Latest / Austin Signal / THC and lieutenant governor’s race, PEAS celebrates 15 years, Exploded Drawing

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THC and lieutenant governor’s race, PEAS celebrates 15 years, Exploded Drawing · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  It's the final day of early voting,
• 0:10
  and one thing on the minds of Texans
• 0:11
  heading to the polls is access,
• 0:13
  or lack thereof, to THC
• 0:15
  products. Rules on THC
• 0:17
  in Texas have been in flux for a
• 0:18
  number of years, and it's a big part
• 0:20
  of the race for the state's
• 0:21
  lieutenant governor.
• 0:22
  More about that race, the contest
• 0:24
  for Texas Senate, and what's on the
• 0:26
  ballot down in Hayes County, that's
• 0:28
  all coming up on today's show.
• 0:30
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:31
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:34
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:34
  A local nonprofit brings hands-on
• 0:36
  gardening and cooking experience to
• 0:38
  kids in area schools, how they're
• 0:40
  celebrating 15 years.
• 0:41
  And we've got another segment of our
• 0:43
  Future Present series where we hear
• 0:44
  from teenagers about their
• 0:46
  perspective on the news and issues
• 0:47
  shaping our world.
• 0:49
  Plus, Exploded Drawing celebrates 16
• 0:51
  years of live electronic music shows
• 0:53
  and the rest of the happenings
• 0:54
  around town this weekend.
• 0:56
  It's all up next on Austin
• 0:58
  Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there, you are tuned in to
• 1:10
  Austin Signal.
• 1:11
  I'm your host Jerry Kiechanal, it's
• 1:12
  Friday the 30th day of October,
• 1:15
  thank you for tuning in.
• 1:17
  With the dwindling selection of THC
• 1:19
  products on their shelves, Texas
• 1:21
  hemp shops are pitching something
• 1:22
  new to customers this election
• 1:24
  season, that is political action.
• 1:26
  Some stores have registered people
• 1:27
  to vote, others are displaying voter
• 1:30
  guides near checkout counters,
• 1:31
  encouraging people to support
• 1:32
  candidates considered friendly to
• 1:34
  the hemp industry. But as KUT's
• 1:36
  Nathan Bernier reports.
• 1:38
  Most of the industry's political
• 1:39
  anger is directed at one
• 1:41
  man, Lieutenant Governor Dan
• 1:43
  Patrick.
• 1:45
  At the state capitol right now,
• 1:47
  right in front of the Senate
• 1:48
  chambers, where the office of
• 1:50
  the Lieutenant Governor is located.
• 1:53
  Dan Patrick has held that role since
• 1:54
  2015, and he's invested
• 1:56
  an enormous amount of political
• 1:58
  capital in trying to ban THC
• 2:00
  products.
• 2:01
  He cites risks to children and
• 2:03
  adults.
• 2:04
  And he actually got a bill passed in
• 2:06
  the last session, but it was vetoed
• 2:08
  by Governor Abbott.
• 2:08
  And after that, Patrick said.
• 2:11
  He doesn't care what the political
• 2:13
  costs are.
• 2:13
  This issue is a matter of
• 2:15
  principle for him.
• 2:17
  The best way to protect the adults
• 2:18
  and the children is to ban the
• 2:19
  product.
• 2:21
  Is to ban product.
• 2:23
  You cannot regulate eight
• 2:25
  to nine thousand locations.
• 2:27
  We do not have enough law
• 2:28
  enforcement to do so.
• 2:30
  I'm not mad at the governor.
• 2:32
  I'm mad at governor.
• 2:34
  But I'm going to legalize
• 2:36
  marijuana in Texas.
• 2:37
  And if people want to vote me out of
• 2:38
  office for that, so be it.
• 2:40
  Not going to do it.
• 2:42
  After Abbott vetoed the THC ban,
• 2:44
  his administration still approved
• 2:46
  tougher hemp regulations that are in
• 2:48
  effect now.
• 2:48
  The purpose of our meeting today,
• 2:50
  this hearing, is for you to provide
• 2:51
  public comment and for us to receive
• 2:53
  those on the proposed rules.
• 2:55
  Those rules increased fees on hemp
• 2:57
  businesses by up to 4,000
• 2:59
  percent and banned the sale of
• 3:01
  smokable forms of hemp that get
• 3:02
  people high.
• 3:04
  Then, after a Texas Supreme Court
• 3:05
  ruling in May, regulators reinstated
• 3:08
  restrictions on more hemp products,
• 3:10
  including Delta-8, and that left
• 3:12
  retailers with a dwindling
• 3:13
  selection, mostly edibles and
• 3:15
  drinks.
• 3:16
  We have Chill Country,
• 3:19
  we sell Camino, we have
• 3:21
  Wild.
• 3:22
  Miss Stella Castro is showing me
• 3:23
  around her store called Austinite
• 3:25
  Cannabis Co.
• 3:26
  I've closed down two stores,
• 3:29
  our south location and our north
• 3:31
  location.
• 3:32
  And we've just held on
• 3:34
  to our flagship which
• 3:36
  is here in East Austin.
• 3:38
  So we've been going through
• 3:40
  it, had to
• 3:42
  let go of some people that have been
• 3:44
  working with this forever and
• 3:47
  shut down stores and that's
• 3:50
  never fun.
• 3:50
  With fewer THC products to sell,
• 3:52
  Castro is getting into politics.
• 3:54
  She recently hosted Patrick's
• 3:55
  Democratic challenger, Vicki
• 3:57
  Goodwin, at her remaining store.
• 3:59
  Goodwin is making THC a campaign
• 4:01
  issue.
• 4:02
  I believe in sensible regulation
• 4:04
  that we should treat hemp like
• 4:05
  alcohol, we should have an age
• 4:07
  requirement, packaging and marketing
• 4:08
  requirements, and they're all for
• 4:10
  that. And so that's why I've been
• 4:11
  visiting with the owners and letting
• 4:13
  them know that I want to be
• 4:15
  supportive of this small business
• 4:17
  industry that is helping
• 4:19
  a lot of people.
• 4:20
  And I wonder if you're getting a
• 4:21
  receptive response from
• 4:24
  Republicans and independents.
• 4:26
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 4:27
  There are a lot of Republican
• 4:29
  business owners that are affected by
• 4:31
  this. There's a lot veterans and
• 4:32
  so they are communities
• 4:35
  where they spread the word amongst
• 4:36
  themselves as well.
• 4:38
  So once we've met with some,
• 4:40
  they are telling their friends in
• 4:41
  the community and that's helpful.
• 4:43
  And that political frustration is
• 4:45
  turning some hemp shops into
• 4:46
  campaign hubs.
• 4:48
  Sarah Todd is head of the Texas
• 4:49
  Cannabis Policy Center.
• 4:50
  I think every store is mobilizing
• 4:52
  their customers to go out and
• 4:54
  vote and pointing them to
• 4:56
  voter guides that exist about who
• 4:58
  is supporting cannabis
• 5:00
  policy and repealing prohibition
• 5:02
  and is willing to change these
• 5:04
  rules back.
• 5:06
  A San Antonio store called Kingpin
• 5:08
  Cush trained employees as volunteer
• 5:10
  deputy registrars.
• 5:12
  They said they registered more than
• 5:13
  4,400 people to vote at
• 5:15
  their 10 locations.
• 5:17
  And they put out a lot of Instagram
• 5:18
  videos, including this one of
• 5:19
  Goodwin autographing a t-shirt
• 5:21
  mocking Patrick.
• 5:22
  What's on Dan's mind?
• 5:24
  Vicki Goodwin.
• 5:25
  Come get you some.
• 5:27
  Alright. Thank you.
• 5:28
  You're welcome.
• 5:30
  This political push goes beyond just
• 5:32
  retailers.
• 5:33
  The manufacturers and distributors
• 5:35
  that supply them are getting
• 5:36
  involved too.
• 5:38
  At the Champs Smoke Shop trade show
• 5:39
  in Austin this month, I met Holden
• 5:41
  Highlander with Sherpa.
• 5:42
  That's a San Antonio company that
• 5:44
  grows its own hemp and uses it to
• 5:46
  make THC gummies and drinks.
• 5:48
  Highlanders said they're trying to
• 5:49
  promote Goodwin through wholesalers
• 5:51
  and email marketing.
• 5:52
  Yeah, I mean, I'm typically more of
• 5:53
  just an independent voter.
• 5:56
  However, you know, I am also
• 5:57
  somewhat of a single issue voter on
• 5:59
  this particular, you know election
• 6:01
  year just because there is
• 6:03
  someone that has our
• 6:05
  back.
• 6:06
  At a hemp store in Dripping Springs
• 6:07
  called House of Jane, Goodwin's
• 6:09
  campaign recently attracted a crowd
• 6:10
  of customers.
• 6:11
  So I would call the Department of
• 6:13
  State Health Services and say, you
• 6:14
  need to undo those rules that
• 6:16
  are creating law that you don't have
• 6:18
  the authority to put in place.
• 6:20
  So I wouldn't do that. I would start
• 6:21
  with that.
• 6:22
  One of the two women who owns the
• 6:23
  store, Haley Hunt, says new
• 6:25
  regulations cut their sales by more
• 6:27
  than half.
