San Antonio Current - September 4, 2025

Page 1


Every $1 provides 7 meals. Give today at safoodbank.org/donate

When we unite as a

we create a powerful force against hunger. Whether you’re volunteering, donating, or advocating, your actions add up, bringing us one step closer to ending hunger across Southwest Texas.

Publisher Michael Wagner

Editor in Chief Sanford Nowlin

General Manager Chelsea Bourque

Editorial

Digital Content Editor Stephanie Koithan

Contributing Arts Editor Bryan Rindfuss

Staff Writer Michael Karlis

Contributors Abe Asher, Bill Baird, Ron Bechtol, Danny Cervantes, Amber Esparza, Brianna Espinoza, Anjali Gupta, Colin Houston, Kiko Martinez, Mike McMahan, Kevin Sanchez, M. Solis, Dean Zach

Advertising

Senior Account Executive Mike Valdelamar

Account Manager Parker McCoy

Account Executive Zach Sherman

Creative Services

Graphic Designer Ana Paula Gutierrez

Events and Marketing

Events Director Chelsea Bourque

Events & Promotions Coordinator

Chastina De La Pena

Circulation

Circulation Manager Chastina De La Pena

Chava Communications Group

Founder, Chief Executive Officer Michael Wagner

Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer Cassandra Yardeni

Chief Operating Officer Graham Jarrett

Vice President of Operations Hollie Mahadeo

Art Director David Loyola

Director of Digital Content Strategy Colin Wolf

Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon

Project Manager Megan Nally

chavagroup.com

National Advertising: Voice Media Group

1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

San Antonio Current sacurrent.com

Editorial: editor@sacurrent.com

Display Advertising: marketing@sacurrent.com

The San Antonio Current is published by Chava Communications Group

San Antonio Distribution The Current is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Get listed 1. Visit sacurrent.com

2. Click “Calendar” and then “Submit an Event” 3. Follow the steps to submit your event details Please allow 48 hours for review and approval. Event submissions are not accepted by phone.

Copyright notice: The entire contents of the San Antonio Current are copyright 2023 by Chava Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be emailed to the addresses listed above.

Subscriptions: Additional copies or back issues may be purchased at the Current offices for $1. Six-month domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $75; one-year subscriptions for $125.

in this issue

25-18/// Sept 4 - 17, 2025

Dark Angel bringing its innovative thrash to San Antonio’s Vibes Event Center

Critics’ Picks

Auditor’s Certification:

07

The Opener News in Brief

Shaky Foundation

San Antonio’s term sheet with the Spurs isn’t a great deal, top sports economist says

Cityscrapes

Project Marvel’s open-ended term sheet will cost every San Antonio property taxpayer

Bad Takes

As San Antonio considers new surveillance tech for its police, we should be wary of weaponization 16 Calendar

Jade Paris of Sixth Seat Dining Club seeks community through restaurants 38 Music Pulverizing Pioneers 09

The Spurs aren’t leaving San Antonio, even if the arena vote fails in November, experts say

No Filter

Comedian Tom Arnold dishes on Steven Seagal, Trump and Schwarzenegger ahead of Sept. 6 show in San Antonio

31 Screns

No Off Switch

Veteran actor and Alamo Heights grad Peter Weller talks about plans for his twilight years

33 Food Street Food, Valet Parking

St. Anthony Hotel’s new food honcho wins with approachable fare at Anacacho Coffee & Cantina

Cooking Up Conversation

Our picks of things to do

The Power of the Press

The McNay’s ‘Do Not Meddle With It!!’ examines French artists’ defiance of censorship to skewer the powerful

On

the Cover: Politicos and the media warn the Spurs will fly the coop if SA doesn’t move quickly to give the team a new arena. That’s a far-fetched claim, according to sports-economics experts. Design: David Loyola.

Instagram Spurs

CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLURAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO

GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES

HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE

ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES

VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS

CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLURAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO

GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE

ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES

VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS

CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-

RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO

GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE

ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES

VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS

CDS DVDS BLU-RAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL RECORDS CDS DVDS BLURAYS 4K VIDEO GAMES HARDWARE ACCESSORIES VINYL

SELLBUY TRADE

Fearless Together

– Save the date –Thursday, October 9th | 6-9pm 2800 Broadway, SATX 78209

Special Performances • Mobile Testing OnsiteArt Photobooth • and More!

Enjoy food, drinks, vendors, DJ, & a panel discussion between youth with informative narratives such as living positive, dating, and stopping the stigma.

#FearlessTogether

#OperationBrave

#DayToBeBrave

#IAmBrave

RSVP FOR YOUR FREE TICKETS TODAY! *While Supplies Last For more info call (210) 644-1555

That Rocks/That Sucks

After years of trying, the Republican-controlled Texas House has at long last passed a bill banning transgender people from using public restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. If Senate Bill 8 is approved by the Texas Senate and signed into law, it would become the most financially punitive bathroom bill in the country — fining institutions that fail to enforce the law $25,000 and then $125,000 for any subsequent violations. The bill wouldn’t affect private institutions.

The University of Texas at San Antonio has secured $186 million in state funds for the maintenance of its campuses. The money will be spent over the next three years to update classrooms, laboratories and other infrastructure across the school’s Main Campus, Downtown Campus and Health Science Center. UTSA is also on the verge of completing its merger with UT Health San Antonio, which was officially approved in June.

The Texas House last week approved legislation allowing private citizens to sue anyone who makes or distributes abortion medication in Texas, including organizations or doctors who reside out of state. The bill, which faces almost certain court challenge, offers people who file suit against abortion medication providers up to $100,000 in damages — an incentive that opponents of the bill argue would incentivize people to turn in doctors and neighbors.

The San Antonio Zoo next year will open a new laboratory focused on the conservation of coral reefs. The $750,000 facility will support research, restoration and education efforts while coordinating with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to both study corals and help restore those that have sustained damage. The lab will be named for the late San Antonio College geology professor R.P. Brewer III, whose family helped finance the project. — Abe Asher

Spouting off about the Smithsonian’s ‘obsession with slavery’ with Texas pseudohistorian David Barton

Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.

Ever eager to whitewash reality so it matches his MAGA fever dream, President Donald Trump last month proclaimed the White House plans to review Smithsonian Institution exhibits that focus on negative aspects of U.S. history, including “how bad slavery was.”

Turns out Texas-based Christian nationalist David Barton was likely involved in urging President Cankles to order up the purge — or he’s at least eager to take credit for it — according to reporting by Right Wing Watch.

Last week, on an episode of Barton’s The WallBuilders Show, the pseudo-historian claimed he’d recently visited the White House to let officials know “the most racist and most historically inaccurate museum in Washington, D.C., by far, has got to be the museum on African American history.”

Barton — a vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas from 1997 to 2006 — blathered on about how the Smithsonian museums are corrupted by Marxist thinking and an “obsession with slavery” that leads them to depict the U.S. as a “fundamentally flawed and evil nation.”

“We can go down the list of why America ending slavery was quite impressive, but that’s not the position that any of the Smithsonians take,” Barton said during his podcast. “It’s not a position that academics take, and it was that kind of stuff that caught President Trump’s attention, saying we don’t want to tell the rising generations how bad America is and that America is fundamentally flawed, stained and is not redeemable. That’s not a story we want to tell. Instead, we want to show why is America different,

why are we special — what’s made America great.”

Keep in mind that despite Barton’s tireless and tiresome assertions that he knows more about U.S. history and constitutional law than scholars with PhDs, this dictator-loving dickhead has no formal credentials in either field. To be sure, his only non-ceremonial degree is a bachelor’s in Christian education from Oral Roberts University, according to multiple media reports.

Barton’s lack of credentials — and credibility show in the crackpot and propagandized version of history he regularly hands down to the brainwashed MAGA masses. For example, one of his key assertions is that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t call for separation of church and state. Over the years, he’s engaged in no small amount of ass-backward logic to try to explain away those troublesome Establishment and Free Exercise clauses.

Beyond that, Barton’s verbal diarrhea has included claims that the Second Amendment gives private citizens the right to stockpile nuclear weapons, that Jesus opposed the minimum wage and that a nation’s intolerance against LGBTQ+ people is a sign it’s embarking on a spiritual revival.

It’s an open question whether an assclown like Barton is qualified or competent enough to shelve books at the local branch library. He certainly should have no part in leaving his delusional, rabid-right stamp on one of the nation’s most important museums and educational resources. — Sanford Nowlin

YOU SAID IT!

“t is incredible that this shit is actually happening right now in the Texas Senate, but that’s your Republican Party at work. That’s what’s happening in Texas: these fuckers are crazy.”

Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio,ontheGOP-controlledchambervoting to make horse dewormer ivermectin available over-the-counteratpharmaciesforhumanuse.

The Texas House has been busy during the current special session, but the body hasn’t taken up one controversial bill: a proposal to ban THC-containing hemp products. Senate Bill 6, which was passed by the Texas Senate weeks ago, still hasn’t been heard in a House committee. A House version of the bill hasn’t been heard in a committee either, suggesting this special legislative session may end with the state’s hemp market largely unregulated.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed freshly gerrymandered Texas congressional maps into law last Friday, striking the first official blow in what has become a nationwide redistricting fight in the buildup to the 2026 midterm elections. The new maps, drawn

up at the behest of the Trump administration, are designed to net Republicans five extra U.S. House seats. The map is being challenged in court on the grounds that it unconstitutionally limits the voting power of Black and Latino voters.

