Latest / Austin Signal / Gov. Abbott threatens Austin funding over ICE policy
Transcript
- 0:08Governor Greg Abbott is threatening
- 0:09to cut off more than $2 million in
- 0:12state grants for the city of Austin
- 0:13because of police policies on
- 0:15cooperating with federal immigration
- 0:16authorities.
- 0:17This follows Attorney General Ken
- 0:19Paxton launching an investigation
- 0:20into the same policies.
- 0:23And city of austin leaders got their
- 0:24first peak at the budget forecast
- 0:26for the next fiscal year.
- 0:28That means deciding which programs
- 0:29could lose their funding as the city
- 0:31attempts to make up a deficit of
- 0:33millions of dollars.
- 0:34More about these stories coming up
- 0:36on today's show.
- 0:37The Austin Signal is a production
- 0:39of KUT News, hosted by
- 0:41Jerry Quijano.
- 0:42Plus, Austinites have plenty of
- 0:44entertainment to choose from this
- 0:45weekend with Fusebox Festival and
- 0:47Austin Reggae Fest.
- 0:49We'll let you know about the
- 0:50performances you do not want to
- 0:52miss. That is coming up next,
- 0:54and it's right here on Austin
- 0:56Signal.
- 1:07Howdy out there, happy Friday, you
- 1:09are listening to Austin Signal
- 1:11here on community powered public
- 1:13radio.
- 1:14This is KUT News, I'm your host
- 1:16Jerry Kuhnel, it's April
- 1:1717th, thank you for tuning
- 1:19in.
- 1:21After a high profile case where a
- 1:23woman and her child were deported
- 1:25after calling the Austin police for
- 1:26help, city council and the chief of
- 1:28police adjusted their policies
- 1:30dealing with detailing,
- 1:32excuse me, how APD officers interact
- 1:34with ICE.
- 1:35Now that policy change has drawn the
- 1:37ire of Texas Attorney General Ken
- 1:38Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott.
- 1:41For more about that story, we are
- 1:42talking with KUT's Government
- 1:43Accountability Reporter Andrew
- 1:45Weber. Andrew, thanks for coming on
- 1:46the show. Thanks for having me,
- 1:47Drew. So what is Austin Police's
- 1:49current policy when it comes to
- 1:51dealing with ICE and how did it
- 1:53change?
- 1:53Yeah, it changed back in March
- 1:55after the case that you mentioned.
- 1:57It basically says that an
- 1:59officer has to clear
- 2:02any communication with ICE
- 2:04with a supervisor.
- 2:05So, and obviously like an officer
- 2:07that's, you know, they're superior
- 2:09on a shift, but specifically
- 2:10in cases with
- 2:13administrative warrants.
- 2:14And those are non-criminal warrants
- 2:16that basically,
- 2:19you know that an immigration judge
- 2:20says you've violated XYZ.
- 2:22And you can't be in the country
- 2:24anymore.
- 2:25It's not a criminal warrant.
- 2:27So in the past, APD has had this
- 2:29discretion whether they
- 2:31want to reach out to ICE and say,
- 2:34I pulled this person over for
- 2:36a non-violent offense, but
- 2:37they have this administrative
- 2:39warrant.
- 2:41Austin decided to change
- 2:43that policy internally at the police
- 2:45department, and that went into
- 2:47effect and that's
- 2:49the current policy.
- 2:51And what has been the state
- 2:52government's backlash to it so far?
- 2:55They say that that policy
- 2:57limits ICE's ability to do its
- 2:58job, basically.
- 3:00And Austin, I should note, is not
- 3:02the only city that does this.
- 3:05Houston and Dallas have
- 3:06similar policies, but they're
- 3:08different in the sense that
- 3:10APD's policy gives an officer
- 3:12discretion.
- 3:14Houston's policy is a little more
- 3:16prescriptive and it was passed by
- 3:17city council.
- 3:18In Austin, it was just an
- 3:19administrative tweak in the
- 3:21department.