• 6:28
  Hunt grew up in conservative West
• 6:29
  Texas and says she does not
• 6:31
  typically vote for Democrats.
• 6:33
  I'm probably a little bit, you
• 6:35
  know, in the middle somewhat on
• 6:37
  it, but this election to me
• 6:39
  has really been eye-opening and
• 6:41
  honestly a little of a struggle to
• 6:43
  choose, am I going full Democratic
• 6:45
  ticket, you now, because that is,
• 6:46
  I've never done that before, so
• 6:48
  looks like I am though, so here we
• 6:49
  are.
• 6:50
  Inside the store, a voter guide from
• 6:52
  the Texas Hemp Business Council was
• 6:53
  displayed near the checkout counter.
• 6:55
  That guide identifies candidates who
• 6:57
  support the industry's positions,
• 7:00
  including Goodwin.
• 7:02
  Inside Texas politics
• 7:04
  with Jason Whiteley.
• 7:05
  Lieutenant Governor Patrick's office
• 7:06
  did not respond to requests for
• 7:08
  an interview.
• 7:09
  But during a conversation in June on
• 7:11
  WFAA in Dallas,
• 7:13
  Patrick said he still wants to ban
• 7:14
  hemp products that get people high.
• 7:16
  Still focused on the THC
• 7:18
  issue.
• 7:19
  We need to get that out, these smoke
• 7:21
  shops closed, we need to get these
• 7:22
  products that are, we're selling
• 7:24
  heroin in these gas stations,
• 7:26
  not the big chain, you know,
• 7:29
  convenience stores. I'm talking
• 7:29
  about these little mom and pops in
• 7:31
  all these neighborhoods.
• 7:32
  So that's a focus and so a lot more
• 7:34
  to do and I love what I do and I've
• 7:35
  got a great Senate and so that's why
• 7:37
  we're running.
• 7:38
  Lawmakers return to the Capitol in
• 7:39
  January, and whoever wins this race
• 7:41
  will have a powerful say over what
• 7:42
  happens next to THC.
• 7:44
  The lieutenant governor appoints
• 7:46
  Senate committee chairs and decides
• 7:47
  where legislation goes, so it gives
• 7:49
  that person enormous influence over
• 7:51
  which bills stand a shot at getting
• 7:53
  passed.
• 7:54
  Early voting ends today.
• 7:56
  Election Day is November 3rd.
• 7:58
  I'm Nathan Bernier in Austin.
• 8:07
  Republicans are fighting to keep
• 8:09
  their majority in the U.S.
• 8:10
  Senate, and a Senate seat up for
• 8:12
  grabs this year in Texas has been a
• 8:14
  huge part of that fight, especially
• 8:15
  because Texans haven't elected a
• 8:17
  Democrat to the Senate since 1988.
• 8:21
  Recent polls show a tight race, with
• 8:22
  Austin state Rep.
• 8:23
  James Tallarico running even with
• 8:25
  or ahead of Republican Attorney
• 8:27
  General Ken Paxton.
• 8:29
  With that seat in play, President
• 8:30
  Donald Trump has come to Texas
• 8:31
  several times to campaign for
• 8:33
  Paxton. A longtime ally who
• 8:35
  has repeatedly defended the
• 8:36
  president through political and
• 8:37
  legal battles.
• 8:39
  The Texas newsroom's Blaise Ganey
• 8:40
  explains how Paxton's political
• 8:42
  career
• 8:43
  brought him to this moment.
• 8:44
  When president Donald Trump backed Ken Paxton at the Republican party's
• 8:44
  National Midterm Convention this September, he mixed his praise with a
• 8:44
  few jabs.
• 8:54
  That some may not
• 8:56
  like the way he
• 8:58
  dresses.
• 8:59
  I don't.
• 9:00
  But he still gave the three-term
• 9:01
  Texas AG high praise.
• 9:03
  He is the single greatest
• 9:05
  attorney.
• 9:05
  General you've ever had and
• 9:07
  maybe the top
• 9:09
  attorney general in the whole
• 9:11
  United States.
• 9:13
  Paxton has spent the last decade
• 9:14
  earning that praise from the leader
• 9:16
  of MAGA and before then
• 9:18
  earning the trust of conservative
• 9:20
  Texans.
• 9:20
  He was one of the most conservative
• 9:22
  state representatives and state
• 9:23
  senators.
• 9:24
  That's Republican State Senator
• 9:25
  Brent Hagenbu introducing Paxton
• 9:27
  at an October campaign stop
• 9:29
  in Wichita Falls.
• 9:31
  He said he's known Paxton for almost
• 9:33
  25 years.
• 9:34
  That's a little before Paxton made
• 9:36
  it to the Texas House, winning a
• 9:37
  seat in 2002 representing
• 9:39
  Collin County.
• 9:41
  At an October summit for
• 9:42
  conservative youth, he recalled his
• 9:44
  early focus in the state
• 9:45
  legislature.
• 9:46
  I spent my whole time in the
• 9:47
  legislature fighting higher taxes.
• 9:49
  His Texas housework included laws
• 9:51
  changing property tax appraisals
• 9:53
  and making local tax rates public.
• 9:56
  As the Tea Party grew, Paxton
• 9:57
  aligned himself with Republicans who
• 9:59
  argued their leaders weren't
• 10:00
  conservative enough.
• 10:02
  Josh Blank, research director of UT
• 10:04
  Austin's Texas Politics Project,
• 10:06
  says that divide helped shape
• 10:08
  Republican primaries.
• 10:09
  And really the question was, you
• 10:11
  know, were you part of the
• 10:12
  establishment or were you a part of,
• 10:14
  you know, essentially the real
• 10:16
  Republicans?
• 10:17
  That positioning helped Paxton
• 10:18
  continue moving up in the party.
• 10:20
  He won a state Senate seat in 2012,
• 10:23
  then the attorney general's office
• 10:25
  in 2014.
• 10:26
  And that effort to paint himself
• 10:29
  into the most conservative corners
• 10:31
  of the party has really benefited
• 10:33
  his rise.
• 10:34
  His conservative record still comes
• 10:36
  up when allies make the case for him
• 10:38
  today.
• 10:39
  Hagenboob brought it up during the
• 10:40
  rally in North Texas.
• 10:42
  He sued Obama and the Biden
• 10:43
  administration over 130 times.
• 10:45
  And Paxton won many major victories
• 10:47
  on everything from border and
• 10:49
  immigration issues to labor,
• 10:51
  energy and education policies.
• 10:53
  Even CNN, not exactly
• 10:55
  my best friend, admitted that Texas
• 10:57
  was a legal...
• 10:58
  Graveyard for Biden policies.
• 11:00
  But Nancy Sims, a political
• 11:01
  scientist at the University of
• 11:02
  Houston, says his run as attorney
• 11:04
  general has gone beyond hot-button
• 11:07
  conservative priorities.
• 11:08
  He's been a more consumer-friendly
• 11:11
  attorney general than his
• 11:13
  social issues would
• 11:16
  indicate.
• 11:17
  His office also reached
• 11:18
  billion-dollar privacy settlements,
• 11:20
  with Meta and Google around using
• 11:22
  user data without permission.
• 11:24
  He also played a role in multi-state
• 11:26
  settlements against opioid
• 11:27
  distributors and pursued cases
• 11:29
  against health fraud.
• 11:31
  As AG, Paxson was also a
• 11:33
  key ally of Trump after the 2020
• 11:35
  election.
• 11:36
  He asked the Supreme Court to
• 11:37
  overturn results in four states,
• 11:39
  one by President-elect Joe Biden.
• 11:41
  The court rejected the case,
• 11:43
  saying Texas had no legal right to
• 11:45
  bring it to justice.
• 11:46
  He took Trump's side again on
• 11:47
  January 6, 2021.
• 11:49
  We're Texans, we're Americans,
• 11:51
  and we're not quitting.
• 11:52
  Paxton was one of the speakers at
• 11:54
  the rally before the Capitol attack,
• 11:56
  and later attended Trump's criminal
• 11:57
  trial.
• 11:58
  On the campaign trail, Paxton touted
• 12:00
  Trump's praise.
• 12:01
  I guess he liked me soon, Joe Biden
• 12:03
  too.
• 12:04
  Like Trump, Paxton has had his own
• 12:06
  share of legal battles, personal
• 12:07
  drama, and controversies.
• 12:09
  He's faced security fraud charges,
• 12:12
  been impeached by the Republican-led
• 12:13
  Texas House, and investigated
• 12:15
  by federal prosecutors.
• 12:17
  Through all of that, he came out on
• 12:19
  top, escaping conviction and
• 12:21
  removal from office.
• 12:23
  But his Democratic opponent, State
• 12:25
  Representative James Talarico,
• 12:26
  isn't letting people forget any of
• 12:28
  that. Like in this ad, Ken
• 12:30
  Paxton is the most corrupt
• 12:32
  politician in Texas.
• 12:33
  Paxton denies any wrongdoing and
• 12:35
  calls the investigation to political
• 12:37
  attacks or witch hunts.
• 12:40
  Sims says loyalty to Trump has
• 12:41
  helped him keep Republican support.
