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Highland Park archery club aiming for another national championship · Austin Signal

0:08
Public school classrooms in Texas
0:10
have to post the Ten Commandments.
0:12
That's the ruling this week from the
0:13
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
0:15
For now though, the Austin School
0:16
District does not have to comply
0:18
with the ruling because of ongoing
0:19
litigation.
0:20
More about the fallout from that
0:22
ruling.
0:23
And an Austin Elementary School has
0:24
become a powerhouse in the sport of
0:26
archery. They're multi-year
0:27
defending state champions and now
0:29
they're after another national
0:31
title. We're going to hear from the
0:32
team and their coach coming up
0:35
on today's show.
0:36
The Austin Signal is a production
0:38
of KUT News, hosted by
0:40
Jerry Quijano.
0:41
Plus, are there wild elk
0:43
lurking in South Austin?
0:45
One man swears he encountered one
0:47
while driving to the airport.
0:48
Nobody believed him, so he asked
0:50
our ATX Plane project to get to
0:52
the bottom of it.
0:54
The answer, that's coming
0:55
up next, right here on Austin
0:58
Signal.
1:07
Howdy out there, you are listening
1:09
to Austin Signal here on
1:11
KUT News, we are community-powered
1:13
public radio.
1:14
I'm your host, Jerry Kikano, it
1:16
is Thursday, April 23rd,
1:18
thank you for tuning in and making
1:20
us a part of your day.
1:22
A court order allowing the sale of
1:24
smokable hemp products in Texas has
1:25
been extended through May 1st.
1:27
A temporary restraining order
1:28
against new state regulations had
1:30
been set to expire tomorrow, and
1:32
that would have forced hemp stores
1:33
to remove cannabis flower and
1:35
concentrate from their shelves.
1:37
But a hearing over those rules was
1:38
pushed back to next week, running
1:40
Tuesday through Thursday, so both
1:42
sides agreed to extend the temporary
1:43
restraining order until the end of
1:45
the month.
1:46
Plaintiffs, including the Texas Hemp
1:47
Business Counselor, are suing the
1:49
state to block some of the new
1:50
regulations that include a ban on
1:52
selling smokeable hemp products and
1:54
sharply higher fees for retailers
1:56
and manufacturers.
1:58
And today, Acting U.S.
1:59
Attorney General Todd Blanch signed
2:01
an order that reclassifies
2:02
state-licensed medical marijuana
2:04
from schedule one.
2:05
Normally reserved for drugs without
2:07
medical use, to the less-strict
2:09
Schedule 3.
2:10
The order also allows state-licensed
2:13
companies to deduct business
2:14
expenses on their federal taxes.
2:17
Surely more developments to come at
2:19
the statewide and national levels on
2:21
this story. We're going to keep you
2:22
updated on the latest news here
2:24
on Austin Signal.
2:26
This week, a federal appeals court
2:28
ruled that Texas can require
2:30
the display of Ten Commandments in
2:32
Public School Classrooms.
2:33
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
2:35
ruled 9-8 on Tuesday that Senate
2:36
Bill 10 can move forward.
2:38
That law was passed by the Texas
2:40
Legislature last session.
2:42
But KUT's education reporter Greta
2:44
Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez says that
2:46
Austin ISD may not have to comply
2:48
with the law, at least for now.
2:50
She's joining us now to explain.
2:52
Howdy, Greta.
2:52
Hi Jerry!
2:53
So first, remind us of the specifics
2:55
of this law and the challenge to
2:57
it.
2:57
Yeah, okay. So this is Senate Bill
2:59
10. And like you said, it was passed
3:01
last year.
3:02
And it says I that K through 12
3:04
schools must have posters of
3:06
the 10 commandments in every
3:08
classroom.
3:09
And districts can buy them, but they
3:11
if that's what they want, of course,
3:12
but they can also accept donations.
3:14
And so the poster has to be durable
3:16
or even framed once again, if
3:18
that is what they and it has
3:20
to be 16 by 20 inches at
3:22
least and if people donate posters
3:24
to the districts then campuses
3:26
must have posters on
3:28
the wall.
3:29
And so that's what the bill says.
3:31
And it's important to note that
3:32
there are three different lawsuits
3:34
right now going on.
3:35
The one that we heard a ruling from
3:37
this week was filed
3:40
by multiple families against
3:41
different school districts,
3:43
saying that the law is, quote,
3:45
establishment of religion,
3:47
end quote, and that it courses
3:48
students into reverence of the
3:50
Ten Commandments.
