Sheryl Sculley announced on Thursday that five finalists have been selected to replace former Chief William McManus as San Antonio’s top cop. The five finalists are: -Anthony Treviño, Interim Chief of Police, San Antonio -Art Acevedo, Chief of Police, Austin -Malik Aziz, Deputy Chief of Police, Dallas -Albert Salinas, Deputy Chief of Police,…
Texas Marijuana Advocacy Organization Hired An Executive Director
The Texas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, say momentum over the last two years in lobbying the state to reform pot laws has allowed it to pay an executive director. The vast majority of positions in Texas’ marijuana advocacy organizations are volunteer. “In the past few years,…
Check Out The 2015 Diez Y Seis De Septiembre Calendar Of Events
September means it’s time to celebrate Mexico’s independence from Spain. Naturally, San Antonio does it right, with festivities running from August 26 until mid-October. The City of San Antonio Department for Culture & Creative Development, along with the city’s Diez y Seis de Septiembre Commissioned announced this week that 2015’s calendar of events is now…
10 Shows To See This Weekend
Thursday, August 20 Hector Ward and The Big Time Austin’s Hector Ward fronts The Big Time, an 11 piece band performing pop-funk, soul, ska and blues. With a band this big, there are a lot of options. $7-$30, 7pm, Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St, (210) 223-2830 Friday, August 21 Death Detroit proto-punk trio Death’s album…
Did Texas Monthly Diss Selena & Corpus Christi?
Update: Thursday, August 20, 2015, 5:20 p.m. The Current erroneously reported that Corpus Christi CVB director of communications Ashley Higson Simper referred to Selena as “our little Hispanic girl.” Simper was referring to a colleague. After an article in the most recent edition of Texas Monthly, the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau has discontinued…
Are We Seriously Doing This? Trump Leads Texas Poll
It seems that Texas Republicans, like Republicans everywhere else, have caught Trump fever. Insert your favorite pathology joke here. Donald Trump is the favored presidential candidate among Texas Republican voters, according to a poll released today by the Texas Bipartisan Justice Committee. The Houston Chronicle reported the results. Trump leads the poll with 24 percent…
Celebrate The Tobin Center’s 1st Anniversary — For Free
Has it been a year already? Just about. The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts invites all of San Antonio and Bexar County to celebrate the milestone on Sunday, August 30 from 2 to 5 p.m. The venue opened its doors on September 4, 2014. The event is free and open to the public and features…
Cappy’s Is Back In Business After Fire
Cappy’s (5011 Broadway, 210-828-9669), which was forced to shut down on after a blaze burned parts of the eatery and sister location Cappycino’s on June 9, is now open. Expect the same menu for now, same staff and same hours as before, but make note that the Alamo Heights institution will close for the next…
Tickets On Sale For Untapped Festival in November
Untapped Festival stopped being a tease and finally announced a date, place and lineup for its inaugural San Anto bash. Pre-sale tickets for the November 21 festival at the Lone Star Brewery (600 Lone Star Blvd.) are on sale now, so if you’re a fan of Metric, Tokyo Police Club, GZA, Saint Motel and Nina…
10 Things You Have To Do This Weekend
Thu 8/20 Daniel Johnston Jeremiah the Innocent — the iconic frog depicted in Austin’s Hi, How Are You mural and made famous by a T-shirt worn by Kurt Cobain — is a gateway drug into the music of its owner, Daniel Johnston. Once hooked, the listener will find the ATX transplant’s melodies masked by the…
Yes, That’s An Alligator In The River … Will You Still Go Tubing?
