Austin, TX

Florence is set of new movie premiering at the Austin Film Festival

Published

3 weeks ago

October 26, 2024

Florence is set of new movie premiering at the Austin Film Festival

New movie set in Florence

Florence, Texas, is the heart of a new movie premiering at the Austin Film Festival this weekend. It takes place at the Gault School of Archaeological Research.

FLORENCE, Texas – Florence, Texas, is the heart of a new movie premiering at the Austin Film Festival this weekend. It takes place at the Gault School of Archaeological Research.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this place is that, at first glance, it’s pretty unremarkable.

A creek divides the site that’s both half woods and half-open prairie. It borders next to quarries and ranches now, but take a closer look, and there is a sharp reminder of the people here first.

Even during FOX 7’s interview, Tim Brown, who is on the school’s board of directors, was picking up stones left and right. Each one had been chipped at, likely by people thousands of years ago.

“Oh yeah, you can’t walk out here without seeing this kind of thing,” said Brown. “This is probably the richest, most well-defined Clovis site in the Americas.”

The Clovis people roamed this land about 13,000 years ago. Their presence today is carved into stone.

“Blades, scrapers, all kinds of little tools that they made out of durable material,” said Brown.

Flash forward to the 21st century, and this site was almost lost.

“The owner had chosen to monetize the site,” said Brown. “He would allow people to pay a fee and come in and dig, and it was completely uncontrolled.”

In comes the main character of this story: Dr. Michael Collins.

“Without Mike, we would not be standing here,” said Brown.

Dr. Collins’ story stood out to movie director Olive Talley.

“Michael Collins overcame one challenge after another,” said Talley. “Everything from weather to money, to financing, to control of the property. He wound up purchasing the property after five years of trying to find public funding.”

And thank goodness he did.

What was under everyone’s feet the whole time would rewrite history books.

“That has produced very strong, compelling evidence of the human presence much earlier than what we refer to as the Clovis culture, which we thought was the first,” said Brown.

Collins found evidence that humans had been here long before the Clovis people.

Instead, a group likely called Central Texas home up to 20,000 years ago.

“And to think that we have a place in Central Texas that is so pivotal to the narrative of the peopling of the Americas, right here, in our own backyard,” said Talley.

This is what Olive Talley’s new movie is all about.

It’s called “The Stones Are Speaking.”

If we’re quiet enough, they have a lesson to share.

“I hope that the film is a call to action and a call for awareness, not just about the gault site but the overall awareness that cultural sites are important to preserve,” said Talley.

The movie premieres at the Austin Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Talley is still hoping to get a contract on a streaming platform for viewers at home.

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Austin, TX

Statewide watch parties for the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight

Published

7 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Press Room

Statewide watch parties for the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight

TEXAS — YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is set to fight former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Friday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Missed out on tickets but still want to experience the fight with a crowd? Here are some watch party options around the state:

Austin

Manchaca Sports Bar in South Austin is hosting a watch party starting at 7 p.m. There is no cover charge and the bar will be open until 2 a.m. 10402 Menchaca Rd Bldg 1, Austin, Texas 78748.

The Warehouse Billiard Bar is hosting a watch party starting at 7 p.m. You can get tickets at this link. 509 E Ben White Blvd, Austin, TX 78704.

Dallas

Heroes Lounge is hosting a watch party starting at 4 p.m. which will go until 2:30 a.m. 3094 N Stemmons Fwy, Dallas, TX 75247.

High Fives Dallas is hosting a watch party with free face tattoos. They will also be hosting a Tyson punch-out contest. If you DM them on Instagram, you can reserve a table for the event. 1804 McMillan Ave, Dallas, TX 75206.

Reservoir at Toyota Music Factory will be hosting a watch party starting at 7 p.m. There will be no cover charge for this watch party. 330 West Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, TX 75039.

San Antonio

Rock & Brews San Antonio is hosting a watch party from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. With free entry and numerous TV screens, you won’t miss any of the action. 5702 Landmark Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78249.

Smoke Skybar will be hosting a watch party with free entry before 8 p.m. It is $10 for entry after 8 p.m. 1100 E Houston St, San Antonio, TX 78205.

