Latest / Austin Signal / Paxton targets Austin ISD over alleged ‘bathroom bill’ violation

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Paxton targets Austin ISD over alleged ‘bathroom bill’ violation · Austin Signal

0:08
Board members for the Austin
0:09
Independent School District are
0:11
considering an outside nonprofit to
0:13
handle three of its middle schools
0:14
with chronic failing grades.
0:16
Another failing grade for these
0:17
campuses would give the Texas
0:18
Education Agency the authority to
0:20
take over the district as a whole.
0:22
More about community meetings
0:24
happening this week and the Texas
0:26
Attorney General has notified AISD
0:28
of a complaint alleging the district
0:29
violated the state's bathroom bill.
0:32
More about those stories coming up
0:34
on today's show.
0:35
The Austin Signal is a production
0:37
of KUT News, hosted by
0:39
Jerry Quijano.
0:40
Plus, South by Southwest officially
0:42
kicks off tomorrow, but the
0:44
unofficial showcases and house shows
0:46
have plenty to offer up as well.
0:48
Come hear about one benefiting a
0:50
women's correctional facility here
0:51
in the Austin area.
0:53
Those stories and a whole lot more,
0:55
up next on Austin Signal.
1:07
Howdy out there!
1:08
You are tuned in to Austin
1:10
Signal from listener-powered public
1:12
radio, KUT News.
1:14
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
1:16
It is the 11th day of March,
1:18
thank you for making us part of your
1:20
day. We started out our Wednesday
1:22
with showers and thunderstorms here
1:24
in Austin and across the area.
1:26
Unfortunately, it appears that that
1:27
rain is leaving us for a good chunk
1:29
of time with some warmer days ahead.
1:31
The National Weather Service is
1:33
forecasting a high right above 90
1:34
degrees on Sunday, BYE BUD In
1:37
classic Texas fashion, the high just
1:39
24 hours later on Monday
1:41
is expected to top out
1:43
in the mid-60s.
1:44
We will of course keep you updated
1:46
on the latest right here
1:48
on Austin Signal.
1:50
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
1:52
has notified the Austin Independent
1:54
School District of an alleged
1:55
violation of Senate Bill 8,
1:57
colloquially known as the Bathroom
1:59
Bill, limiting transgender Texans'
2:01
use of public bathrooms in
2:03
government buildings.
2:04
The announcement seems to be the
2:06
first major enforcement action of
2:07
the new state law, and comes after
2:09
another investigation the AG's
2:11
office said it planned against AISD.
2:14
For more, we're joined now by Acacia
2:16
Coronado. She is the education
2:17
reporter for Austin Current, KUT's
2:19
collaborator on The Signal,
2:21
and a partner with KUT newsroom in
2:23
covering Austin.
2:24
Welcome back to the show, Acacia.
2:26
Thanks for having me.
2:27
So let's talk about this alleged
2:29
violation, what's in
2:30
that?
2:32
So according to the attorney
2:34
general's office, the violation
2:36
states that a
2:38
student used a restroom that is
2:40
not consistent with their sex
2:42
at birth.
2:43
And that followed a complaint that
2:44
was made to the AG's office.
2:46
Yes.
2:47
So the attorney general's office
2:49
said they were investigating this
2:50
because they received a complaint
2:51
through the tip line that the
2:53
attorney's general's office set up
2:55
to report these things once
2:57
the law went into effect in
2:59
December.
2:59
Okay, that law is in effect
3:01
now, what are the penalties
3:03
associated for violating
3:05
Senate Bill 8?
3:06
So the penalties that are
3:08
in Senate Bill 8 say that it's
3:11
a $25,000 violation
3:13
fee for the first time
3:15
and then $125,000
3:18
fee for subsequent violations.
3:20
However, the notice that
3:22
Austin ISD was given according to
3:24
the attorney general's office was
3:26
that it will incur a $5,000
3:28
penalty per day that the violation
3:30
continued.
3:31
Did it say why it was only 5,000
3:33
if the first is supposed to be
3:34
25,000?
3:35
It did not.
3:36
Do we know which school in the
3:37
Austin Independent School District
3:38
this complaint was filed against?