San Antonio-area congressional candidate and gun influencer Brandon Herrera was named multiple times in a video posted by the woman who last week killed two children and wounded 18 other people in a mass shooting at a Minneapolis church. “We agreed on a lot of things, so y’all should vote for Brandon Herrera for president,” said the shooter, Robin Weston, in the 11-minute video. Herrera said he was “physically sickened and angry” about the shooting. — Abe Asher

Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore

Empty Threats

The Spurs aren’t leaving San Antonio, even if the arena vote fails in November, experts say

Pick up a local newspaper these days or turn on a news broadcast, and it’s hard to avoid speculation that the San Antonio Spurs may blow town if city leaders can’t serve up a deal for a new arena — and do it quickly.

For example, TV station KSAT last week ran the alarming headline “Could the Spurs leave San Antonio if a new arena isn’t built? It’s happened in other cities.”

Around the same time, the San Antonio Business Journal compared the debate over a new downtown arena to the Supersonics’ departure from Seattle some 20 years ago.

The hysteria isn’t limited to media outlets, though.

District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran has repeatedly warned that if a new arena isn’t built, the Spurs may fly the coop.

“We will lose significantly if we lose to the Spurs. For 20 years, Seattle has been waiting for an NBA team after the Supersonics left,” Viagran said during an Aug. 21 council meeting.

“I went up and I saw that stadium, and they are waiting,” she continued. “And, because they knew I was from San Antonio, they thought it was cute, and they said, ‘Look at the locker room we have for an NBA team.’ That was hard, and my heart sank a little. Then people talk about Las Vegas, and my heart sinks a lot.”

Viagran’s comments came moments before City Council, on a 7-4 vote, approved a term sheet with Spurs Sports & Entertainment for a new, $1.3 billion arena.

The city has agreed to put up $489 million for the project. Meanwhile, Bexar County is expected to throw in another $311 million by raising the visitor tax to 2%.

Voters still need to approve the term sheet at the November ballot box before that funding is disbursed to SS&E. In

turn, the public vote has fueled more speculation by politicians and the media that the team might leave if voters don’t green light the public money.

Even so, experts told the Current such a scenario is improbable at best.

“Even if they lose this vote in November, I can’t see [the Spurs] not trying to come back relatively soon thereafter with a new and improved term sheet — and that new and improved version getting passed,” University of Texas at San Antonio political scientist Jon Taylor said.

Indeed, Taylor said it’s even possible San Antonio’s deep-pocketed elites would put up the money themselves should the Spurs seriously consider a relocation.

If voters say “no” in November, the city, the county and SS&E still would have ample time to hash out a better deal, Taylor added. After all, the team’s lease at the Frost Bank Center doesn’t expire until 2032.

Even if local leaders find themselves at an impasse with SS&E over a deal, the NBA isn’t inclined to allow franchises to leave so easily, according to Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at

the Current plenty of other cities may be interested in attracting the Spurs. Although the team is ingrained in SA culture, our metro area remains one of the poorest in the NBA. The city’s paucity of corporate headquarters — something critical to selling luxury box seats — doesn’t help matters.

“I can’t recall off the top of my head how many Fortune 500 companies are in Austin, but I know there’s a lot,” Baecker said. “That means a lot of opportunities for naming rights, more opportunities for sponsorships.”

But, even if the Spurs reach a deal with another city, the team would be required to obtain approval from the NBA Relocation Committee. The committee would analyze the move’s impact on the market and fan support before securing approval from the majority of league owners, a challenge of its own, according to Zimbalist.

“The league will also usually charge you some money or a fee for relocating as well,” the professor said.

What’s more, the Spurs haven’t publicly threatened to relocate, suggesting the hyperventilating rhetoric from local politicos and media outlets is premature.

Massachusetts’ Smith College.

“The league is going to be somewhat cautious, because the league doesn’t want to establish a reputation of having its teams picking up and leaving willy nilly from one city to another,” said Zimbalist, one of the nation’s top sports-economics scholars.

“It’s not good PR, and it also jeopardizes the relationship that teams have with cities. Because if the NBA simply lets everybody move, then the cities will be more cautious, and reluctant, to sign a long-term lease deal and to put down a lot of money when they see that as soon as the team becomes dissatisfied they can leave.”

Even if the NBA allowed the Spurs to jump ship, the process of moving to a different market is time-consuming and expensive, Zimbalist added.

First, the Spurs would need to find a new market with the demographics and economics to support an NBA team. Then, the ownership would begin the lengthy process of negotiating for a new arena and a lease agreement.

San Antonio economist Chris Baecker, a former City Council candidate, told

Even District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, one of the city’s fiercest advocates for quickly signing off on the Spurs’ term sheet, has acknowledged the team isn’t looking to leave. Last month, during an appearance on San Antonio Sports Star’s The Blitz with Jason & Joe radio show, the councilman reaffirmed the Spurs “haven’t made those threats or anything.”

However, even if Spurs officials haven’t done so publicly, Zimbalist said pro sports teams sometimes hint to local politicians behind closed doors that they should keep relocation front of mind as they negotiate for new facilities.

“It’s not uncommon for that rhetoric to surface,” Zimbalist said. “It’s somewhat dangerous for a team owner to use it, because it’s always in the economic interest of a team owner to have a good relationship with the community. You don’t want your fanbase to think that you’re a cheap scalawag who doesn’t care about the town. You’d rather have the politicians using that rhetoric.”

During such high-profile negotiations, the public typically isn’t given a look behind the curtain, he added.

“One can assume that when politicians are making those noises, and the team owner isn’t, that they’ve had discussions about how they’re going to communicate [with the public],” Zimbalist said.

Instagram / Spurs

Shaky Foundation

San Antonio’s term sheet with the Spurs isn’t a great deal, top sports economist says

The term sheet between San Antonio and the Spurs is murky and doesn’t appear to give the city as favorable a deal as those secured by other NBA metros, according to one of the nation’s leading sports economists.

“In more recent years, arena financing is typically much more than half private, and here you have a situation where the Spurs are paying considerably less than half,” said leading sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, who teaches at Massachusetts’ Smith College. “So, that’s problematic.”

Last month, City Council, on a 7-4 vote, approved a term sheet outlining an arena deal with the Spurs Sports & Entertainment. Under the agreement, the city will contribute $489 million toward the $1.3 billion sports facility, while Bexar County will throw in $311 million.

The Spurs will cover the rest, including cost overruns.

The city’s portion will come in the form of a tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ), or property tax revenue created by new economic development at and around Hemisfair. The city also will capture revenue from a new downtown area that was initially allocated to state coffers. Meanwhile, the county’s share will come from revenue generated by raising its visitor tax to 2%.

Local voters will either approve or reject both the city and county provisions at the November ballot box.

Proponents of the arena deal maintain it won’t cost San Antonio taxpayers a dime.

Don’t bet on that, Zimbalist cautions. As currently structured, the funding plan relies on the notion that hypothetical economic development around the new arena — and the property taxes that

come with that development — will cover both the city’s commitment and any interest.

“There are two issues with that,” Zimbalist said. “Number one is that to have a plan for a mixed-use development is different than actually having the mixed-use development. Anybody can make a plan, but whether or not you can get private developers and contractors to invest in that … is another matter.”

The second issue, the professor cautions, is whether bars, restaurants and other ventures that sprout up around the new arena are actually new businesses, or just existing ones that relocated to the district.

Arena proponents assure the public that the city’s financing won’t require money from the city’s general fund, which faces a $170 million-plus deficit over the next two years. If the development around the arena is largely the result of relocation, the city may need to dip into those coffers.

“The problem is that you still have the same restaurant, but it's in a different part of the city,” Zimbalist said. “The idea that it’s going to generate additional tax revenue might be completely fallacious.”

In turn, that could exacerbate the city’s existing deficit and hurt its ability to pay for essential services such as roads, schools and police.

Apparently thinking ahead, Spurs Sports & Entertainment has promised to contribute an additional $500 million to fund surrounding economic develop-

ment with a guaranteed taxable value increment of $1.4 billion over 12 years. However Zimbalist sees potential problems there as well. The terms of SS&E’s economic-development commitment remain murky, he explained.

“What kind of commitment do the Spurs actually have to go through with this?” Zimbalist said. “Will the Spurs down the road say, ‘Oh well, we were going to go through with it, but … Donald Trump messed up the economy and we can’t go forward?’ What if there’s some kind of natural disaster, so they can’t come up with it, or they come up with some other reason and say [they] need some additional incentives from the city?”

While the term sheet has more legal weight than a memorandum of understanding, the document still appears to offer enough wiggle room to escape accountability, according to the professor.

“I want to see in the contract that they’re going to spend $500 million on mixed-use development,” Zimbalast said. “And then the question is whether or not they’re going to be taking activity from other parts of the city and not creating new activity.”

Indeed, Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said the lack of details surrounding the Spurs’ commitment to economic development could be the deal’s Achilles heel as it heads to voters.

“Are we talking about encouraging mixed-use development? Are we talking

about incentivizing job creation and entertainment?” Taylor asked. “If they’re going to pledge that type of money, let’s see where and how they’re doing it.”

However, Taylor said he’ll be surprised if more details and a contract binding SS&E to those terms aren’t released by election day for that exact reason. The precise terms may not have been released yet because the team wants additional leverage, he added.

“It’s just a sinking suspicion,” Taylor said. “As in, ‘Well, you know, we’re already promising $500 million, we can go up to $650 million if you’ll do the following …’ That kind of stuff.”

Even if SS&E commits to significant economic development, Zimbalist said the overall terms don’t appear to be all that favorable compared to similar deals recently inked between NBA teams and other cities.

Most of the arenas built in the past decade have at least been half-financed by team ownership, the professor said. Indeed, Los Angeles' Intuit Dome, San Francisco’s Chase Center and the Philadelphia 76ers' new arena were all privately financed in their entirety.

Zimbalist said the shift to private-sector financing is so team owners can retain all the revenue generated from their new facilities.

Meanwhile, SS&E has only agreed to pay for 38% of San Antonio’s new arena while also refusing to enter into any sort of revenue-sharing agreement with the city.