- 3:22Dallas did a similar thing, but
- 3:25they've all come under the
- 3:26microscope of late because
- 3:28Governor Greg Abbott says,
- 3:30and Attorney General Ken Paxton say
- 3:31that they're basically preventing
- 3:34us from doing the jobs.
- 3:35And Governor Greg Abbott has
- 3:36threatened to pull $2.5 million in
- 3:38grants to Austin over these
- 3:40ICE policies.
- 3:42Can the governor withhold money from
- 3:43a city like that and how would that
- 3:45affect the city of Austin?
- 3:46Yeah, he absolutely can.
- 3:48I mean, this is the governor's
- 3:49public safety office, so it's under
- 3:52his purview.
- 3:53He can say, I don't think that
- 3:54you're handling this money well,
- 3:56and I'm gonna take it back.
- 3:57And in the instance of Austin,
- 4:00he didn't specifically say that
- 4:02the city is violating state law,
- 4:04Senate Bill 4, which requires
- 4:06any police department to
- 4:08basically cooperate with ICE.
- 4:10He did say that it violated the
- 4:12standards.
- 4:14Of the grant application, I should
- 4:16say.
- 4:17They said that they were gonna do
- 4:19this thing. APD changed its policy
- 4:20in March after they'd already signed
- 4:22this grant.
- 4:23That makes sense.
- 4:25Attorney General Ken Paxton is
- 4:26launching an investigation into
- 4:28these same policies.
- 4:30What could be a potential negative
- 4:31outcome for the city in a case like
- 4:32that?
- 4:33It could lead to a lawsuit.
- 4:34That's what's going on in Houston.
- 4:36Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a
- 4:38lawsuit yesterday
- 4:40against the city about these
- 4:41policies.
- 4:43And that could also lead to,
- 4:45it could lead a couple of things.
- 4:46It could to something that would be
- 4:48a huge deal, which is clawing back
- 4:49any state or federal
- 4:51funding related to
- 4:54law enforcement and immigration,
- 4:55stuff like that.
- 4:57That would obviously be a big deal,
- 4:59but it would-
- 5:02the attorney general, Ken Paxton,
- 5:04would have his way, it would
- 5:04basically order the
- 5:06city to change their policies.
- 5:09He announced this investigation
- 5:12of Austin earlier this week,
- 5:14but has been very quiet about it.
- 5:15With Houston, he said he was
- 5:17investigating and then filed a
- 5:19lawsuit, so it's not really
- 5:20what Austin's going to face.
- 5:22As you mentioned, a lot of this has
- 5:23been happening this week.
- 5:25What have you heard from the city so
- 5:26far in response?
- 5:27I talked with Chito Vela on
- 5:29Monday when news came
- 5:31down that Paxton was investigating
- 5:33Austin.
- 5:34He is an immigration attorney,
- 5:37he obviously is a policymaker.
- 5:39He said that the city is within
- 5:41the guidelines of state
- 5:43law, that the cities lawyers
- 5:45have pored over this law and that
- 5:47they are not violating it.
- 5:49And APD said, you know, we'll
- 5:50cooperate with the investigation,
- 5:52but they believe that they are
- 5:54they've sort of threaded that needle
- 5:56and they're following state law.
- 5:58Allowing police to cooperate with
- 5:59ICE, but putting a little bit more
- 6:01oversight into the situation.
- 6:04That is Andrew Weber he is
- 6:06KUT's government and accountability
- 6:07reporter. Thank you for speaking
- 6:09with us Andrew
- 6:10Thank you very much, Jarek.
- 6:11And we're going to have a link to
- 6:12his report is reporting in
- 6:14today's show notes.
- 6:28The city of Austin is preparing its
- 6:29budget for the next fiscal year, and
- 6:31doing so means considering which
- 6:33programs will receive the funding
- 6:34needed to keep their services going.
- 6:36This year's budget process is
- 6:38happening after the failure last
- 6:39November of Proposition Q that
- 6:41was a controversial city-backed plan
- 6:43to raise more than $100 million in
- 6:45property tax revenue to pay for
- 6:47city projects.
