What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?

[Brisketexan 106,884]

24 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Yes, that's exactly it--it will require shutting down schools.  Conceptually I'm confused why making this accommodation is seen as irrational to AISD parents--I grew up in a small town pre-Robin Hood and 30 minute bus rides were the norm and we didn't have additional money for anything.  

And I hope they are angry; they have every right to be.  Maybe they'd like to get off their collective asses before the state takeover. 

As to the shutting down schools, why does it seem irrational?  Because 1) it's changing the landscape in the middle of the game, and 2) it's about perhaps the most emotional subject there is -- their kids.

If they lived in or moved to a place where 30 minute bus rides were expected, then so be it.  But that's not what happened.  They moved into Chipmunk Estates in part because it has a great neighborhood school, Bobcat Goldthwaite Elementary School for Kids Who Scream a Lot.  They can walk to school, or maybe drive and drop little Emmylou or Jerry Jeff at school on their way to work.

Now, you're going to upend that whole world.  Bobcat Goldthwaite Elementary School for Kids Who Scream a Lot is going to close, leaving Chipmunk Estates with no neighborhood school.  All the kids are transferred either 5 miles east, to the school in Scorpion Hollow, or 5 miles west, to the school in Ugly Valley West.  Neither of which is walkable.  Neither of which is on your way to work, so if you're gonna drive them, you have to start your day significantly earlier.  Or, you put them on a bus 30 minutes earlier than they used to have to start out.

I'm not saying that still isn't the ultimate answer, because hard and unpleasant shit has to be done.  Just understand that it's hard, and a shitty outcome.  Because the families in Chipmunk Estates matter, and they're getting the rug pulled out from under them.

[Brisketexan 106,884]

3 minutes ago, B00M said:

I’m only negging you only on posts where you’re being a no-value-add childish asshole. 

WHOA WHOA WHOA.  Slow your roll there, hombre.  There won't be anyone on Surly with any posrep at all if that's the bar we gotta clear.

[Samson's Wig 3,230]

53 minutes ago, WBT said:

Everyone screams about how unfair recapture is.  Is the fact that AISD has the highest assessed property value per student in the state in dispute?  Otherwise, I don't really get it.

 

Didn't the courts effectively draw up Robinhood?  Maybe I'm misremembering, I was a kid at the time.

Kind of.  The Texas Supreme Court ruled that our method of financing schools created unconstitutional inequities, and the legislature responded with the Recapture bill.  

[Samson's Wig 3,230]

21 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

  Because the families in Chipmunk Estates matter, and they're getting the rug pulled out from under them.

That's where I think you're wrong.  We demonstrate over and over again in this state that the families in Chipmunk Estates don't matter at all. Neither do the families in the neighborhoods the Chipmunk kids will have to ride the bus to.  The only families or family values that matter come from the burbs.  The city is for suckers, clearly.

[Brisketexan 106,884]

Just now, Samson's Wig said:

That's where I think you're wrong.  We demonstrate over and over again in this state that the families in Chipmunk Estates don't matter at all. Neither do the families in the neighborhoods the Chipmunk kids will have to ride the bus to.  The only families or family values that matter come from the burbs.  The city is for suckers, clearly.

Oh, yeah.  Maybe I should have said that those families matter to ME, and probably to at least some members of the AISD School Board.

To the actual leadership of this state who have designed this system....families in cities are absolutely, 100% the enemy, and should be made to suffer.  As plenty around here have noted, our public school system isn't failing to work.  It is working...and failing...EXACTLY as our leadership wants it to.  How do we know?  The part where they say so, the part where they have said over and over that they want to destroy public schools.  That's, umm, pretty telling.

[YGIFS 19,458]

Good point.  It really is strange though, that other than a few cursory decisions, there really hasn't been a definitive statewide judicial answer to the legal question of taxation without representation.  If a plurality of my ISD property taxes are allocated to other ISD Boards to spend as they see fit, how does that jive with my rights as a taxpayer in need of representative informedness?  I can go to ACC about my line item tax bill, to City of Austin, to EMS, to Central Health.  But some random East Texas ISD gets 5% of my money, I can't do shit---can't even get on the public speaking agenda at a board meeting because of my address.  Another thread, I suppose. 

