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KLRU News Briefs: Texas Quilt Museum & Love Your Block, Austin!

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This weekend (May 17-18) during PBS NewsHour Weekend, we take a look inside the Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange and hear about Love Your Block, Austin!, a mini-grant program being offered by the Austin Mayor’s Office.

The Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange is drawing visitors from all over the world. It was founded by cousins Karey Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes, who have also written books about quilting and who founded the International Quilt Association and annual festival in Houston.

Museum Manager Julie Maffei said many people don’t realize how valuable an old quilt they own might be.

“We get a lot of, ‘Oh my God what did I do to my family’s quilt?’ And we’ve heard every kind of horror story there is, from dogs having puppies on them to wrapping water heaters with them in the winter, to using them to move furniture,” Maffei said.

The museum is also becoming well known for melding the art of quilting with the art of garden design. Tune in to KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener for an extended version of this story or find it on the CTG Blog.

Love Your Block, Austin! is offering $500 to $1,000 improvement grants to neighborhood groups in under-served areas of Austin. The application deadline is June 1 and so far the city has only received one completed application. 10-20 groups can get the funds.

“Love Your Block, Austin! is an amazing opportunity for anyone who wants to do an improvement that they can do on their own in the neighborhood,” Grant Coordinator Nevena Pilipovic-Wengler said. “It’s a really flexible application and it’s a flexible process, it can take place on private and public property. We at Mayor Leffingwell’s office just really believe in this program and believe that it can fund great improvement projects and really encourage people to apply by the deadline of June 1.”

Pilipovic-Wengler told us a few groups are interested in funding community gardens between schools and neighborhood associations. In our story we speak to Ortega Elementary School PTA President Hilda Villalobos Alvarez about her community garden application.

If you have a project you think would be a good fit you can apply on the city’s website: austintexas.gov/loveyourblock.

KLRU News Briefs air locally every Saturday and Sunday during PBS NewsHour Weekend at 6:30pm. 

KLRU News Brief: Austin Students Learn Importance of Water

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This Sunday during PBS NewsHour Weekend, we go inside the Austin Water Utility’s 20th annual Water Science Expo. Area 5th and 6th graders attended the event on Tuesday and Wednesday to learn about the importance of responsible water use. Austin Water employees did demonstrations for the kids in an interactive event which was fun and educational.

“We take it very seriously to educate this generation and future generations about the value of taking your water very seriously,” Austin Water spokesperson Jill Mayfield said. “It’s no secret that we’re in a very severe drought and that we need to be mindful and aware of how we use water every day.”

Mayfield said the event also served as a way to educate parents, because the kids go home and tell their families what they learned.

On Saturday, we’ll air an Arts in Context Short about #ATXFreeArtFriday, an Instagram art treasure hunt. You can see that piece online here.

 KLRU News Briefs air locally on Saturday and Sunday during PBS NewsHour Weekend. 

News Briefs: Dell Medical School Launch & Wildflower Center’s Family Garden

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This week during PBS NewsHour Weekend: two exciting unveilings, each with UT ties. On Saturday, we hear from State Senator Kirk Watson and Dean Clay Johnston at the “launch” of the UT Dell Medical School.

Dr. Johnston, who currently makes up a faculty of 1 at the school, stressed the importance of more doctors to meet the medical needs of Austin’s growing population.

“We can’t train enough doctors in the current system to meet the need. There’s just no way,” Johnston said in his speech Monday. “They’re already about 20 percent behind the doctors who we should have here in Austin.”

On Sunday, we take a sneak peek at the new Luci and Ian Family Garden at the Lady Bird Johnston Wildflower Center. An extended version of the story by Central Texas Gardener’s Linda Lehmusvirta will air during CTG on Saturday. You can see it online here.

The garden was 15 years in conception and extends upon the mission Lady Bird had for the future generations.

“We believe that this is a family commitment,” her daughter Luci Baines Johnson said. “If we don’t join in that commitment from our very youngest to our very eldest than we are missing out on the joy that we can bring to multiple generations.”

You can watch the stories this Saturday and Sunday at 6:30pm during PBS NewsHour Weekend. 

 

KLRU News Briefs: East Austin Revealed

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This week during PBS NewsHour Weekend we preview part of Civic Summit: East Austin Revealed. On Saturday, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell and former State Representative Wilhelmina Delco discuss why many African Americans are leaving East Austin, an area where they were once required to live by law. Today, many African Americans are moving to Austin’s suburbs.

Delco, who has lived in East Austin for more than 50 years, says the city can do more to highlight the region’s rich history.

“We as a city ought to be more conscious of the preservation and the need for saving what was good and important to our people,” Delco said. “We don’t have nearly enough historical markers to mark all of the things that made black East Austin a unique community that thrived in spite of all the obstacles that were put in our way.”

On Sunday, our story delves into rising property values and tax rates in East Austin. Again, we’ll hear from Delco, Mayor Leffingwell and current State Representative Dawnna Dukes.

The entire Civic Summit: East Austin Revealed airs Thursday, April 24 at 8:30pm, immediately following a documentary about East Austin’s Civil Rights history.

KLRU News Briefs: Austin’s Bitcoin ATM & Civil Rights Summit Preview

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KLRU News Briefs

This weekend during PBS NewsHour Weekend our local news stories look back in history, and look forward at what some call the “currency of the future.”

On Saturday it’s one of Austin’s newest gadgets: a Bitcoin ATM. The machine, designed by a company called Robocoin, was the first of its kind in the U.S. It’s located at HandleBar downtown.

