Austin, TX
Austin couple shares story as Texas abortion restrictions take center stage at DNC
![Austin couple shares story as Texas abortion restrictions take center stage at DNC Austin couple shares story as Texas abortion restrictions take center stage at DNC](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/6RXNJSIBFV4VTGI3W726WAMNVQ.jpg?auth=2dda6b825fba14a3481ff3fbb066ff9e9ceaea33e8d8b7ac5568250950c86eec&height=467&width=830&smart=true&quality=40)
Austin couple Amanda and Josh Zurawski put a Texas face on the case for protecting abortion access Monday as they took the stage on the Democratic National Convention’s opening night.
A video introduction featured Amanda emotionally recounting the pregnancy complications that meant daughter Willow was certain to die. Even so, she said, doctors declined treatment because of the state’s strict abortion ban that went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.
Instead, Zurawski was sent home to wait and ended up back in the hospital days later with an infection that nearly killed her and threatened her fertility. She and other Texas women sued the state saying the law put their health at risk.
The video included a clip of former President Donald Trump proudly taking credit for the overturning Roe vs. Wade.
“I almost died because doctors were forced to follow Trump’s abortion ban,” Zurawski said in the video, which also featured Vice President Kamala Harris vowing to sign a law protecting abortion access nationwide.
Amanda and Josh Zurawski then spoke live on stage about the fear they had felt, saying a second Trump term could mean more restrictions on abortion access.
“We need to vote as if lives depend on it, because they do,” Amanda Zurawski said.
This week’s convention in Chicago is expected to heavily feature Democratic promises to protect abortion rights as the party rallies behind Harris as its newly elevated nominee.
Democrats say Trump is responsible for tight abortion restrictions or outright bans in many states because he nominated three conservative Supreme Court justices who provided the margin for overturning Roe vs. Wade.
Texas is among 14 states that outlaw abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Texas has a medical emergency exception that allows an abortion to save the life of a pregnant person or alleviate the risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function, but critics have said the language is so vague that it has put women such as Zurawski in danger.
Zurawski took the stage Monday night alongside two women whose traumatic pregnancy experiences also have been featured in Democratic campaigns: Kaitlyn Joshua of Louisiana and Hadley Duvall of Kentucky.
Joshua, who has been featured in a Biden ad, blamed Louisiana’s abortion ban for being turned away from two emergency rooms while having a miscarriage.
Duvall spoke next, recounting how she became pregnant at age 12 after being raped by her stepfather.
“That was the first time I was ever told you have options,” she said. “I can’t imagine not having a choice, but today, that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans.”
Zurawski has previously shared her story in several forums, testifying on Capitol Hill and attending the 2023 State of the Union address as a guest of first lady Jill Biden.
Zurawski also was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit brought against the state by Texas women who said they had abortions delayed or denied during medical emergencies because of the state’s restrictions.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled against them in May, striking down a lower court ruling that would have exempted such pregnancies from the state’s laws.
The Biden campaign released an ad in April featuring Zurawski in which she sobbed about losing Willow. The ad ended with the words, “Donald Trump did this.”
Trump has said he is “proudly the person responsible” for overturning Roe and that abortion law should be determined by the states.
He has shown he’s aware of potential vulnerability on the issue. Republicans tweaked their official platform at his urging to remove language about a national abortion ban. He did not mention abortion once during his lengthy acceptance speech at last month’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Abortion rights have featured heavily in down-ballot races as well, including U.S. Rep. Colin Allred’s challenge to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Allred, D-Dallas, has targeted Cruz’s support for abortion restrictions and highlighted stories like Zurawski’s, saying the way to restore a nationwide right to abortion involves defeating Cruz.
Cruz has countered by saying Democrats are out of touch by refusing to back any limits on abortion.
Reproductive rights will be a focus of this week’s convention away from the stage as well. A mobile Planned Parenthood health center will be parked near the convention and offer free medication abortions and vasectomies. There also were plans to display a 18-foot-tall IUD.
During his Monday podcast, Cruz cited the offer of free abortions as evidence the Democratic Party has moved far from when former President Bill Clinton said he wanted abortion to be “safe, legal and rare,” and instead become “zealots” on the issue.
“That is just how extreme the Democrat Party has gone,” Cruz said.
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Austin, TX
Save Our Springs Alliance lawsuit seeks to remove Austin charter amendments from ballot
![Save Our Springs Alliance lawsuit seeks to remove Austin charter amendments from ballot Save Our Springs Alliance lawsuit seeks to remove Austin charter amendments from ballot](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2023/11/08/NAAS/71496148007-elections-mlc-00069.jpg?auto=webp&crop=1599,900,x0,y53&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a new statement shared by a spokesperson of the city of Austin.
