Latest / Austin Signal / Judge to decide whether Camp Mystic lawsuits can be settled out of court
Transcript
- 0:08A judge in Travis County is expected
- 0:10to decide soon whether Camp Mystic
- 0:12and its owners can settle out of
- 0:13court, wrongful death lawsuits
- 0:15stemming from last year's deadly
- 0:16summer flooding.
- 0:17The families want jury trials, but
- 0:19the owners want arbitration, more
- 0:21details, and visitors to
- 0:23Big Bend National Park are hoping to
- 0:24catch a glimpse before the protected
- 0:26region changes.
- 0:27The Trump administration has been
- 0:28pushing on again off again plans for
- 0:30a border wall through the park.
- 0:32More about those stories coming up
- 0:34on today's show.
- 0:35The Austin Signal is a production
- 0:37of KUT News, hosted by
- 0:39Jerry Quijano.
- 0:40Plus, an event this week identifying
- 0:42and highlighting Asian artists in
- 0:44Austin is taking on an added
- 0:45function, raising funds for some
- 0:47of their own involved in an accident
- 0:49while trying to pursue their art.
- 0:51Austin Creates Together and
- 0:53the Recovery for P.
- 0:54Lander Z, those stories up
- 0:56next here on Austin Signal.
- 1:03Bye.
- 1:08Howdy out there, you are tuned in
- 1:10to Austin Signal.
- 1:12I'm your host, Jerry Kikano.
- 1:14It is Tuesday, June 9th.
- 1:16Thank you for listening and making
- 1:18us part of your day.
- 1:20A Travis County judge is expected to
- 1:22decide tomorrow whether Camp Mystic
- 1:24and its owners can settle wrongful
- 1:26death lawsuits out of court.
- 1:28Families of the girls who died at
- 1:29the Kerr County camp in last
- 1:31summer's catastrophic floods want
- 1:32jury trials for the five cases.
- 1:35The camp's owners, however, say the
- 1:36cases should be settled through
- 1:38arbitration, pointing to an
- 1:39agreement parents signed when
- 1:41registering their daughters for the
- 1:42camp.
- 1:43KUT's Williamson County reporter
- 1:45Kaylee Hunt has been following the
- 1:46latest developments in this story,
- 1:47and she is back with us in the
- 1:49studio. Hi, Kaylee.
- 1:50Hey, Jerry.
- 1:51So can you please bring us up to
- 1:53speed? What has happened so far with
- 1:54these lawsuits?
- 1:56Yeah. So what we heard earlier this
- 1:58spring was that, you know, the judge
- 1:59was ordering Camp Mystic to
- 2:02preserve some of the cabins that
- 2:04were involved in last summer's
- 2:06flooding.
- 2:07Shortly after those hearings,
- 2:10Camp Mystik filed a motion
- 2:11requesting arbitration,
- 2:13and that took place on
- 2:15March 24th.
- 2:17And then last month, on May
- 2:1913th, we were actually
- 2:21set to resolve that issue.
- 2:24Judge My Gator Gamble was
- 2:26I'm going to rule on whether or not
- 2:28the camp would be able to take that
- 2:29behind closed doors or move forward
- 2:31as a, you know, a, a public,
- 2:33public lawsuit.
- 2:34Yeah. Um, however,
- 2:36hours before that hearing,
- 2:38talking midnight, uh, before that
- 2:40hearing began, the camp withdrew
- 2:42that initial original motion
- 2:44and then refiled amended ones,
- 2:46um, and so that essentially
- 2:48delayed, um this whole conversation
- 2:50of arbitration.
- 2:52You report the camp's owners say
- 2:53that the parents sign arbitration
- 2:55provisions when they register their
- 2:56kids for camp.
- 2:58What do we know about those
- 2:59agreements?
- 3:00Yeah, well, you know, we sign
- 3:02arbitration agreements like this
- 3:04all the time, many times
- 3:06unknowingly, right.
- 3:07I'm guessing so, yeah.