Courtesy Photo Spurs Sports & Entertainment

SEPTEMBER 13

7pm-10pm 9214 Espada Rd, San Antonio, TX 78214

$25 VOODOO RANGER INSPIRED FLASH ART FROM:

David Lamb of Dynasty Tattoo (@davidtats • @dynastytattoostudiotx)

Weldon Lewis of Mr Lucky’s Tattoo (@weldonlewis • @mrluckystattoo)

Project Marvel’s open-ended term sheet will cost every San Antonio property taxpayer

Cityscrapes is a column of opinion and analysis.

The City of San Antonio and the Spurs have touted Project Marvel as the creation of a whole new sports and entertainment district which — according to the term sheet approved by city council — “will stimulate the development, growth and expansion of business, commerce and tourism in downtown San Antonio.”

The visuals for the project show a lively, people-filled set of public venues and plazas, along with new high-rise buildings. And the plans for the development call for an array of new uses around the new arena and convention center expansion, including “housing, hotel, retail and office.”

The Spurs have seemingly committed $500 million for new private development for the project in the short term. The team has also promised an additional $900 million over 12 years. It all sounds great. Except.

Except the only specific development commitment outline in the document calls for “a boutique hotel meeting the NBA’s requirements for visiting teams.”

Except for the fact that the $500 million doesn’t have to come just from the Spurs. It can also come from unspecified “private developers.” Same thing with the balance of $900 million. Not necessarily from the Spurs, just from “private developers.”

Those don’t have to be private developers linked to the Spurs. They could be any developer building in the area defined by the term sheet. And that area doesn’t have to be in the immediate vicinity of the new arena, convention center and the Alamodome — defined as the “sports and entertainment district.”

The area specified in the term sheet is the Hemisfair Tax Increment Reinvest-

ment Zone (TIRZ). The Hemisfair TIRZ goes from Commerce Street on the north to Lavaca Street on the south, beyond of César E. Chávez Blvd. From I-37 on the east all the way to Navarro Street on the west.

It’s a big area, covering a number of prime development sites downtown.

The term sheet also doesn’t define when the period for the new development starts. So, would it include the longstanding but unrealized plan for converting the former CPS Energy headquarters on Navarro to a hotel? Or how about the city’s plan for a new convention center hotel on the site of the SAWS chilled water plant between Commerce and Market Streets?

The city has put a $750 million-plus price tag on that hotel alone. It could thus account for more than half of the “private developers” commitment specified for the Spurs over 12 years. That just gives us more of what we already have, with the city adding it would “likely require public incentives.”

Just because the term sheet specifies that the economic development will occur inside the Hemisfair TIRZ, don’t assume its boundaries will forever be the same as they are today. City staff previously proposed merging the Hemisfair TIRZ with

the Midtown TIRZ, the area including the Pearl Brewery development, the San Antonio River’s Museum Reach and Broadway all the way beyond Hildebrand Avenue.

Not to mention, City Council has a history of expanding TIRZ boundaries along with extending the years new development is kept off the city’s general-fund tax roll.

The Houston Street TIRZ, originally created in late 1999 to support Federal Realty’s plan to turn the historic buildings along Houston Street into a new retail and entertainment district, covered just 20 blocks surrounding the downtown thoroughfare, or about 40 acres.

Then, in 2015, council expanded the TIRZ to a total of 179.7 acres, running from I-35 on the north all the way south to Cesar E. Chavez on the west side of downtown. Late last year, council expanded it yet again, adding 17 parcels from the Westside TIRZ to help finance the new Missions ballpark. The TIRZ also was extended to 2060.

It’s the same story with the Midtown TIRZ. The original River North TIRZ was created in December 2006 for a term of 25 years, and it covered 194 acres. But in 2012, the city merged it with the Midtown TIRZ, then expanded it to 750 acres from a total

of 98 acres.

The possibility of an expansion of the Hemisfair TIRZ would open up a loophole for the Spurs and the private developers to spend $1.4 billion on projects almost anywhere in the center city.

Simply put, the Spurs and its unidentified developers are only going to build things that make market sense and offer a financial return — and on sites that work in the market.

So, don’t think about a collection of new restaurants, bars and a fancy news Spurs store surrounding the proposed arena and the expanded Alamodome. Think about a new hotel on the River Walk. Or maybe a modest-sized new office building on Commerce or Navarro street. Or perhaps new apartments along the river.

That’s easily $1.4 billion in new development, which likely would have happened anyway. And all that new development will be locked off the general tax roll for 30 years or more, costing every property taxpayer in San Antonio.

Heywood Sanders is a professor emeritus of public administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Wikimedia Commons / Katie Haugland Bowen
As San Antonio considers new surveillance tech for its police, we should be wary of weaponization

Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.

When Police Chief William McManus appeared at City Council’s budget meeting last month, he tried to justify the purchase of AI software as something that would improve efficiency by helping officers with time-consuming reports.

“These emerging technologies are about one thing: helping officers spend less time on paperwork and more time protecting our community,” the chief said.

Unfortunately, the only randomized control trial to test the time-saving benefits of AI on police reports suggests the outlook isn’t promising. Published this spring in Applied Police Briefings, the analysis looked at a medium-sized police department that agreed to participate for more than a full year. The principal finding? AI didn’t significantly shorten time spent on paperwork.

“[D]espite commercial claims that this technology will dramatically decrease the time officers spend manually writing initial reports, no experimental test of those claims has been reported to date,” the study’s five authors, who have backgrounds in law enforcement, criminology and police-community relations, wrote. “As is often the case, rapid adoption of police technology is often done in advance of the empirical record on the ability of the tool to achieve its aims and avoid unintended consequences.”

So why didn’t AI save time?

For one, many agencies use boilerplate templates for reports anyway, and if AI still requires officers to fill in the blanks, how’s that much different? We already have

spellchecking technology. Not to mention, streamlining the narrative-writing process doesn’t necessarily cut down on the meat and potatoes of data entry, such as including every witness a cop spoke to and all the evidence in the officer’s possession. Many workers today waste time meticulously going over AI-written responses when we probably could have written the damn thing ourselves — and just as fast.

AI-assisted police reports were only one of the emerging technologies council heard about at the budget meeting under the goal of “proactive policing.” Indeed, even the fire department got in on the action.

Fire officials outlined their desire to buy two tethered drones and six free-flying units for $291,000. They promised the devices would help with search and rescue, hazmat assistance sizing up wildfires and something far more vague: “special events.”

Could that include drone surveillance of street festivals such as Fiesta?

“What entities are allowed to access this data?” interim District 2 Councilman Leo Castillo-Anguiano asked about the information the drones would collect.

City Chief Information Officer Craig Hopkins stepped in to assuage privacy concerns.

“All data is city-owned,” he said, adding that “vendors are under contract with us, and the IT shop is responsible for supporting them to make sure that that privacy stays in place.”

However, the discussion left the exact terms of those contracts unexplored.

What if Immigration and Customs Enforcement calls up and asks for SAPD’s and the fire department’s camera footage, for example?

Of course, data breaches are an always expected surprise as well. In 2021, 1.8 terabytes of helicopter and drone video, mostly captured by the Dallas Police Department, magically appeared on the Distributed Denial of Secrets website, a WikiLeaks-like outlet that publishes hacked materials. The 600 hours of footage included not only mass public gatherings, but, as D Magazine reported at the time, everyday people unloading cars in front of their houses or relaxing in their backyards.

McManus told the council that SAPD’s drone program been in use “for quite a while” and “very, very frequently” at large events, around barricades and in traffic investigations.

“We’ll expand it to the point where we’re satisfied that we have what we need,” he said.

If what’s needed is for the populace to feel we’re always being watched, then mission accomplished.

Technically, Centro San Antonio — formerly the Downtown Owners Association — and city government are still assessing the one-year pilot of “advanced camera monitoring” in the downtown corridor, according a slide in McManus’ presentation.

To his credit, when questioned by District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito, the chief revealed that “those cameras downtown and the AI capability they

were supposed to have did not function as they were supposed to.”

McManus also said he opposed installing facial recognition technology on the equipment, which is laudable, if true. Nevertheless, he added that ”the plan is to expand the camera system to a much broader area, even if we’re not powering it by AI.”

District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo struck a more skeptical tone.

“I do have concern in terms of just the liberty to exist in society without having your face scanned and monitored, uploaded to a database that can potentially be monitored, and how we may be invading on people’s privacy in practice with these efficiency tools,” Castillo said.

She also raised the possibility of AI-written police reports revealing personally identifying information about victims of domestic violence.

To Castillo’s point — especially her use of the phrase ”the liberty to exist” — the above-cited study on law enforcement agencies’ use of AI concluded with a note of caution.

“As the inevitable tide of AI-assisted technologies comes to policing’s shores, it is essential to approach the widespread adoption of AI technologies with a critical eye,” the authors noted.

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s militarized takeover of DC, cities such as San Antonio would do well to choose caution over panopticism.