In lighter news, after 5 years...the Zilker Eagle is up and running.  Took the girls Wednesday morning before work.  They'll find a way to fuck it up, but it was really fun.  The engine really looks like an engine.  Pulls 6 cars at 4 rows each.  So between adults and kids, about 72 people.  The tunnels are fun, it goes under two playscape bridges, and when it heads back from the downtown lookout point, you go downhill and the thing actually moves at a pretty damn good clip.  The last tunnel, the under-car neon lights really make for a cool effect (go on an overcast day).  You can see all the private donors/sponsors on each car, so it's nice that the city can't whine about not having enough cash to keep it going.  But it was about a 15-minute ride and the girls loved every minute of it (we went at 10:15a to avoid midday heat).  Took way too long to get this thing up and running, but your kids will love it.  It's not the little kiddie choo-choo anymore, it's like a legit mini locomotive.  Really fun, we'll probably go again soon before it gets uber hot.  Beware the slopes to get from parking lots down to the depot though.  

[jimmyjazz 47,139]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

Everyone screams about how unfair recapture is.  Is the fact that AISD has the highest assessed property value per student in the state in dispute?  Otherwise, I don't really get it.

Proportionally?  Hell no, not even close.  Austin gets bent over because the state leg is run by angry Baptists and Aggies.  There's your answer.

[jimmyjazz 47,139]

33 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

WHOA WHOA WHOA.  Slow your roll there, hombre.  There won't be anyone on Surly with any posrep at all if that's the bar we gotta clear.

Well, it would improve my productivity, that's for sure.  Everyone else's too, I imagine.

[Brisketexan 106,884]

6 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

In lighter news, after 5 years...the Zilker Eagle is up and running.  Took the girls Wednesday morning before work.  They'll find a way to fuck it up, but it was really fun.  The engine really looks like an engine.  Pulls 6 cars at 4 rows each.  So between adults and kids, about 72 people.  The tunnels are fun, it goes under two playscape bridges, and when it heads back from the downtown lookout point, you go downhill and the thing actually moves at a pretty damn good clip.  The last tunnel, the under-car neon lights really make for a cool effect (go on an overcast day).  You can see all the private donors/sponsors on each car, so it's nice that the city can't whine about not having enough cash to keep it going.  But it was about a 15-minute ride and the girls loved every minute of it (we went at 10:15a to avoid midday heat).  Took way too long to get this thing up and running, but your kids will love it.  It's not the little kiddie choo-choo anymore, it's like a legit mini locomotive.  Really fun, we'll probably go again soon before it gets uber hot.  Beware the slopes to get from parking lots down to the depot though.  

Man...that's some BULLSHIT.  I was hoping like hell for one of these:

[YGIFS 19,458]

^

Funny you should mention that.  The college I went to before I moved to Austin, didn't exactly have what you'd call a "strong" engineering program.  So one night, Frank & Tom decided instead of getting the deposit back on the two full-size keg barrels we finished off, that they would saw the top half off so somebody could sit inside.  They tried to affix an axle with a soldering iron and then use plastic wheels from the landscape wagons we had at our fraternity house.  Idea being it'd be towed behing Frank's pickup truck, and the other one as well.  Yeah, Frank ended up in the hospital and several of us were almost arrested.  And no, we did not get our deposit money back.  

But I still love locomotives.  We just bought tickets to the Austin Train Show at Palmer this Autumn.  Which is kinda cruel, because I suspect that's the week the City of Austin announces that the entire ProjectConnect rail idea, like ours, was just a fraternity prank that went too far.  

[LCHorn 2,751]

16 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

As to the shutting down schools, why does it seem irrational?  Because 1) it's changing the landscape in the middle of the game, and 2) it's about perhaps the most emotional subject there is -- their kids.

My question was somewhat rhetorical in nature; what I mean is that there really isn't any other option.  I'm sure a good bit of the foot dragging on AISD's part is because the families with means will scream the loudest and the families without tend to be minorities and there's just no winning.  One consequence may be that parents find there are public charter schools more proximate and that results in head count loss. 