3:41
So according to the
3:43
attorney general's office statement,
3:45
it was a parent from
3:46
Austin High School that submitted
3:48
the complaint.
3:49
Okay, what have you heard so far
3:51
from Austin ISD officials in regards
3:53
to this
3:55
alleged complaint?
3:56
So Austin ISD has said that they
3:58
received the notification from
3:59
the attorney general's office and
4:01
they said that will respond
4:02
accordingly.
4:03
You also reported this week about
4:05
the options AISD board members
4:07
are considering for three schools
4:09
with continued failing grades.
4:11
Can you remind us what schools those
4:12
are and what is being considered
4:14
for them?
4:15
Yeah, so those schools are Burnet,
4:17
Webb, and Doeby Middle Schools, and
4:19
it was added to
4:20
their schedule for Thursday's
4:23
information meeting that the board
4:25
hosts to
4:27
discuss the possibility of
4:28
partnering with Texas Council for
4:30
International Studies, who
4:32
has also brought on Region
4:34
1 Education Service Center as an
4:35
advising partner.
4:37
What do we know about this group and
4:38
their history with schools here in
4:40
Texas?
4:42
Texas Council for International
4:44
Studies has worked with several
4:45
districts including Edgewood,
4:47
Longview and San Antonio ISDs.
4:50
They actually, all the schools
4:51
listed on their websites are
4:53
partnerships under the SB 1882
4:55
program, which allows districts
4:57
to partner with
5:00
outside organizations to operate a
5:02
school, either for innovation
5:04
or to turn around a school that
5:06
might be failing for continuous
5:08
years. Okay.
5:09
Um, so.
5:10
The Texas Council for International
5:12
Studies has 15
5:14
partnerships across the state,
5:17
and some of these include
5:20
schools in San Antonio
5:22
that are
5:24
still at a lower
5:26
rating, and they also
5:28
include schools that have
5:30
kind of improved and gone down
5:32
and improved and go down.
5:34
Was this the only group considered
5:36
for this kind of initiative?
5:38
So we are not
5:40
clear yet on whether there
5:42
were other groups considered.
5:44
We have requested to the school
5:45
district how many groups
5:48
applied to operate the
5:50
three middle schools.
5:51
However, we have been
5:53
sent to an attorney general's ruling
5:55
on whether that information can
5:57
be released because the district
5:59
said that their bid process
6:01
is technically not closed until they
6:03
for the contract.
6:05
So we were
6:07
still waiting to find out out of
6:09
how many they selected them and
6:11
what made them the
6:13
winner.
6:14
Okay, uh, will the community
6:16
have an opportunity to discuss this
6:17
new consideration?
6:19
Yeah, so community meetings are
6:21
being held at all three of the
6:23
middle schools for the parents
6:24
of those middle schools later today.
6:27
And then tomorrow at the
6:29
board meeting, there's still
6:31
the public comment section at
6:33
the beginning of the board meetings.
6:35
So community can also voice
6:37
their thoughts then.
6:38
And it sounds like there's still a
6:39
little bit of this process to be
6:41
played out.
6:42
How soon might a plan like this
6:43
move forward or how soon do
6:46
officials hope that they might be
6:48
able to put this kind of plan into
6:49
action?
6:50
Yeah, so the deadline to apply
6:52
for one of these partnerships is
6:54
March 31st.
6:55
So the district has to name
6:57
their partner and apply with their
6:59
partner by then.
7:00
They have a scheduled voting meeting
7:02
on March 26th, which
7:04
is when we're expecting
7:06
that they will take the vote,
7:07
whether to move forward or not with
7:09
this partnership.
7:10
And the implementation of it would
7:11
be in the next school year.
7:13
We have been talking with Acacia
7:14
Coronado, she is the education
7:15
reporter for Austin Current, KUT's
7:18
collaborator on the Austin Signal,
7:20
and a partner with KUT Newsroom in
7:21
covering the city. Thank you for
7:22
your reporting, Acacia.
7:23
Thank you so much for having me.
7:31
This is Austin Signal, thank you for
7:33
tuning in. Since the start of the
7:34
second Trump administration,
7:36
immigration crackdowns have been in
7:37
the news and affecting communities
7:39
and families across the nation, as
7:41
well as right here in Texas.