FRI | 09.05- SAT | 10.25

The title of this exhibition includes word “courage” in English, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian and Chinese, highlighting the diverse diasporas of the 26 artists included in the show. All are the participants in the San Antonio sister program of the New York Foundation for the Arts Immigrant Artist 2024-25 Mentorship Program. Hailing from spots around the globe, they developed their artistic processes under the guidance of U.S.-based mentors-in-residence. The work was produced with the intention of highlighting the impact of immigrant artists on the creative diversity that makes San Antonio a cultural pillar for the arts. The Russell Hill Rogers Galleries are located downtown on the UTSA Southwest Campus. Free, opening reception 6-8 p.m. Sept. 5, then 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and by appointment, Russell Hill Rogers Galleries, Santikos Building, 1201 Navarro St., (210) 458-4352, colfa.utsa.edu. — Rae Drady

SAT | 09.06

SPECIAL EVENT

INTERNATIONAL VULTURE AWARENESS DAY

San Antonio Parks & Recreation will celebrate International Vulture Awareness Day with Last Chance Forever, the bird of prey conservancy. Vultures and other birds of prey — apex predators — are indicator species and play a vital role in letting us know when our ecosystem is out of whack. More than 85% of migratory raptor species fly within 200 miles of the San Antonio area, hailing from as far as Alaska to the tip of South America. Last Chance Forever serves hundreds of sick, injured or orphaned birds of prey birds annually. Using a blend of modern science, veterinary medicine and the ancient art of falconry, they help these magnificent creatures on the road to recovery and release, which can take weeks, months or even years. This free event offers hands-on education about these oft-maligned creatures and also in common-sense conservation. Free, 9:30-11:00 a.m., Eisenhower Park, 19399 NW Military Highway, (210) 207-5323, sa.gov/directory/departments/parks. —

SAT | 09.06

SPECIAL EVENT

BOOK TASTING AT THE MAMMEN FAMILY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Wake up your inner bibliophile at the Mammen Family Public Library’s Book Tasting. The Bulverde event offers readers a chance to explore new genres, authors and writing styles without the pressure of finishing an entire book. Participants are invited to browse the branch’s “book menu,” spend about 10 minutes with their selection and decide if they want to check it out or try a taste of something else. It’s a deliciously guilt-free way to discover your next favorite read. Free, 11 a.m.-noon, Mammen Family Public Library, 131 Bulverde Crossing, Bulverde, (830) 438-4864, mfplibrary.org. — Kat Stinson

Anjali Gupta
Courtesy Image Angel Moreno
Shutterstock / Helder Almeida
Courtesy Last Chance Forever

SUN | 09.07

TOBIN CENTER’S ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE

The Tobin Center’s Annual Open House will offer pop-up performances, interactive adventures and behind-the-scenes tours of the top-of-the-line performing arts center. The gathering gives the public an opportunity to discover prizes and surprises around every corner of their building and grounds. Resident companies will perform a sampling from the upcoming season, which will include ballet, jazz, opera and youth music. Exclusive one-day-only ticket discounts are also on offer, as well as guided tours that delve into the architecture of the Tobin’s unique campus. Free, 2 p.m.-6 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — RD

THU | 09.11SUN | 02.01

SANDY SKOGLUND: ENCHANTING NATURE

Known for her fastidious attention to detail, conceptual artist Sandy Skoglund recontextualizes mass media-derived images, creating arrestingly whimsical installations, sculptures and photographs. Working closely with the artist, René Paul Barilleaux, head of curatorial affairs at the McNay Art Museum, has devised a new way of displaying Skoglund’s work that merges her photography with the gallery’s architecture for a novel experience. This technique is certain to amplify the push and pull between the artificial and organic elements Skoglund so often explores. Free-$23, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org. — AG

Courtesy Photo The Tobin Center
Courtesy Image McNay Art Museum

SAT | 09.13

SPECIAL EVENT

AROUND

THE

WORLD WITH THE WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF SAN ANTONIO

The World Affairs Council of San Antonio’s multicultural Around the World festival offers participants to a chance to embark on a global adventure without leaving the city. Staged at the at the Alamo Colleges District. Tickets within a broad price range offer varying levels of access to a vibrant celebration of culture that will showcase the heritage of more than 50 countries. Staged at the Alamo Colleges District Campus, the gathering will enable guests to sample authentic international cuisine while enjoying live music and performances. A raffle also will offer up an array of prizes. This event is supported by The Big Give, CPS Energy and Alamo Colleges District. $10 students/military/first responders, $40 members, $50 non-members, $100 non-member admission and one year membership, 11:30 p.m.-1 p.m., Alamo Colleges District Campus, 2222 N. Alamo St., (210) 308-9494, wacofsa.org. — KS

SAT | 09.13

TROUBLE IN SOUTHTOWN

From “good trouble” to “making trouble” to the “there-goes-the-neighborhood” kind of trouble, the works on view in the group photography show Trouble in Southtown capture glimpses of a neighborhood in flux. The exhibition highlights the work of Anders Lilleberg, alongside featured artists Domsquiat B., Fredrick Marc-Charles, Mike Shoemaker and Patrick Zeller. “These photographers are themselves local characters,” show curator R.E. Foerster said, “not only inhabiting a scene but documenting their view from within it. Participants become historians, valiantly battling oblivion from behind the lens…” Free, opening reception 7-10 p.m. Sept. 13, then by appointment, Enzminger Studio, 1906 S. Flores St., (646) 912-4165, www.annenzminger.com. — AG

WED

| 09.17

SPECIAL EVENT

A CONVERSATION WITH THE CONSTITUTION

How much do you really know — or truly understand — about the Supreme Law of the Land? The 13th annual A Conversation with the Constitution will bring students and community members together for a Socratic-style discussion on how the U.S. Constitution impacts our daily lives. This conversation will focus on the 4th and 5th Amendments under the theme Probable Cause & Due Process. Why spend an evening discussing these specific amendments? Because the 4th Amendment protects people from unreasonable search and seizure, while the 5th Amendment provides fundamental legal protections in a court of law — highly relevant subjects at this moment in U.S. history. A welcome and introduction by journalist and author Paul Martin and Gemini Ink Board President Charles Massiatte will be followed by an opening question by Dr. Christopher Phillips, discussions and breakout sessions. Please bring a copy of the Constitution for personal reference. Free, 5:30 p.m., The Radius Center, 106 Auditorium Circle, (210) 227-8111, radiuscenter.org. — Becky Hardin

Coutesy
Photo World Affairs Council
Courtesey Bourne Community Theater
Shutterstock ungvar

NOTICE OF PROPOSED ACTION ON APPLICATION FOR CONVERSION OF BASE IRRIGATION GROUNDWATER TO UNRESTRICTED IRRIGATION GROUNDWATER

The General Manager of the Edwards Aquifer Authority (“EAA”) proposes to grant applications to convert Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater under § 711.342(c) of the EAA’s Rules. A copy of the applications, the technical summaries, the General Manager’s proposed actions, and the proposed amended regular permits are available for public inspection at the EAA’s offices at 900 E. Quincy Street, San Antonio, Texas Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Electronic copies may also be obtained by request to Jennifer Wong-Esparza at jesparza@edwardsaquifer.org or (210) 222-2204.

The General Manager proposes to approve the following applications to convert Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater under § 711.342(c) of the EAA’s Rules:

KB Home Lone Star, Inc. – Filed application on February 17, 2025. The application seeks to convert 34.011 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).

KO Water Land, LLC. – Filed application on May 20, 2025. The application seeks to convert 22.734 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).

Jen Holdco 24, LLC. – Filed application on February 25, 2025. The application seeks to convert 18.810 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).

Steve Cargil. – Filed application on February 15, 2024. The application seeks to convert 291.231 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).

Cinco Blue Investment, LLC. Filed application on March 10, 2025. The application seeks to convert 10.530 acre-feet of Base Irrigation Groundwater to Unrestricted Irrigation Groundwater based on the development of the Historically Irrigated Land (HIL).

The applicants or any other Edwards Aquifer permit holder may file a written request for a contested case hearing on the proposed action with the EAA by no later than October 7, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. in accordance with § 707.603 of the EAA’s Rules. The EAA’s Board of Directors will consider approval of the applications and issuance of the proposed amended regular permits within 60 days of publication of this notice unless a request for contested case hearing is timely filed. If no timely requests for contested case hearing are filed, the applications will be presented to the EAA’s Board on the date of the hearing for final action.

This notice is issued pursuant to § 707.525 of the EAA’s Rules.

ISSUED THIS 4TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2025

The Power of the Press

The McNay’s ‘Do Not Meddle With It!!’ examines French artists’ defiance of censorship to skewer the powerful

As the current presidential administration resorts to lawsuits and intimidation to rein in the press, a new McMay Art Museum exhibition examines how an earlier generation of artists defied censorship to offer

blistering critiques of those in power.

“Do Not Meddle With It!!: Print Censorship in 19th Century Paris” shows the creative artistry that thrived in 19th-century France despite the government’s attempts to ban politically charged printed images.

Drawn from the McNay’s collection of works on paper — specifically lithographs meant for public display — the exhibition centers around pieces by Honoré Daumier, considered the “Michelangelo of caricature,” and Édouard Manet, the modernist painter who also produced significant print work.

Indeed, the exhibition takes its name from Daumier’s 1834 lithograph Ne vous y frottez pas!! Liberté de la presse, which leaves no question where the multifaceted artist stood on the matter of press freedom, even as he endured multiple prison sentences for his work.

“In their own ways, these artists took very heroic stands,” said Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, the McNay’s curator of prints and drawings. “What strikes me

MHonoré Daumier’s 1834 lithograph Nevousyfrottezpas!!Libertédela presse

about this work is the sheer determination of creative minds to express themselves in a time that defying those in power meant time in jail, a loss of personal liberty.”

The exhibition is the first Mitchell has assembled for the McNay since joining the museum in March.

Despite France’s history as a wellspring of artistic innovation, its 19th-century laws required government censors to review and approve all lithographic prints before they could go into production.

Censors not only had the power to prevent works of art from being distributed, according to Mitchell, they could shut down presses, take possession of the heavy lithographic stones used in the process or even order artists’ arrest.

The French state primarily employed those heavy-handed tactics from 1820 to

Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com

Courtesy Photo McNay Art Museum

arts

MIn addition to 19th-century French lithographs, the exhibition includes more recent political art such as this 1987 work by Donald Moffett.

1881, a period where citizens had no shortage of interest in current affairs. Indeed, by the middle of the 19th century, the country was home to some 350 political journals, including those who regularly printed Daumier’s work, Mitchell said.