 

 

[Brisketexan 106,884]

4 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

My question was somewhat rhetorical in nature; what I mean is that there really isn't any other option.  I'm sure a good bit of the foot dragging on AISD's part is because the families with means will scream the loudest and the families without tend to be minorities and there's just no winning.  One consequence may be that parents find there are public charter schools more proximate and that results in head count loss. 

Agreed.

It's a bad, unpleasant choice that will have to be made.  It sucks.  It's not that different than having to lay people off to keep a business going, it just sucks.  People get hurt, and not only can you not stop it, you're the one making the hard choice of WHICH people to hurt.  And it's even harder to do when the need to make that choice is forced on you by asshole forces beyond your control.  There are only bad outcomes and choices here -- again, BY DESIGN.  We actually have leadership over schools and school finance who want public schools to fail, and want students in urban public schools in particular to suffer.  They have accomplished their goal.  Now comes the pain.

[jimmyjazz 47,139]

AISD has already shut down schools, and the parents (many of whom were not minorities the district doesn't give a shit about) screamed bloody murder.  It didn't matter.  See, for instance, Pease Elementary School.  Ironically it is now being repurposed into an "early childhood education center", which makes no fucking sense, but AISD.

[Eskimohorn 5,682]

AISD has already shut down schools, and the parents (many of whom were not minorities the district doesn't give a shit about) screamed bloody murder.  It didn't matter.  See, for instance, Pease Elementary School.  Ironically it is now being repurposed into an "early childhood education center", which makes no fucking sense, but AISD.

To balance the budget and have instruction optimized at each facility, they needed to consolidate even more schools. But they could only close four.

Heres info on whats happening with Pease now: https://www.austinisd.org/repurposing/pease. Makes sense.

[demos 3,036]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/s/7OyRsE0xKt

El oh el

[jimmyjazz 47,139]

So Austin.  That thing can't be 2 weeks old, right?

[DaggerHorns 3,170]

On 6/21/2024 at 3:36 PM, YGIFS said:

In lighter news, after 5 years...the Zilker Eagle is up and running.  Took the girls Wednesday morning before work.  They'll find a way to fuck it up, but it was really fun.  

Derailed! Haha

[YGIFS 19,458]

Well, it made it a whole week before going off the rails.  That's a big win for CoA.  Thankfully nobody got hurt.  

Glad we got in when we did, because this just smacks of "Sorry folks, Train's closed until 2025.  Conductor out front shoulda told ya!"  

[Bevo 13,870]

 

[Texas Jeff 1,999]

On 6/21/2024 at 2:04 PM, Brisketexan said:

So the school that had 500 students now has 250.  The economics don't work....but 250 kids still live there.  So now, we shut down their school, and they all have to find a way to get to a school miles away.

Austin ISD does have some examples of schools that are under enrolled that are very, very close to each other.  Yet change is hard because as soon as you suggest change, the parties involved react ... uh ... strongly.

Metz, which was closed in 2017, was four blocks from Zavala and six blocks from Sanchez.  Sanchez was rebuilt and Metz was closed.  Sanchez took the students.  Zavala is still open.  Neither Sanchez or Zavala is at capacity and the students at Sanchez now have a brand new school.  People were really pissed off about Metz closing, even though the new school was not far away.

LBJ HS is 2.5 miles from Northeast (Reagan).  Both schools are getting bond investments of over $100 million.  The population of both schools would fit into either school.  Why are we refurbishing both of them?

McCallum is over capacity and needs improvements.  Half of Mueller goes to McCallum. But Northeast is closer.  Why not zone Mueller to Northeast and ease the burden on McCallum?  Add a little progressive diversity to Northeast?

If I suggested any of these ideas, the folks affected would mobilize like crazy against me.  There would be 100 callers to each board meeting all reading the same message over and over.  There would be professionally printed t-shirts and signs.  It wouldn't happen.

AISD could consider many strategies to combine and consolidate schools without causing anyone more than 5-10 more minutes on a bus.  And, having fewer schools would mean lower operating costs and fewer buildings to maintain.  It's very doable but politically impossible.