- 3:08Yeah, you know cell phones
- 3:11your employment contracts We do it
- 3:12all the time and I mean it's
- 3:14it's especially common in situations
- 3:16like these you know where parents
- 3:17are signing their kids up for summer
- 3:19camp and so what we
- 3:21know specifically about
- 3:23the arbitration clause
- 3:25and camp Mystics contract was that
- 3:27it stated that parents who had an
- 3:29issue or Conflict with the camp or
- 3:31one of its employees that they
- 3:33essentially must try and sort them
- 3:34out in private out of court
- 3:36without a lawsuit by a qualified
- 3:38third party or arbitrator.
- 3:42However, there's legal debate,
- 3:43right, as to whether or not that
- 3:45clause is enforceable just
- 3:47given the seriousness of the
- 3:49allegations of negligence against
- 3:51the camp and its employees.
- 3:53Why might the camp prefer to
- 3:55do this through arbitration
- 3:57rather than through a jury trial?
- 3:59Yeah.
- 4:00Well, you know, obviously there's a
- 4:01lot of public interest in
- 4:03this case.
- 4:04The media's been all over it.
- 4:07The courtroom has just been packed
- 4:09full of spectators each time
- 4:11there's been a hearing related
- 4:13to these cases.
- 4:14And so, you can't presume
- 4:16to know what is going
- 4:18through the camp owner's minds, but
- 4:20I would assume a lot it would have
- 4:22to do with protecting their
- 4:23reputation, not having
- 4:25to rehash and relive.
- 4:28Much of the trauma that took place
- 4:30last summer out in public,
- 4:32because obviously they lived through
- 4:34the event as well and had
- 4:36one of their family members die.
- 4:38So yeah, I think
- 4:40protecting their reputation, having
- 4:42the ability to do it behind closed
- 4:44doors and in private.
- 4:45Yeah, and on the flip side of that,
- 4:47why would the parents want to pursue
- 4:48the jury trials?
- 4:49Right. So, you know, the parents
- 4:51who are suing the camp have been
- 4:54pretty adamant from the beginning,
- 4:56you know about seeking public
- 4:58accountability for
- 5:01what happened to their daughters.
- 5:04They've been very outspoken.
- 5:05Again, they're the ones who've been
- 5:06packing the courtroom throughout all
- 5:08these hearings.
- 5:09And so, yeah, I think they're
- 5:11very, I
- 5:13would assume would believe that,
- 5:15you a jury of their peers.
- 5:17Go through that fact-finding process
- 5:19out in public not
- 5:21behind closed doors that perhaps
- 5:23they're getting more accountability
- 5:26Have we seen any indication
- 5:28yet on how the judge may rule in
- 5:30this case?
- 5:31What are you watching for next?
- 5:33Yeah. I mean, you know, obviously
- 5:35there's lots of legal debate on this
- 5:36topic, so really could go either
- 5:38way.
- 5:40We do know there's the vested public
- 5:41interest. I think the judge
- 5:43acknowledges that she's been very
- 5:44open and to the
- 5:46media being there and in the
- 5:48courtroom and having spectators.
- 5:50She was not happy when Camp Mystic
- 5:53withdrew that original
- 5:56motion for arbitration and refiled
- 5:58it, um, delaying that,
- 6:00uh, she, you know, wasn't happy with
- 6:01that tactic, but Um, yeah,
- 6:03we will see tomorrow what she
- 6:05ultimately decides.
- 6:06All right, that is Kaylee Hunt.
- 6:08She is KUT's Williamson County
- 6:10reporter. She will continue
- 6:11following this story and will bring
- 6:12you the latest updates right here on
- 6:14KUT News and Austin Signal.
- 6:17Kaylee, thanks for being here.
- 6:18Thanks, Jerry.
- 6:25Over half a million people
- 6:26visit Big Ben National Park each
- 6:28year, plenty of those visitors
- 6:30traveling right here from the Austin
- 6:31area.
- 6:33One of the biggest reasons why
- 6:34people say they head to Big Ben,
- 6:36the park's natural beauty,
- 6:38scenery, and solitude far,
- 6:40far away from the busy
- 6:42city life.
- 6:43So the federal government's
- 6:44on-again, off-again plans to build a
- 6:46border wall through the park has
- 6:48visitors hoping to catch one
- 6:49last glimpse before the protected
- 6:51region changes.