However, the politically powerful were especially concerned about lithography’s power to reach the masses. While journals primarily circulated among the intelligentsia, posters were visible everywhere — pasted to poles, hanging in shopfronts and displayed outside cafes.

“You don’t have to be literate to get the message from prints,” Mitchell said. “You could just tack these up in a shop window in view of people passing by. They really were a way for people to learn what was going on.” She added: “Prints were the internet of the day. They were everywhere.”

Despite the government’s vigorous attempts to shut down political commentary supplied by artists, their patrons and their printmakers, the

creators featured in the exhibition found ways to defy the censors.

For example, the Daumier print from which the show’s name is drawn depicts a printer, sleeves rolled up like a street brawler, his hands stained with ink — or could that be blood? Meanwhile, the background shows fuming censors and a member of royalty either experiencing a fainting spell or out cold from a powerful punch.

Daumier’s far darker Rue Transnonain le April 15, 1834 shows dead civilians sprawled inside a home. Censors approved the print before the addition of its title, which offered viewers a clear indication that it depicted soldiers’ massacre old men, women and children as the government put down an uprising of silk weavers in Lyon.

While some French artists had victories eluding censorship, not all of their works made it through.

Manet’s The Execution of Maximillian shows the death of Emperor Maximilian I of the short-lived Second Mexican Empire. The Mexi -

can soldiers in the firing squad wear uniforms resembling those of the French military, hinting that Manet’s homeland was complicit in the bloodshed.

Censors picked up on the inference and banned the work. The printer was so fearful that Manet would ultimately find a way to replicate the image that he refused to turn over the lithograph stone until after the artist’s death.

Lasting influence

As testament to the power of the French artists, the McNay exhibition also includes works by Pablo Picasso along with famed Mexican artists José Clemente Orozco and José Guadalupe Posada, who were inspired by their predecessors’ unflinching fight to speak truth to power.

Orozco’s 1935 lithograph The Masses draws a clear line back to Daumier’s work, although updating it in a surrealist style. The print satirizes the Mexican elite’s perception of the working class, which is depicted as a

lumbering horde comprised of oversized hands and chattering mouths.

“These were the workers whom the state didn’t want to recognize, didn’t want to give rights,” Mitchell said.

In a nod to the lasting power of the political poster art unleashed by Daumier, the exhibition also includes more contemporary lithography that still has the power to provoke.

Donald Moffett’s 1987 lithograph He Kills Me includes a smirking photo of then-President Ronald Reagan. To the left is a brightly colored target the conservative leader had presumably drawn on those affected by the AIDS crisis to which he showed indifference.

The gallery also includes a quartet of posters by the Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous group of female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism in the art world. The simple, text-driven prints call out the art establishment for its devotion to the works of white males — a group that, ironically, includes Daumier.

Ongoing struggle

The more recent works in “Do Not Meddle With It!!” suggest that while the messages and targets change, artists have struggled with censorship across many time periods and across all regions of the globe.

French history shows that popular uprisings, combined with the ubiquity of the printed image, can throw off the yoke of censorship. However, that same history also shows governments are ready to walk back freedoms.

France’s worst era of censorship ended in 1881, after lawmakers, reacting to public outcry, passed the Press Law of 1881, a more liberal legal framework that dissolved harsh early statutes and remains in effect today.

Even so, government officials subsequently used the turmoil of World Wars I and II to temporarily justify returns to censorship.

“The situation became ungovernable, so they abolished the laws,” Mitchell said of the-1800s popular groundswell. “Until the World Wars came around.”

‘DO NOT MEDDLE WITH IT!!: PRINT CENSORSHIP IN 19TH CENTURY PARIS’ $10-$23, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m-5 p.m. Saturday noon-5 p.m. Sun through Dec. 7, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org.

Courtesy Photo McNay Art Museum

APPLICATION AND PRELIMINARY DECISION. SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238, has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for an amendment to Air Quality Permit Number 43833, which would authorize modification of the Southwest Research Institute located at 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas 78238. AVISO DE IDIOMA ALTERNATIVO. El aviso de idioma alternativo en espanol está disponible en https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/newsourcereview/airpermits-pendingpermit-apps. This application was submitted to the TCEQ on November 20, 2024. The facility will emit the following contaminants: ammonia, silicon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hazardous air pollutants, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, organic compounds, particulate matter including particulate matter with diameters of 10 microns or less and 2.5 microns or less, lead, and sulfur dioxide.

The executive director has completed the technical review of the application and prepared a draft permit which, if approved, would establish the conditions under which the facility must operate. The executive director has made a preliminary decision to issue the permit because it meets all rules and regulations. The permit application, executive director’s preliminary decision, and draft permit will be available for viewing and copying at the TCEQ central office, the TCEQ San Antonio regional office, and at Bazan Library, 2200 West Commerce Street, San Antonio Bexar County, Texas, beginning the first day of publication of this notice. The facility’s compliance file, if any exists, is available for public review at the TCEQ San Antonio Regional Office, 14250 Judson Road, San Antonio, Texas. The application, including any updates, is available electronically at the following webpage: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/ air/airpermit-applications-notices.

PUBLIC COMMENT/PUBLIC MEETING. You may submit public comments or request a public meeting about this application. The purpose of a public meeting is to provide the opportunity to submit comment or to ask questions about the application. The TCEQ will hold a public meeting if the executive director determines that there is a significant degree of public interest in the application or if requested by a local legislator. A public meeting is not a contested case hearing. You may submit additional written public comments within 30 days of the date of newspaper publication of this notice in the manner set forth in the AGENCY CONTACTS AND INFORMATION paragraph below.

RESPONSE TO COMMENTS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ACTION. After the deadline for public comments, the executive director will consider the comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material or significant public comments. Because no timely hearing requests have been received, after preparing the response to comments, the executive director may then issue final approval of the application. The response to comments, along with the executive director’s decision on the application will be mailed to everyone who submitted public comments or is on a mailing list for this application, and will be posted electronically to the Commissioners’ Integrated Database (CID).

INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLINE. When they become available, the executive director’s response to comments and the final decision on this application will be accessible through the Commission’s Web site at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/cid. Once you have access to the CID using the above link, enter the permit number for this application which is provided at the top of this notice. This link to an electronic map of the site or facility’s general location is provided as a public courtesy and not part of the application or notice. For exact location, refer to application. https://gisweb.tceq.texas.gov/LocationMapper/?marker=-98.61,29.452222&level=13.

MAILING LIST. You may ask to be placed on a mailing list to obtain additional information on this application by sending a request to the Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below.

AGENCY CONTACTS AND INFORMATION. Public comments and requests must be submitted either electronically at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/comment, or in writing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Office of the Chief Clerk, MC 105, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087. Please be aware that any contact information you provide, including your name, phone number, email address and physical address will become part of the agency’s public record. For more information about the permitting process, please call the TCEQ Public Education Program, Toll Free, at 1-800-687-4040 or visit their website at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/pep. Si desea información en Español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040. You can also view our website for public participation opportunities at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/participation.

Further information may also be obtained from SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE at the address stated above or by calling Ms. Amber Chapman, Lead Environmental Scientist at (210) 522-3271.

Notice Issuance Date: August 15, 2025

No Filter

Comedian Tom Arnold dishes on Steven Seagal, Trump and

Schwarzenegger

ahead of Sept. 6 show in San Antonio

Comedian Tom Arnold got his break as a writer for Roseanne and joined the cast of the classic sitcom in 1989. He appeared in True Lies (1994) and over 150 other movies, is the star of several

standup specials and even won a Golden Globe.

And he’s happy to dish on Hollywood.

Married four times, Arnold is also fearless when it comes to taking his personal life public. That includes his trainwreck marriage to controversial TV star Roseanne Barr, not to mention his most recent split, which involved

restraining orders, domestic violence allegations and swatting.

In short, don’t expect Arnold to have any reservations about letting the audience look behind the curtain when he brings his standup act to Woodlawn Comedy on Saturday, Sept. 6.

We spoke to Arnold via Zoom from his home office in Los Angeles, where he explained his approach to comedy.

“In my case, you have to be pretty self-deprecating because it’s like, ‘Oh, you know, my tour is called My Crazy X-Wife. People are like, ‘I know what crazy ex-wife that is. Roseanne.’ I’m like, ‘She’s not even close to my craziest exwife!’”

Stylistically, Arnold describes himself

as a comedic storyteller, and he shifted into that mode frequently during our talk, often jumping from topic to topic with a manic intensity. Sometimes, it was hard to get a question as the details spilled.

But when you’re hearing scathingly funny stories about anyone from Donald Trump to Steven Seagal, who’s complaining?

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

When people hear the two words “Tom Arnold,” what do you think pops into their head?

That’s a good question. I think that people know who I am. There may

Courtesy Photo Tom Arnold

arts

be one movie or one action movie or something that they liked. And my voice, I’m told. My kids are always like, “Dad, don’t talk. We don’t want people to know it’s you.” So, I’m very grateful. I grew up a small town in Iowa. I had a single dad too. And the only time we ever heard our dad laugh, I mean, really laugh, was when there was a Bob Hope special on. And Bob Hope was a comedian that. back in the ’60s, ’70s, traveled to Vietnam or Korea to entertain the troops. And he’d have beautiful women with him, which my dad liked, and he’d do double entendre jokes, which my dad loved. And so I’d say, “Whatever Bob Hope does, I’m going to do that.” One of the first things I did in Hollywood was a Bob Hope special. And Bob Hope called my dad. And so my dad — in the same living room that he used to watch Bob Hope when I was a kid — now sees Bob Hope standing next to his son.

A great full circle moment for a comedian.

