CAPITOL CONSPIRACIES
TEXAS REPUBLICANS ARE FLOODING THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION WITH BILLS BASED ON ONLINE HOAXES
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in this issue
Issue 25-10 /// May 14 - 27, 2025
14
Capitol Conspiracies
Texas Republicans are flooding the legislative session with bills based on online hoaxes
07 News
The Opener News in Brief
Bad Takes
Trump’s cuts to federal weather agencies setting us up for a perfect storm
Mission to Mexico
Joaquin Castro, other lawmakers visit deported 10-year-old U.S. citizen with brain tumor
Grounded Flight
Federal judge says Trump plan to fly migrants from San Antonio to Libya violates court order
Staying Put
Judge refuses to move U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar's corruption trial to Laredo
18
Calendar
Our picks of things to do
23 Arts
‘Light in the Darkness’
Head of San Antonio PBS affiliate fires back at Trump’s demand to cut funding for public broadcasting
25 Screens
Grin Reaper
Director Eli Craig’s slasher-comedy Clown in a Cornfield plays on real fears
27
Food
Worth the Wait?
Cult fave Lovers Pizzeria serves up exceptional pies, but expect lines
Cooking Up Conversation
Copa Wine Bar co-founder talks about his business’ milestone anniversary and the influence of his late wife
31 Music
Still on the Rails
Old 97’s talk about longevity and musical telepathy ahead of Gruene Hall gig
South Texas Tradition Tejano Conjunto Festival making its lively return May 15-18
Critics’ Picks
On the Cover: Texas’ current legislative session is marked by a flurry of bills inspired by right-wing online conspiracies. Design: David Loyola.
Shutterstock JC Gonram
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That Rocks/That Sucks
HFederal officials now consider the measles outbreak that began in Texas months the disease’s worst outbreak since it was declared eliminated 25 years ago. The number of cases has risen to more than 750, also including Oklahoma and New Mexico. A majority of the Lone Star State cases are among people who haven’t been vaccinated against measles or are unsure of their vaccination status, state health officials said.
A federal judge last week blocked the Trump administration’s plan to fly undocumented migrants from Kelly Field in San Antonio to Libya, saying the plan violated a previous ruling. Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, who’s overseeing several legal challenges to the administration’s migration policies, ruled in March that migrants can’t be deported to countries where they’re not citizens without receiving a “meaningful opportunity” to make the case that such deportations would threaten their safety
The Texas House last week debated a bill to block minors from accessing books at public libraries that lawmakers deem “sexually explicit.” If the bill is passed and signed into law, libraries would be forced to pull all such material from their shelves or create an age verification system
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller said at a press conference last week that he expects newly elected Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, to stand up for the poor, migrants and refugees during his papacy. Garcia-Siller first met the new Pope, a native of Chicago who served for decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru, more than two decades ago. “We need peace, and he will be a peacemaker,” the archbishop said. — Abe Asher
Ginning up controversy and anti-Muslim bigotry with Texas congressional candidate Valentina Gomez
Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
Remember the MAGA congressional candidate who stoked outrage late last year by posting a video in which she pretended to execute an immigrant?
Turns out that same bottom-feeding buffoon, Valentina Gomez, is at it again. Her latest attempt to stir up controversy involved interrupting a late April community day for Muslims at the Texas Capitol by screeching Islamophobic hate speech into a microphone.
Video of the event shows Gomez — who’s running a primary campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. John Carter of Round Rock — approach a podium dis-
guised in a hijab. After tearing off the headscarf, she shouts into the mic that is Islam a “religion of rape, incest and pedophilia, where they bow down to a stupid rock.”
As security personnel escorted her away, Gomez, clad in a powder blue pantsuit and high heels, can be heard shouting “this is a Christian nation” over the boos and shouts of “Allahu Akbar” coming from the gathering’s attendees.
If there’s any consolation to be had here, it’s that the past track record of Gomez, a 20-something New Jersey transplant, suggests she’s not likely to get elected no matter how much hateful hot air she expels.
Her previous attempt to hold political office — a bid last year to land the GOP nomination for Missouri Secretary of State — ended with her finishing sixth out of eight candidates with less than 8% of the vote.
Her stunts during that campaign included making a litany of anti-LGBTQIA+ slurs, staging an on-camera book burning and telling Black Americans shortly before the Juneteenth holiday to “get the fuck out” of the country if they want reparations for slavery.
Here’s hoping the assclown’s gales of noxious mouth farts soon blow her clear of the Lone Star State. — Sanford Nowlin
YOU SAID IT!
“If he chose that name, he wants to be an instrument of social justice values. But the one thing he mentioned several times that is very important is peace.”
SanAntonioArchbishop GustavoGarcia-SilleronPopeLeoXIV.
The winner of the mayoral runoff election between Gina Ortiz Jones and Rolando Pablos will take office facing a budget shortfall that will approach $200 million over the next two fiscal years. City Manager Erik Walsh last week said as a result of declines in property, sales and hotel-occupancy tax revenue, the city will see an anticipated $2.5 million deficit for the current fiscal year balloon to a $148 million deficit by the end of the 2027 fiscal year.
A county deputy is facing a murder charge after allegedly letting a group of prisoners at the Bexar County Jail into another man’s cell, where they reportedly beat the man to death. Clemente Lopez Jr., the 20-year-old deputy,
was arrested last week and is being held on a $500,000 bond along with four other men who have also been charged with first-degree murder in the case. Lopez allegedly watched the fatal beating from outside the cell.
San Antonio City Council voted 7-0 last week to ban smoke shops from opening within 1,000 feet of schools and daycares. Smoke shops that are already operating within that distance will be allowed to stay open, and council will be able to issue exceptions for new smoke shops if it so chooses. Council members Marina Alderete Gavito, Manny Pelaez and Marc Whyte were all absent for the vote. — Abe Asher
ASSCLOWN ALERT
Courtezy Photo Valentina Gomez
Trump’s cuts to federal weather agencies setting us up for a perfect storm
BY KEVIN SANCHEZ
Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.
How’s the unrelenting tempest of President Donald Trump’s second term treating you?
As we witness everything we took for granted — from air traffic controllers to food inspectors to the national parks — swept away like barnyard animals in The Wizard of Oz tornado sequence, spare a thought for your local meteorologist.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration suspended weather balloon launches at several key locations around the continental United States, which could hurt the reliability of forecasts, experts warned in March.
“There’s no question it will lead to errors. It’s just a matter of how bad will it be,” Houston meteorologist Matt Lanza told NBC News.
Now we have proof.
“We are watching how DOGE cuts affect weather forecasting in real time,” Chris Zelman, weatherman for WALB out of Albany, Georgia, posted to Facebook last week. He shared a chart showing the U.S.’s weather model slipping substantially compared to those in Europe.
“Most people in this country receive their weather forecasts and warnings from a private sector source, whether it’s from a broadcast meteorologist on television, from a cell phone app from a private company like the Weather Channel or AccuWeather, or the ubiquitous icons on our computers like the one I can see in the left hand corner of my screen right now,” Alan Gerard, a veteran supervisor at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wrote on his Substack. “But here’s the kicker: none of that information would be available without the extensive federal scientific infrastructure that underpins it, primarily NOAA.”
The consequences are far more dire than leaving home without your umbrella.
“Thanks to federally funded research, forecasts of tropical cyclone tracks today are up to 75% more accurate than they were in 1990,” University of Wisconsin meteorologist Chris Vagasky wrote for media nonprofit The Conversation. “A National Hurricane Center forecast three days out today is about as accurate as a one-day forecast in 2002, giving people in the storm’s path more time to prepare and reducing the size of evacuations.”
Simply put, recklessly slashing these endeavors unnecessarily risks people’s safety. Understaffed offices in tornado-prone parts of the country could result in delayed warnings, for example.
On May 2, all living former directors of the National Weather Service published an open letter pleading with the public to take up NOAA’s cause as their own. The directors comprise three PhD scientists and three high-ranking retired Air Force officers who served under six presidents — three Democrat, three Republican.