• 12:43
  And the bottom line is the
• 12:45
  Trump philosophy,
• 12:47
  political philosophy is
• 12:49
  stronger than people's
• 12:52
  distaste for behavior.
• 12:54
  With Trump's endorsement, Paxton
• 12:55
  defeated Senator John Cornyn in this
• 12:57
  year's Republican runoff.
• 12:59
  He again campaigned as the more
• 13:00
  conservative choice.
• 13:02
  Now, if elected to the U.S.
• 13:04
  Senate, Ken Paxton is promising to
• 13:05
  help Trump pass his agenda in
• 13:07
  Washington, including cutting
• 13:09
  taxes, completing the border
• 13:11
  wall, and deporting people living in
• 13:13
  the country illegally.
• 13:14
  He's also campaigning on the cost of
• 13:16
  living, and has proposed an
• 13:18
  affordability plan called Protecting
• 13:20
  the Texas Promise.
• 13:22
  Here he is at an October campaign
• 13:24
  stop in Conorough.
• 13:25
  Landmark $25,000
• 13:28
  deduction for out-of-pocket medical
• 13:30
  expenses for everyone in your
• 13:32
  family.
• 13:34
  You shouldn't go bankrupt just
• 13:35
  because you have medical bills.
• 13:37
  He also wants a tax deduction for
• 13:39
  homebuyers and a larger child tax
• 13:41
  credit.
• 13:42
  His opponent is also proposing a
• 13:43
  larger Child Tax Credit.
• 13:45
  Talarico says he wants to restore
• 13:46
  federal help with health insurance
• 13:48
  premiums and repeal Trump's
• 13:50
  tariffs. He says higher taxes on
• 13:52
  billionaires and corporations should
• 13:54
  help pay for relief.
• 13:55
  Of course, either candidate would
• 13:57
  need support from the rest of
• 13:58
  Congress to pass those plans.
• 14:00
  For Michael Ratke, a farmer and
• 14:02
  business owner in the Texas
• 14:03
  Panhandle, Paxton is guy
• 14:05
  who will get it done.
• 14:06
  And that's what I'm looking for is
• 14:07
  somebody that will do their job and
• 14:10
  represent the kind of interests that
• 14:11
  I have. And I didn't think Cornyn
• 14:13
  was doing it.
• 14:14
  And with the U.S.
• 14:15
  Senate race polling so tightly, the
• 14:17
  candidate will need a strong turnout
• 14:19
  from Republicans.
• 14:20
  And Paxton said as much at President
• 14:22
  Trump's recent rally in Lubbock.
• 14:24
  I'm going to ask you for the next
• 14:25
  seven days, get every Republican
• 14:27
  out to vote and we will win Texas.
• 14:30
  Voters will have the final say on
• 14:31
  Tuesday, November 3, on whether
• 14:33
  or not this time around they can
• 14:35
  still overlook Paxton's tattered
• 14:37
  past.
• 14:38
  I'm Blaise Ganey in Austin.
• 14:45
  Hayes County is set to elect
• 14:47
  two new commissioners this fall,
• 14:49
  in precincts two and four.
• 14:51
  Whoever is elected will decide how
• 14:53
  the county will wrestle with major
• 14:54
  issues, and after a tense
• 14:56
  year on the court, candidates are
• 14:58
  hoping to turn down the heat and
• 15:00
  roll up their sleeves.
• 15:01
  KUT's Lee Walden has that story.
• 15:04
  Four candidates are running to fill
• 15:06
  these positions.
• 15:08
  Precinct 2 stretches along I-35
• 15:10
  from East Buda to Kyle.
• 15:12
  This area has experienced rapid
• 15:14
  development in recent years.
• 15:15
  Some of the biggest issues facing
• 15:17
  the precinct recently have revolved
• 15:19
  around the use of AI-enabled police
• 15:21
  surveillance cameras, water
• 15:23
  conservation, and data centers.
• 15:25
  Johnny Flores is the former vice
• 15:27
  president and current member of the
• 15:28
  Hays CISD Board of Trustees.
• 15:31
  Flores says that flock license plate
• 15:33
  cameras lack the proper guardrails
• 15:35
  to make them a good public safety
• 15:37
  resource.
• 15:38
  And as for data centers.
• 15:40
  So I not only want to
• 15:42
  keep data centers far and away
• 15:43
  from Hayes County, but also
• 15:45
  doing what we can to expand our
• 15:47
  water capacity for future
• 15:49
  generations.
• 15:49
  Flores says he's committed to easing
• 15:51
  the financial burden for working
• 15:53
  families in his precinct.
• 15:54
  We can set the economic conditions
• 15:56
  to make sure that not only residents
• 15:58
  thrive, but local businesses and
• 16:00
  development.
• 16:01
  He's running against Republican Abby
• 16:03
  Gibson.
• 16:04
  She has worked in higher education
• 16:05
  and is the current president for
• 16:07
  Hayes County Republican women.
• 16:09
  She declined to comment on data
• 16:10
  center development in the county,
• 16:12
  but said a flock cameras.
• 16:14
  I don't think they're good or bad.
• 16:15
  I think it's a tool.
• 16:16
  She sees the cameras as a tool for
• 16:18
  police officers to do their job in
• 16:20
  the County.
• 16:20
  A bigger priority for Gibson is
• 16:22
  government transparency and fiscal
• 16:24
  conservation.
• 16:25
  You can't have affordability
• 16:28
  without accountability.
• 16:29
  She intends to decide every vote
• 16:31
  with the question, how will this
• 16:33
  benefit the taxpayer?
• 16:35
  Both Gibson and Flores want to
• 16:37
  improve roads and focus on water
• 16:38
  conservation in Hayes County.
• 16:40
  Across the county in precinct four,
• 16:42
  similar debates are happening, but
• 16:44
  the weight of water scarcity is a
• 16:46
  bit more extreme.
• 16:47
  We have President's Wells are going
• 16:48
  dry. We got to attack that problem.
• 16:50
  That's Rob McClelland.
• 16:52
  He's the Republican candidate in
• 16:53
  precinct four, which stretches
• 16:55
  through North and Northwestern haze,
• 16:57
  including most of Dripping Springs
• 16:58
  and Driftwood.
• 16:59
  McClellan is an army vet and
• 17:01
  currently serves on the Dripping
• 17:02
  Spring's ISD board.
• 17:04
  He describes himself as a fiscal
• 17:06
  conservative.
• 17:06
  I've never voted for a tax rate
• 17:08
  increase as a school board trustee.
• 17:09
  We find ways to get money to work
• 17:12
  for the people without
• 17:14
  taxing them out of their homes.
• 17:15
  McClellan says that data centers are
• 17:17
  incompatible with the Hill Country
• 17:19
  and that responsible development
• 17:20
  takes into account balancing
• 17:22
  growth with natural resources.
• 17:25
  He's running against Democrat Angie
• 17:27
  Unger, a realtor and small business
• 17:29
  owner.
• 17:29
  In her work, Unger says she's seen
• 17:32
  how affordability has become a
• 17:34
  big issue in Hays County.
• 17:35
  She said it's not just about housing
• 17:37
  prices.
• 17:38
  You know, it's about property taxes,
• 17:40
  insurance, utilities.
• 17:42
  Transportation, and the cost of
• 17:43
  infrastructure.
• 17:44
  As commissioner, Unger says she'll
• 17:46
  help drive costs down and support
• 17:48
  county residents who are struggling
• 17:49
  to make ends meet, and she wants
• 17:51
  to do it without passing unnecessary
• 17:53
  costs on to taxpayers.
• 17:55
  We need to make sure teachers,
• 17:56
  first responders, young families
• 17:59
  and seniors aren't priced out
• 18:01
  of the community they serve.
• 18:03
  Unger also says that data centers
• 18:04
  are a bad fit for Hays County.
• 18:06
  She said she wants focus on
• 18:08
  improving roads, increasing
• 18:09
  government transparency and smart
• 18:11
  development.
• 18:12
  I'm Lee Walden in Hays county.
• 18:15
  And a reminder, it is the final day
• 18:17
  to cast an early ballot in the
• 18:19
  midterm elections.
• 18:20
  We have much more election
• 18:21
  information on the KUT
• 18:23
  app and at KUT.org.
• 18:25
  Austin Signal is gonna be back with
• 18:27
  you after this break.
• 18:30
  Welcome back, this is Austin
• 18:33
  Signal.
• 18:34
  When we think about the future, one
• 18:35
  thing that is for sure is that
• 18:37
  a lot of things are uncertain and
• 18:39
  it's never more up in the air than
• 18:41
  right before an election.
• 18:43
  But one thing we do know is that
• 18:45
  youth are the future and politics,
• 18:47
  policies, and current events, well
• 18:48
  they have an impact on them too.
• 18:50
  So for our new Future Present
• 18:52
  segment, we're speaking with two
• 18:53
  high school seniors from Eastside
• 18:55
  Early College High School.
• 18:56
  About the issues that are affecting
• 18:57
  them and what they think about the
• 18:59
  current events happening around us.
• 19:01
  And today's topic is immigration.
• 19:03
  Here to talk about it is Viviana
• 19:05
  Gill and Alexa Garcia.