- 6:49For more about the budget process,
- 6:50we're speaking with Luz
- 6:51Moreno-Lozano, she's KUT's
- 6:53City Hall reporter, she is with us
- 6:55now. Hi Luz!
- 6:56Hey, thanks for having me.
- 6:57Of course, thanks for coming back.
- 6:59So a first draft of the budget was
- 7:01released this week.
- 7:02What did it look like?
- 7:04Well, so the first draft
- 7:06is looking at how the city can
- 7:08provide this basic city services
- 7:10without raising a
- 7:12portion of property
- 7:14taxes. Okay.
- 7:15It's called the No New Revenue
- 7:17Tax.
- 7:18Yeah, I read about that in your
- 7:19story. What is that?
- 7:20So it's basically the
- 7:22part of the property tax rate that
- 7:24would generate the same
- 7:26amount of money
- 7:28in property taxes as
- 7:30the city generated in the previous
- 7:32year.
- 7:33So the way that Mayor Watson kind of
- 7:35explained this to me is like, if you
- 7:37were to take 51 cents
- 7:39of, it's 52 cents I
- 7:41think, if you where to take a
- 7:41portion of that tax rate and it's
- 7:43like 39 cents, if we
- 7:45left that 39 cents the same,
- 7:47what would the budget look like?
- 7:49What could we fund if we didn't
- 7:51raise that part of the property tax
- 7:52rate?
- 7:54And essentially what we found
- 7:55yesterday is that if we
- 7:57don't change that tax rate, the city
- 7:59would project a deficit of like
- 8:01$26.4 million.
- 8:03Okay, I'd say a little bit more
- 8:04about the 17 million dollars in cuts
- 8:06that's happening. That's part of the
- 8:08deficit, correct?
- 8:09Yes, so the
- 8:11$17 million is what
- 8:13the city would cut in social
- 8:14services contracts.
- 8:16Those are the things that pay for
- 8:18permanent supportive housing,
- 8:21programs that help domestic violence
- 8:23survivors and sexual assault
- 8:24survivors,
- 8:26kids programs, those kinds of
- 8:28things. But that $17,000,000
- 8:30cut is included in that $26.4
- 8:33million. So even if the city...
- 8:35Cuts all of those social services
- 8:37contracts, they would still see a
- 8:39$26.4 million deficit.
- 8:40Okay, so tell us more about some of
- 8:42the projects and some of city
- 8:43programs that are being looked at
- 8:45closely.
- 8:46Yeah, so this money
- 8:48will still cover some
- 8:50really big things.
- 8:51They had raised
- 8:52wages for public safety,
- 8:55so that's included.
- 8:56They wanna keep that marshaling yard
- 8:58emergency shelter open and they've
- 9:00made it very clear. So there's money
- 9:01in there for that.
- 9:03But they're looking at if
- 9:05they were to make cuts,
- 9:07if they had to decide
- 9:09that this is what happens,
- 9:11permanent supportive housing is on
- 9:12there. I saw several.
- 9:14Funding line items that go toward
- 9:16that. I saw some that were like
- 9:18adult education programs, the
- 9:20Austin ISD and the city of Austin
- 9:21provide funding
- 9:23for these programs for people who
- 9:25are, they have like English as
- 9:27a second language, they might be
- 9:28immigrants, those kinds of things.
- 9:30And the other one was like,
- 9:32if we were to cut library
- 9:34programs, those kinds things,
- 9:36they're like, everything is
- 9:37basically on the table.
- 9:38Have there been any other
- 9:40considerations from the City Council
- 9:41when it comes to providing
- 9:43money for the budget?
- 9:44Yeah, they are still
- 9:46considering going to Voters for a
- 9:48Bond.
- 9:49There was a lot of talk about
- 9:51somewhere around $700 million.
- 9:53And what that would mean for
- 9:55property taxes is still to be
- 9:56determined.