“The proposed budget for fiscal year 2026, just released by the White House, cuts the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by more than 25%,” the former directors relayed. “These proposed cuts come just days after approximately 300 National Weather Service employees left the public service to which they had devoted their lives and careers. That’s on top of the approximately 250 NWS employees who were fired as a result of their probationary status ... or took the initial buyout offered by the Trump Administration in early February. That leaves the
nation’s official weather forecasting entity at a significant deficit — down more than 10% of its staffing — just as we head into the busiest time for severe storm predictions like tornadoes and hurricanes.”
As they implicitly reminded the Very-VeryLarge-Brain-In-Chief, “airplanes can’t fly without weather observations and forecasts; ships crossing the oceans rely on storm forecasts to avoid the high seas; farmers rely on seasonal forecasts to plant and harvest their crops which feed us.”
They also offered an even more ominous warning: ”Our worst nightmare is that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that there will be needless loss of life.”
One signer of the missive, Elbert Friday, a self-described lifelong conservative who served as NWS director under both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, even suggested to Newsweek that the administration’s actions are based on something other than mere incompetence.
“If I were a cynic, I would suspect that the [Trump] administration is deliberately doing this to make the organization work poorly, so that people would no longer support it,” Friday said.
Under Trump, beleaguered federal officials have stopped tracking the costs of extreme weather events, from wildfires to droughts to hurricanes, meaning voters won’t be able to judge the escalating scale of future disasters.
“It defies logic,” Jesse Keenan, director of the Center on Climate Change and Urbanism at Tulane University told the New York
Times, adding “the U.S. government’s flying blind as to the cost of extreme weather and climate change.”
The database draws on information from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, insurance organizations, state agencies and more to come up with its estimates, according to a report in the Guardian. “The information is generally seen as standardized and unduplicable, given the agency’s access to non-public data.”
And now it’s gone.
If denying problems solved problems, America would already be great again, and we could objectively rank Trump as the most successful president in history.
Amidst his many manufactured crises, from bogus tales of a migrant crime wave to off-again-on-again scorched-earth tariffs, one aspect of Trump’s governing style is too often forgotten: just how horrible he is in an actual crisis.
Our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico found that out after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. They received early insight into what the rest of us learned during the first year of the pandemic.
And when denial no longer works, Trump sets about blaming others, hardly ever empathizing with those suffering. Returning government to the 19th century would ensure disease-ridden produce, no GPS, bank failures galore and no severe weather warnings.
Now’s the time for both fleetingly lucid Republicans and non-corrupt Democrats to work together tossing sandbags against the oncoming flood.
Shutterstock / Dennis MacDonald
Mission to Mexico
Joaquin
Castro, other lawmakers visit deported 10-year-old U.S. citizen with brain tumor
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) traveled to Mexico last Friday to draw attention to the plight of a family caught up in the Trump White House’s harsh immigration crackdown.
The San Antonio Democrat joined CHC Chair Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. and CHC Whip Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, in visiting the family of seven in the Monterrey area, where they have been unable to get treatment for their 10-year-old daughter who has a rare brain tumor.
The U.S. deported the parents, who are undocumented, in February along with the 10-year-old and her four siblings, NBC News reports. Their removal came after a routine stop at a Customs and Border Protection checkpoint on their way from Rio Grande City to Houston for a doctor’s appointment.
The family made the trip several times since the daughter was diagnosed with cancer last year, according to NBC News. They said they’d previously been allowed to pass by showing letters from doctors and lawyers about the girl’s treatments.
Castro told the Current the family is “clearly traumatized” by the incident, adding that CBP agents confiscated the girl’s anti-seizure medication. Since the deportation, the parents have been unable to enroll her in school or get treatment needed for a side effect of the tumor that ultimately could rob her of her eyesight.
“I recently said that under the Trump administration, it seems like our country loses more of its humanity every single day,” Castro said. “And I think this is a prime example, because when this family went through the inland CBP checkpoint, the agents bullied the family and intimidated them, and threatened the parents that they would take away their kids and place them with strangers.”
Attorneys with the Texas Civil Rights Project are working with the family to help its return to the U.S., or at the least, allow the mother to accompany the 10-year old as she comes back for treatments, Castro said. Still, he urged people concerned about the situation to call members of Congress and urge them to pressure the Trump administration to allow the family’s return.
“Many of us are going to support the family’s efforts for humanitarian parole to allow her mom — well, to allow the whole family, but especially her mom, who’s her main caregiver — to come with her for treatments in the United States,” Castro said. “She has a very rare type [of] brain tumor, and you can’t just get treatment anywhere for it. In Mexico, and in other parts of the world, there really
aren’t specialists for that.”
The CHC mission to Mexico is the latest bid by Democratic lawmakers to draw attention to the White House’s deportations of people who are in the country legally. Castro accused the administration of conducting removals without due process.
Last month, Democratic lawmakers visited El Salvador to urge the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a man legally living in Maryland before he was deported to a maximum security prison in that country. Even though multiple Trump administration officials admitted Abrego Garcia’s removal was a mistake, the White House has expressed no interest in forcing his return.
The concern over the fate of Abrego Garcia and the deported family in
Mexico comes as senior White House advisor Stephen Miller said the Trump administration is “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus for migrants. Habeas corpus is the constitutionally guaranteed right for a person to challenge their detention by the government.
“Part of the problem is that Trump is dismantling the legal infrastructure for a lot of these things,” Castro said of the family’s effort to return to the U.S. “They filed complaints with the civil rights division of CBP or DHS, and Trump has basically dismantled that. So, it’s like the administration’s ignoring the law, doing bad things, and then erasing the watchdogs that would be able to go back and fix the wrongs that were done to this family or others. ”
Facebook / Joaquin Castro
Grounded Flight
Federal judge says Trump plan to fly migrants from San Antonio to Libya violates court order
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
Afederal judge ruled last Wednesday that the Trump administration can’t fly migrants from San Antonio’s Kelly Field to Libya — a country with a well-documented history of civil-rights violations — without first letting those targeted contest their deportation in court, the Associated Press reports.
A U.S. official told the AP the immigration authorities planned to fly migrants to Libya on a military C-17 cargo plane but didn’t have details on the flight’s timing. However, flight trackers indicate an Air Force C-17 filed plans to depart Wednesday from San Antonio’s Kelly Field to Misrata Airport in Libya, according to CNN. In recent months, the White House has repeatedly used the large military cargo aircraft to deport migrants to other countries.
Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy intervened Wednesday after being petitioned by immigration attor-
Staying
Put
Judge refuses to move
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar's corruption trial to Laredo
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
South Texas U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife must face bribery and corruption charges in Houston rather than their hometown of Laredo, a federal judge ruled earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal of Houston cited the Democratic congressman’s outsize influence in Laredo and Houston’s large potential jury pool as key reasons not to relocate the trial, CBS
neys who alleged the feds told their clients they would be deported from detention in South Texas to Libya or Saudi Arabia — countries they’re not originally from, according to the AP. The clients reportedly included people from Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines.
Murphy has been overseeing one of the many lawsuits against the Trump White House over its controversial practice of sending migrants to countries where they aren’t citizens. The highest-profile of those cases revolve around the government’s delivery of Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
In March, Murphy ruled that even if people caught in Trump’s immigration
News reports. Cuellar’s attorneys argued that staging the trial in Houston would remove it from the city where most of the alleged crimes took place.
“Houston can handle this case easily, very easily,” Rosenthal said, according to the CBS report.
Federal authorities charged Cuellar and his wife Imelda last year with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani energy company and a Mexican bank. The congressman has said he and his wife are innocent of the allegations.
The 11-term congressman’s district includes Laredo, part of San Antonio and a large swath of South Texas.
At Friday’s hearing, which was conducted via Zoom, Rosenthal also denied a request by Cuellar’s attorneys to delay the trial, which is expected to begin Sept. 22, according to CBS News.
sweep have exhausted their legal appeals, they can’t be deported to a country other than their homeland until they receive a “meaningful opportunity” to argue the relocation would jeopardize their safety, the AP reports.
In Wednesday’s ruling, the judge said any “allegedly imminent” deportations to Libya would “clearly” run afoul of his earlier order, according to the wire service. Additionally, he ordered the government to turn over details about the cases.