3:52
Okay, let's talk about the ruling
3:53
that was announced this week.
3:54
What did that have to say?
3:55
Yes. So, this lawsuit
3:58
had been heard at a court in San
3:59
Antonio where a federal judge said,
4:01
okay, this does interfere with
4:03
families' free exercise of religious
4:05
or non-religious beliefs.
4:07
And then Texas Attorney
4:09
General Ken Paxton asked the Fifth
4:11
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to
4:12
take a look at it.
4:14
And there, 17 active judges
4:15
listened to the case and decided
4:18
that SB 10
4:19
is far from coercing students
4:21
into engaging with religious
4:24
worship.
4:25
But they also said that it simply,
4:27
quote, puts a poster in
4:29
a classroom wall, end quote, and
4:30
that it doesn't summon anybody to
4:32
pray. So now the districts that
4:35
had been in the lawsuit have to
4:36
comply with SB 10 once
4:38
a mandate comes, which is expected
4:40
sometime around mid-May.
4:42
Okay, let's talk about the Austin
4:44
ISD part of the equation.
4:45
Your reporting says that the
4:46
district say they will not post the
4:48
10 commandments in the meantime.
4:49
How are they getting around that?
4:51
Yeah. So for people who have been
4:53
paying extreme attention since
4:55
last year, they knew that Austin
4:57
is off the hook for now, but it's
4:59
a little bit complicated.
5:00
Even lawyers I spoke to yesterday
5:01
had to like pause and look back and
5:03
say, okay, what is happening here?
5:05
So this lawsuit once again is from
5:07
families against the school
5:08
districts.
5:09
And back in August, Austin ISD had
5:11
said, okay. We do not want to spend
5:13
resources in litigation.
5:15
We'll comply with what families are
5:16
saying for and will abide by a
5:18
final decision.
5:19
And so the question here was...
5:20
Is the final decision from the Fifth
5:22
Circuit or is it a final, final
5:24
decision from the Supreme Court?
5:26
And so I noticed that Austin was
5:28
not mentioned in the ruling this
5:29
week. And so, I asked lawyers like,
5:31
what does this mean?
5:32
Can the state come after the
5:34
district for not complying with the
5:35
law? And I talked to Rachel
5:37
Lazar from Americans United
5:39
for the Separation of Church and
5:41
State, which is one of the
5:43
organizations that is representing
5:44
families in the lawsuit.
5:45
And this is what she told me.
5:47
It was a federal court who approved
5:49
the stipulation that Austin
5:51
agreed to not post
5:53
until litigation is
5:55
totally complete.
5:57
So in this case, the attorney
5:59
general would be
6:01
in contempt of court if he went
6:02
after Austin because he
6:04
would be violating that
6:06
court order.
6:07
So in short, for now, Austin ISDs
6:10
off the hook until a final ruling
6:12
comes.
6:13
Okay, we have been speaking with
6:14
Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
6:16
We're gonna have a link to her
6:17
reporting in today's show notes,
6:19
and you can find more at kut.org
6:22
slash signal.
6:23
Thank you, Greta.
6:24
Thank you, Jerry.
6:37
Almost 200 kids from Austin
6:39
are arriving in Salt Lake City,
6:41
Utah for a national archery
6:43
tournament that kicks off today.
6:45
KUT's Nathan Bernier visited an
6:47
Austin Elementary School gym where
6:48
the sport is teaching kids how to
6:50
focus and turning some of
6:52
them into champions.
6:55
Inside the gym at Highland Park
6:56
Elementary School, a line of
6:58
a couple dozen kids raises their
7:00
bows, draws, and
7:02
lets arrows fly.
7:05
The arrows smack into the center of
7:07
targets downrange.
7:08
The kids make it look easy, but
7:10
they've been working at it for a
7:11
long time.
7:12
10-Year-old Adam Moskowitz won
7:14
a state title in March.
7:15
This is my first year doing archery.
7:18
First year and you want state
7:19
championship?
7:21
How'd you do that?
7:22
Um, lots of practice,
7:25
and like teammates help
7:27
also.
7:28
Her 11-year-old teammate, Louis
7:29
Garcia, also won a state title
7:31
last month in bullseye.
7:33
He says practice matters,
7:35
but so does mindset.
7:36
Don't get in your head, that's like
7:37
the biggest thing. Stay calm.
7:40
There's this quote, like, just be a
7:41
goldfish.
7:42
Just don't worry about it.