7:43
Austin-based documentarian Louise
7:44
von Asa has taken a closer look at
7:46
this by talking with the folks being
7:48
directly affected.
7:50
She's the director of the new
7:51
documentary Ice America's
7:53
Hunt for Migrants.
7:55
Louise, thank for being here with us
7:56
on Austin Signal.
7:57
Thank you for having me.
7:58
Also joining us is Mando Rayo,
8:00
host of the Tacos of Texas podcast.
8:02
He is featured in the documentary as
8:03
well. Mando, thanks for coming on
8:05
The Signal. Happy to be back.
8:07
Louise, I'm gonna start with you.
8:09
Obviously ICE detentions and
8:11
ICE activities have been in the
8:13
news for the last number
8:15
of months.
8:16
What made you want to document
8:18
what's happening with US
8:19
immigration, particularly here in
8:21
Texas right now?
8:22
Well, I started
8:24
to have this idea for a documentary
8:26
back in I believe it was March,
8:28
I was in Europe because I'm
8:30
originally from Belgium and I was
8:31
promoting my other documentary
8:33
there.
8:33
Okay.
8:33
And whenever I was talking
8:35
about ICE, nobody really
8:37
knew what ICE was,
8:39
which surprised me because up here
8:41
in the United States, it was
8:43
such a big topic.
8:45
So I was like, okay, this is a story
8:47
I feel like I need to tell
8:49
here. This needs to be known.
8:52
And so I flew back, talked to Mando,
8:55
because we worked together on the
8:56
podcast, listened to his story
8:58
and then, you know, talked to
8:59
Network in Belgium and then started
9:01
making that documentary.
9:02
Yeah, speaking of that story, Mando,
9:04
you are affected by this as
9:06
well.
9:07
Your story is shared in the doc.
9:09
Can you tell us a little bit about
9:10
that experience?
9:11
Yeah, yeah.
9:12
During the first Trump
9:13
administration,
9:15
you know, I was petitioning for my
9:17
wife.
9:18
She's originally from Honduras.
9:19
And we're kind of at the last
9:22
part of the interview
9:24
process.
9:25
And I turn over my birth
9:26
certificate and the ICE agent there
9:29
says that basically turns it around
9:31
and says, well, we're going to have
9:32
to do an investigation on you
9:34
because you were born along
9:36
the border in the 70s.
9:38
And it was
9:40
caught off guard, caught surprise.
9:42
Quickly after that, you know,
9:45
I mean, I'm a US citizen.
9:47
Case anybody ask.
9:51
Yeah, yeah.
9:54
And back then,
9:56
you know, during the first Trump
9:58
administration, they were
9:59
specifically targeting people born
10:01
along the border.
10:03
And so I
10:05
reapplied for my passport
10:07
and then it was denied.
10:09
And so for four years, I
10:11
was basically stateless.
10:13
I had to prove I was a U.S.
10:15
Citizen, which was
10:17
crazy.
10:19
Yeah, Louise, in your documentary
10:21
you speak with a DACA recipient who
10:23
was detained in El Paso at
10:25
the airport ahead of a work trip.
10:27
She managed to capture her
10:28
interactions with ICE officials and
10:30
let her partner know that an ICE
10:31
official had taken her DACA card and
10:32
was not giving it back.
10:34
Let's listen to a brief clip from
10:36
that documentary highlighting those
10:37
interactions.
10:39
Okay, I'm asking you some
10:40
immigration documents here,
10:42
do you have a visa?
10:43
Have a work permit.
10:45
What you have in hand is my work
10:48
authorization.
10:49
I'll see you on the far side, okay?
10:51
Sochil is allowed to live and work
10:53
legally in the US under DACA,
10:56
a program that protects people who
10:58
were brought here as children.
11:00
Go ahead, go through screening.
11:01
I'll see you on the first side. Do
11:02
you not want to take your airplane ride?
11:05
Are you threatening me?
11:06
No, I'm not threatening you.
11:07
I'm asking you, do you want to take
11:08
your airplane ride? If you do, go
11:09
though screening.
11:12
When I saw the message, I didn't
11:14
know what had happened.
