The judge could surprise everyone, but it is no longer likely that the case of Hopwood, et al. v. Texas, et al., which concluded in Austin in late May, will change America by rewriting the law of affirmative action. For a while, the suit brought by four white applicants who
What’s eating Ann Richards? As her reelection campaign finally gets in high gear, the governor seems to be fighting a case of the mopes.
How 89-year-old Harvey Penick turned life’s lessons into a best-selling book—and followed it up with another master stroke.
John Connally’s forgotten legacy.
The latest culinary crazy, Cowboy Cuisine has put a new spin on traditional Texas cooking.
How a cut of meat from the wrong side of the street rose to culinary stardom, plus a guide to Texas’ most authentic fajitas.
AUSTIN POLITICS ARE the nuttiest in the state. It all stems from an obsession with quality of life, and nothing quite brings out the daffiness like a threat to the city’s beloved Barton Springs. Even as a two-year legal battle continues to rage over development upstream on Barton Creek, a
After seven years, teaching kindergarten in a community devastated by drug addiction became more than I could bear. Still, my decision to leave was fraught with mixed emotions.
A gift from James Michener enriches Texas’ student writers.
Made on a shoestring, Slacker was a hit. Now fans wonder if Hollywood money will change Rick Linklater’s style.
I pulled more all-nighters writing other people’s papers than I did my own.
AUSTIN POLITICS ARE the nuttiest in the state. It all stems from an obsession with quality of life, and nothing quite brings out the daffiness like a threat to the city’s beloved Barton Springs. Even as a two-year legal battle continues to rage over development upstream on Barton Creek, a
An Austin artist makes a stringed instrument of monumental scale.
Conventional wisdom about education holds that local control, a strong principal, and active, involved parents are crucial ingredients in the mix that makes a successful school. This wisdom is so pervasive that the Legislature has made local control, in the form of “site-based decision making,” a legal requirement in Texas
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, heroes of hippiedom, are alive and well and living in Paris.
Austin’s Kevin Schwantz is one of the world’s most famous and highest-paid athletes, and no one in Texas knows who he is.
When urban stress sets the nerves ajangle, it’s comforting to know there is a Japanese garden nearby.
Photograph by Michael O’BrienMichael O’Brien put the legendary Heisman trophy winner on the highest available pedestal for this shot. Campbell joins the trio of other famous Texans —Nolan Ryan, George Strait, and former Miss USA Gretchen Polhemus—who have posed looking spiffy for Wrangler’s “Western originals” advertising campaign, created by
Things around the Legislature are looking bleak, but so far, Governor Richards is having the time of her life.
When the IRS seized all that Willie Nelson had, it was a case of the man who can’t say no meeting the men who won’t take no for an answer.
Are good times and fun pranks giving way to racial slurs and ritualized violence? An inside look at UT’s fraternity row.
A crop of small ready-to-eat food companies in Austin take a fresh look at what’s for dinner.
To reassure a skeptical public, members must pass an ethics reform bill this session. And here’s what it should say.
In a venerable Austin neighborhood, the laid-back residents are tormented by a menacing presence—neither they nor the police—can defeat.
Check Magazine.
A determined developer’s big plans for Austin’s cool, clear water hole is bringing out extremes on both sides.
In education, Texas ranks below (gasp) Mississippi. Here’s how to turn the public schools around without throwing billions of dollars down the rathole.
The bands play on and on and on in Austin.
Three crucial elements that will determine the outcome of the Texas governor’s race.
To the people of Austin, the poisoning of an ancient tree was more than a crime; it was a blasphemy.
Two nice guys with financial troubles thought they found the perfect solution to the bust. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
The unlikely twosome of eccentric rocker Doug Sahm and blues champion Clifford Antone has rescued from obscurity a distinctively rhythmic, indisputably raunchy regional sound.
How Madalyn Murray O’Hair became the supreme being of the American atheist movement.
As much as I hated playing football, I hate watching it more.
These are only aliases. Their real names are Mattox, Mauro, Richards, and Hightower. And they may be leading the Democratic party to its apocalypse.
The biggest legislative bloodbath in 31 years is shaping up between Clements and Hobby. At stake: not only the state’s education budget but the economic and political future of Texas as well.
ONE OF THE FEW COMPLAINTS we have ever heard about Castle Hill Cafe is that it is too loud—which is true. But the acoustics in this former grocery store built in 1896 are only partly at fault. Blame instead the multitude of loyal customers who flock to this low-key and
The West Lynn Cafe is closed. The vegetarian Cosmic Cafe opened at this location in July 2005.
I smoked marijuana all day every day for several years. It took me almost a year to quit—and now I wonder if I’ll ever get straight.
Las Manitas Avenue Cafe is closed while the sisters prepare to open in a new location.
One of those places that a city has to have if it’s got any gumption at all.
Four of the many small high-tech companies betting that they have the excitement, momentum, market, and business savvy to succeed where others have failed.
The real Texas technology picture is much more intricate than either the mad hype of two years ago or the dire headlines of today make it out to be.
In 1883 the University of Texas got stuck with two million acres of West Texas scrubland. Then it hit oil, and the money started rolling in.
Gary Bradley, a hot young land speculator in Austin, was in the middle of a $50 million deal when he ran into an outraged environmental movement and a lobbyist with some powerful clients. The fight was on.
Hundreds of new computer companies have made Texas the likely successor to California’s Silicon Valley, and it all started with two firms in Dallas.
Behind the scenes at regional headquarters—a sometime part-timer tells all.
When Bames-Connally Investments announced plans to build apartments in a South Austin neighborhood, the residents banded together to try to stop them. They won the battle but lost the war.
Austin’s Roy Spence parlayed his success in Mark White’s campaign into a job selling Walter Mondale to the American people.
When armadillos weighed three tons and the long horns were on dinosaurs.