7:43
It's just one arrow at a time, one
7:44
step at a time, basically like that.
7:46
Together, they're part of one of the
7:48
most successful youth archery
7:49
programs in Texas.
7:51
Three, four, and relax.
7:54
Austin ISD does not pay for the
7:56
archery program.
7:57
Families mostly cover the cost,
7:59
which can run about $1,000 a year
8:01
for each kid, including equipment.
8:03
Some scholarships are available.
8:05
For now, though, it means the
8:06
program only exists at a handful
8:08
of campuses.
8:09
But the sport has been growing in
8:10
Austin since the program started
8:11
about a decade ago at Highland Park
8:13
Elementary.
8:14
That's when a longtime PE teacher
8:16
named Jim DeLine let his students
8:18
try archery as a two-week
8:19
class.
8:20
Class unit.
8:21
Instantly found that it was a
8:23
game changer for a lot of kids in a
8:25
lot of different ways.
8:26
Kids that are kind of on the
8:27
peripheral of team sports or
8:29
don't get a lot social interaction
8:31
with other people or you
8:33
know might be on the spectrum a
8:33
little bit, right?
8:34
Instantly saw the change in how
8:36
this impacted them.
8:38
So they started a club, and in
8:40
2018 the archers at Highland Park
8:41
Elementary won state championships.
8:44
They haven't lost since.
8:47
Finish while he's doing it.
8:49
Keep going.
8:50
And relax, Mario.
8:51
Keep that bow up a little bit.
8:52
This guy right here is one of the
8:53
hardest working. You should really
8:54
interview him.
8:56
11-Year-old Robbie Schooler
8:58
walked over and told me about his
9:00
daily routine.
9:01
I have a whiteboard and
9:03
I made a chart
9:05
of all the exercises I do and I
9:07
do it almost every day and
9:09
I keep a journal just to like
9:11
write down all my thoughts about
9:12
archery.
9:13
He says that's how he trains his
9:14
mind.
9:15
If you want to get really good,
9:17
you have to set small goals or
9:19
like have a routine that you do
9:21
every day.
9:22
If you don't do it, it doesn't feel
9:23
that good, so it kind of makes the
9:25
mindset you want to do every single
9:26
day.
9:27
Why do you like archery so much?
9:29
When you see all the middle
9:31
schoolers, high schoolers getting
9:33
these perfect 50s and stuff, you're
9:35
like, I want to work hard to get
9:36
that, even if it's going
9:38
to take a lot of work.
9:40
Have you done that? Have you got a
9:41
perfect 50?
9:41
Yeah, too.
9:42
Yeah.
9:43
If you're not nervous, you're now
9:44
what? Normal!
9:45
And it's okay to be nervous as long
9:46
as you don't?
9:48
Barf! Barf and throw up, right?
9:49
We'll let the other teams barf and
9:50
throw up but we're not going to.
9:52
The Lion has watched his first
9:54
archery students grow up.
9:56
Some of them are in college now.
9:58
When seniors graduate from high
9:59
school, they'll sometimes come back
10:01
to Highland Park for one last
10:03
team picture.
10:04
So cool.
10:05
And I'm the smallest one in the
10:06
bunch. And again, getting back to
10:07
your original question, what keeps
10:08
you in this? All coaches will tell
10:09
you the same thing, relationships,
10:11
you know, you're making lifetime
10:12
friends.
10:16
So I'll keep you there.
10:17
Just as I'm about to leave, the
10:19
students start applauding for some
10:21
reason.
10:24
Everybody got a picture?
10:25
Yeah.
10:26
Robbie got another perfect score,
10:28
all five arrows in the 10-point
10:29
center ring.
10:30
So is that three this year, or three
10:31
F total?
10:32
To be this year.
10:34
When you get a 50 here,
10:36
right? What happens?
10:36
You get a sticker and then we get to
10:38
feed you to the llamas, so.
10:40
Well now Robbie and his teammates
10:41
are taking their focus to Salt
10:43
Lake City where they're competing in
10:45
a national tournament that wraps
10:47
up on Saturday.
10:48
I'm Nathan Bernier in Austin.
10:59
And we're gonna have a link to
11:01
Nathan's story in today's podcast,
11:03
Show Notes, and you can check out
11:04
more over at kut.org
11:07
slash signal.
11:08
Lots of great photos from that
11:10
story.
11:11
Wanted to let you know about
11:12
something that happened yesterday.
11:14
Austin has lifted its ban on open
11:16
flames in city parks.