Directing migrant deportations to Libya is an apparent escalation of Trump’s deportation policies.
The politically divided North African country is sliding back toward civil war,
and observers have documented abuse of prisoners. Indeed, United Nations investigators have collected accounts of “murder, torture, enslavement, extrajudicial killings and rape” among migrants detained there, according to a separate AP report.
Further, the State Department’s own website warns U.S. citizens against traveling to Libya. “Do not travel to Libya due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict,” it reads.
When CNN asked President Donald Trump about the Wednesday’s possible deportation flight, he responded, “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Homeland Security.”
Capitol Conspiracies
Texas Republicans are flooding the legislative session with bills based on online hoaxes
BY MICHAEL KARLIS
If it seems the Texas Legislature is debating an awful lot of bills this session that would be more appropriately discussed in an internet chat room, you’re not wrong. This session, lawmakers have filed more than 30 bills to address “vaccine freedom,” including one that would outlaw mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Another would require the Texas Department of Health and Human Services to provide blanket vaccine exemptions, and a third would prohibit the state health department from collecting vaccine data information by ZIP Code.
All this while Texas experiences its worst measles outbreak in three decades.
Other bills, including the high-profile HB 5337, would make it more difficult for undocumented migrants to vote — something that’s already illegal and elections experts say almost never happens.
Yet those aren’t even the most bizarre pieces of legislation Republican lawmakers have filed this session.
Last week, the Texas House Committee on Public Education’s debate of the “Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education,” or FURRIES Act, drew both headlines
and online ridicule. That proposal would ban students from “meowing or barking,” wearing leashes or other accessories designed for pets, licking oneself as a manner of grooming, and perhaps most bizarrely, “using a litter box” on campus.
Despite the specificity of its language, the bill’s author, state Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville, couldn’t provide evidence that any Texas public school district is providing litter boxes to students when questioned by fellow state Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat.
“I find it disturbing that these types of debunked conspiracy theories are being used by politicians at the highest levels of government, including this legislature, who know they’re incorrect,” Talarico told Gerdes.
Talarico isn’t alone in questioning why a flood of bills that originate from far-right, online conspiracy theories
have made their way into the Texas Capitol for serious debate.
Althea Delwiche, a professor at San Antonio’s Trinity University who specializes in digital media and political propaganda, offered possible explanations why they’re consuming so much oxygen in Austin this session.
“There was a framework that determined truth and falsehood and acceptable opinions versus unacceptable opinions that was constructed by institutions like the mainstream media,” Delwiche told the Current. “That framework has been under steady assault for the past 10 years in this country.”
While both the American right and left engage in their share of conspiracy mongering, observers said Texas Republicans have showed an alarming propensity to grab onto far-fetched online claims in a bid to throw red meat to their most extreme voters.
“I think that this change in the Texas
Republican party has been ongoing, at least for a dozen years,” Southern Methodist University political scholar Cal Jillson said. “The Tea Party Movement was the beginning of it, and it spiraled from there.”
Although some bills based on baseless online conspiracies are harmless, experts warn that other legislation promoted by lawmakers could hurt the largely disenfranchised groups they target.
During the recent debate on furries in schools, Democratic lawmaker Talarico scolded bill author Gerdes and Gov. Greg Abbott for latching onto spurious online claims in an attempt to smear teachers and public school employees.
“It’s not just you,” Talarico said. “Gov. Abbott has used this litter box rumor to paint our schools in the worst possible light. He even used the litter box conspiracy theory to push his private
school voucher bill. So, I think that’s because if you want to defund neighborhood schools across the state, you have to get Texans to turn against their public schools. So, you call librarians groomers. You accuse teachers of indoctrination, and now you say that schools are providing litter boxes to students. That’s how all of this is tied together.”
Chasing vapor trails
Among the conspiracy-oriented legislation filed this session that experts say is an exercise in political grandstanding is House Bill 1382.
Filed by freshman Rep. Wesley Virdell, R-Brady, the proposal would outlaw weather modifications, including “the injection, release, or dispersion” of chemicals with the intent to alter the climate and the intensity of sunlight. In other words, the bill targets the
so-called “chemtrails” tin-foil hat types claim are poisoning unwitting Americans. In reality, those long-lasting streaks in the sky are actually condensation trails left behind by high-flying aircraft, according to scientists.
“This is probably not a bill that you would normally see come before your committee. I had several constituents in my district ask me to file a bill related to this,” Virdell said while introducing his proposal during a House Licensing Procedures Committee hearing on April 22. “There’s a lot of concern that the federal government has been actively modifying our weather through geothermal engineering, and so this bill is just to prohibit that.”
For reference, “geothermal engineering” is the broad term for using underground temperature sources — steam from hot springs, for example — to generate electricity. On the other hand, the phrase “geo-en-
Shutterstock / JC Gonram
Courtesy Photo Texas House
MTexas Rep. Stan Gerdes
gineering” describes human tinkering with weather patterns, the issue Virdell’s bill purports to address.
While experimental technologies such as direct air capture or sunlight-reflecting aerosols may one day be able to modify the weather, experts say those are in their infancy and not being weaponized by the federal government.
Regardless, more than a dozen speakers, including Hill Country orchard farmer Gregory Porter, explained to lawmakers why they urgently needed to pass Virdell’s bill. During their testimony, they relied not on actual science but personal observations that often bordered on the absurd.
“Two to three times a week, what we’ve begun to see is these planes coming by and creating these grid patterns,” Porter testified. “I started to do some research on this, and what ultimately happens over the course of the afternoon is these stripes turn into a really thin layer, and it creates a haze.”
Porter said that, after doing more research on the mysterious haze, he uncovered “shocking evidence” that government agencies, including NASA and an unnamed “global organization” have detailed plans to block solar radiation using “neurotoxic metals.”
Elizabeth Stephens, a mother of three and six-year-old boys, blamed chemtrails for her children’s health problems.
“Both of my boys spend hours outside. Like, six hours a day,” Stephens told the committee, sobbing. “And, whenever they come inside, they cough. These should be healthy kids, they should not be coughing.”
Stephens showed off a stack of photo evidence she said backs up her claims.
“You can control what you can control in your house but you can’t control the skies,” she said.
Upon further questioning by lawmakers, Stephens clarified that her children’s cough “comes with the seasons,” suggesting seasonal allergies might be a more likely explanation than a shadowy government conspiracy.
Seeding uncertainty
During the bill’s debate, some members of the committee appeared confused about how the bill would affect the only weather modification instrument actually used in Texas — cloud seeding.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) actually issues
permits to entities, including groundwater conservation districts, to alter the weather via the process, which has been in use for decades.
Six licenses have been issued, and two are in the process of being renewed, according to state officials.
However, Steven Leary, TDLR’s assistant general counsel, said none of those licenses are for geoengineering, the bogeyman Virdell aims to shut down with his bill.
“The [geoengineering] thing is different,” Leary said. “Solar geoengineering is a concept about ... using technology to dissipate the effects of global warming. That’s why it’s become a political hotbed issue.”
TDLR hydrologist Chris Hooyboer explained that cloud seeding in arid parts of Texas uses non-toxic particles that are dispersed prior to storms in the hope that more rain will occur, helping prevent or reduce drought conditions.
“They are essentially introducing par-
Mticles that allow the formation of water droplets to produce rain, which will then fall in the target area that we have assigned them on the permit,” Hooyboer said. “But, it’s not supercharging the storm cell to then wreak havoc on the rest of the state.”
The kind of confusion that reigned during the debate of Virdell’s bill is the result of conspiracy theories and half-truths being supercharged in an echo-chamber media landscape, Trinity’s Delwiche said.
Real world consequences
Although it’s tempting to write off the debate of such issues as laughable, the professor warned that the willingness of lawmakers to play along for political points can have dire consequences.
“[Conspiracy theorists] don’t care about whether or not it is truthful in a
real sense,” Delwiche said. “They care about whether it gives them enough ammunition for what they want to believe. They’re not asking for logical, well-reasoned arguments, and I think there are many craven leaders out there who are quite willing to work with that.”