11:14
I was kind of like waiting to hear
11:16
from her and then I texted her back
11:17
like, what happened, did they let
11:18
you on the plane?
11:20
Go ahead and turn off your phone,
11:21
you can come in with those answers,
11:22
okay? For what?
11:24
We're going to question you in
11:25
regards to your documents.
11:26
What's the questioning for?
11:28
Don't do all the talk about it.
11:29
What's the questioning for?
11:31
Uh, how do you, how you got the
11:33
format authorization?
11:35
I need to have my lawyer here.
11:38
That's right
11:39
I can wait for my lawyer.
11:41
While you can't see your lawyer,
11:42
let's just go by plane ticket.
11:43
So we're already past screening, so
11:45
it doesn't work that way.
11:46
We're gonna go downstairs.
11:47
Okay, Louise, how did you connect
11:50
with Xochitl?
11:50
Um, actually, um, I got
11:52
connected with a journalist up in El
11:54
Paso, a friend, and
11:56
then he told me, Hey, you should
11:58
check out this case, which I had
11:59
already read about it, but then he
12:01
connected us and then, um
12:03
we were able to, uh, speak to
12:05
the, to such hills partner Desiree
12:07
and I found their
12:09
story.
12:10
These are such innocent people.
12:13
Like they're literally working
12:15
on a community farm.
12:17
They love flowers.
12:18
They're like such sweet people.
12:20
And they're caught up in the system.
12:22
And we really wanted to show like,
12:25
who are all these people that
12:27
are being swept up with this like
12:28
hard immigration crackdown because
12:29
it's not like what they were
12:31
promoting. It's like, we're going
12:32
after, you know, the worst of the
12:33
worst.
12:34
Well, we're going to have a link to
12:35
the documentary in our podcast show
12:37
notes for today.
12:39
I wanted to also ask you about
12:40
Amanda, this attorney that you
12:42
talk to and share her
12:44
story.
12:45
How did you get connected with her
12:46
and what was that experience like?
12:48
I actually got connected through her
12:50
through an event that Mando had
12:52
organized together with American
12:53
Gateways.
12:56
Through that organization, I was
12:57
looking for an immigration lawyer
12:58
because we wanted to follow,
13:00
we wanted to see what the work looks
13:01
like on the ground.
13:03
And she was like, Amanda, she's
13:04
amazing. She's like young, full of
13:06
energy. She has her own immigration
13:08
story with her own family.
13:09
And she's like really out there
13:12
working and trying to get those
13:14
stories out. And so we thought that
13:16
she would be an amazing person
13:17
too. To follow.
13:19
Yeah, and I thought it was really
13:20
powerful because in the story or
13:22
in the documentary, it's mentioned
13:23
that we are seeing lots of
13:25
ICE activities taking place on
13:27
streets and people being detained
13:29
that way.
13:30
But what Amanda is doing, it's kind
13:31
of in plain sight out just in
13:33
a regular building, right?
13:34
Yeah.
13:34
Yeah. Yeah. That was something that
13:36
like really hit me hard.
13:37
So we filmed the scene at an
13:39
ice check-in in San Antonio.
13:42
And people are just waiting there
13:44
because they have like their regular
13:45
ice check in.
13:47
So everybody's just waiting on
13:48
chairs and then you get called in.
13:50
And if those people stay in,
13:52
that probably means they're
13:54
detained. And if not, they're
13:55
free to go and they have to come
13:57
back in like another month or year
13:58
or whatever the term is.
14:00
But to me, it was so like,
14:02
it really touched me how
14:04
all of this is like you because
14:06
you know, we've seen like all the
14:08
violent videos all around
14:10
us. I mean, we're flooded with it
14:11
and the protests in response as
14:13
well. Yeah, but this was so
14:14
happening so quietly and
14:16
such like it was almost like
14:18
a machine. It was just routine.
14:21
I want to turn it over to you.
14:23
I know you have done some reporting.
14:25
You've been on the Texas Standard
14:27
talking about this as well You've
14:28
seen the impacts of immigration
14:29
enforcement or even just the
14:31
threat of this type of enforcement
14:32
on the community here in Austin What
14:34
have you seen or what have you
14:35
heard?
