Austin, TX
A Major League Baseball Player Got Inspired By an Austin Restaurant Phone Booth
Brett Baty, the Texas-born and Austin-raised player for the New York Mets, shared that he took technique inspiration from an Austin restaurant with sports publication the Athletic. The third baseman experienced his first phone booth (he is 24 years old, after all) at a “popular taqueria in Austin […] that makes for cool social media posts,” per the article. He saw how small a phone booth is and thought about how he would swing a bat in a tiny space. Based on those details, Eater Austin is 99.9 percent sure that Baty is talking about the bright pink taco restaurant and bar Taquero Mucho. It’s in downtown Austin and has Instagrammable decor, and — more importantly — two not-functional phone booths lined with florals and neon lights.
Tracking Austin food and drink events
Austin chef and cookbook author Jesse Griffiths is going to be talking about his latest book, The Turkey Book: A Chef’s Journal of Hunting and Cooking America’s Bird, at Hyde Park bookstore First Light Books later this month. The conversation takes place on Friday, April 26 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $50, which come with a copy of the book.
Breakfast taco machine delivery alert
Comedian Joe Pera happened upon one of those automatic food delivery machines while he is in town for his show at the Moontower Comedy festival tonight. He shared his video on Twitter, wondering if it had breakfast tacos.
Texas culinary grant winners
Nonprofit nonprofit Texas Food & Wine Alliance announced the winners of its culinary grants this week. This includes forthcoming Honduran Creole food truck Better Say Grace by chef Grace Aguilar, farmers market stand Mercado Sin Nombre’s future coffee cafe, farm nonprofit Farmshare, Eden East Farm (run by chef Sonya Cote and David Barrow), Antonelli’s Cheese, brewery Independence Brewing Company, food truck Community Vegan, and pig ranch Texas Iberico.
Local restaurant and bar awards
Local website CultureMap announced the Austin winners of its yearly Tastemaker Awards. This includes Bufalina Due’s Eli Rodriguez as the Rising Star Chef, New American wine restaurant Birdie’s for neighborhood restaurant and co-owner Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel for chef, cocktail bar and restaurant Holiday for bar of the year, East Austin bar Daydreamer’s Amanda Carto for bartender, hotel Italian restaurant Poeta for best new restaurant, and Caribbean restaurant Canje as the best restaurant of the year.
Austin, TX
Austin community celebrates ‘Black Artists Matter’ mural before removal
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin city leaders gathered on East 11th Street on Juneteenth to celebrate the “Black Artists Matter” mural before it must be removed under an order from the Texas Department of Transportation. The mural and the city’s rainbow crosswalk are slated for removal in compliance with a Texas Department of Transportation directive requiring cities to remove political ideologies from roadways. Last October, Gov. Greg Abbott directed TxDOT to enforce the policy.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson stood on the blocked-off street where the yellow letters spelling “Black Artists Matter” are painted on the roadway’s surface. “We will never forget that when the state decided to target our murals, the community stood together to celebrate our city’s diversity, spirit, and creativity,” Watson said.
Watson criticized the state’s actions, saying, “The state government engages in negative rhetoric and threats, it targets communities that it disagrees with and seeks retribution.”
In response to the order, Watson formed the Public Spaces Task Force to identify other ways to celebrate diversity in Austin.
ALSO| Screwworm medications straining animal shelter budgets across Texas
KEYE
Daphne McDole, chief executive officer of the African American Cultural Heritage District and a member of the task force, said she wanted the event held on Juneteenth because of its significance. “I wanted to do it on Juneteenth, it was significant to me because I knew that that was the day my community would be in the district. We will be celebrating over here all day, so it was appropriate,” McDole said.
Task force members said they are exploring alternatives to honor East Austin’s history and diversity. They noted that city leaders in San Antonio created rainbow sidewalks after removing rainbow crosswalks, but said Austin will pursue its own approach.
Task force chair Steven Rivas said the community is focused on preserving the meaning behind the markings. “We chose to come together as a community and find a way to respect what these markings mean and build upon them. If we can’t have them in the street, we’re going to put them off the street,” Rivas said.
Austin, TX
Screwworm medications straining animal shelter budgets across Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — The screwworm outbreak is having a major impact on animal shelter budgets across Texas. Instant kill and preventative medications for dogs and cats are an unprecedented expense.
Paul is a rescue dog from South Texas, where he was living on the streets and starving. He is now at Austin Pets Alive! getting Screwworm prevention medication and the treatment he needs to get healthy.
“Any dog that enters our shelter period, but especially if they look like this, we are going over them with a fine-tooth comb and looking for anything that might be a wound where a screwworm might have been able to gain access,” said Dr. Ellen Jefferson, CEO and President of Austin Pets Alive!
RELATED| FDA authorizes generic over-the-counter drug to treat New World screwworm in pets
Dr. Jefferson says dogs and cats need regular checks of their eyes, noses, ears, and underneath their fur. But Austin Pets Alive! says the best protection is a combination of Capstar, which is an instant-kill medication for existing active screwworm larvae, and prescription preventatives that provide ongoing protection when administered every 30 days.
“Just to buy the initial Capstar for our program, it was close to $10,000,” said Rebecca Giamona, Asst. Medical Care Director at Austin Pets Alive!
Giamona says preventative meds are also putting a heavy financial strain on the nonprofit’s budget at a cost of around $70,000.
“We need about 5,000 doses of the monthly preventative, and they are roughly $14 to $15 per dose,” said Giamona.
Products with the active ingredients ending in l, a, n, e, r are highly effective at preventing and treating infestations. But keeping Paul and every shelter animal up to date will take help from the public.
“Donations, and hopefully some more donations,” said Giamona.
An infestation of New World Screwworm can be painful, disfiguring, and potentially deadly for animals. Most cases involve livestock, especially cattle, but dogs and cats can also get infestations.
Austin, TX
Juneteenth celebrations in Austin include parade and fun run
AUSTIN, Texas – Central Texans gather to celebrate Juneteenth or “Freedom Day” on June 19 and commemorate the end of slavery.
What you can do:
The Greater East Austin Youth Association (GEAYA) is hosting the Central Texas Juneteenth Parade and Festival today (6/19).
It’s free and taking place at Rosewood Park in East Austin located at 2300 Rosewood Ave.
The schedule for the events is as follows:
- ACME Juneteenth FunRun – 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
- Juneteenth Historical Parade – 10 AM – 12 PM
- Park Celebration and Fireworks – 12 PM – 9:45 PM
Other events
On June 20, the Carver Kickback: Juneteenth Edition will be taking place 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural, and Genealogy Center located at 1165 Angelina Street.
It will be a day of celebration and remembrance and there will be BBQ plates and music as well as vendors and hands-on activations.
The backstory:
Juneteenth commemorates the end of formal slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and more than one month following the end of the American Civil War.
Colloquially known as “The Black 4th of July,” Juneteenth marks the beginning of an African American journey to carve a new place in society for free people to shape identities independent of racial caricature, eradicate slave culture, promote ethnic pride, and create economic prosperity.
The Source: Information from City of Austin and Greater East Austin Youth Association and reporting by Jessica Rivera.
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