• 19:06
  Thank you for being on the show.
• 19:07
  Hi! Thank you for having us.
• 19:09
  Of course, we appreciate your time,
• 19:11
  so immigration is a big topic right
• 19:13
  now politically, nationally.
• 19:15
  What sorts of news stories have you
• 19:17
  all heard about immigration or
• 19:18
  immigration enforcement in your
• 19:20
  daily life?
• 19:21
  Viviana, can I start with you?
• 19:22
  Yeah, like right off
• 19:24
  the top of my head, there was this
• 19:26
  one immigration case,
• 19:28
  I think by the highway,
• 19:31
  where I believe that there was a
• 19:33
  man who was like
• 19:35
  working for DoorDash and he was just
• 19:37
  doing his job and he got pulled
• 19:39
  over by ICE and detained.
• 19:42
  And since this happened very locally
• 19:43
  there, not only did I hear
• 19:45
  about it on the news, but I saw
• 19:47
  like my peers and my neighbors
• 19:49
  go over there and
• 19:51
  Just seeing Austin
• 19:54
  move all together and protest
• 19:56
  and knowing that they were making
• 19:58
  their voices heard was really
• 19:59
  impactful.
• 20:01
  Yeah, you're talking there about the
• 20:02
  case of Wilbur Garces Perez.
• 20:04
  That is something that a lot of the
• 20:05
  news organizations, as you
• 20:06
  mentioned, covered. But did you hear
• 20:07
  about it first through people in
• 20:09
  your neighborhood?
• 20:10
  Um, I believe I heard
• 20:12
  it first from my sister cause she
• 20:13
  texted me about it.
• 20:14
  And then when I, cause I was at
• 20:16
  school at the time.
• 20:17
  So she sent me like a link
• 20:19
  about it and then I went on tech
• 20:21
  talking. It was like one of the
• 20:22
  first videos that I saw, like for
• 20:24
  first person, like the person
• 20:25
  recording it was right there in real
• 20:27
  time.
• 20:28
  Alexa, what are your thoughts about
• 20:30
  how immigration impacts and shapes
• 20:31
  our country?
• 20:32
  I think it has played
• 20:34
  a huge role.
• 20:36
  It's impacted us in a
• 20:37
  positive way.
• 20:39
  There's like many, many people who
• 20:41
  have contributed and
• 20:43
  they've
• 20:45
  taken on many jobs in industries
• 20:48
  like agriculture, construction, and
• 20:49
  healthcare.
• 20:51
  And I think its often overlooked for
• 20:54
  how hard they work.
• 20:55
  Viviana, how about you?
• 20:57
  Yeah, I feel like we can't really
• 20:58
  think of America as a whole without
• 21:01
  acknowledging the work that
• 21:02
  immigrants have done when they come
• 21:04
  to this country.
• 21:05
  Immigrants are the foundation of
• 21:08
  America.
• 21:09
  They work for the heaviest pillars
• 21:11
  of America,
• 21:13
  so like agriculture, like Alexa
• 21:14
  said, also like
• 21:16
  construction, all
• 21:18
  the jobs that are very physically
• 21:20
  heavy and physically taxing,
• 21:22
  and I feel like.
• 21:24
  Even now with the children of
• 21:26
  immigrants we are constantly
• 21:27
  pursuing and reaching for
• 21:29
  collegiate level education degrees
• 21:32
  and then we go and
• 21:34
  just like uplift the
• 21:36
  economy.
• 21:37
  You mentioned that your sister was
• 21:38
  the one that texted you about the
• 21:40
  Wilbur Garcés-Berés case.
• 21:43
  Do peers in your grade, people that
• 21:44
  you go to school with, are they
• 21:45
  talking about immigration and
• 21:46
  immigration enforcement here in
• 21:48
  Austin?
• 21:49
  Yeah, oftentimes I get my news.
• 21:51
  If it's not through TikTok, it's
• 21:52
  through Instagram.
• 21:54
  So, if I go on Instagram and I look
• 21:55
  at all the stories that my friends
• 21:57
  post, if it's a very local
• 21:59
  like immigration case, everyone is
• 22:01
  reposting that event so that maybe
• 22:03
  they get more like it's like a
• 22:05
  GoFundMe or a fundraiser or like
• 22:07
  any way to support whether it's just
• 22:08
  like recognition or actually going
• 22:09
  out there and protesting.
• 22:11
  At the end of last year, we had a
• 22:16
  and ISD so it It was
• 22:18
  a very good representation of how
• 22:21
  the youth and the teenagers
• 22:23
  are
• 22:25
  willing to take a step for
• 22:27
  a brighter future, which I really do
• 22:28
  think is admirable.
• 22:30
  Yeah, Alexa, how about you?
• 22:31
  What would you say about the people
• 22:32
  in your peer circle?
• 22:33
  Are they generally talking about
• 22:35
  what's going on, whether it's
• 22:36
  immigration or other big topics
• 22:37
  affecting your community?
• 22:39
  A lot of, yeah, a few of my friends
• 22:41
  do talk about it.
• 22:42
  Like if they, something with their
• 22:44
  family happens or if they get
• 22:45
  stopped, they say like
• 22:47
  where they got stopped or like where
• 22:49
  there around.
• 22:51
  Some teachers do
• 22:53
  talk about it, but it's
• 22:55
  kind of vague.
• 22:56
  Like they only, they just want
• 22:58
  us to be careful.
• 23:00
  Yeah, you mentioned there, like the
• 23:01
  teachers maybe towing the line
• 23:03
  a little bit more.
• 23:04
  Do you find that you encounter many
• 23:06
  people that you go to school with or
• 23:07
  in your community that disagree
• 23:09
  with your views on immigration?
• 23:12
  Surprisingly, you know, I haven't
• 23:13
  like come across anyone who
• 23:15
  is like pro ice
• 23:17
  Well, let me ask, do you have
• 23:19
  people in your community directly
• 23:21
  that are affected by the immigration
• 23:23
  enforcement system, and what are
• 23:25
  their feelings about the current
• 23:26
  events that are happening right now?
• 23:29
  Um, I'd say like,
• 23:32
  there are many people that are
• 23:34
  affected and like, they're scared.
• 23:37
  Um, they feel
• 23:39
  like they have to be careful when
• 23:41
  they're going out and everything.
• 23:43
  Um, They just have to watch out
• 23:45
  more.
• 23:46
  To add on to what Alexa said, I feel
• 23:48
  like with a lot of my peers,
• 23:50
  whether they're like affected
• 23:51
  personally,
• 23:53
  they live with like a sense
• 23:55
  of fear that just
• 23:57
  echoes around the community.
• 23:58
  So it's like, if it happened to
• 24:00
  someone you know, or someone like a
• 24:02
  friend's friend, everyone
• 24:04
  just collectively has empathy for
• 24:06
  them. But I feel with some friends
• 24:07
  that they've been affected
• 24:09
  personally. They have
• 24:11
  adopted, like, uh,
• 24:14
  just like a- Cautious effort just
• 24:15
  wherever they go and I know my
• 24:17
  mom for me. She tells me to like
• 24:19
  memorize my Social number
• 24:21
  or like my keep always keep an ID on
• 24:23
  me never go down certain roads at
• 24:25
  some times
• 24:26
  Well, me and my family have done,
• 24:28
  and other people I know have done is
• 24:30
  whenever they're driving or just out
• 24:32
  on the road, if
• 24:34
  there's any, any like
• 24:35
  a black car that looks a little
• 24:37
  suspicious, we always
• 24:39
  try to avoid it.
• 24:41
  We always just drive away from it.
• 24:45
  Alright, we have been
• 24:47
  speaking with high school seniors
• 24:48
  Viviana Gill and Alexa Garcia
• 24:50
  for our Future Present segment
• 24:52
  where we talk with youth about the
• 24:54
  issues in the news, their thoughts
• 24:55
  on them, and how it affects them and
• 24:57
  their communities.
• 24:58
  Viviana, Alexa, thanks so much for
• 24:59
  talking with us.
• 25:00
  Thank you.
• 25:08
  For 15 years, the local non-profit
• 25:11
  Pease has been bringing hands-on
• 25:12
  gardening and cooking experience to
• 25:14
  kids in Austin area schools.
• 25:17
  Next week, they're celebrating that
• 25:18
  15-year milestone with events like
• 25:20
  a community market, and some other
• 25:22
  activities too.
• 25:23
  Here to tell us more about them and
• 25:25
  the organization is Nikki
• 25:27
  Newman-Sobani.
• 25:28
  Nikki, thank you for joining us here
• 25:29
  on Austin Signal.
• 25:30
  Thank you so much for having us.
• 25:31
  So tell us a little bit about P's,
• 25:33
  what does P's stand for and what
• 25:35
  does it do?
• 25:35
  Absolutely.
• 25:36
  So PEACE stands for Partners for
• 25:38
  Education, Agriculture, and
• 25:39
  Sustainability. We are an
• 25:41
  Austin-based nonprofit and we
• 25:43
  cultivate joyful connections with
• 25:45
  nature through outdoor learning and
• 25:47
  edible education.