14:36
I mean, I think people are scared.
14:39
I think that there's a different
14:40
culture. We're in a red state,
14:42
right? Even though we live in
14:43
Austin, there's the culture of
14:45
compliance.
14:46
There's a culture of just
14:48
don't make waves, don't makes
14:50
noise, and I think that's why we
14:52
haven't seen a lot of protests here
14:54
in central Texas,
14:56
unlike Minneapolis, right.
14:58
But people are scary, but they're
15:00
trying to figure out, okay, well,
15:02
how do I take my children
15:04
to school?
15:05
And being aware or
15:08
you know, if they're street vendors,
15:10
how do I look out for some things?
15:12
Where's this safe place that I can
15:14
sell my food or either go
15:16
to work or or or buy
15:18
food, you know So I think there's
15:20
definitely there's a lot
15:22
of people that are wanting to
15:24
mobilize that are mobilizing But
15:25
it's kind of under the radar
15:28
Even though like we haven't
15:30
seen a lot of activity in central
15:31
Texas, you see that on the outskirts
15:33
of town for sure but
15:35
um, yeah people are
15:37
definitely scared
15:38
Okay, Luis, is there anything else
15:40
about the documentary, about putting
15:42
it together, anything else that I
15:44
haven't asked you about that you
15:45
would like to speak about?
15:46
I am an immigrant myself to this
15:48
country, right? I came here from
15:49
Belgium, from Europe, and
15:51
it took me five years
15:53
to get my citizenship.
15:55
I got it last year in April.
15:57
And I thought it was a pain in the
15:59
ass to get it.
16:00
And then making this,
16:02
listening to all these stories,
16:04
realizing how people are waiting 20
16:06
years, you know,
16:08
and still no
16:10
movement in their case.
16:12
I never worried about this and I
16:15
guess I just realized what
16:18
privilege I have just being from
16:20
Europe.
16:21
As an immigrant, were you scared to
16:22
cover this topic?
16:23
As a black person, yes, for sure.
16:26
And I worked with, I didn't do this
16:27
by myself. I worked like a white guy
16:29
from Belgium, Kunti and I, he's
16:31
really talented.
16:33
And we made sure that he was
16:35
always right by my
16:37
side. And also if we had questions,
16:40
because we did have like law
16:41
enforcement asking us what we were
16:43
doing, he would always be answering.
16:45
And it definitely makes a difference
16:47
if I'm by myself or if I am with
16:49
like another person of color or if
16:50
am with a white person.
16:51
Yes, and I did have a conversation
16:52
with my husband about this and
16:55
with Manu and with all the people
16:56
that were featured in the
16:57
documentary.
16:58
Because right now you can watch the
17:00
documentary on YouTube.
17:02
And at first it was geo-blogged so
17:03
you could only watch it in Europe.
17:05
And then we decided to not
17:07
do that anymore because honestly I
17:08
was scared as well for
17:10
repercussions.
17:11
I still am, but I think it's like
17:13
what Manu said earlier.
17:14
You need to speak up and you need to
17:15
do your part.
17:17
And I guess part of it is being
17:18
brave.
17:20
In some way or form, yeah.
17:23
Well, we've been speaking with Luis
17:25
Van Assa, director of the new
17:26
documentary, Short Ice America's
17:28
Hunt for Migrants, as well as Mando
17:30
Rayo, host of the Tacos of Texas
17:32
podcast who's featured in that
17:33
documentary as well.
17:34
Again, the 30-minute documentary is
17:36
available to watch on YouTube.
17:37
We're gonna have a link to the doc
17:38
in the show notes and at kut.org
17:41
slash signal.
17:43
Luis, Mando, thank you for your
17:44
time. Thanks, Jerry.
17:45
Thank you so much.
17:46
And thank you out there, forcemen,
17:48
and part of your day here with us.
17:50
This is Austin Signal.
17:51
We'll be back after a break.
17:58
This is Austin Signal, welcome back.
18:01
Music lovers who do not have a badge
18:03
to go to SXSW shows
18:04
this year can still take advantage
18:06
of dozens of unofficial events
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and house shows happening across
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town.
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For KUT's Artbeat, Ella Kopekin
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reports on one unofficial show
18:15
that benefits people who can't
18:17
attend the festival at all.
