Everyone’s a fan of Chappell Roan — even Blink-182.

The iconic pop-punk band honored the “Midwest Princess” in their most recent performance at Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday, Oct. 11.

How, you might ask? By mashing up her fan-favorite song “Pink Pony Club” with their 1997 banger that is “Dammit” at ACL Festival.

Not only that, but the band also uttered a few pointed words at the Oklahoma Sooners ahead of the Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.

Though Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus didn’t explicitly say “OU sucks” — Texas Longhorns’ favorite thing to say about the Sooners — he did speak poorly of them to the Austin crowd after singing a few lines from “Deep In The Heart Of Texas,” and attendees responded with resounding applause.

The band quite literally proved they are never growing up throughout their set thanks to the back-and-forth banter between Mark Hoppus and guitarist Tom DeLonge throughout the show. You know, the shit-talking you’d expect from bandmates who have been working together (aside from when they went their separate ways to create distinct bands like Angels & Airwaves and +44) since 1992.

The band’s performance at ACL was their last in North America, and what better way to close this chapter than mashing up “Pink Pony Club” ahead of Chappell Roan’s second ACL set on Sunday, Oct. 13.

AUSTIN, Texas  — There are few films a half-century old that still have the power to shock like director Tobe Hooper’s horror classic, “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”

Released in the U.S. on Oct. 11, 1974, the film still routinely tops lists of the greatest horror films ever made. In fact, it landed at No. 1 on Variety’s recently published “The 100 Best Horror Movies of All Time,” besting classics including Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist.”

The film was shot on a shoestring budget in and around Austin, Texas, and in celebration the city declared Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Day.

Despite its exploitation title, the film is largely bloodless, instead relying on claustrophobic relentlessness and a documentary feel to unsettle the viewer.

The film spawned many sequels and a remake in 2003. The quality of the sequels varies a great deal, and none of them captured the feel of the original.

While the iconic farmhouse on Quick Hill Road in Round Rock which served as the location for much of the terror has been relocated and turned into a restaurant, you can still visit many of the film’s Austin-area locations. The graveyard is in Leander. The gas station is in Bastrop.

Sadly, Hooper and several of the film’s stars are no longer around to celebrate the milestone. Hooper died in 2017. Star Marilyn Burns passed away in 2014. Gunnar Hansen, memorable as the terrifying Leatherface, died in 2015.

Here’s to another 50 years of a Texas terror classic. 

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Police have announced it’s expanding its ‘No Refusal’ Initiative to now be year-round.

Once reserved for holidays, it requires an automatic blood draw for suspected drunk drivers who refuse a breathalyzer test.

Back in June, A.P.D. announced it would be running its ‘No Refusal’ initiative all summer, which they say led to a 30-percent increase in the number of warrants issued for drinking and driving compared to the summer of 2023. Now they want to replicate that success over the entire year.

Drinking and driving is an epidemic in Texas, and numbers from the Texas Department of Transportation show there were nearly 1,000 DWI-related crashes in Austin last year. These crashes resulted in 18 deaths and nearly 350 injuries, a far cry from the city of Austin’s goal of Vision Zero.

“Vision Zero is our aspiration to achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries on our roadway network.” City of Austin Director of Transportation and Public Works Richard Mendoza said.

The city says many partnerships and programs go into Vision Zero, but they say the Austin Police Department’s No Refusal Initiative has been one of the more successful ones. If someone suspected of driving while intoxicated is pulled over and refuses a breathalyzer test, they’re taken into custody and a warrant is issued for a blood test.

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“We would love it if nobody drinks and drives ever,” A.P.D. Detective Jason Day said. “and that I didn’t have to be up here, we didn’t have to be taking people’s blood.”

The initiative originally rolled out during the holidays, including this past Memorial Day which led to ten warrants and more than 30 arrests. Then A.P.D. kept it going for the entire summer, and Day says it led to a 30-percent increase in blood sample warrants from the summer of 2023.

“Now with the advent of all rideshares, you can get a car there in a matter of minutes,” Day said. “So there’s really no excuse for people being behind the wheel and driving after they’ve had too much to drink.”

Criminal defense attorney Brad Vinson says technically every weekend is ‘No Refusal’ in the state of Texas…

“If you refuse to provide a sample of your breath or blood, a police officer can go see a magistrate, get a warrant, and get your blood anyways, as long as they have probable cause to arrest you for DWI,” Vinson said.

You can still refuse, initiative or not. That, though, could lead to more serious consequences.

“When you’ve been arrested for a DWI, 15 days from then, your driving rights in Texas will be suspended,” Vinson said.

For now, APD says this will only happen at night because they don’t have the staffing to dedicate patrol officers to traffic or D.W.I.s. But Day says in an ideal world, this initiative wouldn’t be needed at all.

“We want people to get out and enjoy the community, but we want to make sure they have a plan and a safe ride home,” Day said.

There’s always been a judge presiding over the jail 24/7, but A.P.D. says it will also be bringing in a “DWI expert” to help officers work through the warrant process more quickly and efficiently.