11:18
It was a fire hazard during the dry
11:19
conditions, but after the rain of
11:21
recent weeks, the city has announced
11:22
that grilling can commence for the
11:24
first time since October of last
11:26
year. It is okay to use
11:28
wood or charcoal-fired grills
11:30
and propane grills in parks during
11:32
hours of operation, but smoking
11:34
is still banned in Austin
11:36
parks.
11:36
And if you're planning on doing some
11:38
grilling, weather should be nice
11:40
this weekend, mostly cloudy.
11:41
Highs right around 90 on
11:43
Saturday and Sunday, but no
11:45
rain in the forecast.
11:48
We got more Austin signal coming up
11:50
after this break.
11:51
Stay with us.
11:58
This is Austin Signal, welcome
12:00
back.
12:01
Austin has its share of strange and
12:03
even exotic-seeming animals,
12:05
armadillos, wild hogs,
12:07
all kinds of bats.
12:09
But when Austinite Darren Smith saw
12:11
an unusual animal on the road early
12:13
one morning, it was just too
12:15
far-fetched for his friends and
12:17
family to believe.
12:18
So he brought the case to our A.T.
12:21
Explained project.
12:22
KUT's Olivia Aldridge went full
12:24
private eye to answer his question.
12:29
December 11th, 2019.
12:32
It was a dark, chilly morning.
12:34
My client Darren Smith left his home
12:36
in Driftwood before dawn.
12:38
There's nobody on the road.
12:39
It is pitch dark.
12:40
He was driving to the airport to
12:42
meet his graduate school cohort for
12:43
a class trip to South America.
12:46
But the drive didn't go as planned.
12:49
Smith was on South Mopac when things
12:51
went awry.
12:53
Almost to lacrosse where
12:55
the wildfire center turns off.
12:57
There's no lights I look
12:59
down for a second just looks down at
13:00
something on my floor and I look up
13:02
and directly in front of me is an
13:04
elk
13:06
in Austin, Texas.
13:07
Or something huge.
13:09
I was so big,
13:11
but I just like swerved.
13:13
And I mean, my heart's racing a
13:14
thousand beats a minute.
13:16
I'm like, what the hell was that?
13:18
An elk or something
13:20
huge.
13:21
Smith admits that at first he wasn't
13:23
sure what he saw.
13:24
So I get all the way over to the
13:26
airport, fellow students were all
13:28
kind of gathered up to get on the
13:30
same plane. I'm like, I almost
13:32
hit a moose.
13:33
His friends weren't buying it.
13:34
There were no moose around Austin.
13:37
Maybe you just saw one hell of a
13:38
deer. But what he'd seen was taller
13:40
than a deer, leggier, with bigger
13:42
antlers, and altogether just
13:44
more huge.
13:46
After a quick Google, Smith set the
13:48
record straight.
13:49
Not a deer!
13:50
Not a moose!
13:51
It was definitely an elk.
13:53
But his peers remained unconvinced.
13:56
My main memory is just thinking
13:57
Baron was nuts and
14:00
didn't
14:02
really see an elephant.
14:03
Brian South is a close friend of
14:05
Smith's from graduate school.
14:07
He remembers pulling up photos to
14:08
argue the point.
14:09
Cause I was like, no dude, this is
14:11
an elk, this isn't deer.
14:12
He's like, No, this was what I saw
14:13
the elk. And I was there's no way
14:15
there's, there's no elk in Austin,
14:17
but he was pretty set on it.
14:18
So I was all right, man.
14:19
Maybe you did.
14:20
Smith's classmates laughed at him
14:22
throughout their trip.
14:23
Silly Darren, with his delusions.
14:26
Elk belong in colder climates,
14:28
the rocky mountains of Colorado, the
14:30
snowy expanses of Yellowstone.
14:33
So Smith returned home and sought
14:34
solace with his loving wife.
14:37
Surely she would believe him.
14:39
Uh, yeah, she
14:41
doesn't believe me.
14:42
But Smith couldn't let it go.
14:44
Even as weeks passed, months,
14:46
years.
14:47
Frankly, it started to get a little
14:49
weird.
14:50
He's like, Hey, do you remember when
14:51
we talked about that elk in Austin?
14:52
I was like, vaguely, dude.
14:54
So finally, Smith brought the
14:56
case to me.
14:59
I saw it for a fleeting,
15:01
you know, millisecond.
15:03
But in that millisecond I saw it, I
15:05
know it's there.
15:05
And you were sure it wasn't a deer.