- 9:57But yeah, on that
- 9:59Bond project list are things like
- 10:01library improvements and
- 10:03park upgrades and
- 10:06bike lanes,
- 10:08things that kind of improve
- 10:09pedestrian and biker
- 10:11safety for people.
- 10:12Um, so that's still a possibility.
- 10:14Now they haven't called for it yet.
- 10:15I, I, um, I'll be curious to see how
- 10:17that plays out considering that
- 10:18they're like, we need to like
- 10:20address affordability and how do you
- 10:21do that? If you ask people for more
- 10:23money, uh, so we'll see if that
- 10:25happens. Um, but yeah,
- 10:27I think that will be another way
- 10:28that they are going to try to fill
- 10:29the gap if they can't fund
- 10:31everything.
- 10:31Yeah, and I'm sure there might be a
- 10:32little hesitancy as well considering
- 10:34what happened with proposition Q
- 10:36last November
- 10:38So you made clear that this is the
- 10:40first step in the process.
- 10:41What happens next or what are you
- 10:43watching for next?
- 10:43Yeah, so they'll give another
- 10:45presentation to the city council as
- 10:46a whole next week.
- 10:47You know, they won't start having
- 10:49these budget discussions until July,
- 10:51like publicly.
- 10:53Now the next couple of months, we'll
- 10:54give them a chance to be like, okay,
- 10:55what is it that is top priority
- 10:57for me and for my constituents and
- 10:59how do we come to an agreement?
- 11:01But those initial like big
- 11:03discussions that we will have as a
- 11:05community won't start until July and
- 11:06then they will adopt it in August.
- 11:09All right, we have been speaking
- 11:10with Luz Moreno Lozano.
- 11:11She is KUT City Hall reporter.
- 11:14We're gonna have a link to her
- 11:15latest reporting in today's show
- 11:16notes. Luz, thank you for your time.
- 11:18Thanks, Jerry.
- 11:19And thank you for spending your
- 11:21Friday here with us.
- 11:22This is Austin Signal.
- 11:24We'll be back after a break.
- 11:28This is Austin Signal, welcome back.
- 11:31The Rude Mechanicals have created
- 11:33and performed original work for
- 11:35the theater since 1996.
- 11:37During this year's Fusebox Festival,
- 11:39they'll present the latest version
- 11:41of their piece, Not Every
- 11:43Mountain.
- 11:44For KUT's art beat, Karen
- 11:46Bernstein visited the group to find
- 11:48out what it's like working as a
- 11:49collective and sharing artistic
- 11:51vision.
- 11:53On a beautiful spring day in Austin,
- 11:55I pull up to Crash Box.
- 11:57It's a small theater in rehearsal
- 11:59space in what looks like an
- 12:01industrial parking garage.
- 12:03It's dark, dusty,
- 12:05crammed full of posters and props,
- 12:08all from the 30 years that the
- 12:10Rude Mechanicals have brought
- 12:11award-winning theater to Austin
- 12:13and the world.
- 12:15The Rude mechanicals, or
- 12:17Rude Mechs, as they call themselves,
- 12:19have innovated and performed
- 12:21original and often challenging
- 12:23work for the theater since 1996.
- 12:26They describe themselves as
- 12:28genre averse.
- 12:30It keeps hot though, it's warm.
- 12:31Johnny!
- 12:32We're up here! Today!
- 12:34But today they are chatting about a
- 12:36work in progress that has been
- 12:38in progress since 2017.
- 12:41Not every mountain.
- 12:43I ask them to introduce
- 12:45themselves.
- 12:46Madge Darlington, and I'm one of
- 12:48the co-producing artistic directors
- 12:50of Rude Mix.
- 12:51This is Shawn Sides and I
- 12:53am also one of the co-producing
- 12:55artistic directors of Rune Mic.
- 12:57This is Thomas Graves, and I'm
- 12:59also one of the co-producing
- 13:01artistic directors of the Rude Max.