Texas: It’s just like Florida. We’ve both got extreme far-right wing political craziness, weird crimes, oh, and alligators. Comal County resident Carey Mueller captured an image of a small, 4-foot-long alligator in the Guadalupe River, which may give pause to tubers and other people who like to cool off this summer in the water. Game wardens…
Don’t Miss Saakred’s Farewell (For Now) Show At Phantom Room
After a few years of stirring progressive thought and ambitious art in San Antonio, Saakred is taking their talents to the beaches of West Ireland. After winning a grant from the Burren College of Art, Saakred will be out of country for a few months, making this the last chance to catch the Chicanx punk/lo-fi…
Creep Who Raped UTSA Student Sentenced To Life
A 35-year-old man who held two UTSA students against their will, raping one of them at knifepoint, is going away for a long time. Bo Jett Littleton was handed three life sentences plus 60 years after he was convicted by a Bexar County jury in the 290th District Court on charges of aggravated kidnapping, burglary…
Nearly 100,000 Ashley Madison Accounts Linked To San Antonio
On Tuesday, hackers known as “The Impact Group” published a massive 10 gigabyte file containing personal information for over 30 million Ashley Madison users. Since the sensitive information was posted, journalists and researchers have been mining the data to determine who is using the go-to online dating site for cheating spouses. A ranking published this…
Spurs Players Combined Make Slightly More Than Michael Jordan’s Annual Endorsements
On the court or in the courtroom, Michael Jordan’s supreme confidence and staggering wealth have been in the headlines this past week. After LeBron James stated he could beat Jordan in his prime, MJ responded with a firm no. In a U.S. District Court case against closed grocery chain Dominick’s, we learned that Michael doesn’t…
Watch A UTSA Frat Bro Knock The Crap Out Of A Pool Party Crasher
A carefree pool party hosted by two UTSA fraternities erupted into a massive street brawl on Sunday, devastating a surrounding community that was left to pick up the pieces after the outbreak of violence. Not really, but one fraternity brother wearing an Uncle Sam hat demonstrated his ability to land a left hook. And it…
Tim Duncan Wins Best Teammate Award Because Of Course He Does
The NBA doesn’t have an explicit “all-around good dude award,” but this is pretty close. And no surprise, it went to San Antonio’s own Tim Duncan this season. The NBA announced today that Duncan won the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award for the 2014-15 season. This is the award’s third year. A couple of…
The Witte Museum’s New Entrance Will Feature A Flying Monster
The Witte Museum celebrated the beginning stages of construction for the H-E-B Lantern, the new entrance to the museum that will feature a Pterosaur called “Quetzy.” The dinosaur, called Quetzacoatlus northropi in science-speak, is the largest knowing flying animal. It was discovered in Big Bend National Park. The Witte is undergoing a $100 million expansion…
Study: Texas Is The 4th Worst State For Gender Equality
Would it surprise you to learn that the Lone Star State is the fourth worst state in the nation for gender equality? According to an analysis by the personal finance website WalletHub, Texas is woefully behind the rest of the country when it comes to women’s equality. The analysis considered three “key dimensions,” including workplace…
Animal Care Services Seeks Donations For Pup Attacked With Acid
Who could do such a thing? That’s what Animal Care Services is trying to figure out, calling pit bull Rosie’s case one of the most disturbing its ever seen in San Antonio. Rosie was doused with hydrochloric acid, a caustic liquid sometimes used to dissolve rust off of steel in industrial settings. The five-year-old dog…
Musical Bridges Presents Philly Great Tootie Heath
Albert “Tootie” Heath tells such vivid stories in his drum playing that a spoiler alert should be required to discuss his solos in print. His is a melodic style, using the toms and snare to communicate with the band, calling back to a horn player’s phrases like a mockingbird to its source. A native of…
The One Thing Every Musician Needs To Hear
Performing at great volume, musicians’ ears are bound to a cruel ratio. As ability and audiences grow, earplug-less musicians are able to hear less and less of their work — like a painter whose vision muddles with each brushstroke. For musicians, soldiers and others exposed to loud sound in the workplace, the damage is known…
B-Cycle Plans For Expansion With VIA Transit, City
After nearly blowing a spoke earlier this year, B-Cycle San Antonio is getting set to expand — with a little help from its friends. In la te July, VIA Metropolitan Transit’s board of trustees voted to explore a partnership with the organization. VIA’s decision builds off momentum forged when San Antonio leaders announced a partnership…