Camp 1604 will be hosting a watch party with no cover charge. They will have early drink specials and a food truck for the event. 5535 N. Loop 1604 W, San Antonio, TX 78257.

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Austin, TX

Travis County to help low-income families pay for child care

Published

14 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Press Room

Travis County to help low-income families pay for child care

AUSTIN, Texas — It’s Spanish only for the kids enrolled at Cielito Lindo Spanish Immersion Preschool. Maria Dominguez owns three Spanish immersion preschools in Travis County.

“We focus on the social and emotional part of child development,” said Dominguez.

The average cost of child care in Texas is $1,300 per month, and while Cielito Lindo offers scholarships, many families still can’t afford it.

What You Need To Know

Travis County voters approved Proposition A, a property tax increase which is expected to generate $75 million to create nearly 2,000 new child care slots and nearly 4,000 new after-school and summer programming slots

The average cost of child care in Texas is $1,300 per month

Child care advocates suggest it will cost $90 million per year in state funding to get at least 10,000 kids off the waitlist

“Even for those kids that we do receive assistance, they’re not paying the full amount that we charge a month. We’re constantly trying to make up for that amount because, again, we still have to pay for a facility for teachers being able to provide competitive wages because they deserve it,” said Dominguez.

Last week, Travis County voters approved Proposition A, a property tax increase which is expected to generate $75 million to create nearly 2,000 new child care slots and nearly 4,000 new after-school and summer programming slots for school-age children. But there are nearly $80,000 children on a waitlist for subsidized care in Texas with an estimated wait time of two years.

Child care advocates suggest it will cost $90 million per year in state funding to get at least 10,000 kids off the waitlist.

“We have seen voters say over and over again that this is a priority,” said David Feigen with Texans Care for Children.

During the last legislative session, lawmakers defeated a $2 billion proposal to step in and fund child care providers. And now that federal pandemic-era funds are gone, policy experts say state lawmakers need to act.

“If we don’t provide this funding, we will see more parents leaving the workforce, more businesses struggling to recruit and retain staff, more children in low-quality settings,” said Feigen.

Travis County Judge Andy Brown hopes the passage of proposition A sends a message to state leaders to act.

“If we are figure out ways to provide that, like we’re doing here in Travis County, it’s going to help our economy,” said Brown.

But some representatives expressed uncertainty about allocations this time around during an interim House hearing.

“We don’t always know, in the environment, [if we] can keep funding going up because there are other priorities for our states,” said Republican Rep. Angie Chen Button.

The priority for child care providers will always be the kids.

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Austin, TX

Carlton, Holle score 15 apiece to lead No. 4 Texas to a 95-58 win over Lamar

Published

22 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Press Room

Carlton, Holle score 15 apiece to lead No. 4 Texas to a 95-58 win over Lamar

AUSTIN, Texas — Freshman Justice Carlton and senior Shay Holle each scored 15 points and No. 4 Texas defeated Lamar 95-58 Wednesday night.

Holle converted 3 of 4 3-point attempts. Carlton added three steals.

Madison Booker of Texas (2-0), an AP preseason All-American, missed the game with a sore hamstring and her status is day-to-day.

Freshman Jordan Lee started in place of Booker and scored 12 points. Bryanna Preston, also a freshman, added nine points, four assists and two steals.

Point guard Rori Harmon finished with eight points, eight assists and five steals in 18 minutes. Harmon, who missed the final 26 games last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, limped off the court in the third quarter after tweaking her ankle. She later returned to the game.

Akasha Davis led Lamar (1-1) with 14 points. Sabria Dean scored 13.

Takeaways

Lamar: The Cardinals, defending Southland Conference regular-season champions, trailed Texas 51-14 at halftime. The Cardinals matched the Longhorns’ 44 points in the second half.

Texas: Laila Phelia, an all-Big Ten guard at Michigan last season, made her debut for Texas. She had eight points in 21 minutes as a reserve. Phelia averaged nearly 17 points last season.

Key moment

Texas outscored Lamar 20-3 during the final 7:12 of the first quarter. The Cardinals made only three free throws during the span. The Longhorns, using full-court defensive pressure, coaxed 10 turnovers in the quarter, seven of them steals. Harmon made four of the steals.