- 13:04Lynn, and I am also
- 13:06one of the co-producing artistic
- 13:07directors of The Rude Max.
- 13:10I'm Peter Stapschinski.
- 13:11I'm the composer for
- 13:13Not Every Mountain.
- 13:15And decidedly not a co- producing
- 13:16artistic director.
- 13:19All the members, except the
- 13:21composer, are co-pads,
- 13:23or co-producing artistic directors.
- 13:25That means they share
- 13:26responsibilities and artistic
- 13:28vision.
- 13:29Here's writer Kirk Lynn to explain.
- 13:32We talk sometimes about the feeling
- 13:33like a cycling team that different
- 13:35people can take the lead at
- 13:36different times and different people
- 13:37can sort of draft off of other
- 13:39people's energy.
- 13:40There's a lot of active
- 13:42love that we have to talk a lot and
- 13:44listen a lot and love in that
- 13:46full sense of like family and
- 13:48really close friends and partners
- 13:49where we have rattle with each
- 13:51other. There doesn't seem to be a
- 13:52way out of the collective.
- 13:56So we have to stay in and love one
- 13:58another even as we drive each other
- 14:00crazy.
- 14:01Like Lynn, Madge
- 14:03Darlington and Sean Sides have
- 14:05been with Rude Mechanical since
- 14:07its inception.
- 14:08They're hard-pressed to talk about
- 14:10the downsides of working as a
- 14:12collective in the theater, but...
- 14:15Is that instead of paying
- 14:16one artistic director salary,
- 14:19we've had to spread that over
- 14:21many artistic directors.
- 14:23Yeah, it's a difficult model.
- 14:24Difficult model, but I think
- 14:26that it's, I think, that is
- 14:28why the longevity.
- 14:30Yeah, because we have to,
- 14:32like, it's slow.
- 14:33Disadvantage.
- 14:34Slow. Decision making is very slow.
- 14:36We have to, like,
- 14:38find consensus with everyone,
- 14:41but, um, like you can get
- 14:42down to what it is that's
- 14:44bothering you about something, and
- 14:47then, like get everybody in
- 14:49on, like okay, well let's solve for
- 14:50that.
- 14:52A haunting musical score seeps
- 14:54in as the rude mechs begin
- 14:56rehearsal.
- 14:57The composer was fascinated by
- 14:59a scientific theory of
- 15:01Earth's cavity emitting magnetic
- 15:03waves silent to the human
- 15:05ear.
- 15:06That hum is popularly
- 15:08known as the Earth's heartbeat.
- 15:13Thomas Graves is the set
- 15:15designer and a performer in Not
- 15:17Every Mountain.
- 15:18Not Every Mountain, the audience is
- 15:20seated in the round and
- 15:22at one end of the space there's a
- 15:24reader and at the other end of this
- 15:26space there is musician
- 15:27Piepstapschinsky with
- 15:29the composer playing a live score.
- 15:32And the reader is reading a text, an
- 15:34original text by Kirk Lynn,
- 15:37and pretty much every sentence
- 15:38starts with Not Every Mountains.
- 15:41Here's the playwright Kirk Linegan.
- 15:45The action on the
- 15:47stage is that a
- 15:48mountain is slowly built over
- 15:51the course of an hour or
- 15:52so.
- 15:53And the mountain is built out of a
- 15:55lot of engineering that Thomas did
- 15:57in a really obsessive and I think
- 16:00pleasurable way.
- 16:01He made these cardboard
- 16:03pentahedrons and tetrahedrons that
- 16:05tessellate and they have rare earth
- 16:07magnets in it and they make a really
- 16:09satisfying click when they go
- 16:10together.
- 16:11And you can build beautiful shapes
- 16:13with it.
- 16:14Not Every Mountain was first
- 16:16performed in 2017
- 16:18and again at Austin's
- 16:21Fusebox Festival in 2019.
- 16:24Lynn wants to know how the audience
- 16:26at this year's festival will
- 16:28respond.