I went out one weekend. We had a disco called Jailhouse. Disco just got to Ottumwa, Iowa. And when I came out, I saw Andy Kaufman standing there, and I was like, “What in the hell? Andy Kaufman is standing here in Ottumwa, Iowa.” So I went up and talked to him. Great guy. There’d been a women’s wrestling event in our coliseum. We have a lot of women’s wrestling events. Wrestling is very big where I’m from. And he went to it, paid the wrestlers to stay late to wrestle him to train, and then took everybody to Happy Joe’s Pizza in school buses. That’s the guy I want to be. But how do you get from Ottumwa, Iowa, to Hollywood? There’s no tube that does that. But seeing him there, I was like, “He got here from there, so it must be possible.” He was doing transcendental meditation in Fairfield, Iowa, down about 20 miles. It gave me hope.

In some of your stand up, you tell jokes about behind-the-scenes Hollywood. Like you’ve told some stories about old Steven Seagal movies. You’re always careful to say that he’s a great guy and all this, but— (Laughs.) He’s not. He’s not a great guy. I gotta re-edit that. He’s a weird guy. Well, I feel sorry for him a little bit. I definitely want to hear this. My

larger question, though, is how, as a public figure, do you know where the line is? Maybe you can weave both answers. Like Trump does. Jesus.

But you have some funny stories. On one hand, that’s great. On the other hand, you don’t want to throw someone under the bus, especially if you want to stay friends. Where is that line?

Well, you know, I do tell stories about a lot of people, people I love, people I don’t love. Steven Seagal lives in Russia. That’s a problem. He’s friends with Putin. So, he’s an asshole. That’s all I’m gonna say. And it makes it funnier that he’s such a weird asshole, you know, and weighs 500 pounds and like does his martial arts. So there’s a lot of weird stuff. I’ve told my stories. He’s never denied them.

He also has, you know, done that casting couch thing with a friend of mine. It was so creepy. You know, he’s a creepy dude. He’s weird. I do have some compassion for him because, you know, he’s so uptight. The movie we did (2001’s Exit Wounds ), my trailer was between his and DMX’s. And I love DMX. DMX was very childlike. He wasn’t really familiar with the movie process, you know. He did adopt a pitbull on the way to work and have it in his trailer. Crazy. But I love the guy, you know, and he played his music in his trailer. Steven Seagal would be playing his blues, whatever, in his. And Steve Seagal could not figure

stories about him. He’s so confident in himself. He likes anybody to do an impression.

Where do you think things are gonna end up with Trump? Where are we gonna be in 2028 when the nightmare ends, if it does?

out DMX. He was looking at him like, “What the hell?”

But the movie after that was with Jet Li, [2003’s Cradle 2 the Grave]. And I talk about that, how I was in love with Jet Li. Jet Li, who is this short and his hands are this small. And he literally could beat the shit out of everybody. He was the judo champion of all of China. I am sure I can beat up Steven Seagal. I can take him. He can’t even — listen, I tell Jet Li stories the other way because it was so cool to work with him. And, you know, I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of people.

There’s some things that have happened publicly that I’m sure Hugh Grant is not super thrilled that I talk about. Or Madonna. But they don’t care. If you’re like that, you know, and you did get arrested during a movie or you do. You just don’t care. You don’t care what Tom Arnold says, or anybody. And if I thought it was mean, then I wouldn’t do it. I mostly talk about Tom Arnold, you know, in these situations with these folks.

So I don’t worry. If it was Arnold [Schwarzenegger], and he said, “Hey, don’t do this,” I would not do it out of respect. I have done stuff where it’s like, “Jesus, holy moly. I have to clear that up.” But, you know, I love him. He’s a guy that’s in my life and very inspirational to me. But he’s also a guy who likes to be made fun of. I have to tell you, if you’re talking about him, he’s happy. And he also loves standup comedy. Loved Milton Berle. Arnold is hilarious. He likes anybody that tells

Well, the thing about Trump is he’s authentically horrible. I’ve known him 40 years. I’ve been to the Playboy Mansion with him. After doing my sports show, he said, “Come over to the Playboy Mansion. I’m introducing a new vodka or something.” And I thought, “I’ll do that.” And he said, “Why don’t you meet my new girlfriend, Karen McDougal?” He goes, “She’s Playmate of the Year, you know?” And so, I meet her, and she’s kind of got the money. She’s a very nice woman. And then he’s like, “Oh, Melania’s here with my daughter. Let’s all take a picture together.” And that’s what I do. Like, this guy does not give a shit. And that’s fine if you have a show like The Apprentice, but you can’t be the president. But he’s authentic. He lies every time he opens his mouth. He’s never read anything. The White House is a TV show to him. He’s like, “Who could I stock this show with that will be 100% loyal, but kind of look good?” You know, he changes the way the White House looks. He’s never read the Bible. He’s never read the Constitution. He does not give a shit about anybody. And the MAGA people, he is disgusted by. He’s disgusted by them, but if you say nice things about him, he’s like, “I will pardon you. You know, you gotta pay me, but I will do these things. I don’t care if you’ve sexually assaulted 10 women, because you’re getting out of jail.” The January Sixers. Try to erase from history what we actually fucking saw. I’m hoping it’s too much. There’s a lot going on right now with this Russia-Ukraine thing, where I think that people are being smart. Our allies are like, “We gotta go in there, go around the table, suck up to this asshole, and maybe he’ll do something good. Doubtful, but maybe. We will try.”

$21.65-$43.40, 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, Woodlawn Comedy, 1920 Fredericksburg Road, (214) 255-1336, woodlawncomedy. com

Courtesy Photo Tom Arnold

No Off Switch

Veteran actor and Alamo Heights grad Peter Weller talks about plans for his twilight years

Best known for his title role in the 1987 action movie RoboCop, veteran actor and Alamo Heights High School graduate Peter Weller, 78, has no intention of slowing down during his twilight years.

In his latest film, Bang, Weller plays Morgan Cutter, a sadistic crime boss who is reluctant to part with his best hitman, William Bang (Jack Kesy), even when Bang begins to question his violent profession after a near-death experience.

Along with a new movie, Weller just released the book, Leon Battista Alberti in Exile: Tracing the Path to the First Modern Book on Painting, about the Italian author’s sources of inspiration. During an interview with the Current, Weller also talked about being a life-long learner, his interpretation of the Greek myth of Sisyphus and what he thinks of another RoboCop remake. Bang is currently streaming on VOD platforms. Leon Battista Alberti in Exile is available for purchase at amazon.com and from retail book shops.

Did you get a chance to play golf with your friends the last time you were in San Antonio?

I always play golf with my San Antonio buddies.

We go on a golf course, and we yell politics at each other. In Texas, as opposed to L.A., you have to walk on eggshells politically. But in San Antonio, you can yell out, “I can’t believe you voted for that guy!”

You speak Italian in your latest movie. Was that in the script?

No, I threw Italian into it. It’s a language I know. I would have thrown French into it. Or Spanish! I am a Welsh, Irish, French, Scottish, German, middle-class white boy. I’m a wannabe Mediterraneo. I learned all this stuff. I forced myself to learn it.

You strike me as a lifelong learner, especially when you write a book on such a niche subject as Leon Battista Alberti. That’s thanks to my dad and my mom. I gotta say, “Go learn it!” Leon Battista Alberti in Exile is about the most famous Renaissance guy in the world, and where he got his ideas. [The book] will walk you through, pictorially, the Renaissance. It’ll walk you through all the greatest hits.

So, you’ve written a book, and you’re still making movies. What’s left on your to-do list moving forward?

I’m preparing for another movie right now, which I hope is going to be brilliant. Then, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ll play some more jazz [trumpet]. I play in a quintet. We just played a gig two weeks ago. I’ll write another book [and] maybe direct a short film. I’m thinking about making a film about [Othello villain] Iago meeting [psychoanalyst] Sigmund Freud for 20 minutes.

In Bang, there’s a scene where your character says, “Work puts man into action.” It sounds like you’re the kind of person who thinks if he retires, he’ll probably die the

following week because there’d be nothing to do.

You know, in the myth of Sisyphus, this guy is condemned to roll a rock uphill, and it just rolls back down. Some people look at that as a curse because there’s no way to win. But if you don’t stop the rock at the top and just do nothing, you’re dead. If you don’t embrace the fact that you’ve got stuff to do, then you’re dead. So, I don’t want to retire. I want to die on a movie set or on a bandstand with my family around me.

You find happiness in having purpose. That shows up in every spiritual tradition. I mean, some people can get to a place and quit. They can say, “I’m going to take my Social Security, and I’m going to lay out.”

And do what? Decay? That drives me nuts. I gotta get out and walk around town and say hello to people. I gotta jump in the water. I’m a mako shark, man. I can’t sit. There’s no quitting.

In 2023, Amazon Studios said it was developing a RoboCop TV series and a new movie and called it a priority for the company. MGM tried to remake RoboCop in 2014, and it didn’t work out very well. Is it a mistake to try again?

I applaud anybody trying to do anything. I just don’t know if it can be replicated. I mean, the best remake I’ve ever seen was the Coen Brothers’ True Grit. It’s phenomenal. The Coens and Jeff Bridges blew it out of the water. So, it’s not bad to look at [RoboCop] again.

But [original director] Paul Verhoeven turned [RoboCop] into something sociologically profound about rebirth and resurrection and loss and family. The thing that makes [RoboCop] viable and resilient forever is its themes. If you just try to be entertaining on the surface, then you’ll lose.

Find more film stories at sacurrent.com

Street Food, Valet Parking

St. Anthony Hotel’s new food honcho wins with approachable fare at Anacacho Coffee & Cantina

Tiny tostadas and barbacoa buns in the shadow of posh Peacock Alley? Consider the recently launched Anacacho Coffee & Cantina a denim-and-diamonds kind of thing.