SA’s Poor Linger In Ramshackle Homes
Mary Gonzalez and I are sitting at the table in her hot, cramped kitchen, thumbing through the pages of a weathered notebook. On each page, Gonzalez has scrawled in boxy handwriting the names and contact information of various nonprofits and public officials. She talks me through each item, the mechanical whir of portable fans providing…
Bar Crawl: Thursty Turtle, Boozehounds And Me And CA Karaoke
As much as I love the (sort of) recent surge of fancy cocktail bars — and Lawd knows I love me a good cocktail — sometimes I just want a beer. Or maybe Malibu and pineapple. I want to wear a baseball cap and a wrinkly tee shirt that was balled up on the floor…
Cutest Taste Test Ever: 4 Must-Try Macaron Shops In SA
Macarons, an Instagram goldmine. Since they first made an splash on social media, interest has surged about these Parisian desserts. However, if you take the time to sit down and truly appreciate these delicacies, you’ll realize that there’s so much more to them than their photogenic qualities. To that point, we traveled across San Antonio in…
Savage Love: The Boyfriend Experience
I’m a woman in a straight relationship. I woke up this morning, and my BF wasn’t in bed with me. He felt ill in the middle of the night and went to sleep in the spare room—where he found a condom in its wrapper behind the nightstand. Now my BF thinks I’m cheating on him.…
Hatred, Fear And Envy Take The Stage In David Mamet’s ‘Race’
“Race is the most incendiary topic in our history,” says Jack Lawson, a white lawyer in the play, Race. It was true in 2009, when David Mamet’s provocative oeuvre opened on Broadway. And it seems even more so today, after Ferguson, Baltimore, Charleston and other locales where black lives appear not to have mattered. Race…
Late Artist Mel Casas Remembered In ‘Humanscapes’ Series
Mel Casas is one of San Antonio’s most influential artists, yet also among the most overlooked. During his lifetime, the El Paso-born painter never had a major exhibit at one of his adopted hometown’s museums, despite being included in the 1975 Whitney Biennial and the landmark “Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation” in the 1990s. Not…
‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ Looks For Room In Crowded Espionage Marketplace
It’s understandable if this is your first reaction to a movie version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: “Do we really need another movie version of an old television show?” It’s a reaction one should have on a regular basis and it only means that you are an emotionally healthy adult. But there’s another equally valid…
5 Local San Antonio Coffee Roasters
We can’t look to the future of coffee without taking a quick step back and remembering the pioneers of our local coffee scene. San Antonio Coffee Roasters launched in 1983 and still has a presence on wholesale shelves and at Pearl Farmers Market. Smaller, boutique roasters weren’t found until the mid-2000s, but even then San…
Mo’ Joe: 24 Local Alamo City Coffee Shops
Aspen’s Brew 11255 Huebner Rd., Suite 100, (210) 561-5551, aspensbrewcoffee.com A buzzing local favorite that is quick, cheap and fresh, Aspen Brewery offers a wide variety of ways to enjoy your cup of joe and free wi-fi. Compliment your morning bagel with a flavorful cold brew iced coffee for only $5. Barrio Barista 735 Culebra…
Free Will Astrology, Week of August 17
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You’d probably prefer to stay in the romantic, carefree state of mind. But from what I can tell, you’re ripe for a new phase of your long-term cycle. Your freestyle rambles and jaunty adventures should now make way for careful introspection and thoughtful adjustments. Instead of restless star-gazing, I suggest patient…
‘The End Of The Tour’ Director James Ponsoldt Talks David Foster Wallace
Filmmaker James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) was immediately drawn to the work of author David Foster Wallace when he read his critically-acclaimed 1996 novel Infinite Jest as a freshman in college. Twenty years later, Ponsoldt jumped at the opportunity to direct The End of the Tour, a film adapted from Rolling Stone contributing editor David…
5 Ways To Get Your Drink/Grub On This Week
Thursday, August 20 Visiting Chef Dinner: The John Besh Restaurant Group is all about collaboration. To that effect, Lüke San Antonio continues its Visiting Chef’s Dinner series with chef Phil Mariano of Domenica — Besh’s take on Italian cuisine in New Orleans. Lüke’s John Russ will play host as Mariano and co. whip up a…
Flavor File: New Mezcales, More Tiff’s Treats And Even More Coffee On The Way
There’s a new line of mezcales in town and you can sip on the smoky, evolving flavors at Mezcalería Mixtli (5313 McCullough Ave.) next Wednesday from 5-6 p.m. Taste a flight of six mezcales (including some from Real Minero and Rey Campero) as presented by William Scanlan III of Heavy Métl, while noshing on snacks…