[Deej 77,813]

Yet building water parks on AISD dollars is completely doable. 

[BrazilHorn 6,839]

Recapture has fucked AISD. 
Add in Abbott hating Austin as to him it is a city that votes against him and it will never change. 
Not as long as rural HS can build mega facilities off Austin’s back

[crash_davis 23,469]

70 yr old man drowns in Lake Travis. Surprise, he was using a hand held propulsion device at the time.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/travis-county/sheriffs-office-pulls-body-from-lake-travis-cove/

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A body “matching the description” of a swimmer who went missing Saturday afternoon was found Sunday evening after a search by multiple agencies, according to a press release from the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.

TCSO described the swimmer in its release as a 70-year-old man using a handheld propulsion device and who was not wearing a life vest at the time. A 911 caller told authorities around 2:40 p.m. Saturday that the man hadn’t resurfaced after going underwater in a cove near Arkansas Bend County Park.

[Brisketexan 106,884]

14 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

Austin ISD does have some examples of schools that are under enrolled that are very, very close to each other.  Yet change is hard because as soon as you suggest change, the parties involved react ... uh ... strongly.

Metz, which was closed in 2017, was four blocks from Zavala and six blocks from Sanchez.  Sanchez was rebuilt and Metz was closed.  Sanchez took the students.  Zavala is still open.  Neither Sanchez or Zavala is at capacity and the students at Sanchez now have a brand new school.  People were really pissed off about Metz closing, even though the new school was not far away.

LBJ HS is 2.5 miles from Northeast (Reagan).  Both schools are getting bond investments of over $100 million.  The population of both schools would fit into either school.  Why are we refurbishing both of them?

McCallum is over capacity and needs improvements.  Half of Mueller goes to McCallum. But Northeast is closer.  Why not zone Mueller to Northeast and ease the burden on McCallum?  Add a little progressive diversity to Northeast?

If I suggested any of these ideas, the folks affected would mobilize like crazy against me.  There would be 100 callers to each board meeting all reading the same message over and over.  There would be professionally printed t-shirts and signs.  It wouldn't happen.

AISD could consider many strategies to combine and consolidate schools without causing anyone more than 5-10 more minutes on a bus.  And, having fewer schools would mean lower operating costs and fewer buildings to maintain.  It's very doable but politically impossible.

Great post.

It's not impossible.  It doesn't have to be a disaster.  But it will be unpleasant for some people, and leadership just isn't willing to engage in that unpleasantness.

[dcar00 14,949]

19 hours ago, DaggerHorns said:

Derailed! Haha

they believe the track was tampered with....terrorism comes to Austin

[Bozo_Casanova 26,846]

16 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

McCallum is over capacity and needs improvements.  Half of Mueller goes to McCallum. But Northeast is closer.  Why not zone Mueller to Northeast and ease the burden on McCallum?  Add a little progressive diversity to Northeast?

If I suggested any of these ideas, the folks affected would mobilize like crazy against me.  There would be 100 callers to each board meeting all reading the same message over and over.  There would be professionally printed t-shirts and signs.  It wouldn't happen.

Mueller should be tracked to Northeast and about half is, but really all of it should be, as should French Place and Cherrywood/Delwood. 
Some real messy and UGLY history around why they drew those lines where they did, when they did, from before closing Mueller was on the table, dating to the original sin of post-segregation AISD, the destruction and removal of the old Anderson High in 1971. 

[crash_davis 23,469]

20 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

they believe the track was tampered with....terrorism comes to Austin

Derail a train full of families and kids. Old owners? Some dipshit who hates fun? Some homeless guy who hates people? Some teen idiots who were bored?

[crash_davis 23,469]

On 6/11/2024 at 9:43 AM, crash_davis said:

There's a pretty big homeless camp in 2 vacant buildings right off Lamar directly across from the DPS station. It's immediately behind the P. Terry's. Last week driving by the buildings when I was leaving P. Terry's, I saw a homeless dude inside the fences between the 2 buildings swinging at the air with 2 big ass machetes. The place trashed on the outside. I hate to imagine what the inside of the 2 buildings looks like. I imagine it's some sort of Thunderdome. I imagine there are 10s to 100s of abandon buildings infested with homeless. I'd hate to see the cleaning bill if/when the city finally evicts the homeless from the buildings. 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ckLspun6oWSA7ks7

 

Like clockwork.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/north-austin-abandoned-building-catches-fire-amid-community-concerns/

An abandoned building in the 900 block of Old Koenig Lane, near the intersection of West Koenig Lane and North Lamar Boulevard, caught fire late on Monday, according to the Austin Fire Department.