The machine allows people to walk up and either enroll in Bitcoin on the spot or buy and sell from a pre-existing account. You can also withdraw cash.

“The one in Canada, it’s brought a lot of business. Ideally we get some foot traffic, get some booze sold and merchandise and stuff like that,” HandleBar Co-Owner Willie Stark told us.

But, Bitcoin has had some setbacks recently. We asked LBJ School economics professor Dr. Yanis Varoufakis about the risks involved.

“There is no telephone number you can dial if suddenly your Bitcoins have disappeared. All you need is a clever hacker who hacks into your wallet and suddenly your fortune in bitcoins has disappeared,” Varoufakis said.

On Sunday, we preview the LBJ Presidential Library’s Civil Rights Summit, which runs from April 8-10. Three of the four former living presidents will be on the University of Texas campus for the event, as will President Obama. The summit marks the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act.

“We thought what better way to [mark the anniversary] than with a summit that really celebrates the advances that were made in ’64 but also looks hard at some of the open issues in 2014,” LBJ Foundation President Elizabeth Christian told us.

NHW.SUMMIT PVW.WEBPanel discussions will be held each afternoon with activists and civil rights leaders before the evening keynotes with Presidents Carter, Clinton and George W. Bush. President Obama will speak Thursday morning at 11:30.

Tickets are no longer available but the entire summit will be streamed online on the summit’s website: www.civilrightssummit.org and will be televised on The Longhorn Network. You can see the entire Summit schedule here.

 

 

KLRU News Briefs: No Kill Anniversary & Art from the Streets

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KLRU News Briefs

This weekend during PBS NewsHour Weekend, we have stories about two Austin non-profits with different plans for expansion.

On Saturday (3/29), our story is about Austin’s three year anniversary of being a “No Kill City.” That means 90% or more of the animals that enter the city’s shelter are coming out alive and being adopted.

Austin’s city council passed its first No Kill resolution back in 1997, with the goal of becoming a no kill city at some point. It wasn’t until October 2010 when the city put a plan into action, and allocated about $650,000 toward the goal. February 2011 was the first month the 90% goal was achieved. Austin is the largest no kill city in the US.

The non-profit Austin Pets Alive! is one of many shelters in the city working toward No Kill. APA is unique because it focuses on the “bottom 50%” of animals who might otherwise end up on the euthanasia list. In the past few years APA set its sights beyond Austin with a goal of making America “No Kill.” APA hosted its fourth annual AmPA Conference in Austin in February and is working with organizations and shelters in many other states.

On Sunday (3/30), we visit Art from the Streets, an organization which has taught art classes and offered open studio time to Austin’s homeless for more than 20 years.

“It started very, extremely, low key. We came in with pieces of paper and crayons,” Co-Founder Heloise Gold said. “It shatters our stereotyping of who we think homeless people are, completely shatters it. If you have the right support, people flourish in their creativity.”

 Art from the Streets hosts an annual art show and sale each year around the holidays. The group is trying to raise money to improve its website to allow the artists to sell their work online throughout the year. They would also like to add another location for open studio time.

You can see both of these stories during PBS NewsHour Weekend on KLRU Saturday and Sunday at 6:30pm. 

Technical issues

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We have experienced a technical issue and KLRU moved to channel 22 for some viewers. If you are currently receiving KLRU on channel 22, please rescan and the stations will return to 18! We’re sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for watching KLRU!

Big news for BBQ with Franklin

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We’ve reached a million views on our YouTube channel!

We’d also like to share some news on a project we’ve been working on for a while. Based on the success of the web series and the positive feedback we’ve gotten, we’ll be developing BBQ with Franklin into a TV series. It will air on KLRU and be distributed nationally to PBS stations early next year.  RetailMeNot www.retailmenot.com, the leading marketplace for digital coupons and deals, signed on to be the first sponsor of the TV series.

The TV show will be developed concurrently with the YouTube channel, which was launched in October 2012. The television program will explore the history and culture of BBQ while the online videos continue to focus on instruction. KLRU will work with Austin-based Rocket Science Video to help produce and direct the series.

All current videos can be viewed at youtube.com/BBQwithfranklin

Time Warner Cable changes

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Time Warner Cable has made a few changes that are affecting some customers and may depend on your digital television. If you have Time Warner and KLRU is no longer appearing, please have your TV rescan for channels. Once that is completed KLRU will be on 18-1, KLRU Create on 18-2, KLRU Q on 18-3 and Vme on 18-4. This change may not impact all Time Warner customers.

Overheard with Evan Smith: Eugene Robinson

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Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist. He writes for The Washington Post and appears as a panelist on NBC’s Meet the Press. His 2008 coverage of the election of the first African American president earned him the Pulitzer.

In this episode, Robinson give us his take on the “broken government” and how the United States should focus on moving forward with the economy. Robinson also explains how the Tea Party has influenced the government.

The subject of race comes up as Robinson address Obama and how the race factor affects the people’s view of him. He explains that race plays an important part of how the Obama administration and it’s decisions are viewed. He also contrasts how different racial issues are currently compared to when he was growing up.

Robinson gives insight to government issues and compares them to the issues of past administrations, including the Clinton era. He explains how President Obama can look back on what mistakes he has made and how the president has transformed while in office.

Evan and Robinson also discuss his career at The Washington Post and his reaction to Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the paper. He shares his hopes for how technology can transform newsrooms.

Don’t miss this informative and timely episode of Overheard airing November 7th at 7:00 p.m. on KLRU.