• 25:47
  So what that means is we bring
• 25:49
  garden, environmental, and culinary
• 25:51
  programs to Austin Elementary
• 25:53
  Schools.
• 25:54
  Currently this year we partner with
• 25:55
  25 Austin Elementary Schools and
• 25:57
  we're integrated into the school
• 25:59
  day. So, what that mean is we have
• 26:00
  outdoor and education
• 26:02
  specialists who are going into the
• 26:04
  school day partnering with teachers.
• 26:06
  And getting kids hands-on,
• 26:07
  innovative, interactive lessons
• 26:09
  to connect them with nature.
• 26:11
  And you're celebrating 15 years of
• 26:13
  these partnerships.
• 26:14
  Where did this germ of this
• 26:16
  idea get started?
• 26:17
  So it started with our executive
• 26:18
  director, Lauren Maples.
• 26:20
  She was a teacher in Cunningham
• 26:22
  Elementary School in South Austin,
• 26:23
  and she really just wanted to get
• 26:25
  her students and her kids as a mom
• 26:26
  outside learning from nature more.
• 26:28
  Let's take the things that kids are
• 26:30
  learning in textbooks or on screens
• 26:32
  and get them more hands-on
• 26:33
  experience.
• 26:34
  It supports different learning
• 26:35
  styles for students and just seeing
• 26:37
  kids come alive in the garden and
• 26:39
  outdoor spaces to make that
• 26:40
  connection of how they can become.
• 26:43
  Environmental steward in the future
• 26:44
  and teach them those life skills and
• 26:46
  confidence to grow up to be kind
• 26:48
  of stewards of the planet.
• 26:50
  How has the program evolved over the
• 26:52
  last 15 years?
• 26:53
  It's evolved, it really has started
• 26:54
  as a grassroots effort, really
• 26:56
  supported by the Austin community.
• 26:58
  It started to grow and grow.
• 26:59
  And as we
• 27:01
  started to get integrated in this
• 27:03
  school day, it really deepens
• 27:05
  that connection to create systems
• 27:07
  change. That's really our goal
• 27:08
  looking forward is how can
• 27:10
  we create these
• 27:12
  changes with the youth and
• 27:14
  starting when kids are young and
• 27:15
  really connecting them to the
• 27:17
  planet that they live on and how
• 27:18
  they can steward that in the future
• 27:20
  is really where we're looking
• 27:21
  towards for the next 15 years.
• 27:23
  Have school budget struggles?
• 27:25
  Does that affect how y'all operate
• 27:27
  or the schools that y'y'all get
• 27:28
  involved with?
• 27:29
  For sure, so P's, we underwrite
• 27:31
  90% of the program costs for
• 27:33
  schools that support families facing
• 27:35
  economic hardship.
• 27:36
  So typically title one schools.
• 27:38
  And so we wanna make sure that
• 27:39
  students have access to the
• 27:41
  learning. So we take over
• 27:43
  fundraising and writing grants and
• 27:45
  doing all those things so we can
• 27:46
  make sure that even when school
• 27:48
  budgets are struggling
• 27:51
  or can't meet that mark,
• 27:53
  that we can come in and provide that
• 27:54
  access to this academic enrichment
• 27:56
  learning during the school day.
• 27:58
  It sounds like a very fun and
• 27:59
  fulfilling job.
• 28:00
  What's your favorite part of doing
• 28:02
  it?
• 28:02
  It's so fun.
• 28:03
  And, you know, on the surface, it's
• 28:04
  it seems like gardens and cooking is
• 28:06
  really cute and fun.
• 28:07
  But that deeper kind of connection
• 28:09
  that I see kids have in the
• 28:11
  garden and them come alive.
• 28:13
  We hear from teachers all the time
• 28:14
  that they might have students who
• 28:16
  are more reserved in the classroom.
• 28:18
  They're not asking many questions.
• 28:19
  They get out to the garden in green
• 28:20
  space and they come alive, they're
• 28:22
  asking questions. One question leads
• 28:23
  to the next question, and they're
• 28:25
  just learning in a different space
• 28:27
  that gives them that opportunity for
• 28:29
  different learning style.
• 28:30
  So y'all are planning some special
• 28:31
  events to celebrate 15 years
• 28:33
  of what do you have in store?
• 28:35
  We are, we're kicking it off this
• 28:36
  Sunday, November 1st at Bowie High
• 28:38
  School, we have a community market.
• 28:39
  We have over 25 local unique
• 28:42
  vendors that'll be there and a lot
• 28:43
  of nonprofits that people can come
• 28:45
  connect with. It's from 11 to three.
• 28:47
  And then we'll be a part of It's My
• 28:48
  Park Day next Saturday from
• 28:50
  nine to noon. We have a Community
• 28:51
  Farm at Cunningham Elementary.
• 28:54
  And then, we are also running an
• 28:55
  85-15 Community Raffle this entire
• 28:57
  week. So it's really our way of
• 28:59
  giving back 15% of the funds that
• 29:00
  we raise to the community.
• 29:02
  And we have some really great early
• 29:03
  bird prizes as well.
• 29:04
  Well let's say somebody just happens
• 29:06
  to be out of town next week and they
• 29:08
  can't participate in any of those
• 29:09
  events. What are some other ways
• 29:10
  that folks can get involved with
• 29:12
  what Pease does?
• 29:12
  We have a variety of ways.
• 29:14
  We have bi-monthly volunteer farm
• 29:16
  days at the farm down south.
• 29:18
  We are part of a lot of community
• 29:19
  events around Austin.
• 29:21
  And then we're always also looking
• 29:22
  for kind of mission-driven
• 29:24
  businesses or individuals who
• 29:26
  wanna support our mission to bring
• 29:28
  even more of our learning to
• 29:30
  schools.
• 29:31
  What about P's that I haven't asked
• 29:32
  you about is really important that
• 29:33
  you think people should know about,
• 29:35
  you know, to get involved with the
• 29:36
  organization.
• 29:37
  I think being able to
• 29:39
  understand where we are headed in
• 29:41
  the future of, you know,
• 29:43
  voting is going on right now, so
• 29:44
  it's top of mind, so being able to
• 29:46
  activate youth and elementary-aged
• 29:49
  students to be able to become
• 29:51
  the informed, you
• 29:53
  know, environmental stewards
• 29:55
  of the future is really
• 29:57
  something that we're excited about
• 29:58
  and we hope that a lot of people are
• 29:59
  interested in supporting.
• 30:01
  All right, we've been talking with
• 30:02
  Nikki Newman-Sobani, Development
• 30:04
  and Communications Manager with
• 30:05
  PEES, that is Partners for
• 30:06
  Education, Agriculture, and
• 30:08
  Sustainability. We'll have a link to
• 30:10
  those events in today's show notes.
• 30:11
  Nikki, thanks for your time.
• 30:12
  Awesome, thank you so much.
• 30:14
  And you're listening to Austin
• 30:15
  Signal here on KUT News.
• 30:17
  If you're wondering why we're still
• 30:19
  on the radio, that's because we have
• 30:20
  an extra long episode
• 30:22
  to bring you today.
• 30:23
  So much to share with you.
• 30:25
  Plenty more coming up after this
• 30:27
  short break.
• 30:30
  Welcome back. You're listening
• 30:31
  Austin Signal.
• 30:33
  This month, one of the most
• 30:35
  accomplished people in the sport of
• 30:36
  soccer retired,
• 30:38
  Austin's Ismael Alfath, achieved
• 30:40
  higher heights than any other
• 30:42
  American referee Ever
• 30:44
  and as cuties Jimmy
• 30:46
  Moss reports He's now leaving the
• 30:48
  profession that he loves to give
• 30:49
  back to the people and the city
• 30:51
  that he loved
• 30:53
  Through the years, Ismail Alfath
• 30:55
  built working relationships with
• 30:56
  some of the biggest superstars of
• 30:58
  his sport, powerful political
• 31:00
  players, and some pretty wealthy
• 31:02
  people.
• 31:03
  But from the top of the sporting
• 31:05
  world, he would humbly return to
• 31:07
  Austin, Texas.
• 31:09
  Ismail Al-Fath is a soccer referee,
• 31:11
  and not just any referee, he
• 31:13
  has achieved more than any other
• 31:14
  American soccer official.
• 31:16
  In July, he became the first to
• 31:18
  lead an all-American referee crew
• 31:20
  in a FIFA World Cup semi-final.
• 31:23
  It's my old fat the american referee
• 31:24
  setting the tone early by the way
• 31:25
  calling that foul and having some
• 31:26
  that followed up
• 31:27
  that followed up a 2022 World Cup
• 31:29
  where he was the fourth official for
• 31:31
  the final between Argentina and
• 31:33
  France.
• 31:34
  He's worked the Olympic Games in
• 31:35
  Tokyo, Copa America,
• 31:38
  South America's top international
• 31:39
  tournament, the Champions Cup for
• 31:41
  the Confederation of North Central
• 31:43
  America and Caribbean Association
• 31:44
  football, better known to you
• 31:46
  probably as CONCACAF.
• 31:49
  He has also worked the top leagues
• 31:50
  in Saudi Arabia and Japan, plus
• 31:52
  more than 200 major league soccer
• 31:54
  matches across North America.