AFD said fire crews extinguished the fire with minimal extension to the structure, and added there were no injuries.

Multiple fires have been located at this address recently, AFD said on social media.

This comes after KXAN previously reported on Monday neighbors near the abandoned building reported that the area was unsafe due to visible illicit drug activity in and around the property.

There is no current timeline from the city as to when the abandoned building will be torn down.

[jimmyjazz 47,139]

I think that's that old busted up building with a bunch of bays that individuals would rent out for small shops (car repair, upholstery, etc.).

[Deej 77,813]

Too much heat for Nicole on Rainey?

Body found Monday in Lake Walter E. Long

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/body-found-in-lake-walter-e-long/

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,860]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I think that's that old busted up building with a bunch of bays that individuals would rent out for small shops (car repair, upholstery, etc.).

Back around 1990 or so Eric Johnson had a practice space in that building.  A friend of mine had his neon/glass blowing shop next to him.

[crash_davis 23,469]

Fun read about a homeless dude terrorizing people downtown. I'm sure he's back out on the street continuing his bullshit. 

 

[Steel Shank 9,552]

18 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Derail a train full of families and kids. Old owners? Some dipshit who hates fun? Some homeless guy who hates people? Some teen idiots who were bored?

Don't forget ornery ducks.

[Wally Pryor 5,410]

3 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Fun read about a homeless dude terrorizing people downtown. I'm sure he's back out on the street continuing his bullshit. 

 

Meh.  A chain is still minor league stuff. Needs to be brandishing a machete and then we can talk.

[Samson's Wig 3,230]

Here's a picture of the fucker (can't get imgur to imbed): https://imgur.com/a/J4Q901U,  If you haven't run into him yourself in the last couple of years, you don't spend much time downtown or have been very lucky.  Some people just need to be removed from society, and I suspect an individual will eventually do just that with this guy since our justice system doesn't seem to have any means of willingness to incarcerate him or otherwise help him.  That piece of shit has an Instagram account where he weaves flowers into his hair for photos and waxes poetic about peace, love, his choice to live a homeless lifestyle, and when he thinks he might go back to jail for a couple of days before being rereleased.   Numerous people have been attacked by this asshole, most often with the heavy chain he brandishes, but he's still wandering about.  Some see mental illness here and immediately give him a hall pass.  I see a selfish asshole who abandoned his daughter so he can get drunk and fight people.  Either way he shouldn't be on the streets.

 

Edited June 25 by Samson's Wig

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,860]

11 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I think that's that old busted up building with a bunch of bays that individuals would rent out for small shops (car repair, upholstery, etc.).

Sitting in his cramped rehearsal space somewhere off North Loop, Johnson is clearly intrigued by a discussion about the inherent difficulties of translating artistic vision into something concrete. He stares a moment at the tape recorder on the music stand between us. It is quiet. In the next room, stacks and stacks of black equipment cases, stenciled with the initials "E.J." sit silently by the loading bay door. Outside a steady drizzle continues. In this room, a rather dingy, oblong space where Johnson spends much of his time practicing by himself, is a clutter of shelves, empty amp cabinets, and a series of tall sound partitions so that one might escape the roar from the Marshals that sit behind Johnson. There's a giant effects board at his feet -- as well as the dirty brown rug that covers the floor -- and other than the chair he sits on and the stool on which I'm perched, there's little else -- except another framed picture of James Marshall Hendrix half hidden in the corner. Though faded, it provides a familiar spark to the dim surroundings.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,860]

My friends name was John Lee, he was a world class neon dude. We did a lot of neon signs. But Eric’s band in that space was crazy.  Tommy had a yellow mustang that compared against my red one.