From its beginning in 1909, downtown San Antonio’s St. Anthony Hotel has aspired to greatness. In its storied history, it’s often achieved the greatness it shot for. However, it’s also been through multiple owners and periods of neglect and decline.

Beginning in 2012, top-to-bottom renovation at the hotel signaled a renaissance of sorts — one in which its food and beverage operations played an important role. The more recent conversion of the Lucite-accented bar Haunt into wood-paneled Anacacho Cantina & Coffee is the latest sign of progress, albeit in a kind of back-to-the-future sense.

To manage this metamorphosis, the St. Anthony tapped chef Leo Davila, formerly of Beard-nominated Asian-TexMex fusion spot Stixs & Stone. Anacacho marks the opening shot in his kitchen takeover. A final determination of success will have to wait for the completion of the restaurant set to replace now-shuttered Rebelle, the name and opening date of which our waiter declined to reveal.

But the same waiter was more than willing to discourse at length on the 21 Texas whiskies that form the backbone of the ranch-themed bar’s offerings. We agreed on those most appropriate for the Bourbon King Old Fashioned, ultimately landing on Still Austin’s The Musician Straight Bourbon Whiskey. With the addition of a house bitters and Demerara sugar syrup, the Still Austin made for a masterful Old Fashioned thanks to a sophisticated balance and a lush mouth feel. Far less successful was the compelling sounding but utterly unrewarding Edna’s Whisper, composed of Cognac, vermouth and an unusual marigold cordial. There was a little floral bitterness from the marigold, but otherwise nothing. Crushed ice proved one of the culprits. Fortunately, the waiter offered to take back anything we didn’t absolutely love. (I rarely love unexpected crushed ice, just FYI.) The Toreador, a 1930s classic, I got in exchange was a considerable improvement. Served up, the combination of tequila, apricot liqueur, lime and sugar syrup was deftly balanced between sweetness and strength.

Anacacho’s breakfast menu features specialty coffees and plates such as brioche french toast with horchata mousse and an opulent $27 breakfast plat-

ANACACHO COFFEE & CANTINA AT THE ST. ANTHONY HOTEL

300 E. Travis St. (210) 227-4392, anacachocoffeeandcantina.com

Hours: 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 6 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday

Prices for large bites: $16-$21

Best Bets: Mexican-Style Street Corn, Bao Bun Flight, Mini Tostadas

The Lowdown: Anacacho Coffee & Cantina is the dining spot at the St. Anthony Hotel to be realized under its new food honcho, chef Leo Davila, formerly of well-reviewed Stixs & Stone. The bar menu features 21 Texas whiskeys, while breakfast highlights specialty coffees as the name suggests. The bar food menu offers the likes of an impressive Mexican-Style Street Corn, along with a a Bao Bun Flight — each of the trio with a different stuffing. Davila’s locally famous Big Red & Barbacoa Tacos and some irresistible Mini Tostadas also make an appearance. A new flagship dining space, replacing the former Rebelle, is still in the planning stages.

ter boasting eggs, sausage, papas and more. After 11 a.m., the bar menu kicks in.

From the Small Bites section, Charred Shrimp Aguachile struck an appealing tone: what could be bad about charred shrimp with “house pickle” and cucumber? A lot as it turns out. Charring the shrimp does it no favors, and once you’ve dispensed with the exuberant garnishes what remains is a visual trainwreck. You may yearn for the classic with lime, chile, cucumber and not much more. That and more of the wrinkled and spectacularly good house chips.

But if the aguachile disappointed, the Mexican street corn mightily exceeded expectations. In this case, charring is a serious plus. The garnishes and drizzles are too many to mention, though they’re all part of an impressive presentation. Just make sure to rub the pieces of cob around in all of it.

Nine options comprise the menu’s Large Bites, and I admit to a kind of paralysis here — not due to an excess of options, but rather to a lack of plates I felt compelled to order. Out of familiarity I ruled out the Big Red & Barbacoa Tacos that had catapulted Davila to local fame. Lo mein? No thanks. Same goes for chicken in sandwich or salad form. I wavered re-

garding the $21 Anacacho Burger with Wagyu beef. Finally, I landed on the Bao Bun Flight and Mini Tostadas. Don’t worry. Both were good.

The three fillings nestled into spongy bao buns has little to do with each other except perhaps accessory condiments. But the crisp pork belly version returned this overexposed item to a place worthy of its popularity. The fried chicken version was actually excellent all on its own, while the burly barbacoa take could win over the otherwise unconvinced — it only needed a little more slaw to mitigate its richness.

And then there are the tostadas. There’s little point in reciting all the ingredients, housemade chorizo among them, which comprise this kitchen-sink creation. They simply all come together atop the best crisply toasted corn tortillas I have eaten in years. Try not to share these.

Seductive desserts were a somewhat uncelebrated aspect of Davila’s Stix & Stone, but for the moment you’ll have to drink yours from the One for the Road after-dinner cocktail list. Here’s hoping that once the flagship restaurant reopens, Davila will have his way with that aspect of the menu too.

Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com

Ron Bechtol

food Cooking Up Conversation

Jade Paris of Sixth Seat Dining Club seeks community through restaurants

Name: Jade Paris Age: 31

Hometown: Born in NYC, raised in San Antonio, returned a year-and-a-half ago Day job: Lab management supervisor

Current read: Blindness by José Saramago

Go-to dish: Salt-and-pepper shrimp from Best Quality Daughter

Favorite cocktail: Smoked dirty martini from Supper

Comfort movie: Inside Out

Dining spot you love: Pharm Table

Money Quote: “I care deeply about the stories behind restaurants. Every menu comes from someone’s personal story, and that enhances the dining experience. Watching the restaurant industry struggle through COVID was devastating — but it reminded me that every chef and restaurateur carries something they’re expressing through food. I love the way restaurants encourage community.”

Why did you want to start a supper club here?

I came from having a very vibrant community in LA, where food was a huge connector. It was how I built genuine friendships. When I moved back to San Antonio, I wanted to create that same sense of connection here.

Tell me about the dinners. Our first dinner was this June. We cap it at six seats, which keeps it intimate — that’s one of the main draws. We want people to feel safe, supported and heard.

What’s surprised you the most?

It’s always amazing to see how willing guests are to be vulnerable with total strangers. Three of the groups from past dinners still hang out to this day.

How has this changed you personally?

I’ve survived brain surgery four times, so resilience has been a big part of my journey. When you believe in something, you fight for it. Hosting these dinners has changed me for the better.

What excites you about San Antonio’s dining scene right now?

Sixth Seat-wise — Moda Fare recently developed a custom menu for us, and I’m so excited about the upcoming dinners I have planned. On a broader note for the food and beverage industry here, there are

so many exciting new concepts emerging. San Antonio sometimes gets labeled as a retirement city, but I think we have a great array of new and existing restaurants that are bringing big-city energy.

How do you match dinner guests?

We ask everyone a set of questions — things like, “What’s your culinary and table-side vibe?” We pair people who can bridge the gap between shared experiences and differences. So each dinner is a group of residents with shared interests but different life experiences.

Madisyn Hubbard

Pulverizing Pioneers

Dark Angel bringing its innovative thrash to San Antonio’s Vibes Event Center

Many music fans remember the thrash metal explosion of the mid-1980s for the subgenre’s Big Four: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.

However, there were myriad other acts pushing the speed and intensity of metal into new frontiers at the time. A select few left an indelible mark on the music’s evolution, even if they didn’t become household names like the Big Four.

LA’s Dark Angel was one such innovator. Thanks to frenetic drumming, creative songwriting and sheer brutality, the band is widely credited not just for ratcheting up thrash’s intensity but also creating a foundation for another extreme style that followed — death metal.

Led by drummer and songwriter Gene “The Atomic Clock” Hoglan, Dark Angel will perform Friday, Sept. 12, at San Antonio’s Vibes Event Center with support from Sacred Reich, Hirax and Void. The group is touring behind Extinction Level Event, its first album of new material since 1991’s lauded Time Does Not Heal

We caught up with Hoglan — who also plays drums in Deathklok and has spent time in Testament, Death, Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad and more — via phone to discuss the new Dark Angel album, the band’s legacy and the evolution of its sound.

You’re a man of many musical projects. Why’s Dark Angel worth keeping in rotation?

The fact that it’s Dark Angel. The fact it’s us The fact it’s created by us. I have a large part in the writing of it, and as my wife has regularly explained to me, “Hey, you’ll like this story, it’s about you.” (Laughs.) This is where I’m at musically, where we are at musically — everybody who’s contributed to the album. The performances are great. The riffs are fantastic. The songs are crushing. I think it’s a deadly metal record. I’m really excited about it. It sounds super fresh to me. …

I mean, on the production side of things, it’s a departure from a lot of the current sounds out there. Sure, we utilize technology, but we are definitely a live act to a large degree. We’re using real amps, real playing. This isn’t a computer-driven, gridded, Auto-

tune-perfect record. The performances are all real and all very live, and we all worked really hard to make this album as bitchin’ as we could.

You’re resurrecting a band that fans are really familiar with, but one that’s gone through multiple musical evolutions and has probably continued evolving in the decades since it last put out original material. Was there much thought given about how to balance your growth as musicians while also giving people a familiar sound? Yes, there was. … And, really, the best way to move forward with a new set of Dark Angel material would be to acknowledge those earlier eras, of course. They’re very important parts of the Dark Angel legacy. But anybody who knows Dark Angel — who’s familiar with our trajectory — also will be very cognizant of the fact that we’ve never repeated ourselves on record. The first album, We Have Arrived, did not sound like Darkness Descends, and Darkness didn’t sound like Leave Scars and Time Does Not Heal.

So, anybody who considers themselves a Dark Angel fan, they will be well aware of the evolutionary process of Dark Angel, the non-repeating of sounds and approaches. So, ultimately, I just kind of felt, “Well, hey, what if we were to just take the approach of what if Dark Angel just kept putting out records throughout this entire 30-plus-year period. Where would the band be right now?” And that was kind of the most appealing approach.