- 6:52Which in turn has made the need for
- 6:54repairs to visitor lodging and other
- 6:56popular park areas more apparent.
- 6:59Those federally funded renovation
- 7:00plans are also in limbo.
- 7:03The Texas Standards Justin Doud
- 7:04visited Big Ben to explore the
- 7:06potential impact of those delays.
- 7:10Known for its rugged and remote
- 7:11desert beauty, Big Bend National
- 7:13Park is not for the faint of heart.
- 7:15It's bigger than Rhode Island, with
- 7:16hundreds of miles of paved and dirt
- 7:18roads weaving through rough terrain
- 7:20and shifting elevation.
- 7:22In 2024, the park welcomed
- 7:24just half a million visitors,
- 7:26less than 5% of what the most
- 7:28visited park sees annually,
- 7:29but for those Texans and dedicated
- 7:31travelers that commit to the
- 7:33journey. The reward is
- 7:35spectacular.
- 7:38Big Bend is recognized globally as
- 7:40one of the best places on Earth to
- 7:42stargaze because of the low light
- 7:43pollution.
- 7:44And the rare curve in the river's
- 7:46flow, the park's namesake,
- 7:47creates stunning vistas in one of
- 7:49world's most pristine ecological
- 7:51preserves.
- 7:53The park's most popular stopover is
- 7:55the Chezos Mountain Basin,
- 7:56accessible only by one narrow,
- 7:58curvy two-lane road.
- 7:59At the end of that seven-mile
- 8:01stretch, the only in-park lodging
- 8:03sits alongside a
- 8:05food truck.
- 8:06The only hot meal for tens of miles
- 8:08in any direction.
- 8:09In all honesty, surrounded by
- 8:11stunning views and breathtaking
- 8:12scenery, the Lodge building is
- 8:14not much to look at.
- 8:16It's rundown, with shingles missing
- 8:17from rooftops and a foundation
- 8:19crumbling below.
- 8:21There's holes in this overhang
- 8:23right here.
- 8:24You can tell that the buildings
- 8:26are just smaller and
- 8:28older.
- 8:29The interiors are definitely dated.
- 8:31You know, you can tell that they've,
- 8:32again, they've done the best that
- 8:33they can, but you know, you look at
- 8:35the the bed spreads and such and
- 8:37it's like, is that clean?
- 8:39Liz Turner was visiting from Austin.
- 8:42This was her first trip to Big Bend,
- 8:43and she was staying in one of the
- 8:45lodge's classic motel rooms.
- 8:47She's far from the only one who
- 8:49thinks the 1964 lodge is
- 8:51overdue for a facelift.
- 8:52In fact, Lauren Reimer, the
- 8:54executive director of the non-profit
- 8:56Big Bend Conservancy, says it goes
- 8:58far beyond that.
- 8:59It needs serious structural repairs.
- 9:01There's portions of the foundation
- 9:03that are cracking.
- 9:05And if you even just look at the
- 9:07backside of the lodge, you can kind
- 9:08of see an area where it looks like
- 9:10it's just about to fall off
- 9:12the hill. We always kind of joke
- 9:14that you could roll a tomato down
- 9:16the floor or it should just
- 9:18keep going.
- 9:19That's why, under a 2020 bill
- 9:20benefiting the National Park
- 9:22Service, Big Bend was slated to
- 9:23receive more than $75 million
- 9:25in federal funds to repair the
- 9:27lodge and the Chezos Basin water
- 9:29infrastructure, two separate
- 9:31projects addressing urgent needs in
- 9:32the area.
- 9:34The repairs would have forced the
- 9:35section of the park to close for up
- 9:36to two years.
- 9:38That was set to begin May 1st.
- 9:40Tourists from across the state and
- 9:41country made reservations ahead
- 9:43of the closure, looking to visit the
- 9:45hot spot before it shuttered to the
- 9:46public. Turner was one of those.
- 9:49Big Bent had been on my list for a
- 9:50while, and then I had heard,
- 9:53there was a combination of hearing
- 9:54about this section going to
- 9:56be closed for two years, combined
- 9:57with putting up the wall.