In the end, the Texas Legislature’s weather modification bill was tabled for later discussion, and it’s questionable whether it will gain any further traction. However, other conspiracy-based legislation now under consideration can have real-world consequences.
For example, House Bill 5337, introduced by Rep. Carrie Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, would require people who register to vote in Texas to first provide proof of U.S. citizenship through a birth certificate or passport. It also goes even further by retroactively applying the requirement to the 18 million Texans already registered to vote.
The bill is loosely based on the widely debunked conspiracy theories spread by President Donald Trump that the 2020 election was stolen, in part, by undocumented immigrants voting. However, voting-rights advocates, including the Texas ACLU and VoteRiders, warn that the bill would disenfranchise low-income Texans who can’t afford a passport or don’t know where or how to obtain a copy of their birth certificate.
“Texas already has effective safeguards to ensure our voter rolls only contain eligible voters,” VoteRiders’ Texas State Director Vicente Martinez said in a statement. “We do not need to create new, burdensome, and expensive requirements for all voters to prove they are eligible.”
Although the proven incident rate for voter fraud is well below 1% nationally, that hasn’t stopped Republicans from capitalizing on the issue.
“You can say things like that the election was stolen, but anyone who is in contact with real information knows that to be bad information,” SMU’s Jillson said.
Even so, the rise of the alternative news eco-system and constant attacks on the mainstream media by Trump and other Republicans ensure conspiracy-oriented bills will continue to make regular appearances before legislators in Texas and elsewhere, experts said.
“It’s really difficult to convince somebody that their ideas are not true when they reject all of the sources that you’re pointing to as an example,” Trinity’s Delwiche said.
Courtesy Photo Wes Virdell
Texas Rep. Wesley Virdell
ONGOING – SUN | 05.18
THEATRE
STRANGERS AT A FEAST
Jump-Start founding member Chuck Squier has delivered a new play using character development methods akin to the great British filmmaker Mike Leigh (Secrets And Lies, Life is Sweet). Working with friends and collaborators, Squier built the show in an organic manner through writing exercises, improvisation, discussion and rehearsals, with each cast member developing her own character. The play seeks to explore social connection with others, specifically strangers. As Squier states, “Initially we see only a stranger’s differences, their ‘otherness.’ However, through interaction and self-revelation, the distance between us decreases. Of course, those interactions can be characterized in any number of ways, from friendly to antagonistic, poignant, shocking or absurd.” The show runs every two weeks through May 18 and admission is on a pay-what-you-can scale. Free-$25, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jump-Start Performance Company, 710 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 227-5867, jump-start.org.
— Neil Fauerso
WED | 05.14
PANEL DISCUSSION
GREAT
SA: LEGACY RESTAURANTS
In an industry where closures are more frequent than anniversaries, multigenerational restaurants are rare. This panel discussion will highlight how the owners of some of San Antonio’s most-beloved and longest-running restaurants were founded, and how they adapted and endured, even during difficult times. The owners of Schilo’s Delicatessen, the La Familia Cortez group and the Los Barrios portfolio will discuss their experience in the local food industry and what’s next for their establishments. The panel, moderated by Texas Public Radio’s Jerry Clayton, is free and open to the public. Great SA is presented with the support of the San Antonio City of Gastronomy and the City of San Antonio World Heritage Office along with additional backing from H-E-B and Frost Bank. Donations to TPR are highly appreciated. Free, 7-8:30 p.m., Malú and Carlos Alvarez Theater, Texas Public Radio, 321 W. Commerce St., (210) 614-8977, tpr.org. — Kat Stinson
SAT | 05.17
THE WORLD ODDITIES EXPO
Inspired by PT Barnum’s Traveling World Fair Circus, the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow and a dash of Antiques Roadshow on steroids for good measure, the 2025 World Oddities Expo brings together vendors of all ilk — artists, craftspeople, clothing designers and antique dealers — united by their penchant for the macabre. They will set up alongside collectors of preserved biological specimens and fabricators of truly bizarre taxidermy-based tableaus. Accompanied by live bands, aerial and burlesque performers and live taxidermy workshops, The World Oddities Expo sounds like an entertaining place to get lost for a day amongst rows of various Victorian-era prosthetics, sword swallowers and teddy bears wearing Robin Williams’ face. However, parental discretion is advised. Free for children under 12, adults $20 and up, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Freeman Coliseum, 3201 E. Houston St., (210) 226-1177, worldodditiesexpo.com. — Anjali
Courtesy Photo Schilo’s
Gupta
Instagram jumpstartperformanceco Instagram
SAT | 05.24
LECTURE
THE KARANKAWAS AND TONKAWAS: A HISTORY OF POWER AND PERSEVERANCE
Take a deep dive into Texas history and learn about two misrepresented Native tribes who were among our region’s earliest inhabitants. Tim Seiter of the University of Texas at Tyler will unpack the histories of the Karankawas and Tonkawas, debunking long-held myths and highlighting both tribes’ resilience in the face of colonial aggression. For centuries, falsehoods have circulated about these nomadic peoples of South and Central Texas, including stories of cannibalism and savagery used to justify racial violence. For a time, many believed the Karankawas and Tonkawas were wiped out or no longer existed as distinct groups, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Both tribes are taking steps to reclaim their heritage and challenge the harmful narratives that have haunted them for generations. Seiter specializes in Texas colonial history with a focus on Indigenous communities and Spanish colonial institutions. He’s the author of Wrangling Pelicans, scheduled to be released this November, which explores the lives of 18th-century Spanish soldiers at Presidio La Bahía. He’s also currently developing Persistent Peoples, a comprehensive history of the Karankawa. This program is presented in partnership with the Friends of Guadalupe River State Park and Honey Creek State Natural Area. Free, 1:30 p.m., Mammen Family Public Library, 131 Bulverde Crossing, (830) 438-4864, mfplibrary.org. — BH
MON | 05.26
SPECIAL EVENT GREEN BOOK CIVIL RIGHTS BUS TOUR
In the late 1930s, African American postal worker Victor Hugo Green founded the Negro Motorist Green Book — a guide for safe spots across America for Black people traveling during segregation. Each edition of The Green Book, published annually until 1964, provided lists of hotels, restaurants, gas stations and more that were considered safe from racist aggression. The Green Book Civil Rights bus tour will visit some of the roughly 80 San Antonio sites featured in various editions of the book. Led by the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, the multi-stop tour aims to educate and inspire participants with stories of San Antonio’s historic Eastside neighborhoods, from Dignowity Hill to Denver Heights St. Paul Square and the SAAACAM exhibit space in La Villita. The tour begins at Brackenridge Parking Garage, and guests are advised to arrive 30-45 minutes prior to departure. $45, 11 a.m., Brackenridge Parking Garage, 3501 Avenue B, 210-724-3350, saaacam. org. — KS
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
Am I dead? Is there a God? Does it matter? These and other questions fill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard’s 1990 film adaptation of his 1966 play of the same name. Actors Gary Oldman and Tim Roth — who bounce perfectly off each other in this absurdist take on Hamlet — create an endearing buddy comedy packed with meta commentary and a deep and unavoidable sense of existential dread. We’re never sure which character is which, enhancing the theory that Shakespeare wrote himself into a corner and used minor characters as sacrificial lambs to distract from a flawed narrative. The film, the play and later the play-within-the-film all follow the titular duo, vaulting them to center stage — largely without their knowledge — as the action of Hamlet unfolds around them. They bumble around Elsinore Castle, flipping coins, briefly meeting other characters, trying to figure out what’s the hell is going on and ultimately questioning the point of it all. The 1990 production, which runs around two hours, wraps this perfectly postmodern plot in classical tropes, including ancient interiors shot in castles in Croatia and Slovenia. Sumptuous costumes by Andreane Neofitou dovetail perfectly with Designing Shakespeare Through the Ages, the McNay’s special exhibition, ongoing through July 6, which shows the ways artists have continued to reinvent and revitalize the Bard’s theatrical works. Free to McNay members and Museums for All adults, $10 for nonmember adults, 2 p.m., Chiego Lecture Hall, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org. — DZ
‘Light in the Darkness’
Head of San Antonio PBS affiliate fires back at Trump’s demand to cut funding for public broadcasting
BY STEPHANIE KOITHAN
Arthur Emerson, president and CEO of San Antonio’s KLRN-TV, warns that the PBS affiliate could shut down if the Trump administration is successful in rescinding more than $1 billion in federal funding for public broadcasting.