15:08
Oh yeah. I asked him to describe the
15:09
creature he'd seen.
15:11
It was almost all leg and
15:12
then this body, the
15:14
body was just like, it was just
15:16
massive. If you looked in my window,
15:18
it just, it almost took up like the,
15:20
like the physical bit of
15:22
its actual like torso was probably
15:23
like five or six feet wide it seemed
15:25
like in this head and it just looked
15:27
straight at me.
15:28
I grew concerned.
15:30
He just didn't sound like a man who
15:31
knew what an elk looked like.
15:33
I began to fear I'd been approached
15:35
by an unreliable witness.
15:38
But Smith was a man possessed.
15:40
For years he'd been consumed,
15:42
losing sleep, losing sanity,
15:44
wondering how he could prove he saw
15:46
what he saw.
15:47
I want to find the white whale.
15:48
Like, I know it exists.
15:49
I know they're there.
15:50
Like, one day I'm going to see them.
15:52
I want find these elves.
15:54
Against my better judgment, I too
15:56
became consumed.
15:58
What exactly had Smith seen in
16:00
the gloom?
16:01
Was it simply a deer, some strange
16:03
cryptid of the night, or
16:05
could his suspicions be true?
16:08
Darren needed to know,
16:10
are there wild elk in
16:12
Austin, Texas?
16:14
There's gotta be help.
16:15
There was one sign that pointed to
16:18
yes.
16:20
What appeared to be an elk crossing
16:22
sign on the 45 Southwest hole,
16:24
the connector between Mopac and
16:26
1626.
16:27
The road opened mere months before
16:29
Smith saw his creature of the night,
16:31
and the sign did not escape his
16:33
notice.
16:34
Why would they put up these signs if
16:35
there's not some kind of else?
16:37
I took the case.
16:41
As it turned out, Smith wasn't the
16:43
only one intrigued by that sign.
16:45
It also aroused discussion among the
16:46
good people of TexasBowHunter.com.
16:50
Some in the forum were dismissive.
16:51
Ain't no elk here, one user wrote.
16:54
But others told strange tales of
16:56
elk roaming near the highway.
16:58
My painter took a photo of a
17:00
free-range herd in that area ten
17:01
years ago.
17:02
I saw elk while building houses in
17:04
Circle C.
17:05
There are elk in a ranch down
17:07
by the and fill.
17:11
I realized there were plenty of
17:12
stories of elk in southwest Austin
17:14
for those with the eyes to see,
17:17
all somewhat mythical around the
17:19
edges.
17:20
There was the fuzzy video shot from
17:21
a cell phone posted on Reddit,
17:23
the questionable photo from a game
17:25
camera in the hill country, and
17:27
there was my own editor, Ben
17:29
Philpott, telling me that everyone
17:31
knows the sign on 45 is
17:33
about escaped elk from the Texas
17:35
Disposal Systems Exotic Game Ranch.
17:37
Everyone knows that.
17:38
Well, it was news to this detective.
17:41
Texas Disposal Systems operates the
17:43
landfill in far southeast Austin
17:44
that accepts most of the city's
17:46
trash. On the same property, one
17:48
can lock eyes with rhinoceroses,
17:50
kudus, and, yes, elk,
17:53
also classified as exotics in this
17:55
state.
17:56
Odd, perhaps, that a waste
17:57
management company would keep exotic
17:59
animals near a landfill,
18:01
but the ways of Texans are strange.
18:04
In fact, There are plenty of
18:06
these ranches scattered across
18:07
Texas, some raking in thousands
18:09
of dollars a pop from hunters hoping
18:11
for a shot at the elusive
18:13
elk with its distinctive bugle
18:15
and large impressive antler
18:17
rack.
18:18
Hunters that normally would try to
18:20
go to New Mexico,
18:22
Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado,
18:24
you know, to go hunt elk.
18:26
Ranch man Callen Ahrens leads hunts
18:28
from the open ranges of West Texas
18:30
to the fenced off exotic ranches
18:32
of the hill country.
18:33
They're finding it's more profitable
18:35
for them to hunt them in state.
18:40
Elk may be classified as exotic
18:42
today, but they once roamed
18:44
Texas as natives until overhunting
18:46
and habitat loss took their
18:48
toll.
18:49
By the 1920s, landowners began
18:51
to capture elk out of state and
18:52
bring them back to West Texas.
18:55
Today, up to several thousand may be
18:57
ranging freely in that part of
18:59
the state.