- 9:59I was like, well, I better hurry up
- 10:01and get out here and see it.
- 10:03But in early April, just a month
- 10:05before construction was set to
- 10:06begin, the National Park Service
- 10:08abruptly called off the projects,
- 10:10citing substantial budget
- 10:11shortfalls.
- 10:12No further information was given,
- 10:14and the park's website still
- 10:15includes the project plans with a
- 10:17May 1st closure date listed,
- 10:19just under a one-line banner
- 10:20announcing the project's
- 10:22cancelation.
- 10:23I don't think the park service at
- 10:25this point knows what
- 10:27it's going to do.
- 10:28I will say the
- 10:30decision was made by the national
- 10:32office, not by the park.
- 10:34And I think the Park is
- 10:36having to now explain
- 10:38it to people and answer
- 10:40questions of what are you going to
- 10:41do. And frankly, I don't think
- 10:43they have the
- 10:45control over the answers to those
- 10:46questions right now.
- 10:47That's Bob Krumenaker, the park
- 10:49superintendent from 2018 to
- 10:512023, and one of the people
- 10:53who worked on plans for the
- 10:54renovations to begin.
- 10:56He says the decision to fund the
- 10:57renovators now was long
- 10:59overdue.
- 11:00Well, it was actually a sense of
- 11:02urgency. So it wasn't necessarily
- 11:04something that I wanted to
- 11:06do. It was something that
- 11:08thought I had to do." To reach
- 11:09the Chizos Mountains basin, water
- 11:11is carried from Oak Spring at the
- 11:13base up 1,300 feet through
- 11:15pipes laid decades ago.
- 11:17Pipes that some advocates say were
- 11:19already used before they were laid
- 11:20way back then.
- 11:22Crewman Acres says the basin's water
- 11:23infrastructure is already decades
- 11:25past its life expectancy,
- 11:27and repairs are needed now more than
- 11:29ever in the face of severe drought.
- 11:31So the leakage continues.
- 11:33The need for additional storage
- 11:34continues.
- 11:35And so hopefully the delay
- 11:38of water project will
- 11:40not be too long because
- 11:42the risk is catastrophic
- 11:44failure at some point.
- 11:45And then you
- 11:47may have no water at all.
- 11:50And whatever visitor activity and
- 11:51facilities you have up there will be
- 11:53really in a tremendous bind.
- 11:56And from a fire management
- 11:58perspective,
- 11:59FIREFIGHTING
- 12:00That would also be-
- 12:01a serious consideration.
- 12:02The planned renovations were already
- 12:04a scaled-down version of what park
- 12:06leaders think is needed long-term.
- 12:08The idea was to buy the National
- 12:09Park Service 10-20 more years of
- 12:11water access while they found the
- 12:13money for a more permanent fix.
- 12:15Now, even that Band-Aid
- 12:17is being withheld.
- 12:19Big Bend Conservancy's Lauren Reamer
- 12:20said the decision to wait was made
- 12:22after the price estimate for lodge
- 12:24renovations came in at nearly double
- 12:26what was originally allocated.
- 12:28And that the water project can
- 12:29hopefully resume as soon as it's bid
- 12:31back out separate from the lodge
- 12:32restoration.
- 12:34That process, however, could have
- 12:35its own problems, raising questions
- 12:37over the logistics and cost of
- 12:39separating the two pursuits.
- 12:41Ideally, all of this would
- 12:43happen at once
- 12:45and that's
- 12:47primarily to avoid
- 12:50having multiple closures
- 12:52in the basin over the year.
- 12:54All of those water lines, anything
- 12:56that has a flushing toilet,
- 12:59a running faucet, has a pipe that
- 13:01runs to it under the ground.
- 13:03So renovating those water lines
- 13:06is going to create quite a bit
- 13:08of disruption in the basin.
- 13:11Um because you know those things are
- 13:12going to have to be dug up to be
- 13:14replaced.
- 13:15Some local residents view the delay
- 13:16as a step in the right direction.