18:20
Every year during South by
18:21
Southwest, local bookers put
18:23
together unofficial music showcases
18:25
around Austin.
18:26
Nicholas Reyes is the organizer of
18:28
one showcase in East Austin that
18:30
raises money for the Texas Prison
18:31
Education Initiative.
18:33
It feels like an oasis from
18:35
the festival.
18:36
Artists to get to see friends from
18:38
out of town. Everyone kind of knows
18:39
each other. It's very communal.
18:41
The initiative, commonly called
18:43
TPAY, is an education program
18:45
at a women's prison in Lockhart.
18:47
The classes are all taught by
18:48
volunteer professors and graduate
18:50
students from UT, like Reyes,
18:52
an assistant math professor.
18:54
He became a volunteer teacher at the
18:55
prison in 2019.
18:57
I love the students, that's my
18:58
favorite aspect of it.
19:00
Reyes is also an established fixture
19:02
of the Austin music scene.
19:03
Known as Nicky Christmas, he started
19:05
playing around town while he was a
19:07
UT student.
19:08
Before COVID, Reyes hosted a free,
19:10
unofficial South By Music Showcase
19:12
every year.
19:13
The official South by organization
19:14
brings in a lot of people from
19:16
out of town.
19:17
The unofficial showcases
19:19
just give the bands more
19:20
opportunities to play more shows.
19:22
And this was just the biggest thing
19:23
that I threw every year.
19:25
In 2022, he decided to
19:27
make the show a fundraiser for
19:28
T-Pay. The aim is to get as many
19:30
donations as possible.
19:31
The money raised is divided.
19:33
About two-thirds goes to the
19:34
musicians, and the rest goes to
19:36
T-pay.
19:36
Sometimes bands will just donate
19:38
their portion to TPEI.
19:40
Dorothy Rao is T-Pay's program
19:42
coordinator and only paid employee.
19:44
They said the Texas Prison Education
19:46
Initiative depends entirely on
19:48
outside funding to operate.
19:50
Calculators, notebooks, pens,
19:53
pencils.
19:53
We have about a hundred students
19:54
every semester.
19:55
And the other thing we have to pay
19:56
for is to register them at the
19:58
university.
19:59
So we're paying to register each
20:01
student so that they can get that
20:02
college credit and that college
20:04
transcript once they get out.
20:05
The program helps students land on
20:07
their feet.
20:07
When they get out of prison.
20:09
So after they leave, they can
20:10
request a transcript from UT and
20:12
they can either use this to continue
20:14
their education or to
20:16
show experience and job applications
20:18
and also just to like build their
20:19
confidence and have something they
20:21
enjoy in an environment where
20:23
there's often a
20:25
lack of...
20:26
Reyes knew his concert would have a
20:28
bigger audience thanks to South By,
20:30
and that could translate to more
20:31
donations for T-Pay.
20:33
I thought that it would be nice to
20:35
set up donations.
20:36
It goes a long way towards buying
20:38
school supplies.
20:39
Rao attended the benefit for the
20:40
first time in 2024.
20:42
There were a bunch of cool bands,
20:43
the vibes, the building, it just
20:45
feels so old school Austin and the
20:46
way I love.
20:47
Sunday's lineup at the Sahara Lounge
20:48
will feature bands exclusively from
20:50
Texas and New York.
20:52
The first three years, we had a big
20:53
contingency of Mexican bands, but
20:55
those bands are not traveling to
20:57
Texas anymore.
20:58
Fewer acts from outside the U.S.
20:59
Playing the festival means more
21:01
local bands filling in.
21:02
Matt Galsadon is a singer and the
21:04
lead guitarist for Queen Serene,
21:06
one of the five Austin bands on the
21:08
bill for the show.
21:09
It just seems like less bands are
21:10
coming into town now.
21:12
The lineups are a little bit more
21:13
low key. It is feeling a little more
21:15
like it's a locals kind of
21:17
festival again.
21:18
As opposed to like being like this
21:20
giant international thing.
21:21
Sarah Ronan, the band's lead singer,
21:24
said unofficial South By shows feel
21:25
more community-oriented.