19:00
But in the hill country, elk are
19:01
relegated to high fence properties
19:03
that keep wildlife out and
19:05
exotics in.
19:07
Funny thing about fences though,
19:09
fences, you know, they get holes in
19:10
them.
19:11
That's right, they get holes.
19:13
Flooding creates water gaps,
19:15
sections of fence fall, elk
19:16
escape, and then all
19:19
bets are off.
19:20
Yeah, they're at the mercy of
19:22
God Almighty because then they just
19:24
breathe and do what they want.
19:26
Forget the image of elk ranging
19:28
through a snowy yellowstone.
19:29
These animals are adaptable
19:31
survivors, holding up to both
19:33
heat and cold.
19:34
They have a flexible diet and
19:36
sprawling home ranges of up to 100
19:38
square miles.
19:40
That's why errands can confidently
19:41
say today that there are
19:43
thriving, breeding elk around
19:45
Austin.
19:46
We managed the ranches along 290
19:48
between Johnson City and Austin.
19:51
And there is some milk that I've
19:52
seen on camera and from survey
19:54
from the helicopter.
19:56
And there's even some on the north
19:57
side of Austin that I have seen too.
20:00
Things were beginning to look up for
20:01
my client, and signs kept
20:03
piling up in his favor.
20:06
Apparently, the elk crossing sign
20:07
was placed after several of the
20:09
animals were spotted during the
20:10
road's construction.
20:12
The road authorities didn't know
20:13
where their interloping elk had come
20:15
from, but they said nearby
20:17
homeowners continue to report
20:19
sightings.
20:20
Maybe one of them could give me the
20:22
cold, hard evidence I still
20:24
needed.
20:25
My name is Michael Ekrat.
20:27
This is my second house in Circle C,
20:29
but I've really wanted one with a
20:30
green belt, so that's why I moved to
20:32
Gray Rock.
20:33
He placed a game camera in back of
20:35
his home to enjoy sightings of
20:37
wildlife.
20:38
There's a lot to see.
20:40
Cardinals, foxes, deer,
20:42
and yes, even elk trotting
20:44
across the frame.
20:45
In Circle City, a lot of people joke
20:47
about having the elk signs on
20:49
the highway.
20:50
But when I saw those big racks,
20:52
I knew that they were elk right
20:53
away.
20:54
After so much rumor and speculation,
20:56
there it finally was,
20:58
caught on camera.
21:00
I ran the footage by some experts.
21:02
Callan Aron said, yes, there is
21:04
an elk in Ekrot's video,
21:06
alongside a red stag,
21:08
two similar species that often
21:09
intermingle.
21:11
So there I had it, my
21:13
smoking gun.
21:14
All there was left to do was give my
21:16
client the good news.
21:18
I called Smith into my office to
21:19
show him the footage.
21:21
Does that look like what you saw?
21:22
Yes.
21:24
Yeah, that looks very similar
21:25
to what I saw.
21:27
So I'm not crazy.
21:28
You are not crazy!
21:31
Everybody thought I was crazy.
21:32
I'm like I'm telling you there's elk
21:34
in Austin
21:36
At last, Darren's White Whale.
21:38
My client was vindicated.
21:41
Questions still linger about where
21:43
these elk originally came from.
21:45
The exotic ranch by the landfill was
21:46
one guess, but there were plenty
21:48
of other properties with elk around.
21:51
Perhaps it was even multiple escapes
21:53
that led to these mavericks roaming
21:54
free.
21:56
But one thing is sure,
21:58
there are elk in southwest
22:00
Austin.
22:01
And as I close the book on this
22:03
mystery...
22:03
I began to wonder if even stranger
22:05
things could be lurking here.
22:07
If there are elk in Austin, why
22:09
not the Texas Bigfoot?
22:12
That's a question for my next case.
22:15
Until then, I'm Olivia Aldridge
22:17
in Austin.
22:25
That story was first performed at
22:26
our ATXplained live show last
22:28
fall. My, what a performance it
22:30
was, and our next show is coming up
22:32
on May 21 at Bass Concert
22:34
Hall. Details and tickets at
22:36
texasperformingarts.org.
22:39
We'll see you out there.
22:41
That is it for today's show.
22:43
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
22:44
director, Alexa Hart is our
22:46
producer, and Kristen Cabrera is
22:48
our managing producer.
22:50
I'm Jerry Quijano, Austin Signal
22:51
will be back tomorrow at the same
22:53
time, we will talk to you
22:55
then.