Austin, TX

Austin chef cooks up vegan comfort food to reach more communities of color.

Published

1 year ago

November 26, 2024

Austin chef cooks up vegan comfort food to reach more communities of color.

AUSTIN, Texas — The most important step Marlon Rison ever took for his health was the day he quit consuming meat products.

“I remember it was an afternoon. I didn’t have much going on,” Rison said.

He remembers the date too. It was 8 years ago on July 3.

Rison had been a personal trainer for several years and always focused on anything regarding health, exercise and eating.

That fateful day, he watched a documentary called ‘What the Health’ on Netflix.

“I had no idea what I was getting into,” Rison said.

Rison grew up with upper respiratory issues, something his father told him was hereditary.

“Quickly you learn that it’s not what’s in your family as far as your bloodline goes that affects your health, it’s the habits that get passed down from generation to generation,” Rison said.

Rison expected to lose weight once he started a plant-based diet. The power lifter says at his heaviest he was around 380 pounds.

“Within the first 30 days I lost about 30 pounds,” Rison said.

But Rison was amazed by how else his body was changing. Lifelong health problems were regressing until he was seemingly healed.

“High blood pressure? Gone. Acid reflux? Gone. Respiratory issues? Non-existent. Asthma medicine? Don’t need it anymore.” Rison said.

The Victoria native started being creative in the kitchen. He dreamed of a cooking show, but the pandemic halted those aspirations. Rison used a lot of the time reflecting, trying to figure out his purpose. Around this time, Rison’s father found slave purchase papers listing his fifth great-grandfather.

“It’s crazy when you see a receipt for a human,” Rison said.

It gave him a realization.

“From there I said, ‘man there’s a lot more I can be doing to really thank them (ancestors) for loving me before they knew me’,” Rison recalled.

Inspired, Rison sought to offer the same love to future generations in his family. He found his answer in opening a business and creating generational wealth.

Rison and his business partner, Ericka Dotson, opened Community Vegan making plant-based soul food accessible to communities of color in East Austin.

“Be able to eat foods that are good tasting, remind them of what they grew up eating at home but also happen to be plant-based,” Rison said.

Rison has no desire to convert meat eaters or make people eat at his business regularly. He just wants a chance to educate people.

“Especially people of color, we just don’t have that education of food,” Rison said. “It’s something we need to do a better job of, and that’s what I’m here to do.”

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Austin, TX

Silver Alert issued for missing 73-year-old man in Austin

Published

7 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Silver Alert issued for missing 73-year-old man in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a Silver Alert for an elderly man who has been missing since Friday afternoon in Austin.

The Austin Police Department is looking for Charles Evans, a 73-year-old man diagnosed with a cognitive impairment. Evans was last seen at 5:37 p.m. on Jan. 9 in Austin.

Silver Alert issued for missing 73-year-old man in Austin

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Police describe him as a 6’3″ tall white male, weighing 225 pounds, has gray hair, hazel eyes, and who uses a walker.

Law enforcement officials believe his disappearance poses a credible threat to his health and safety.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-5000.

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Austin, TX

Man arrested, charged for deadly shooting at downtown Austin hotel

Published

19 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Man arrested, charged for deadly shooting at downtown Austin hotel

article

AUSTIN, Texas – A 20-year-old was arrested and charged with murder for a deadly shooting at the Cambria Hotel in downtown Austin, police said.

What we know:

Police said on Monday, Jan. 5, around 6:55 a.m., officers responded to a report of a gunshot at the Cambria Hotel at 68 East Avenue #824. The caller said a person had been shot.

When officers arrived, they found a man with injuries. He later died at the scene. He was identified as Luke Bradburn.

The investigation revealed that Bradburn drove and crashed a car that belonged to 20-year-old Maximillian Salinas. After the crash, Bradburn and the other people in the car left and went to the Cambria Hotel.

Salinas went to the hotel and shot Bradburn.

On Jan. 6, Salinas was arrested and charged with murder.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Austin Police at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.

The Source: Information from the Austin Police Department

DowntownCrime and Public Safety

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Austin, TX

Austin activists hold anti-ICE protests following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Austin activists hold anti-ICE protests following the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis

Chants of “shame” and “ICE out of Texas” rang through the street as Austin-area activists joined thousands across the nation in protesting the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.

The protest was held in front of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.

Good, 37, was shot in her SUV while attempting to drive away from several ICE officers who ordered her to exit her vehicle.

Scarleth Lopez with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the organization that led the protest, said the videos of the shooting in Minneapolis were “sickening.”

“Trump has lied and and said that Renee was a terrorist. She was a mother. She was an innocent bystander,” Lopez said. “We must organize to stop these people from kidnapping and murdering.”

Lorianne Willett

KUT News

Spray painted messages appeared outside of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville

Elizabeth Bope, a retired Pflugerville ISD teacher, said the claims from federal and state lawmakers that Good was attempting to strike the ICE agent with her vehicle inspired her to attend the protest.

Such claims were posted online by Vice President J.D. Vance and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Attorney General Ken Paxton reposted a statement from DHS on X, formerly known as Twitter, that said the ICE agent “relied on his training and saved his own life.”

“It’s beyond really any words that they killed this woman for no reason, but also that they’re lying about it,” Bope said. “I’m not even a radical left person, I’m just a regular old Democrat.”

Other key Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have not commented on the shooting.

A group of protesters holding yellow signs reading "ICE Out of our Communities" gather during a night time protest. — Protesters gathered and held signs during a protest against ICE.

Doug Tickner, who said he works for a home building company in Austin, said he felt it was important to show up in person for Good.

“I don’t really think of Minneapolis as being that far from here, and it’s not like what happened in Minneapolis was some sort of one off unique event,” Tickner said. “This is part of a pattern, and I feel folks better wake up and realize that this is becoming more and more serious.”

The news that federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Oregon, broke hours before the protest.

The gathering in Pflugerville is among the first of four anti-ICE demonstrations planned across the Austin area over the next few days.

Earlier on Thursday, protesters gathered at the intersection of 45th Street and Lamar Boulevard during rush hour. A protest on Friday will be held at the Capitol and another will be held Saturday at City Hall.

Protesters bang on the outside of a building built of metal. — Protesters bang on the outside of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Pflugerville.

State and federal leaders are now sparring over who should conduct an investigation into the Minneapolis shooting, according to NPR.

Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which was originally asked to conduct a joint investigation with the FBI, said in a statement it was later told the investigation would be led solely by federal authorities.

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