The Austin City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when placing a slate of charter amendments on the Nov. 5 general election ballot, a lawsuit filed Monday claims.
The suit was filed in Travis County’s 98th District Court by attorneys representing the Save Our Springs Alliance, an environmental nonprofit; its executive director, Bill Bunch; and Joe Riddell, a former staff attorney in the Texas attorney general’s office.
It seeks to invalidate the City Council’s approval of adding the charter amendments to the ballot. As Monday is the last day to order an election, if a judge rules in favor of the group, the 13 charter amendments approved last week by the City Council would not make it onto the ballot this year.
The lawsuit asserts that the city’s governing body violated both the public participation requirements and the public notice requirements of the act when it authorized the election at a hearing last Wednesday because all of the proposed amendments were compressed into one agenda item, rather than each one being taken up individually. This limited the amount of time a person could speak on the amendments and did not give substantial public notice on what the amendments would change, the lawsuit claims.
“The Austin City Council is becoming lawless, and this lawsuit is another example of their arrogant disdain for transparency. Mayor Watson and the Council majority are undermining democracy with violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act,” Bill Aleshire, a former Travis County judge and attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a news release.
Bunch has seen success in the courts in suing the Austin mayor and City Council over violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act in the past.
“Following a lengthy and robust charter amendment process that included multiple opportunities for public input, we are aware of the lawsuit that SOS filed today that challenges the August 14 charter amendment election ordinance,” read a statement shared by city of Austin spokesperson David Ochsner with the American-Statesman. “The city stands by the process used.”
The city charter is a comprehensive legal document of the city of Austin’s rules and regulations. The proposed charter amendments include raising the threshold of signatures needed for a recall election of a City Council member from 10% of registered voters in the council member’s district to 15%, giving the City Council the authority to appoint and remove the city attorney, and requiring that initiative elections and citizen-initiated charter elections occur in even-year November general elections.
Austin, TX
A Japanese All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu Barbecue Restaurant’s Coming to an Austin Mall
![A Japanese All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu Barbecue Restaurant’s Coming to an Austin Mall A Japanese All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu Barbecue Restaurant’s Coming to an Austin Mall](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mQkJowQAYK5GFVUMlEqn4giEbcI=/0x149:1280x819/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25579182/Copy_of_19.1_1280x854.jpg)
An American-based Japanese barbecue restaurant chain will be opening its first Austin location next year. Chubby Cattle will be opening its all-you-can-eat wagyu restaurant inside of the Barton Creek Square Mall at 2901 Capital of Texas Highway sometime in 2025.
Chubby Cattle’s Austin location offers three tiers of all-you-can-eat grill-it-yourself meats, emphasizing wagyu meats. Those cuts include rib-eye, short-rib, and even the decadent-sounding wagyu paired with uni and caviar. Then there are other meats like scallops, pork belly, and lamb chops. And then there are other not-barbecued dishes like sushi, hand rolls, dumplings, soups, seafood, vegetables, and fruits.
The tier options are available at different pricing for members of the restaurant group (for use at any location) and non-members. The membership program comes with NFTs and rewards like free birthday meals, discounts, guest passes, and reservations. There are also time-limits for seated service.
The restaurant chain is known for implementing conveyor belt services and robot servers. rounded out by visual projections. The company sources its wagyu from ranches in California and Oregon through partnerships.
Chubby Cattle’s first location — dedicated to hot pot — opened in Las Vegas in 2014 with co-founders Harby Yang and managing partner David Zhao. There are Chubby Cattles also in Denver, Chicago, Southern California, Philadelphia, and Duluth — some of those are dedicated to hot pot or shabu-shabu rather than Japanese barbecue. There’s a location slated for Houston too.
The Chubby parent company also oversees other restaurants. There’s Las Vegas hot pot restaurant X Pot, Los Angeles Japanese steakhouse Niku X, Los Angeles shabu-shabu restaurant Mikiya, and others.
In recent years, Austin’s been getting a spate of all-you-can-eat pan-Asian restaurants and chain expansions. There’s Gangnam Korean BBQ in April 2023, Soupleaf Hot Pot also in April 2023, K Pot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot in January 2024 (with a second one later this year). and Liuyishou Hot Pot sometime later in 2024.
The Austin Chubby Cattle will be found on the second floor near the Nordstrom wing. Expect indoor dine-in services and daytime into evening hours.
Austin, TX
Jim Schlossnagle contract details: Big third year will make Texas Longhorns skipper highest-paid NCAA baseball coach
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