21:27
Friends always come out, the
21:29
lineups are actually curated,
21:31
and there's just heart and soul
21:33
actually put into it.
21:35
It feels like that's what South By
21:36
was supposed to be.
21:37
The prison education program used to
21:39
rely heavily on grant money, but now
21:42
funding is mostly donation-based.
21:44
Rao says that's why the concert is
21:45
so important.
21:47
Organization like this is really
21:48
hard to sustain.
21:50
Fundraising is really hard and it
21:51
takes away a lot of time and energy
21:52
that can be put towards other things
21:54
like teaching and like getting
21:56
new volunteers and starting new
21:57
classes.
21:58
The benefit show is one of.
22:00
Two yearly fundraisers for T-Pay
22:01
and the only one in person.
22:03
Just being able to f-
22:03
confident in our
22:06
financial stability to be able to
22:07
continue to do what we're already
22:09
doing would be really amazing.
22:10
Reyes wants to keep putting on the
22:12
annual showcase indefinitely,
22:14
maybe even a few times a year.
22:15
I'll be doing this every South by
22:17
Southwest forever.
22:19
I am hoping to do a
22:21
counterpoint to this event in
22:23
winter.
22:24
And the TPAY leadership is just as
22:26
invested in keeping the event going
22:27
as Reyes.
22:29
Getting to.
22:29
See so many bands I like,
22:31
be with my friends, and
22:33
support an organization that I
22:35
really care about is like such a
22:36
beautiful combination, a beautiful
22:38
soup of everything that I like about
22:39
Austin.
22:40
A South By show that's just as much
22:42
about the people playing as the
22:43
cause they're playing for.
22:45
For KUT's Artbeat, I'm Ella
22:47
Kopeikin.
22:53
South by Southwest EDU
22:55
is underway right now.
22:57
South by SouthWest Conference and
22:58
festivals run from tomorrow through
23:00
next Wednesday.
23:02
You can keep up with more art beat
23:03
coverage at KUT.org.
23:07
And our colleagues at KU-TX are
23:08
gearing up for day one
23:10
out at Schultz Garden.
23:12
Doors open up at 730 in
23:14
the morning with music starting at
23:16
8 o'clock with Quinton, an Austin
23:18
artist. Speaking of those
23:20
Austin artists, you know, kind of
23:21
re-emerging at South By.
23:23
We're going to start off the music
23:24
with an Austin artist.
23:26
It's a $10 entry, which directly
23:28
benefits the Central Texas Food
23:29
Bank. That means you get to do
23:31
something good and take in some good
23:33
tunes as well.
23:34
And that's just the beginning of
23:35
what they have planned for South By
23:37
Southwest. You can check out all the
23:39
details at kutx.org.
23:41
Also, it's just the beginning of
23:43
what's happening out at Schultz
23:44
Garden tomorrow There's gonna be
23:46
live music from 8 until
23:48
11 o'clock and then the
23:50
Austin signal is going live out
23:52
at Shultz garden tomorrow It's
23:54
a one-hour live special show.
23:56
It's free open to the public You
23:58
can come out here from some of the
24:00
great people that we're gonna be
24:01
talking to currently slated
24:03
to speak with Shaky Graves and
24:05
Kid Jones, as well as some chefs
24:07
from La Santa Barbacha,
24:09
Ramen Del Barrio, and Die Due,
24:11
and director and producer of a
24:13
documentary that is premiering here
24:15
at South By.
24:16
Lots happening again.
24:18
Schultz Garden tomorrow, one
24:19
o'clock. It is free, it is open to
24:21
the public. We're doing some radio.
24:23
This is a community show that
24:25
we make for you.
24:26
And, Maya, it would be nice to see
24:28
some of you out there tomorrow and
24:30
to just share this experience
24:32
for you because you are
24:34
the reason that we do what we do
24:36
every single day.
24:37
So thank you for supporting this
24:39
station and thank you tuning in
24:41
to Austin Signal.
24:42
Again, we'll be out at Schultz
24:44
Garden live tomorrow, 1
24:46
o'clock, it's free and open to the
24:47
public. If you can't be there, tune
24:49
in on the radio.
24:50
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
24:52
We will talk to you then.