- 13:19James Evans, a photographer who
- 13:20lives near Big Bend, believes the
- 13:22area should remain preserved and
- 13:24undeveloped.
- 13:25To Evans, the initial construction
- 13:26in the basin was a negative from the
- 13:28outset.
- 13:29It's just one example of the broad
- 13:31range of perspectives facing the
- 13:32park today.
- 13:36This shakeup is the latest in a
- 13:38string of changes for the National
- 13:39Park Service.
- 13:40Big Bend National Park is one of the
- 13:42many NPS sites nationwide facing
- 13:44severe staffing shortages.
- 13:46Former Superintendent Bob Krumenaker
- 13:48says three of the park's five
- 13:50division chief positions are
- 13:51currently without a permanent
- 13:52appointment, including the head of
- 13:54maintenance, and the park doesn't
- 13:56have a deputy superintendent,
- 13:58the second-in-command.
- 13:59Add-in proposed budget cuts that
- 14:01would slash already reduced NPS
- 14:03funding by nearly a order.
- 14:05As visitation numbers reach record
- 14:07highs nationwide, and advocates
- 14:09say Big Bend is in a difficult spot.
- 14:11In the meantime, the pipes continue
- 14:13to leak, and concerns over the
- 14:15park's ability to combat dangerous
- 14:16fire seasons continue to grow,
- 14:19with no word on when or if
- 14:21the projects will be reinstated.
- 14:23The National Park Service declined
- 14:25to answer specific questions, but
- 14:27a spokesperson said the agency is
- 14:28continuing to evaluate the best path
- 14:30forward for both projects.
- 14:32For the Texas Standard,
- 14:34I'm Justin Dow.
- 14:39And you are listening to
- 14:41Austin Signal right here on
- 14:43community powered public radio KUT
- 14:46news.
- 14:47There's more from us coming up
- 14:49right after this break.
- 14:55This is Austin Signal, I'm Jerry
- 14:57Quijano, thank you for tuning in.
- 14:59Late last month, Austin-based band
- 15:01P-Lander Z was in a severe car
- 15:03accident, hospitalizing all three of
- 15:05its members.
- 15:06The Japanese-American punk rock band
- 15:08known for their colorful attire
- 15:10antics and larger-than-life
- 15:11personalities were just starting out
- 15:13on their North American tour.
- 15:15The outpouring of support from fans
- 15:17and musicians from the Austin area
- 15:19in the wake of that crash was
- 15:20enormous, and underscored the impact
- 15:22of art and culture from artists of
- 15:24Asian descent here in the city.
- 15:26To help catalog that impact,
- 15:28the Austin Creates Together survey
- 15:29was created, and this Thursday
- 15:31out at Hope Outdoor Gallery there
- 15:33will be an event for the survey, and
- 15:35at the same time to raise money for
- 15:37P. Landersy's recovery.
- 15:39The event is hosted by The Lunar
- 15:40Foundation, a non-profit created to
- 15:42promote education, awareness, and
- 15:44celebration of the arts, history,
- 15:46and culture of Asian-American,
- 15:48Native, Hawaiian, and Pacific
- 15:50Islanders.
- 15:51Joining us now to talk more about
- 15:52that is Erika DiParini-Sugars,
- 15:55Head of Programs at the Foundation.
- 15:56Erika, welcome to the show.
- 15:57Thank you so much.
- 15:59So, tell us more about this survey,
- 16:01why did you want to do it and who is
- 16:02it for?
- 16:03Great. Yeah, we're really excited
- 16:04about the survey.
- 16:05We created it with
- 16:07support from Nielsen and their
- 16:09Data for Good project.
- 16:12I guess it started because,
- 16:14like most cultural organizations, we
- 16:16wanted to make sure that
- 16:18our programs and services continue
- 16:20to be aligned with the community
- 16:22that we're serving.
- 16:22And we are an organization that
- 16:24serves AANHPI
- 16:27artists and culture.
- 16:29And what we realized is, one,
- 16:31there's not a lot of data.
- 16:33Local data about the
- 16:35state of artists generally,
- 16:37and there are lots of pockets here
- 16:39in this creative city of Austin.