• 31:56
  Forbes magazine called him a U.S.
• 31:59
  Soccer all-time great.
• 32:00
  He is Austin's most accomplished
• 32:03
  export in professional
• 32:05
  soccer.
• 32:06
  Elpheth arrived in Austin in January
• 32:08
  2001 with $200 and
• 32:11
  a plan.
• 32:12
  Learn English, go to
• 32:13
  UT, help my
• 32:15
  family.
• 32:16
  Raised in bustling Casablanca,
• 32:19
  Morocco, Ilfath first moved to
• 32:21
  Nueces Street west of the University
• 32:23
  of Texas campus.
• 32:24
  He found two familiar places,
• 32:27
  the Campus Mosque and Zilker
• 32:28
  Park.
• 32:29
  Was the only place you could find
• 32:30
  soccer at the time.
• 32:32
  So within the third day I was
• 32:34
  playing some pickup soccer at Zalker
• 32:35
  Park and then the mosque which
• 32:37
  is a place of faith and refuge
• 32:39
  that was also familiar to me on
• 32:41
  Oasis Street as the campus mosque.
• 32:44
  So without those two places I think
• 32:46
  I probably would have had
• 32:48
  a far more difficult
• 32:49
  period of adaptation.
• 32:51
  He attended Austin Community
• 32:53
  College, then studied mechanical
• 32:54
  engineering at Texas and worked
• 32:56
  nights at a hotel.
• 32:58
  Refereeing was not the plan.
• 33:00
  He was always at odds with referees
• 33:02
  as a player in pickup games and
• 33:04
  later with the Austin Men's Soccer
• 33:06
  Association.
• 33:07
  Elphath thought the refs weren't
• 33:09
  doing enough.
• 33:10
  I got kicked around, I kicked people
• 33:12
  around, but I felt I was kicked
• 33:13
  around a little bit more.
• 33:14
  So I was complained
• 33:16
  he would break down the referee's
• 33:18
  mistakes for their supervisor on the
• 33:19
  sideline until they suggested He
• 33:21
  tried the job himself.
• 33:23
  He ignored the advice but
• 33:25
  eventually gave in
• 33:27
  Elpheth's reputation evolved from a
• 33:29
  hot-headed player to a calm even
• 33:31
  keeled referee.
• 33:32
  He says prevention is the key
• 33:34
  smell it before it brews,
• 33:37
  smell it before the bubble grows,
• 33:39
  then that looks something like that
• 33:41
  guy just looked at the other guy the
• 33:43
  wrong way.
• 33:44
  You can ignore it or you can do
• 33:46
  something with it because it's
• 33:48
  usually micro interactions that
• 33:50
  build up.
• 33:52
  Elpheth honed his craft over two
• 33:54
  decades and at just 44
• 33:56
  years old he is walking away
• 33:58
  for three years.
• 33:59
  Number one,
• 34:01
  I humbly believe I've succeeded
• 34:03
  at achieving everything I set out to
• 34:05
  achieve, having been part of a
• 34:07
  World Cup final and a semi-final,
• 34:09
  which is more than
• 34:11
  any referee has ever done before,
• 34:14
  being in those two games.
• 34:15
  I can confidently say that.
• 34:17
  The second reason is I really just
• 34:19
  want to spend more time with my
• 34:20
  family.
• 34:21
  Being a professional referee,
• 34:22
  international referee, I averaged
• 34:24
  about 150 nights in hotel
• 34:26
  versus at my house.
• 34:28
  Every year for the last 10 years.
• 34:30
  By the way, he has maintained a day
• 34:31
  job throughout his career as a
• 34:33
  referee, currently serving as
• 34:35
  chief revenue officer for a
• 34:37
  technology company, Brightfin, and
• 34:39
  has no plans to leave that job
• 34:40
  anytime soon.
• 34:42
  His last reason for retirement from
• 34:44
  pro soccer, he's ready to
• 34:46
  give back to the city and the
• 34:47
  sport that gave him so much.
• 34:49
  He currently coaches a youth league
• 34:51
  team, but it is highly likely
• 34:53
  you'll see him take the field with
• 34:55
  a whistle soon.
• 34:56
  There is zero chance that
• 34:58
  I will live without
• 35:00
  referee in some
• 35:02
  sort of capacity.
• 35:03
  His most urgent message is about
• 35:05
  the referee shortage at the youth
• 35:07
  and recreational levels of soccer.
• 35:09
  For adults, he says the job is
• 35:11
  the best seat in the house.
• 35:13
  For teenagers, many of whom work
• 35:15
  youth games, it can be
• 35:16
  harrowing.
• 35:17
  You know, yelling at an adult is
• 35:20
  one thing. Yelling at a child is
• 35:22
  another thing.
• 35:23
  It is very sad to
• 35:25
  witness.
• 35:26
  It is a cancer in our sport, and
• 35:28
  it's why the numbers are low.
• 35:29
  The ref shortage even made an
• 35:31
  episode of The Simpsons on
• 35:33
  Fox back in 2014.
• 35:34
  Sorry, ladies.
• 35:35
  I got no referees, so the game's
• 35:37
  been canceled.
• 35:38
  I'm sorry. What happened to the ref?
• 35:40
  Be quiet! Being a ref is a thankless
• 35:42
  job. The parents hate ya, the only
• 35:44
  upside is the kids share their snack
• 35:46
  with ya. Did someone say snack?
• 35:48
  I'll be a ref!
• 35:51
  Randy Martinez is a South Texas
• 35:53
  referee and mentor based
• 35:55
  in New Braunfels.
• 35:56
  I can tell you exactly what it is,
• 35:58
  it's called referee abuse.
• 36:00
  Martinez, a military veteran who
• 36:02
  has a thick skin after years on the
• 36:04
  pitch, says younger referees
• 36:06
  often don't know how to handle the
• 36:08
  criticism.
• 36:09
  Mentors and coordinators can help,
• 36:11
  but with so many games across large
• 36:13
  areas, they can't always be
• 36:15
  there and some new referees quit
• 36:17
  after just a single weekend.
• 36:19
  His plea?
• 36:20
  Go easy on the young ones,
• 36:22
  and as for him...
• 36:23
  You haven't even seen me laugh, so
• 36:25
  what?
• 36:26
  Give me a chance first, and then
• 36:27
  tell me I suck.
• 36:28
  Ismail El-Fath asks everyone
• 36:31
  around the game to do three things.
• 36:33
  Thank the referee and mean it.
• 36:35
  Don't stay a quiet witness to abuse.
• 36:37
  Call it out politely.
• 36:38
  And last.
• 36:40
  Absolutely do try it.
• 36:42
  It's half a day clinic, and you
• 36:44
  have a badge and you can refer it.
• 36:45
  So I would say try it, and I think
• 36:47
  for those that try it they'll see
• 36:48
  the enjoyment and the bug that I was
• 36:50
  talking about is pretty addictive.
• 36:52
  So I did.
• 36:53
  I enrolled in the U.S.
• 36:55
  Soccer referee program and took my
• 36:57
  first class in New Braunfels.
• 36:59
  How did I do today? Randy Martinez again.
• 37:01
  Being new we understand that there's
• 37:03
  going to be some stuff that you're
• 37:05
  going to have to you know work on
• 37:06
  and stuff And that's what these
• 37:08
  these you know in clinics are meant
• 37:10
  for is to make sure that you get a
• 37:12
  grasp of the basics And then
• 37:14
  it's like anything else and I've
• 37:15
  aware you you continually to
• 37:17
  do it. You're gonna keep
• 37:18
  progressively get better at it
• 37:19
  So at your next kid's soccer game,
• 37:22
  consider taking it easy on the
• 37:23
  referees, maybe as El
• 37:25
  Fath suggested, thank them.
• 37:28
  You never know, maybe it's your
• 37:29
  local public radio reporter,
• 37:32
  or maybe it is the most accomplished
• 37:33
  referee in U.S.
• 37:35
  Soccer history.
• 37:36
  I'm Jimmy Moss in Austin.
• 37:46
  Exploded drawing is celebrating 16
• 37:47
  years of electronic music shows here
• 37:49
  in Austin and all across the globe
• 37:51
  here to tell us more about their
• 37:53
  Suite 16 is our colleague sound
• 37:55
  founder He hosts his electronic
• 37:57
  show every Wednesday night on KUTX
• 37:59
  and he's one of the co-founders of
• 38:00
  exploded drawing Welcome back to the
• 38:02
  show. Thank you.
• 38:03
  So can you tell us a little bit
• 38:04
  about what makes exploded drawing
• 38:06
  different from?
• 38:07
  Other live music shows?
• 38:09
  So basically my friend Butcher Bear
• 38:11
  and I, Ben Webster,
• 38:13
  we started it in 2010 because
• 38:14
  there was already, you know,
• 38:16
  a good amount of electronic music in
• 38:18
  Austin and underground scenes, but
• 38:19
  it was pretty much all, almost
• 38:21
  entirely DJ sets.
• 38:23
  There weren't a lot of places where
• 38:24
  people could perform their own
• 38:26
  original electronic music.