The White House is expected to ask Congress to halt federal funding that NPR and PBS receive through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Additionally, the administration directed the CPB to halt funding for the two organizations via an executive order filed May 1 titled “End Tax Pay Subsidization of Biased Media.”
“If federal funding is revoked, KLRN might cease to exist and our families, friends and generations of neighbors who rely on our programs and resources will lose access for good,” Emerson said in his May 3 op-ed carried by the San Antonio Express-News.
The Trump administration’s executive order argues that alleged bias displayed by PBS and NPR stations disqualifies them from receiving federal funding.
“At the very least, Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars
fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage,” the executive order said. “The CPB’s governing statute reflects principles of impartiality: the CPB may not ‘contribute to or otherwise support any political party.’”
The executive order claims it’s not targeting the stations for perceived liberal bias but the existence of any bias at all.
“Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens,” the order continued.
PBS CEO Paula Kerger, in an interview with Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan, said PBS gets 15% of its funding in aggregate from the federal government, but for stations in smaller communities, that percentage can be as high as 50%.
There are 11 PBS stations in Texas, and many are in smaller markets like El Paso, Corpus Christi, Midland and Amarillo, Emerson told the Current.
“When the federal funding is gone, so many stations in the smaller communities will go dark,” he said. “And once funding is gone, it’s gone.”
KLRN’s federal funding fluctuates between 17% and 20% depending on the year, according to the station.
CPB has fired back at Trump’s executive order, stating that the administration doesn’t have the authority to rescind its funding, ABC News reports.
“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the president’s authority,” Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the nonprofit said in a statement Friday. “Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.”
Emerson told the Current federal funding for public media amounts to $1.60 per American annually, accounting for less than 0.01% of the federal budget. However, he added, the payoff for the public is big.
Public broadcasting is designed to fill crucial education gaps for the households most in need.
“This is more of an avocation than a vocation, because what we do sheds a light in the darkness,” Emerson told the Current, adding that KLRN serves 33 counties, a larger territory than any other Texas PBS affiliate.
That territory includes many rural areas where resources are scarce.
“Often those counties either don’t have access to WiFi or if they do, they may not be able to afford it,” Emerson said. “We offer a signal that’s free and without commercials.”
In service of its mission to meet the educational needs of the counties it reaches, KLRN also offers training resources to teachers including free certification for early childhood providers.
“We solicit grants so they don’t have to pay a penny to be trained and be certified as early childhood providers,” Emerson said. “Our education department alone is a treasure. We were born as an educational station in 1962, long before PBS existed.”
Congress, which already approved the $1.1 billion in funding for public media for 2026 and 2027, will have 45 days to act on the White House’s proposal and decide whether to rescind the money. But with an approval rating of 76%, according to Emerson, public broadcasting has the majority of the community behind it.
“We urge our Congress to stand up to this effort to defund public radio and public television,” Emerson added. “The many, many services we offer do the greater good for the greater whole.”
Courtesy Photo KLRN
Grin Reaper
Director Eli Craig’s slashercomedy Clown in a Cornfield plays on
real fears
BY KIKO MARTINEZ
When it comes to evil clowns, movie fans are familiar with the It and Terrifier franchises, the Joker from comic book movies and maybe even Killer Klowns from Outer Space
But there are countless more obscure, low-budget horror flicks such as The Clown Murders, Clown Motel and Killjoy Goes to Hell meant to exploit our fear of those who hide beneath greasepaint and rubber noses.
Director Eli Craig (Tucker & Dale vs. Evil) hopes his latest film, Clown in a Cornfield, and its main villain, Frendo, are soon mentioned in the same breath as It’s Pennywise and Terrifier’s Art the Clown.
Craig’s slasher-comedy follows a group of teens in the fictional town of Kettle Springs, Missouri, who are being hunted down by someone dressed as the town’s official clown mascot. Clown in a Cornfield is based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Adam Cesare.
During an interview with the Current, Craig, 52, talked about his earliest horror movie memory as a child, the duality of clowns and how he feels Clown in a Cornfield fits into the niche horror genre.
Clown in a Cornfield is currently playing at theaters nationwide.
What’s your earliest memory of a horror movie that scarred you for life?
It was [1978’s] Invasion of the Body Snatchers. [The
scene where Donald Sutherland’s character] lifts a finger and in low-fi goes, [guttural squeal]. Stealing your soul and turning you into a pod person was terrifying to me. It stayed with me until this day. Now, I realized I was probably like four years old when I saw it, so I was way too young.
In Clown in a Cornfield, a friendly mascot named Frendo is turned into a serial killer. It reminded me of this recent phenomenon where children’s characters like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse are placed into slasher movies.
This is a little different because [author] Adam [Cesare] invented Frendo entirely from his own cloth. So, it’s more based [in] the [era] when everybody loved clowns, [and] Ronald McDonald was selling McDonald’s. He was a mascot who would sell things to kids. [Frendo] is this salesman clown representative of America but has been distorted over time. Now, he’s this super creepy salesman mascot that’s looking to kill people. He represents the American dream, transformed over time from a happy-go-lucky guy to a vengeful creature.
What would be a real company mascot you would like to see in a horror movie? Someone like the Jolly Green Giant, perhaps? I want to see Aunt Jemima going after people.
I wrote an article a few years ago about the impact of clown horror movies and interviewed a woman who works as a real clown. She said parents will ask her to show up to their kid’s birthday party without wearing clown makeup. Don’t you feel bad that you’re helping to perpetuate creepy clown stereotypes?
I feel terrible! I don’t want to put her out of a career. I actually want to help her career. Maybe she could just do evil face makeup and [entertain] teens. I remember once watching this clown, and this two-year-old was in the audience and was really enjoying it. Then, the [clown]
looked right at the two-year-old and [the child] immediately went to tears. There’s something so primal in us that sees clowns as funny but possibly evil.
Some people might argue that nothing is sacred anymore. For example, we’ve taken classic literature like Pride and Prejudice and created a book and a movie called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
I’m not taking a beloved masterpiece of a novel and changing it for my benefit. I think clowns lend themselves to [horror]. Even before Stephen King did it [with It], there’s always been this creepy duality to clowns. I remember doing research for this and looking at [actor] Lon Chaney. He’d be covered in this mask and smoking a cigarette and looking so sad off-camera. Underneath the mask and what is going on in the person is what I’m interested in.
Even though most people only know Pennywise from It and Art the Clown from the Terrifier franchise, there are countless clown horror movies out there. Do you feel lucky that Clown in a Cornfield is getting a theatrical release and will be more accessible than those more obscure movies?
Oh yeah. I mean, we’re looking at this as more commercial [and] a little less kitschy. I love that it’s a genre that gave me the freedom to have a clown in it and not be directly compared to [other movie] clowns. This is a very suspenseful thriller and action horror film with elements of comedy. It’s not just campy, midnight fare.
A 2016 poll by Vox revealed that 42% of Americans said that they were afraid of clowns. That’s more than terrorist attacks (41%), biological war (35%), climate change (34%) and death (19%).
More afraid of clowns than death? Yeah, I think coulrophobia is rampant. It definitely allows you to ride on the coattails of a fear that people already have. I always see the cinematic experience as being two ways: People are putting stuff onto the film, and I’m giving them stuff back.
Find more film stories at sacurrent.com
Worth the Wait?
Cult fave Lovers Pizzeria serves up exceptional pies, but expect lines
BY RON BECHTOL
“How long do you think this is going to take?” another person in line with me outside Lovers Pizzeria asked his dining companion with a sigh.
“I don’t know,” she replied, “but I really want to try the poblano pizza.”
“So, I guess we’ll have to come back another time to order the pepperoni.” Another sigh followed.
“They don’t have a pepperoni,” she responded, almost defensively.
More back-and-forth ensued, but I didn’t want to appear to be eavesdropping too hard.