- 16:29What feelings did they have,
- 16:31and then what resonates with them in
- 16:33terms of relationship of
- 16:35the mountain to their own life,
- 16:37to creation and destruction in their
- 16:39own life.
- 16:40As Thomas pointed out, it's in the
- 16:41round. We also get to watch the
- 16:43audience throughout and it's really
- 16:44a joy to see what
- 16:46their experience is.
- 16:48The Rude Mechanicals will perform
- 16:50Not Every Mountain as part of
- 16:52the Fusebox Festival.
- 16:54For KUT's Art Beat,
- 16:56I'm Karen Bernstein in Austin.
- 17:05Austin Reg A-Fest kicked off today
- 17:07and continues through the weekend
- 17:09across the city.
- 17:10For more, we are talking with Jack
- 17:12Anderson, a producer for KUT and
- 17:14KUTX.
- 17:15Jack, welcome to the Austin Signal.
- 17:16Thanks for having me, Jerry.
- 17:17So tell us a little bit about Reg
- 17:19A Fest for somebody who might not be
- 17:21familiar. How long has this been
- 17:22going on here in Austin?
- 17:23Reggae Fest has been going on here
- 17:25in Austin since 1994.
- 17:27So yeah, over three decades now,
- 17:29it's a beloved institution.
- 17:31It's always got a kind of communal
- 17:33aspect to it.
- 17:34Used to be that you could just bring
- 17:35a couple cans of food and that would
- 17:37get you entry.
- 17:38These days they do have ticketing,
- 17:40but a percentage of the proceeds
- 17:42does directly benefit Central Texas
- 17:44Food Bank.
- 17:45It's a always a great amount
- 17:47of international acts and they're
- 17:49right here in our backyard.
- 17:50Yeah, yeah, we have lots of great
- 17:52acts to get to and some great music
- 17:54that we're going to share with you
- 17:55right now So let's start with
- 17:57tonight. Well, what's going on
- 17:58tonight?
- 17:59So tonight is definitely
- 18:01the one I'm most excited for.
- 18:02There's a lot of great acts.
- 18:04You have a Bermudian artist named
- 18:06Kali Budds.
- 18:07He's gonna be doing it this
- 18:08afternoon.
- 18:10You've got the headliner, Stephen
- 18:11Marley. I feel like I don't need to
- 18:13say much about Stephen Marlee,
- 18:15if you know anything about reggae,
- 18:16but the one that I'm the most
- 18:17excited for tonight is the act
- 18:19playing seven to eight p.m., and
- 18:21that is Steel Pulse.
- 18:22Repatriation
- 18:26Buildin' us a brand new
- 18:28nation Nation
- 18:30Ooh Only then the
- 18:32prejudice and bigotry
- 18:34will leave us alone
- 18:37They are a group from England.
- 18:40And yeah, they're actually the very
- 18:42first group to win the Grammy
- 18:43for Best Reggae Album that's
- 18:45not from Jamaica.
- 18:47Okay, okay, okay so they know what
- 18:49they're doing.
- 18:49They know what they're doing, they
- 18:50have been doing this since 1975,
- 18:52so over half a century of
- 18:54playing great reggae, and yeah,
- 18:57definitely a legacy act, to say the
- 18:59least.
- 18:59Okay, cool.
- 19:00Well, Reggae Fest is going on
- 19:01through Sunday, so let's talk about
- 19:03a Saturday.
- 19:04Who are you excited to hear from?
- 19:06Saturday, I am most
- 19:08excited for the headliner of that,
- 19:10which is Original Coffee.
- 19:12She is from Jamaica.
- 19:14She was the youngest artist to
- 19:16get the award for best
- 19:18reggae album, the Grammy Award.
- 19:20And she was also the first female
- 19:21artist. She did that when she was
- 19:23just 19.