• 38:28
  So we wanted to create a space where
• 38:30
  people who were actually making
• 38:31
  their own, releasing their own
• 38:33
  albums, creating their own songs.
• 38:35
  Uh, could come play sets of original
• 38:37
  music. So that's been the rule in
• 38:38
  the format for 16 years now.
• 38:40
  And it's the thing that's really
• 38:41
  kind of made it special and
• 38:43
  drawn people to it.
• 38:45
  So who are you featuring this time
• 38:46
  around?
• 38:47
  This time around, we have 10
• 38:49
  artists, because for our
• 38:50
  anniversary, we do a special,
• 38:52
  insane, chaotic thing where we
• 38:54
  invite back 10 people.
• 38:55
  We try to have repeat artists as
• 38:57
  seldom as possible because there's
• 38:59
  so many to pull from.
• 39:00
  So when you do get invited back,
• 39:02
  it's kind of an invitational thing
• 39:04
  where we have ten people
• 39:06
  each play a 10-minute set.
• 39:08
  So the chaos of like switching
• 39:10
  artists over, they all have
• 39:11
  different gear, samplers, some
• 39:13
  people have whatever synths,
• 39:15
  some people are more of like, time.
• 39:17
  Whatever, laptop based or whatever,
• 39:19
  we have to get those 10 people in
• 39:20
  and out. And so you basically have
• 39:22
  10 minutes to like show off your
• 39:24
  little body of work.
• 39:25
  It's kind of like, we think of it
• 39:27
  like, that little
• 39:29
  space is your little room in
• 39:30
  the art gallery.
• 39:31
  You can do whatever you want to show
• 39:33
  your body of work in those 10
• 39:35
  minutes.
• 39:36
  But to answer your question, we have
• 39:37
  Monopoly who is a
• 39:39
  LA producer who's lived in Austin
• 39:41
  now since probably around the
• 39:43
  pandemic.
• 39:44
  And he actually has a Grammy for
• 39:47
  helping produce Thundercats music.
• 39:49
  He plays a lot of those funky, grimy
• 39:51
  synthesizers you'll hear on
• 39:53
  Thunderkats music, but he
• 39:54
  just chills and lives in Austin and
• 39:56
  produces music at his house
• 39:58
  and he's been friends
• 40:00
  with us for a long time.
• 40:01
  So we're having him out.
• 40:02
  That's exciting.
• 40:04
  We also have a producer named Joan
• 40:06
  Dark, who she's
• 40:08
  more kind of on the techno side of
• 40:10
  things, but she has a ton of gear,
• 40:11
  drum machines.
• 40:12
  She's been Kind
• 40:14
  of gaining some traction on
• 40:16
  Instagram and stuff It's cool to see
• 40:18
  people in the community like
• 40:20
  out there kind of blowing up on
• 40:21
  social media flow Bama is another
• 40:23
  one who's really been taking off on
• 40:26
  social media he produces jungle
• 40:27
  music and he has a bunch of
• 40:29
  videos that have gone viral of like
• 40:31
  remixes he's done and
• 40:33
  He teaches people how to make jungle
• 40:35
  music. He has a patreon and all this
• 40:36
  stuff
• 40:37
  What's jungle music?
• 40:38
  Jungle music is, you've probably
• 40:40
  heard it before, because it is very
• 40:42
  influential, but it's like you
• 40:44
  hear those fast drums that go, put,
• 40:45
  put, ta, ta-ka-ka, ta.
• 40:48
  It's like that, it's a form of music
• 40:50
  that started in the UK, but it's
• 40:52
  an interesting mixture of like rave
• 40:53
  culture and then also like
• 40:55
  Jamaican sound system culture and
• 40:58
  just heavy bass and like really fast
• 41:00
  grimy drums, but it is having like a
• 41:02
  huge resurgence right now.
• 41:04
  It kind of teetered off
• 41:06
  at the end of the 90s and for some
• 41:08
  reason people are just obsessed with
• 41:09
  it right now
• 41:11
  Okay, okay, so you're bringing lots
• 41:12
  of different artists that are going
• 41:13
  to be showcasing their music.
• 41:15
  There's also a visual component to
• 41:17
  the event, correct?
• 41:18
  Yes. Well, the visuals are really
• 41:20
  important because I think
• 41:22
  electronic music is interesting
• 41:23
  because it's not necessarily
• 41:26
  as tactile as like watching someone
• 41:28
  strum a guitar or something.
• 41:30
  So some people need
• 41:32
  some extra stimulation and
• 41:34
  so the visuals have always
• 41:36
  been a big part of it and we have
• 41:38
  Orián García who's in Peligrosa.
• 41:41
  He's an amazing DJ but also an
• 41:43
  amazing live visual artists.
• 41:45
  And then we have DripCuts, who's a
• 41:47
  big part of levitation and that
• 41:49
  psychedelic visual world.
• 41:51
  And they do the visuals.
• 41:53
  They've been kind of the main
• 41:54
  part of our visual crew for a long
• 41:56
  time now, and they're incredible.
• 41:58
  So it looks crazy while you're in
• 42:00
  there. It's awesome.
• 42:01
  Before we let you go, can you just
• 42:02
  remind us about the details for
• 42:04
  tonight's event?
• 42:05
  Tonight, Datalab, it's
• 42:07
  spelled D-A-D-A L-A
• 42:09
  B, right in central East
• 42:11
  Austin in the cool neighborhood.
• 42:13
  Only five bucks to get in, all
• 42:15
  ages.
• 42:16
  Doors open at 8.30, me and
• 42:18
  Butcher Bear start kind of spinning
• 42:19
  records to warm up the night there.
• 42:22
  And then the first live set start
• 42:24
  at 9.30 sharp.
• 42:25
  And from then it's just nonstop
• 42:27
  action.
• 42:28
  Are you going to be wearing a
• 42:28
  costume tonight?
• 42:30
  I'm not a costume guy.
• 42:31
  Me neither.
• 42:32
  Me neither. Alright, we have been
• 42:33
  chatting with Sound Founder, one of
• 42:35
  the co-founders of Exploded Drawing,
• 42:37
  celebrating 16 years of live shows
• 42:38
  tonight.
• 42:39
  He also hosts his Sound Founder show
• 42:41
  every Wednesday night on KUTX.
• 42:43
  Thanks for coming by.
• 42:44
  Thanks for having me.
• 42:51
  All right, we got more Austin Signal
• 42:53
  coming your way.
• 42:54
  That's after this break.
• 43:00
  My name is Christoph Wagoner.
• 43:02
  I am the president of October's
• 43:04
  Child, Inc.
• 43:05
  And you're listening to Austin
• 43:06
  Signal.
• 43:09
  October's Child is pretty simple.
• 43:11
  We collect costumes,
• 43:13
  whether I'm getting them donated or
• 43:16
  I buy them at resale stores,
• 43:18
  we collect them, we
• 43:20
  wash them, clean them, redesign
• 43:22
  if we need to, and then we
• 43:24
  hold an event the last Saturday of
• 43:25
  every September.
• 43:27
  And it's open to anybody in the
• 43:28
  community.
• 43:30
  Adults, children, pets,
• 43:32
  they always come with adults.
• 43:33
  And everything
• 43:35
  is free, including the
• 43:37
  decor.
• 43:38
  Accessories, makeup, whatever you
• 43:40
  can get, and get it free.
• 43:47
  This came about, I had moved
• 43:49
  into a house in a neighborhood,
• 43:51
  and I've always lived in apartments,
• 43:53
  and you never get trick-or-treaters
• 43:54
  when you're in an apartment.
• 43:56
  And I was told they
• 43:58
  get a lot of trick-o-treeters, so I
• 43:59
  prepped for it.
• 44:01
  And I'm a people watcher,
• 44:03
  so while I was watching the kids
• 44:04
  trick-r-treating, you
• 44:06
  can tell that there are some kids
• 44:08
  that just don't have the
• 44:10
  advantage that some of the others
• 44:11
  do.
• 44:12
  It's not that they were disappointed
• 44:14
  with what they were wearing, but you
• 44:15
  could tell they were admiring.
• 44:16
  That.
• 44:18
  So I just kind of thought
• 44:19
  that year, why not try it and just
• 44:21
  see? And then the next year I did it
• 44:23
  and I had a child come
• 44:25
  up to me with a costume and said,
• 44:28
  I'm too big for this but my mommy
• 44:29
  said I could give it to you and
• 44:31
  somebody else could use it.
• 44:33
  And those things like that just made
• 44:34
  me know I'm gonna do it again next
• 44:37
  year and see what happens.
• 44:38
  And so it just kept growing
• 44:40
  from half a garage to this year
• 44:42
  we had 8,100 square feet
• 44:44
  of tent space.
• 44:48
  If anybody ever comes to
• 44:50
  one of the events, if you
• 44:52
  see the faces of the
• 44:54
  children and the adults listening
• 44:56
  to the giggling, the squeals,
• 44:59
  and people coming up to you
• 45:01
  and just, they've got
• 45:03
  tears in their eyes because this is
• 45:05
  something that helps them.
• 45:06
  These days it's just so expensive.
• 45:08
  I mean, I get goosebumps now just
• 45:10
  thinking about when I
• 45:12
  see people happy, it just
• 45:14
  makes me happy.