Whatever the drift of further discussion, he left but she stayed — presumably to order the poblano pizza, without both pepperoni and him. Although, for clarification, you can add pepperoni to any of the five titled pies at Lovers: cheese, poblano, vodka, tomato and margarita. That’s right, the latter is spelled like the local-favorite cocktail, not the traditional Italian pizza.
But the departed dining companion wasn’t the only person frustrated by the wait on my visit. Possibly more committed to each other than to what’s arguably become San Antonio’s most Insta-popular pie, another duo in front of me decided to leave together after 20 minutes in line.
Lovers Pizzeria opens at 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, and a mere four months after relocating to its current Monte Vista digs, its New York-style pies have accumulated the kind of cult following that has fans enduring long waits and early sellouts.
Owners Dustin Dworak and Victoria Moreno launched the venture on the South Side in 2023, but spent 10 months in apparent limbo after losing their original space. Needless to say, local pizza enthusiasts have welcomed them back in a big way.
I arrived just after opening time on a Friday, foolishly thinking I would beat the crowd. Wrong. After snagging the last slot in the parking lot, I entered to find all tables occupied and a line horseshoeing along one side of the small dining room.
Veteran Lovers lovers had come prepared with
LOVERS PIZZERIA
card games and diversions for the kids. I recognized this didn’t bode well.
Thirty minutes in, I finally stepped up to the counter. Not having to worry about reconciling my taste with anybody else’s, I confidently ordered a poblano and the margarita. Less confidently, I asked how long the order was likely to take.
“When we’re slammed like this, at least 90 minutes — maybe two hours,” I was told. “We’ll call you when it‘s ready.”
I headed back home to make an accompanying salad and get a head start on the wine.
Just shy of the two-hour mark, no call having come — it never did — I headed back anyway. Arriving this time to a near-empty parking lot and a “sold-out” sign outside the side-entry door. It was 5:50 p.m. Counting two trips back and forth, I’d invested more than three and a half hours in the experience.
The pizzas, at least, were still warm.
Was it all worth it? Upfront, let me state that I’m never doing this again, so you’ll have to decide for yourself whether the tomato, cheese or vodka pies justify the wait. Or if the house-made sausage add-on is a serious consideration.
However, I can say my two pies were exceptional.
Let’s start with the margarita. While its name is modified, the composition is otherwise classic: to-
105 E. Ashby Place, (210) 538-4036, instagram.com/lovers.pizzeria
Hours: 3 p.m.-7 p.m. or sold out, Thursday-Sunday
The lowdown: Lovers Pizzeria is a small, mom-and-pop joint with a devoted following, which can mean long lines and long wait times. Despite what some online sources say, you can pay with a credit card, but you must order in person. Prices for a 16-inch pie range from $22 for cheese to $26 for the popular poblano option — a fragrant and full-bodied topping that does justice to a crisp, chewy and well-flavored crust.
mato sauce, fresh mozzarella, oregano, fresh basil, olive oil and “finishing” cheese. It’s the standard by which any good pizzeria — fancy, wood-burning oven or not — is judged.
Lovers’ oven is of the “or not” variety, but it nevertheless turns out a thin, suitably charred and robust, “naturally leavened” crust that manages to be both crisp and pleasantly chewy. Some might find that there’s a tad too much sprightly tomato sauce, which slightly throws off the sauce-cheese balance, but it’s good sauce, so that’s a minor quibble. Sauce-to-cheese ratio aside, there is just enough mozzarella.
If cost counts, it’s $22 for a 16-inch pie, and it might be worth it to me if, and only if, (a) I lived closer and (b) the wait time was substantially less. Which, in fairness, it must frequently be.
The poblano pizza doesn’t pretend to be classic. It features low-moisture mozzarella — the better for shredding — along with roasted poblanos in a cream sauce, and the usual EVOO and finishing cheese, presumably house-grated parmesan.
The first thing you might notice is that, when still warm, this pizza announces itself with a distinct aroma: charred poblano, of course, and it’s a pleasant surprise.
Creamy poblano being a weightier topping than those on the margarita, the same crust came across a little less crisp. Still, it proved much sturdier than the prevailing norm. No fold required to keep it from drooping. And the flavor is bold without overwhelming the crust.
Is it worth $26? I can think of smaller, more complex options elsewhere that I’d rather have on the regular at, say, $17 or $18. But keep the larger size in mind. There may be leftovers.
Which reheat beautifully. Just add a slice or two to a screaming hot cast-iron skillet. The salad and wine may be long gone, but at this writing I’m still working on the pizza.
Ron Bechtol
food Cooking Up Conversation
Copa Wine Bar cofounder talks about his business’ milestone anniversary and the influence of his late wife
BY KAT STINSON
Name: Jeff Bridges
Job: Co-founder of Copa Wine Bar
Birthplace: Bay City, Texas
Years in food service: 38
Big Impact: The co-founder of Copa Wine Bar opened the Stone Oak lounge with his late wife Angie back when there were no other wine bars in San Antonio. In addition to keeping Copa’s doors open for 20 years and counting, the Bridges give back to various philanthropic organizations, including the Animal Defense League of San Antonio. Money Quote: “There were a lot of naysayers that said, ‘San Antonio won’t support a wine bar,’ and we knew better.”
What inspired the birth of Copa Wine Bar?
Angie and I owned our own liquor store, Wines, Etc., which was right across the street from where Copa is now. We would have customers come in and ask us where they could go sit and enjoy their wine. It was the early 2000s, and there really wasn’t a place to go grab a glass of wine, especially in Stone Oak. And then the only two wine bars in the city shut down in 2002, so there was a need for a wine bar. There were three years when there were no wine bars at all in San Antonio. It was a leap of faith for us to close Wines, Etc., but we knew our wine bar was the future.
How did you get into the food and beverage industry?
It started with cooking. From the time I was 10 years old, I watched my grandma, who was a phenomenal cook, make others happy with her cooking. I realized my love of food isn’t just about nourishment, it’s about how it feeds the soul. I went to North Texas State University for hotel and restaurant management, but I ended up leaving school to manage a restaurant in
the late 1980s. One thing I learned as an aspiring cook at the time was that there’s so many amazing and smart people in professional kitchens. Once I started working front of house, I hit my stride. I love to cook, but I realized I don’t love to cook professionally!
What do you want people to know about your late wife Angie?
Angie was born in San Antonio. We met at a bar playing darts. We worked together for 20 years. She put together the core of the Copa menu, which I still feel like is the heart of the wine bar to this day. There wouldn’t have been a Copa Wine Bar without Angie.
How do you curate the extensive wine list?
The wine list is my best friend and my biggest nemesis! It haunts me at night when someone comes in and says, “What do you mean you don’t have this wine?”
It’s because I don’t buy wines for my taste, I buy them for my customers’ taste. My salespeople know not to bring me expensive wines. When I taste the wine, I think of specific customers. If I can’t think of them, I’m not buying the wine.
Do you ever want to expand Copa, and how have you stayed open so long?
The business side of a bar is vital — you have to be there. You have to be connected to your business. Look around. I’m the only one at Copa not drinking. I’m not there to party, I’m there to host! I don’t plan to expand Copa, and I try not to over-tweak our classic menu.
I want people to come into Copa, and whether it’s been a year or 15 years since they’ve been, I want them to have a sense of comfort and familiarity. We usually just do little tweaks — people don’t like change. I want people to know that they’re going to have a sense of stability when they walk in.
What do you appreciate about the sense of community at Copa?
Forget Reno — we’re the biggest little city in the world. It’s amazing the connections we’ve seen at Copa. We’ve celebrated every milestone a person could have, and I love being a part of it all.
Courtesy Photo Embark Marketing
Still on the Rails
Old 97’s talk about longevity and musical telepathy ahead of Gruene Hall gig
BY DAVE GIL DE RUBIO
“Fame comes and goes,” Tony Bennett once said. “Longevity is the thing to aim for.”
Apparently, Rhett Miller and the rest of the Old 97’s were paying attention to the venerable crooner. This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the Dallas quartet, which formed in 1992 when Miller joined forces with guitarist Ken Bethea, bassist Murry Hammond and drummer Philip Peeples.