- 16:42And also, you know,
- 16:44Austin's Asian American population
- 16:46is growing quickly, as it is
- 16:48in most big cities in
- 16:50America.
- 16:51And actually, there was a study that
- 16:53the Greater Austin Asian
- 16:56Chamber of Commerce did Last
- 16:58year 2025 called
- 16:59the Central Texas Asian Impact
- 17:01Project, which really studied
- 17:03the shift of Asian Americans into
- 17:05Central Texas and found
- 17:07that we are now
- 17:09a population of about 9%.
- 17:12But in the 15 years,
- 17:14we've grown almost 71%.
- 17:17And with that shift is
- 17:19really where the
- 17:21demographics are going, who is
- 17:23coming in, and also get a better
- 17:25sense of what their priorities
- 17:26economically as well
- 17:28are.
- 17:29But there's not a lot of data on
- 17:31artists and arts
- 17:33within, I would say,
- 17:35the community and the culture
- 17:37of Asian-Americans and
- 17:39the sort of artistic influence
- 17:41just seems to be very lacking.
- 17:44So that's kind of why we put the
- 17:45survey together, is like we are all
- 17:47artists ourselves.
- 17:48We struggle in our arts.
- 17:50And I've worked with artists for a
- 17:51long time. And we've heard things
- 17:53anecdotally.
- 17:54But we really wanted to figure out
- 17:55what the data tells us right now.
- 17:57Yeah, and how did you go about
- 17:59starting to reach out and find these
- 18:00people in these communities?
- 18:02Well, one, I think it was
- 18:04helpful to be partnered with
- 18:06GACC, and they're
- 18:08a partner with some of our programs,
- 18:10particularly our nightmarket.fun
- 18:13program.
- 18:14And that really is a program, it
- 18:16was our tent pole program when we
- 18:17started the organization and really
- 18:19is modeled after sort of the
- 18:20Asian-style night markets.
- 18:23But the idea is to bring together
- 18:25performing artists, visual
- 18:27artists, culinary artists, So
- 18:29it's really a gathering place of
- 18:31different artists.
- 18:32But with those connections and with
- 18:34this data, we really wanted to say,
- 18:35hey, let's look at artists
- 18:37across disciplines,
- 18:39but also people of all levels.
- 18:42We are also thinking like, wow,
- 18:44a thriving arts community is
- 18:46also what happens
- 18:49around artists.
- 18:50Who supports them?
- 18:51How do they engage audiences?
- 18:53What does public engagement look
- 18:54like?
- 18:55So we're hoping to
- 18:57survey both.
- 18:58OK. And then the
- 19:00Asian-American, Native Hawaiian,
- 19:02Pacific Islander artists of
- 19:04all, like I said, of all levels, but
- 19:06also kind of the general public
- 19:08across Austin,
- 19:11central Texas,
- 19:13anybody who engages with art as
- 19:15a patron, as
- 19:17a music buyer, go to
- 19:19clubs, go-to-art festivals,
- 19:22how are they supporting
- 19:24the ecosystem
- 19:26for artists?
- 19:27Yeah, and how they're interacting
- 19:28with it as well.
- 19:30Okay, so is that open to anyone?
- 19:32Anybody can fill that out.
- 19:33Yes, so anybody can fill out the
- 19:35survey. And then there's a
- 19:36particular, if you answer that
- 19:38you're an artist, there are a number
- 19:39of questions that kind of lead you
- 19:40towards like understanding your
- 19:42art and your practice.
- 19:43Okay, cool. We're going to have more
- 19:44about that survey in today's
- 19:47show notes. I wanted to talk a
- 19:48little bit now about P.
- 19:49Lander Z. The band members go by
- 19:51different stage names, Tiger
- 19:52Pink and Yellow.
- 19:54Yellow was actually featured at one
- 19:55of your previous events.
- 19:56Tell us a little more about them.
- 19:57Yeah, I mean, P.
- 19:59Landers is a great kind
- 20:01of example of like the kinds of
- 20:03artists that we have in Central
- 20:05Texas and Austin.
- 20:07Amazing, kind of come together in
- 20:08performance, visual,
- 20:10music, it's kind of like, the best
- 20:12and bright of all things.