• 45:15
  I may not get anything out
• 45:17
  of it. But that
• 45:19
  one day you get to see
• 45:21
  all these happy people and you know
• 45:23
  you had something to do with it.
• 45:26
  My name is Christoph Wagener.
• 45:28
  I am the president of October's
• 45:30
  Child Ink, and you're listening to
• 45:32
  Austin Signal.
• 45:39
  All right, we have been talking
• 45:40
  election season for the last two
• 45:42
  weeks straight.
• 45:43
  Almost makes you forget that
• 45:44
  tomorrow is Halloween and there's
• 45:46
  a lot going on around town this
• 45:47
  weekend, especially on the spooky
• 45:49
  side of the art world.
• 45:50
  So we've got Artbeat editor
• 45:52
  Stephanie Federico here to give us
• 45:53
  her recommendations.
• 45:55
  Stephanie, welcome back.
• 45:56
  Hey, Jerry.
• 45:57
  I'm glad to see you, and I'm
• 45:59
  excited to hear about what's going
• 46:00
  on this weekend.
• 46:01
  Your list of recommendations starts
• 46:03
  with a Halloween parade.
• 46:04
  Tell us more.
• 46:05
  Yes, The Gravest Show
• 46:07
  on Earth Halloween Parade.
• 46:09
  This is put on by the mystic crew
• 46:11
  of Chiroptera.
• 46:13
  Nailed it.
• 46:14
  I was practicing that.
• 46:17
  Think night flying mammals like
• 46:19
  bats, the mystics crew of bats.
• 46:21
  I went to their Halloween Parades
• 46:23
  last year. It's over on the east
• 46:24
  side. It starts out at Pan Am Park.
• 46:26
  And it was just so weird
• 46:28
  and fun.
• 46:29
  And I'm excited about Saturday
• 46:31
  night.
• 46:32
  Um, they're asking folks to, um,
• 46:34
  line up around seven 30 at Pan Am
• 46:36
  park. And then at eight, we're
• 46:38
  going to be following the dead music
• 46:40
  capital band.
• 46:41
  And, um.
• 46:43
  If you're familiar with like.
• 46:44
  I just got that.
• 46:46
  Brass band,
• 46:48
  second lines, like Mardi Gras
• 46:50
  in New Orleans.
• 46:52
  This is a brass band and they're
• 46:53
  gonna be playing some sort of
• 46:55
  Calliope music and people are
• 46:57
  encouraged to dress up and walk
• 46:58
  with them through the neighborhood
• 47:00
  and it's gonna end over at
• 47:01
  HyperReal.
• 47:04
  And apparently there's gonna be some
• 47:05
  sort of skeleton which I
• 47:07
  think is really cool.
• 47:09
  And yeah, and it, I
• 47:11
  am just really looking forward to it
• 47:13
  so. Okay, that sounds appro-
• 47:14
  Okay, that sounds appropriately
• 47:14
  weird, very Austin Halloween
• 47:16
  or a way to celebrate.
• 47:18
  There's also a performance that's
• 47:20
  getting started this weekend, it's
• 47:21
  going to be running into November,
• 47:23
  tell us more about that.
• 47:24
  Yeah, this play called
• 47:26
  The Visit, which really caught my
• 47:27
  eye, it's over at the B.
• 47:29
  Iden Payne Theater at UT.
• 47:32
  It's presented by UT's Theater and
• 47:33
  Dance Department at the College of
• 47:35
  Fine Arts.
• 47:36
  It is a tragic comedy set in
• 47:38
  a poor small town
• 47:40
  and a former resident
• 47:42
  is coming back to
• 47:44
  the town and apparently she's
• 47:45
  really, really, rich.
• 47:47
  So the townsfolk are excited, They
• 47:49
  want to impress her they want to
• 47:51
  like hopefully they're hoping that
• 47:52
  she's gonna Yeah, get get some
• 47:54
  of that dough, man.
• 47:57
  But so they're preparing for her
• 47:58
  arrival, her visits, and
• 48:00
  she is going to share her wealth,
• 48:02
  but it is on condition of
• 48:05
  Yeah.
• 48:05
  Classic Monkey Spark.
• 48:06
  Yes, the condition
• 48:08
  is that they must murder one of
• 48:10
  their own.
• 48:11
  Woohoo!
• 48:11
  So the play asks
• 48:13
  where do we draw the line between
• 48:14
  right and wrong and how much freedom
• 48:16
  do we actually have?
• 48:17
  Okay, okay.
• 48:18
  Well, that's sounds very good.
• 48:19
  We saw a performance ourselves
• 48:22
  this week. It was an old performance
• 48:23
  It was the 1971 film
• 48:25
  The Devils We went out to AFS to
• 48:27
  catch it and we were properly
• 48:29
  spooked during the movie But
• 48:31
  we saw a really freaky trailer
• 48:32
  that made me feel very very
• 48:34
  uncomfortable But at the end we were
• 48:36
  both like I want to watch that What
• 48:38
  was that movie?
• 48:39
  It's called The Begotten, or just
• 48:41
  Begotton.
• 48:42
  It's tonight and tomorrow night at
• 48:43
  AFS.
• 48:44
  And it's an experimental
• 48:46
  1989 film.
• 48:48
  It just looked really, really
• 48:49
  creepy. They're like these lifeless
• 48:51
  bodies that are kind of being
• 48:53
  dragged.
• 48:54
  And through the whole trailer,
• 48:55
  there's like this heartbeat going
• 48:56
  on. It's DIY, black
• 48:58
  and white, very, very
• 49:00
  creepy.
• 49:01
  Not a narrative
• 49:03
  film or anything like that.
• 49:05
  Kind of hallucinatory, glitchy,
• 49:07
  like a grotesque.
• 49:09
  Occult horror film.
• 49:11
  Definitely not for everyone,
• 49:13
  but I, yeah, I want to.
• 49:14
  It definitely picked our interest
• 49:15
  for sure. We were excited once we
• 49:17
  saw that trailer.
• 49:19
  And would you recommend people see
• 49:20
  The Devils?
• 49:21
  Oh yeah man, yeah, it is
• 49:23
  uh, it was weird.
• 49:25
  If you like weird, it's very weird.
• 49:27
  If you liked your nuns
• 49:30
  naked,
• 49:33
  maybe a little sacrilegious.
• 49:35
  Okay, one last event.
• 49:37
  Not so spooky, but one of our own
• 49:39
  is getting honorific.
• 49:40
  Who is that? What's the event?
• 49:41
  Yeah, we're really excited for Jay
• 49:43
  Trachtenberg, our
• 49:45
  colleague over at KUTX, who is
• 49:47
  going to be inducted into the Austin
• 49:49
  Jazz Hall of Fame on
• 49:51
  Sunday over at the Rollins Theater
• 49:52
  at the Long Center.
• 49:54
  Doors at 6, the
• 49:56
  event kicks off at 6.30.
• 49:59
  These awards honor Austin-born and
• 50:01
  Austin-based music professionals and
• 50:03
  reflect the talent this city has
• 50:05
  cultivated. So we're real excited
• 50:07
  for him to be in inducted.
• 50:09
  Congratulations, Jay, if you're
• 50:10
  listening. That's right.
• 50:11
  He, I know he's listening.
• 50:12
  He's always listening.
• 50:13
  Jay, you are the best of the best of
• 50:14
  us, so you deserve that.
• 50:16
  And that is just a
• 50:18
  list of the few things,
• 50:19
  or that is a few of the things
• 50:21
  happening. Sorry, one hour show
• 50:22
  really getting me.
• 50:23
  That's just a few things happening
• 50:24
  this weekend, but you can keep up
• 50:26
  on everything happening in Austin's
• 50:28
  art world by going to kut.org
• 50:30
  slash artbeat, including a story
• 50:32
  from a contributor, Eric Webb, about
• 50:34
  a film premiering at the Austin Film
• 50:35
  Fest. This weekend that is
• 50:38
  Stephanie Federico.
• 50:38
  She is the art beat editor
• 50:40
  Stephanie. Thank you very much
• 50:42
  Always a pleasure, Jerry.
• 50:43
  All righty, folks, one last reminder
• 50:45
  that today is your final chance to
• 50:47
  cast an early ballot in the midterm
• 50:49
  elections here in Travis County.
• 50:51
  Seven different locations are going
• 50:52
  to be open until 10 o'clock tonight,
• 50:54
  including the Texas Student Union
• 50:56
  down the street from us.
• 50:57
  That location was busy last night,
• 50:59
  as were a number of other locations
• 51:00
  in town.
• 51:01
  We've heard from colleagues that
• 51:03
  some polling sites this morning were
• 51:04
  busy and already out of sticker.
• 51:06
  So if you're making your plans to
• 51:08
  vote tonight.
• 51:09
  Take that into account and
• 51:10
  find more election information at
• 51:13
  KUT.org and on the
• 51:15
  KUT app.
• 51:16
  The Austin Signal team is Caroline
• 51:18
  Fallo, Alexandra Hart,
• 51:20
  Kristen Cabrera, Jimmy Moss,
• 51:22
  and I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 51:24
  We'll be back with you on Monday.