Miller proudly wears this badge of honor, particularly with the arrival of the band’s 13th studio album, American Primitive. A tour supporting the release will take the band to New Braunfels’ historic Gruene Hall on Friday, May 16. Angel White opens the show.
“When we started working on this album, I started thinking what are the strengths of the Old 97’s?” Miller shared in a mid-March interview. “It’s sort of the shorthand/ESP kind of communication we have with each other after 32 years. We know what each of us are going to do, we know how to play off each other and we know what to expect. I felt like that was really strong and one of the things that makes us really special. It’s easy to think what does the market want? What do the radio programmers want? And then try and retroactively build your band into the thing they want. But I just feel like that’s such a recipe for disaster.”
For American Primitive, the Old 97’s decamped to Portland, Oregon, and producer Tucker Martine’s studio. With virtually no pre-production involved — a first for the band — they embarked on the sessions seat-of-the-pants style. A relatively painless process, the basic recording took a couple of weeks and included guest appearances by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of The Young Fresh Fellows and Minus Five.
It was a homey experience for the Old 97’s, according to Miller.
“It was really all off-the-cuff,” he said. “We would sit down, I would teach the band a song. Over the course of a few hours, we would feel our way until we landed on what you hear on the album, essentially. There are a few overdubs. I would sweeten the vocals a little bit. But it’s almost all off the floor. Then, later, we obviously had Peter Buck come in and play some guitar on it as well as Scott McCaughey. They were so great.”
Miller added, “It was great working with Peter. We’d go and have dinner at his house,
where we’d hang out with Scott in Peter’s basement with all his vintage guitars and hear all his stories. It was really inspiring.”
The baker’s dozen tunes that make up American Primitive resonate with the kind of roots-rock manna music lovers have come to expect from the Old 97’s. From the reverb-soaked opener “Falling Down,” which finds guitarist Bethea channeling Link Wray, the aforementioned band chemistry Miller referenced is in full evidence. Gems range from “Where the Road Goes,” with its gentle jangle that frames a message of wanderlust to the singalong stomp of “Somebody” to the
rambunctious snappiness of “This World.”
Capping it all off is “Estuviera Cayendo” — which translates to falling down — a beautiful instrumental piece played by guest flamenco guitarist Jeff Trapp. While the quality of the new material has got Miller jazzed about hitting the road, this go-round is all the more special given how the 54-yearold singer-songwriter is coming off a major surgical procedure.
“Going back on the road now is sort of a triumphant element for me because I’m at the end of a four-month forced hiatus after vocal cord surgery,” he said. “I’ve got
Find more music coverage every day at sacurrent.com
Courtesy Photo Old 97’s
music
all my vocal range back after having lost large swaths of it. I can sing all of those notes again. It’s crazy, having grown up singing my whole life, you take for granted that you can hit any note you want to hit within a certain range. I lost that for the last couple of years, and it was incredibly frustrating. When I did the vocal cord surgery, I found that the cyst on my vocal cord was even larger than they anticipated. Any surgery on anything that small, delicate and essential to my livelihood is scary. There was a part of me subconsciously really worried that I might never sing again or get onstage again, because that kind of thing happens.”
The live shows present a unique challenge. Given the Old 97’s longev-
South Texas Tradition
Tejano Conjunto Festival making its lively return May 15-18
BY SANFORD NOWLIN
The 43rd annual Tejano Conjunto Festival will celebrate South Texas’ indigenous — and imminently danceable — musical form May 15-18 at Rosedale Park.
Performers at this year’s festival include Conjunto Hall of Famers Ruben De La Cruz and Ruben Garza, Grammy-winning Los Texmaniacs and influential singer-songwriter Linda Escobar, known as the “Queen of Conjunto Music.”
This year’s festival will kick off Thursday, May 15, with a seniors conjunto dance at El Progreso Hall, 1306 Guadalupe St., from 10 a.m. to noon. The dance is free for those 55 and older.
At 7 p.m. the same day, the Guadalupe Latino Bookstore, 1300 Guadalupe St., will present a free exhibition titled Archiving and Documenting Our Cultura.
Here’s the complete lineup for the Rosedale Park performances:
Friday, May 16:
6 p.m. — Los Fantasmas del Valle
ity, the band has to strike a balance between hitting all the high points of the back catalog while not ending up playing shows of Springsteenian length.
“I kind of know what the tentpoles are for the setlist,” Miller said. “As the setlist maker, I’m going to sneak in a few deep cuts and surprise songs every night, which totally change from night to night. Then we have to kind of hit the main songs. We’ve got ‘Good With God,’ which is a duet I recorded with Brandi Carlile off our 2017 album Graveyard Whistling . We kind of do that every night. And then there is the obvious stuff from [the 1997 album] Too Far to Care, which was considered the high-water mark of
our band. We have to play five or six songs off that album every night.”
Even so, Miller admitted that audiences don’t want to hear the Old 97’s do three-hour sets.
“We generally keep it to around two hours. If it’s a weeknight, it might be one hour and 45 minutes,” he said. “There are young people that show up night after night. We’ve been handed to the next generation in a lot of ways. But the core audience is still getting older. We can’t play three hours and expect people to be excited about it.”
When you ask the Texas native about his band’s longevity, Miller will tell you that it always comes back to making music while maintaining the kind of rare chemistry. It’s a chemistry most groups don’t achieve even over years
playing together — much less three decades.
“You don’t get to claim the unbroken status unless you continually put out records,” Miller said. “That’s part of our contract with our fans, ourselves and literally, our record label. We continue to make and release albums. For me, it’s great, because I’m going to be writing songs regardless, so I need albums on which to place those songs. I did sort of have to cajole Ken, our guitarist, to go back into the studio. And I’m glad I did because I feel like this album is a real showpiece for his specific talent. I feel like it shines through on this record so strong.”
$30, 8 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, (830) 606-1281, New Braunfels, gruenehall.com.
7 p.m. — Eva Ybarra y Su Conjunto Siempre
8 p.m. — Los Alacranes De Davi Flores
9 p.m. — Boni Mauricio
10 p.m. — Santiago Garza y La Naturaleza
11 p.m. — Ricky Naranjo y Los Gamblers
Saturday, May 17:
Noon — Los Fresnos Elementary
12:30 p.m. — PSJA Poderosos
1 p.m. — Roma Middle School
1:30 p.m. — Roma High School
2 p.m. — Mambito y Los Champs
3 p.m. — Jesse Perez y Sus Compadres Alegres
4 p.m. — Cindy Ramos y Su Conjunto
5 p.m. — Gilberto Perez Jr. y Sus Compadres
6 p.m. — The Delta Boyz
7 p.m. — Los Cucuys de Rodny Rodriguez
8 p.m. — Los Monarcas de Pete y Mario Diaz
9 p.m. — Lazaro Perez
10 p.m. — Los Garcia Bros.
11 p.m. — Ruben De La Cruz y Su Conjunto
Sunday, May 18:
Noon — Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center students
12:45 p.m. — Conjunto Heritage Taller
1:10 p.m. — Southside High School
1:30 p.m. — Edison High School
2 p.m. — Ramon Lucio y Dominante
3 p.m. — Linda Escobar
4 p.m. — Los Tellez
5 p.m. — Conjunto Senzzile
6 p.m. — Los Arcos Hermanos Pena
7 p.m. — Texmaniacs
8 p.m. — Ruben Garza y Su Conjunto
9 p.m. — Jaime De Anda
$15-$50, Various times, Thursday-Sunday, May 15-18, Rosedale Park, 303 Dartmouth St., guadalupeculturalarts.org.