- 19:34Side of me is dead,
- 19:36I said what I said I get out
- 19:38of bed, make sure it's spread then
- 19:39wash my dreads
- 19:40Now she's in her mid-20s,
- 19:42so she changed her name from Coffee,
- 19:44and that's with a K, to Original
- 19:46Coffee last year, slight change,
- 19:49but she really is the younger
- 19:51generation for this modern era
- 19:53of contemporary reggae, a lot of
- 19:54infusions of soul,
- 19:57hip-hop, kind of the more dance hall
- 19:59Afro beats, a lot more for
- 20:00the younger folks,
- 20:02very, very modern sound.
- 20:04Okay well it sounds like there's
- 20:05some heavy hitters there, you've
- 20:06already mentioned a couple of Grammy
- 20:07winners Friday, Saturday.
- 20:10What's happening on the last day of
- 20:11the fest?
- 20:12Sunday the one I'm most excited for
- 20:14is somebody who actually Original
- 20:15Coffee called as a sort of
- 20:17inspiration to her and that is
- 20:19fellow Jamaican artist Protoje
- 20:21and that's spelled P-R-O-T-O
- 20:24J-E
- 20:28That's gonna be 7 to 8 p.m.
- 20:30And this one I'm mainly excited
- 20:32about because well number one I
- 20:34haven't seen him before But number
- 20:35two because his tenth album the art
- 20:37of acceptance just came out today
- 20:39Now you can't let nothing
- 20:53They don't know your pain
- 20:55Brand new album, it's going to
- 20:57basically be one of his first
- 20:58appearances, if not his first
- 21:00appearance, playing the new material
- 21:01for everybody.
- 21:02And that album features fellow acts
- 21:04from Reggae Fest this year,
- 21:06Stephen Marley and Jesse Royal.
- 21:08So, going to be great music and
- 21:10because of that kind of overlap
- 21:11might be, you know, some surprise
- 21:13features on stage.
- 21:14Could be some, you now, guests
- 21:15coming up at the last minute.
- 21:17And that's true of so many of the
- 21:18acts all across the whole weekend.
- 21:20Yeah, well, a Fusebox festival is
- 21:22also happening this weekend in
- 21:23addition to Austin Reggae Festival.
- 21:26There is obviously a lot to choose
- 21:27from here in Austin, but what
- 21:29do you love so much about Austin
- 21:31Reggaefest?
- 21:32I just love, you know, I'm born and
- 21:34raised here, Jerry, and I've been
- 21:35going since I was in middle school.
- 21:37I have very fond memories there.
- 21:39It's just, it's so consistent and
- 21:41it's just a kind of genre that
- 21:43you don't always expect to have a
- 21:45home in Austin outside of, of
- 21:46course, Flamingo Cantina.
- 21:48But it's lovely.
- 21:49It's a very good sense of community.
- 21:51Kids under 10 get in
- 21:53free with a paid parent or guardian.
- 21:56So you see kids there, there's
- 21:57usually dogs, everyone's
- 21:59having a good time, it's just a very
- 22:01positive vibe all around.
- 22:02And it sounds like a very Austin
- 22:03vibe all around as well.
- 22:05We have been speaking with Jack
- 22:06Anderson. He is a producer here at
- 22:08KUT and KUTX.
- 22:10Jack, thanks for your time.
- 22:11Thank you, Jerry.
- 22:12And now we are on the road,
- 22:15coaching us alone, and we bumping up
- 22:16clothes
- 22:19And Jack shared three
- 22:20recommendations here with you on
- 22:22the show today.
- 22:23He has even more at
- 22:25KUTX dot or we're
- 22:27going to have a link to that.
- 22:28In today's show notes.
- 22:29That is it for today's show and for
- 22:31this week of Austin Signal.
- 22:33Thank you for tuning in.
- 22:35We couldn't do this without you and
- 22:36we appreciate you.
- 22:38You can find more from us at
- 22:40kut.org
- 22:42slash signal.
- 22:43Rayna Sevilla is our technical
- 22:45director and Kristen Cabrera is our
- 22:47managing producer.
- 22:48I'm your host Jerry Quijano.
- 22:50Have a great weekend.
- 22:51This is Austin Signal.