- 20:14And they're Asian American descent
- 20:16and we're really excited about
- 20:17having them in our community.
- 20:19But Yellow is a visual artist as and
- 20:21his art was featured
- 20:23in our Nightmarket.fun,
- 20:25our inaugural event.
- 20:27It was really great having him here
- 20:29for that.
- 20:30But we heard through our network
- 20:32while we were putting together the
- 20:34launch event for the survey, we
- 20:35heard about this horrible accident.
- 20:37And so, of course, we wanted to
- 20:38mobilize our network, our community,
- 20:41to point them to the GoFundMe
- 20:43page. And we did that.
- 20:46And so we had
- 20:47this event that we were putting it
- 20:48together anyway.
- 20:50We talked with their management.
- 20:51They were really excited that we
- 20:53were interested in potentially
- 20:54putting this as part of
- 20:56our event.
- 20:58And actually, it's very fitting.
- 21:00It's like we want to, one,
- 21:03uplift the visibility of our
- 21:05Asian American artists, but also,
- 21:07you know, come and support and serve
- 21:09when our artists' community needs
- 21:11us, so.
- 21:12Yeah, so it's a launch party that's
- 21:13also become a benefit and still
- 21:15attacking those same goals What can
- 21:17folks expect if they're gonna head
- 21:18out there Thursday at the Hope
- 21:20outdoor gallery?
- 21:21Yeah, it's free.
- 21:22It starts at five.
- 21:23It's free and it's for all ages.
- 21:25There are going to be
- 21:27survey stations there so
- 21:29people can engage with the survey on
- 21:31site.
- 21:32It is kind of a longer survey as I
- 21:34said. So, you know, people have
- 21:35questions, people want to engage
- 21:36there.
- 21:37There'll be music.
- 21:39We have DJ Angel
- 21:41Mixed in Rivera and we
- 21:43also have a couple of
- 21:45dance demonstrations.
- 21:46So we have a Bollywood demonstration
- 21:48around 5.30.
- 21:50With Kush ATX, and
- 21:52then a K-pop
- 21:54kind of lesson later on in
- 21:56the evening, about 6.30,
- 21:57with Aurora Z, the
- 21:59dance company.
- 22:00So we wanna get people active
- 22:02and engaged, engage with the survey,
- 22:04but engage with the Asian
- 22:06American artist community.
- 22:08But all are welcome, and then there
- 22:10is gonna be a benefit table
- 22:12that has Peelander Z merch,
- 22:14and all the proceeds of that will be
- 22:16going to their recovery fund.
- 22:18As well as we'll have
- 22:20stations set up so that people can
- 22:22donate to their GoFundMe.
- 22:25All right, that is this Thursday out
- 22:26at Hope Outdoor Gallery.
- 22:28We have been speaking with Erika
- 22:29DiParini-Sugars, head of programs
- 22:31at the Lutner Foundation.
- 22:33Erika, thank you for your time.
- 22:34Thank you so much.
- 22:36And before we let you go,
- 22:38Austin FC is getting a new head
- 22:40coach. The club announced the hiring
- 22:41of Jim Curtin, who spent a decade in
- 22:43charge of the Philadelphia Union.
- 22:45He won the 2020 Supporters Shield
- 22:47and earned Major League Soccer Coach
- 22:49of the Year in 2020 and
- 22:5122.
- 22:52Interim head coach David Arnoud will
- 22:54remain in charge for the rest of the
- 22:56current season with Curtin taking
- 22:57over ahead of the 2027
- 22:59MLS season.
- 23:01And World Cup 2026 kicks off
- 23:03Thursday as Mexico takes on South
- 23:04Africa.
- 23:05Juan Diego Garcia from the KUT
- 23:07podcast Vamos Verde will be on
- 23:09the show tomorrow with the preview
- 23:11of the action happening here in
- 23:12Texas. That is it for
- 23:15us on today's show.
- 23:16There's more from us at KUT.org
- 23:19slash Signal. But we will be back at
- 23:21the same time tomorrow.
- 23:22And we'll talk to you then.
- 23:24Have a great day.