[jimmyjazz 47,139]

2 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

My friends name was John Lee, he was a world class neon dude. We did a lot of neon signs. But Eric’s band in that space was crazy.  Tommy had a yellow mustang that compared against my red one.

I used to live a few doors down from Tommy Taylor on Newfield Lane, which was basically the northbound frontage road to MoPac at Enfield.  I was single, in a band, and bought my little house there because I figured neighbors wouldn't mind noise from rehearsals, recording, etc. since it faced a highway and rail tracks.  Imagine my surprise when I learned that one of the more famous musicians in town lived a few houses up, and yeah, he beat the hell out of his drums at times.  That was a cool neighborhood.

[rage-a-holic 4,732]

8 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

Here's a picture of the fucker (can't get imgur to imbed): https://imgur.com/a/J4Q901U,  If you haven't run into him yourself in the last couple of years, you don't spend much time downtown or have been very lucky.  Some people just need to be removed from society, and I suspect an individual will eventually do just that with this guy since our justice system doesn't seem to have any means of willingness to incarcerate him or otherwise help him.  That piece of shit has an Instagram account where he weaves flowers into his hair for photos and waxes poetic about peace, love, his choice to live a homeless lifestyle, and when he thinks he might go back to jail for a couple of days before being rereleased.   Numerous people have been attacked by this asshole, most often with the heavy chain he brandishes, but he's still wandering about.  Some see mental illness here and immediately give him a hall pass.  I see a selfish asshole who abandoned his daughter so he can get drunk and fight people.  Either way he shouldn't be on the streets.

 

Just another poor harmless individual experiencing attackingness

[Deej 77,813]

So APD just gives him his chain back when they release him?

[Shaggy3.0 1,695]

2 hours ago, Deej said:

So APD just gives him his chain back when they release him?

 

umm, yes.  

which is for burning?

 

[BabaYaga 15,623]

9 hours ago, rage-a-holic said:

Just another poor harmless individual experiencing attackingness

Start swinging that frickin chain at the wrong person.  Good way to get the air let out of you.

[hornian 5,292]

9 hours ago, rage-a-holic said:

Just another poor harmless individual experiencing attackingness

He must work out. 

[YGIFS 19,458]

given the drumstick and chain and obvious drug usage, there's a Fleetwood Mac album in here somewhere

[crash_davis 23,469]

Any way to find out how many times this cumstain parasite has been picked up and released? 

Clearly this fuckhead is a threat to society. Yet the city, county and state can't seem to charge him with something to keep him off the streets terrorizing tax paying citizens? How many times can this loser use the I'm unfit to stand trial get out of jail card? 

How many other homeless fuckheads are there who are just like this dude, who terrorize Austin but are "unfit to stand trial"?

[Al Czervik 1,261]

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2024-06-24/giddy-ups-to-close-in-august-due-to-lease-change/
 

Not sure if already mentioned. Fun place, things change, hopefully they will find a new home. 

[MissingInAction 25,556]

On 6/21/2024 at 10:01 AM, PvilleStang said:

YGIFS on the CR streak I see.  Dude's going to be in jail for a while, I wouldn't worry about him getting a gun anytime soon.  Hell, dude might not make it 5 years given what he did.  Pretty sure the gangs on the inside will give him a warm reception when he gets to his long term facility.

This piss ant will become a sister instantly.

[Bevo 13,870]

4 hours ago, YGIFS said:

given the drumstick and chain and obvious drug usage, there's a Fleetwood Mac album in here somewhere

He has that look and he has a drumstick, but I have my doubts. Maybe he has some other talents like Spoonman.

[Deej 77,813]

https://www.kxan.com/news/west-campus-man-charged-with-indecent-exposure/

“This is just an offense that is unfortunately under punished,” said Attorney Ben Gergen, who has no affiliation to this case. “I fully expect the DA’s office to do everything they can under the laws we have now to make sure that Mr. Brown does not get released on Bond and he is not back in our community any time soon.”

 

 

[PvilleStang 2,984]

So, after Jose campaigns on Prosecuting the Corrupt Police, he once again is 0-fer.  If only Daniel Betts had a chance in hell come November.