I’m not going to try to replicate Darkness Descends, or Time Does Not Heal or Leave Scars or We Have Arrived, for that matter. But, writing from here and now, this is very, very Dark Angel — what it’s like to write as a Dark Angel of our current abilities and mindsets and approaches. So, that was the best way of moving forward with writing new material — for me anyway. That made it really, really exciting.

During Dark Angel’s early run, you guys were playing fast, frenetic music that’s

now recognized as being ahead of its time, especially in its influence on death metal. When you were laying that stuff down, did you have any idea that you were creating something new and influential?

Well, I didn’t know if it was ahead of its time. It was just, “Here are our songs, here’s us doing what we do, and here you go!” At that time, we were called Slayer clones, and I’m like, “Oh my God, is there anything that could be less true about that statement?” Because I was around Slayer before I was in Dark Angel and—

Well, I guess there was a comparable speed and intensity. Still, the sound was quite different.

I agree. As for our intensity, we had to slow down when we went to the studio to record Dark Angel, because [producer] Randy Burns was like, “Hey, you guys, can you slow this stuff down? This is way over the top. It is just a giant mess.” … If YouTube was a thing back in ‘85 and ‘86, you’d see footage and go, “What is this unbelievable pile of noise?” But we felt really strongly about the record.

I was 18 years old. That was my first time in the studio. This was the band’s second time in the studio. And there was no template for what we were doing. There were no rules. There wasn’t any sort of thing to try to follow. …

But as for its longevity, you hope for something like that, but you can never plan for it. And so when I’m 18 years old and the rest of the guys are 20, there was not a lot to suggest to us that this was going to have an impact 40 years later, or that we were going to go on to influence Grammy-winning songs with certain things we recorded. We couldn’t foresee that. Nor foreseeing influencing other bands or other genres to come. We were just trying to put out our own music. And there was that sort of adorableness to it, of just like, “Hey, here’s this really young, very aggressive band that sounds like they mean business.”

$37 and up, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, Vibes Event Center, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 2553833, facebook.com/vibeseventcenter.

Find more music coverage every day at sacurrent.com

Courtesy Photo Dark Angel

critics’ picks

Wednesday, Sept. 3

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

Black Joe Lewis emerged from 2000s Austin with a raw and sometimes humorous brand of electric blues exemplified by the song “Bitch, I Love You.” The singer-guitarist’s funky-yetsearing approach earned a major label distribution deal through Lost Highway Records, and he’s performed at major festivals, on late-night talkshows and everywhere in between. $10, 8 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint. com. — Bill Baird

Saturday, Sept. 6

EZ Band

TikTok propelled Houston-based Norteñoand cumbia-inspired cover outfit EZ Band toward increasingly larger venues. Led by lead vocalist Jaime Guevara, the group takes hit alternative songs such as The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” and The Smiths’ “This Charming Man” and gives them a catchy Latin makeover featuring accordion accompaniment and vocals that seamlessly switch between Spanish and English. Expect EZ Band to make it feel like Fiesta en Septiembre. $46.25, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Danny Cervantes

Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms, Spin Doctors

A package tour of ’90s-era alt-pop will offer a feel-good night under the stars for those who still crave such sounds. Blues Traveler, the Gin Blossoms and the Spin Doctors offered a radio-dial respite as grunge dominated the airways, and all three were major hitmakers in their own right. $58.49, 6 p.m., Whitewater Amphitheater, 11860 FM 306, New Braunfels, (830) 964-3800, whitewaterrocks.com. — DC

Sunday, Sept. 7

Buttercup

Buttercup rose from the mid-’90s Tacoland scene to craft indelible, timeless indie-rock, and the homegrown group has consistently wowed devoted audiences for decades now. Known for infusing a performance-art spark to shows that deliver plenty of pathos, humor and dynamics, it should be fun to see how they approach one of Texas’ most unique and adventurous music venues, the Echo Bridge. $15, 7:30 p.m., Echo Bridge, 310 Riverside Drive, instagram.com/echobridgeappreciationsociety. — BB

Los Yesterdays, The Charities, The McCharmlies

Los Angeles’ Los Yesterdays are a godsend for fans of San Antonio’s West Side Sound, which put a Latin stamp on heartfelt soul and R&B. In keeping with the style, Los Yester-

days are groovy, stirring and rocking in equal measures, showing the kinship between SA and LA — both epicenters of the Xicano movement. $35, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BB

Wednesday, Sept. 10

The Frights, Flycatcher

Southern California’s The Frights carry on that state’s long tradition of wave-riding surf rock but mix it up with punk, pop and the occasional doo-wop vocal. While the 2016 album You Are Going To Hate This may be the zenith of The Fright’s output, the group’s sixth album Ready When You Are., which dropped last month, is also full of potential breakouts. $29.12, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Danny Cervantes

Thursday, Sept. 11

Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra

Actor and man of many talents Jeff Goldblum is also a jazz pianist and leader of the sophisticated Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. The ageless wonder is known for chewing the scenery with

roles in blockbusters including Jurassic Park and Independence Day, but as a musician, he relishes ceding the limelight to the talented vocalists and instrumentalists who share stages with him. The orchestra has been performing together for 30-plus years, so expect an evening of standards from the big band era while Goldblum sits in with delight. $60.39$157.99, 7:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-5700, majesticempire. com. — DC

Natalia Jimenez

Spain-born Natalia Jimenez got her start busking before moving to Mexico and later Miami, growing her fanbase every step along the way. With millions of streams and multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, she’s not a bonafide superstar who hosts a reality TV singing show both in her native country and Mexico. $57, 8 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre. com. — BB

Mild Orange, Boyo

Mild Orange crafts lo-fi pop music that is

Black Joe Lewis

somehow manages to be catchy, fun and semi-melancholic at the same time. Mac DeMarco fans, take note: the band incorporates a similarly groovy, loose, reverb-y guitar. Mild Orange hails from New Zealand, which has produced outstanding offbeat pop in the past, especially the Flying Nun Records roster. $18, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BB

Saturday, Sept. 13

Garrett T. Capps, Flaming Broncos Flaming Broncos are a cover band, but don’t expect to hear tired run-throughs of tripe like “YMCA” and “Piano Man”. Comprised of SA scene veterans Chris Branca and the Fleming brothers, this is a cover band for musicians and music nerds. Sets can include anything from Big Star and the Beatles to Yo La Tengo and Dinosaur Jr. — and nothing is off limits, not even punk or thrash. Headlining the night is the Alamo City’s own inimitable Garrett T. Capps and NASA Country, amazing musical ambassadors for years running. $10, 8 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerosesa.com. — BB

Shutterstock / Sterling Munksgard

EMPLOYMENT

Manager. Dvlp & implmnt strat plans for multiple depts & aligning them w/ overall buss objectives. Lead & mng team of approximately 20 prof’ls. Monitor fleet performance, track key metrics, & implmnt corrective actions as needed. Ensure employees are meeting goals & targets. Dvlp & mng budget. Optim dayto-day oprns & streamline processes to ensure efficiency. Coord w/ int teams to ensure effective comm’n. Req 2 yrs senior managerial exp. $44,949/yr. Send resume to: Fulger Transport Inc., 4515 Smith Rd, Von Ormy, TX 78073.

“That’s Right”--of this we can be certain. by Matt Jones

© 2025 Matt Jones

Across

1. Econ. indicator

4. “30 Rock” co-star Baldwin

8. Musical key with two flats

14. Dinghy thingy

15. Osso ___ (veal entree)

16. Gap

17. Colorful theft deterrents

19. Some popular Japanese films

20. “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” co-host ___ Movsesian

21. “The Great Race” or “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”, perhaps

23. Amazonian berry

25. Certainly, in Chartres

26. Tabula ___

27. Sometimes-scary story?

29. Sigur ___ (Icelandic postrock band)

31. FedEx rival

32. Jamaican Olympic gold

medalist sprinter ___ Powell

33. Ire

36. TV offerings where the cast might learn the true meaning of the season -- or go trick-ortreating

41. Nice round figure?

42. Former Chevron competitor

43. Superlative ending

46. Feel sickly

47. Hands, in Honduras

48. Old-timey stadium cheers

50. Quick swim

52. “Seasons of Love” musical

53. Slightly darker, earthier-tasting Swedish breakfast fare

56. The Beatles’ “___ Her Standing There”

59. Fizz-ify

60. Pirate costume feature

62. Gets something for something

63. “Alice’s Restaurant” chronicler Guthrie

64. Sashimi tuna

65. “Quaking” trees

66. CondÈ or Thomas follower

67. Did we figure out what the long theme answers have in common?

Down

1. Pantheon crew

2. “Banana Boat Song” shout

3. Before birth

4. ‘70s hoops gp.

5. Susan of “All My Children”

6. Fashion designer Marc

7. Mag with quizzes

8. Showy irises with an even showier plural ending

9. Lots and lots

10. More aloof

11. Ten-key setup, slangily

12. Around lunchtime

13. Imp

18. Tijuana’s time zone

22. Latvia’s locale

24. Easternmost U.S. national park

27. “That feels good”

28. General linked to poultry

30. Tahini base

33. In repeating phases

34. Aptly named underworld goddess

35. Bucharest’s country

37. Dry quality

38. “Just go”

39. “Foucault’s Pendulum” author Umberto

40. Nautical signal

43. Goof list

44. Creator of Lord Peter Wimsey

45. Some can beat it

49. One of 13 of 52

51. Ecstatic hymn

52. Instagram short videos

54. Two fives for ___

55. Actress Sedgwick

57. Hurt

58. Indiana Jones prop

61. Poker build-up

Answers on page 35.

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.