Jaime Monzon
critics’ picks
Wednesday, May 14
Wild Nothing, Casino Hearts, Lou Rebecca Wild Nothing, the shoegaze-ish project from NYC songwriter Jack Tatum, has released numerous records on the uber-hip Captured Tracks. For those unfamiliar, the label specializes in a slightly fuzzy, mid-fi aesthetic well informed by indie stalwarts including The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush and more. Openers Casino Hearts explore similar sonic territory with refreshing results, while Lou Rebecca makes synth-pop that’s simultaneously cold and warm. $25, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — Bill Baird
Sunday, May 18
LA Witch, Daiistar
LA Witch comes from the neo-psych scene exemplified by bands such as the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Black Angels but offers its own uniquely feminine take. As the name suggests, they’re women and they’re from LA. And they’re good at what they do. Opener Daiistar is Austin’s latest buzzy export, mining late ’80s baggy Manchester vibes. $18, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BB
Tuesday, May 20
Hippo Campus, Hotline TNT Minnesota-based indie rockers Hippo Campus are touring behind their latest album, 2024’s Flood. The group formed in 2013 while the
Pentagram
members studied jazz and classic music at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. Over time, the group developed a sunny sound inspired by UK influences and best captured in 2017’s The Way It Goes. On Flood, Hippo Campus’ members find themselves at an introspective crossroads as they grapple with life in their 30s. Hotline TNT, a New Yorkbased rock outfit with shoegaze DNA, makes an appropriate and noisy opener. $45-$127.50, 8 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s, (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — Danny Cervantes
Wednesday, May 21
The Damned, TV Smith’s The Adverts
Every punk fan who had their head shattered when they heard the Damned’s “Brand New Rose,” stand up and be counted! Although the Damned were at the forefront of UK punk, having dropped a record before even the Sex Pistols, they’re still out there milking it. Are they only in it for the money? Who cares? They’re the freaking Damned. Go see them before you can’t. $45, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BB
Thursday, May 22
Queen Serene, Neon Lemon, Freund
Queen Serene are one of Austin’s best new bands, nimbly fusing shoegaze, indie, noise rock
and pleasingly melodic interludes. It’s really good stuff, and they drop jaws live. Neon Lemon and Freund fall squarely into the Austin psych-rock tradition. If that’s your thing, you’ll probably appreciate their take on a classic Texas sound. $10, 9 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerosesa.com. — BB
Friday, May 23
Gene Simmons Band
Tis the era of the never-ending retirement tour, and Gene Simmons of Kiss fame is the latest jump on the train. Reviews of the tour thus far have been mixed. Reportedly, Simmons goes on long, inappropriate diatribes and shares lots of cringe-inducing stories, but he’s also remarkably spry and lively while delving into the classic Kiss catalog and some classic rock cover songs. If you just can’t get enough Kiss, this one’s for you. $89 and up, 8 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — BB
Sunday, May 25
Wallows, Porches
After years of building momentum, Wallows’ SoCal surf-punk sound appears be cresting like a wave along the Pacific. This sold-out Memorial Day Weekend performance which should be a treat for fans and new listeners alike — assuming they have already landed tickets or are willing to
The Damned
pay up on the resale market. Sold out, 7 p.m., The Espee, 1174 E. Commerce St., (210) 226-5700, theespee.com. — DC
White Denim, Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Egg Vocalist and guitarist James Petralli and bassist Steve Terebecki formed the indie-rock duo White Denim in Austin in 2006. Since then, the pair has created its own distinctive rock sound that draws on prog, jazz and psychedelic influences — that mix seems rooted in the ’70s, it probably is, but White Denim puts its own stamp on the whole blend. $25, 8 p.m., Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall.com. — DC
Tuesday, May 27
The Lemon Twigs, New Attractions
The Lemon Twigs are both charmingly twee and classic-rock shredders. Part of the twee vibe stems from the band’s looks — its members resemble a cross between the Bay City Rollers and early Todd Rundgren. Musically, though, the group leans more in the Rundgren direction, kicking ass in an early-’70s Big Star kind of way. Thankfully. It’s both sincere and tongue-in-cheek, but who isn’t in this post-modern world? Excellent local openers New Attractions also mine a ’70s vibe but lean more toward early Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. $20, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BB
Shutterstock / ChrisJamesRyanPhotography
EMPLOYMENT
H-E-B seeks Senior Software Engineer in San Antonio, TX to develop computer and network software. E-Mail resumes to Marisa Alcorta at Recruiting10@heb.com
SJRC Texas seeks a Kinship Specialist: Req an Associate’s deg in Psych, Child Welfare, or related & 2 yrs as a Direct Case Worker, Behavioral Specialist or Case Manager OR BS & 1 yr exp. May work hybrid or near remote w/in MSA. Position in Bulverde, TX. Email CV to ATTN: Amber Cottrell, 0501922, acottrell@sjrctexas.org. EOE
International Education Programs, Inc. seeks Business Analyst to work in San Antonio, TX to provide business risk and legal assessment on current business plans regarding real estate acquisitions, compliance with academic accreditation institutions and agencies, and the legalities of the proposed plans. E-Mail resumes to karla@ uag.edu. Must put “Business Analyst” on subject line.
International Motors, LLC is seeking a Manufacturing Engineering Lead in San Antonio, TX with the following requirements: Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of experience in product manufacturing OR Master’s degree and 3 years of experience in product manufacturing OR 7 years of experience in product manufacturing. Required Skills: Design manufacturing process to meet engineering design product and quality requirements including process improvements and process capable (Cp, Cpk), ergo analysis control plan to avoid ergo risk; Develop tooling, equipment and device required for projects including cranes, fluid equipment, conveyors, torque tooling to ensure reliability required for manufacturing processes; Analyze feasibility CAPEX and provide support to complete the authorization and lead the implementation focus in LEAN and fast solutions; Design training for new manufacturing processes, train in all areas and document the training in system procedures; Lead MES new functions-requirements, define interfaces with other systems, working with teams including multifunctional Production, Maintenance, Materials, IT, Quality to design the functions needed, document MES new process and validate MES new changes in the Quality environment, Production environment and monitor any issues. Up to 50% international travel required; must live within normal commuting distance of San Antonio, TX. Apply at https://careers.international. com/ Refer to Job # 58226
“Achievement Unlocked”--you need a certain three letters. by Matt Jones © 2025 Matt Jones
Across 1. Foldable food
5. Drops on the lawn
8. In this manner
12. Smartphone sound
14. On the Caribbean, for example
16. Banish
17. Longtime syndicated radio host and voice of Shaggy on “Scooby-Doo”
19. Elation
20. Meal prep box
21. Dairy product with a straining process
23. Request for help
24. “Blueberries for ___”
25. Body of beliefs
28. Texting protocol initials
31. Phobias
35. Just terrific
38. Flying mammal
39. Jonas who developed a polio vaccine
40. Creepy
41. Output of Kilauea
42. Sugar suffix
43. One who often knows what foods they like
45. Filmmaker Russ
48. “I know kung fu” role
49. Bohr who won a Nobel
50. Movie studio expanse
52. Throw in
53. Couple’s parting gesture
59. ___-Locka, Fla.
62. Pointless
63. Some pivotal song moments, or what the other five theme
answers literally contain
65. Complete fiction
66. Singer Fitzgerald
67. Jalisco sandwich
68. Push to the limit
69. Rep.’s colleague
70. Low, as a voice
Down
1. Poster fastener
2. Jai ___ (fast-paced game)
3. Play personnel
4. Minecraft resource
5. “The Phantom of the Opera” heroine Christine ___
6. In ___ (intrinsically)
7. Time period
8. Switch back and forth
9. “Letterkenny” streamer
10. Manual reader
11. “Cancel that deletion”
13. “Holy cow!”
15. Organic brand for soups and frozen entrees
18. “I Got Next” rapper ___-
One
22. Awkward one
23. Item that sticks to other laundry items
25. Salt that’s high in magnesium
26. Make fun of
27. “Roots” author Alex
28. Coil of yarn
29. Dance company founder
Cunningham
30. Japanese watch company
32. Back off
33. “Bolero” composer
34. Constellation components
36. “That’s right, pardner”
37. Former Ohio congressman
Bob
41. Installed, as floor tile
44. Concludes by, in a day planner
46. Firstborn
47. Steal from
51. Little kid
52. Incinerator stuff
53. Coated with gold
54. “Garfield” canine
55. Futbol cheers
56. Wiggly swimmers
57. Actor MacLachlan
58. “___ see clearly now ...”
59. Folkloric fiend
60. Staten Island Ferry co-puchaser Davidson
61. “Hurry it up” letters
64. Doze (off)
Answers on page 29.
