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Records in the divorce case for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have been unsealed after a judge’s order. We’re talking with the Texas Newsroom’s Lauren McGaughy to find out what that means for the case.
Travelers at the Austin airport will soon have more options. KUT transportation reporter Nathan Bernier has the details on the newest flights coming to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Plus: a look inside the Press Room in Hyde Park, which is home to a vintage letterpress and a vast collection of original cinema advertising prints.
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Syeda Carillo [00:00:10] Records in the divorce case for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have been unsealed after a judge’s order. We’re talking with the Texas newsroom’s Lauren McGahee to find out what that means for the case. And travelers at the Austin airport will soon have more options. KUT’s transportation reporter Nathan Bernier talks us through the newest flights coming to Austin Bergstrom International Airport.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:34] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Saida Carrillo.
Syeda Carillo [00:00:39] Plus a look inside the press room at Hyde Park, which is home to a vintage letterpress and a vast collection of original cinema advertising prints. That and more coming up on Austin Signal. This is Austin Signal on KUT News. I’m Saida Carrillo filling in for Jerry Quijano. The cloudy skies are starting to clear up on this Monday, December 22nd. Thanks for being here with us. Previously sealed records in the divorce case of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are now public. A judge issued an order to unseal the records on Friday. Lauren McGaughy is an investigative reporter and editor for the Texas Newsroom. She joins me now to talk about the latest in this case. Lauren, thanks for being here. You’re welcome. So, Lauren, for those who are not familiar, bring us up to speed. Why is this a significant development in the Paxton divorce case?
Lauren McGaughy [00:01:50] Sure, well since the Attorney General’s wife, State Senator Angela Paxson filed for divorce in the summer, we have seen an effort from both Paxons to make these records in the case private, as private as possible. And for several months, we haven’t really been able to read anything that they’ve been filing in the case. And this is as the Attorney general is running for U.S. Senate, and he’s a public figure and seeking higher office. And we just haven’t had any insight into these records until Friday when this order came down and we were able to see them for the first time.
Syeda Carillo [00:02:25] Right, you’ve been reporting extensively on the back and forth about making this information public. Why have Attorney General Paxton and his wife, State Senator Angela Paxton, fought to keep these records pri-
Lauren McGaughy [00:02:39] Well, for several months, they were arguing that there was really no need for the records to be public. They were saying, look, we are public officials, they’re both elected officials, but nothing in this case will be of interest to the public and it won’t harm anyone if these records are private. That’s what they were saying. And then the attorney general also filed his own filing that said that accusing the press of kind of trying to infiltrate his private life and just doing it for gossip purposes. But in response to that, a group of media organizations filed a request with the court to unseal the records. And the argument that they made was that both of these people are elected officials and that the case is going to involve their personal assets. And over the years, Attorney General Ken Paxson has been accused of corruption multiple times. And often they involve his own personal assets, the homes that he owns, renovations on his homes. And so those assets are pertinent to those allegations.
Syeda Carillo [00:03:37] And what new information, if any, have you and other reporters been able to take away from these now unsealed?
Lauren McGaughy [00:03:45] Some of the records that were unsealed Friday for other media organizations, we saw the Texas Newsroom was able to see a few months ago because we were able to get some of the records right before the seal happened. So some of this we had already reported a few months ago. On Friday, we got a handful of additional records that showed that the couple has entered mediation. So they are trying to work this out without having to really get the courts further involved. And that they have used money from their blind trust, which has also been the subject of scrutiny regarding these corruption allegations, to pay for lawyers to do this mediation. So only a few additional filings in the case at this point were unsealed that we hadn’t seen previously, but this does mean that anything additionally that’s filed in the coming months into that court case will be available for public consumption.
Syeda Carillo [00:04:32] Okay, so a big shift from the way that things have been playing out so far. And you touched on this, Lauren, but why, if you could, if you could kind of sum it up, why does it matter to Texans that this information is
Lauren McGaughy [00:04:44] accessible. You know, the argument that the media organizations made and the Texas Newsroom was one of them, so full disclosure there, was that any discussion of these assets that have been brought up in the course of conversations about public corruption allegations in the past should be public. There was also an argument made that, you know, most anyone who gets divorced in the state of Texas has the presumption that their case won’t be automatically sealed and that the as public figures shouldn’t be treated any differently. So what’s next in this case? I know you’ll be keeping an eye on all of the updates. You know, I think this development on Friday was a surprise. It wasn’t the court coming in and say, forcing the Paxton’s necessarily to do this. The Paxton just hours before said, we’ll do this of our own volition. And I think that, you know, to me that might raise some questions as to whether they’re going to try to handle this privately amongst themselves and really not try to let anything get into the public record that might be embarrassing. So We’ll just have to see whether any additional insight into their assets, their asset sharing, will come up in those records. Lauren McGough, he is with the…
Syeda Carillo [00:05:52] Texas newsroom. Lauren, thank you so much for speaking with us. You’re welcome. If you’re flying out of Austin in 2026, the list of places you’ll be able to reach nonstop is changing. In many cases, the destinations are moving in a more vacation-friendly direction. New flights will make it easier to head straight to ski towns, beach cities, and some Midwestern hubs. But at the same time, a handful of familiar nonstop options will quietly fade away. So add it all up, and the number of seats for sale on flights out of Austin. Is set to rise nearly 9% in the first three months of the new year compared to the same time last year. KUT’s Jennifer Staton spoke with transportation reporter Nathan Bernier on what flying in 2026 is set to look like.
Jennifer Stayton [00:06:48] All right, Nathan, so before we get down to the specific routes, what should travelers generally expect if they’re flying out of Austin in the new year? Like, I always think about the airport expansion, what’s going on with all of that.
Nathan Bernier [00:07:00] Yeah, well, I mean, that’s a big one, because it’s been underway for a few years now. And 2026, we’re actually going to start seeing some of those projects come online. Of course, the big pieces of the expansion, like the new concourse with more than 20 gates and the big expansion of the Barbara Jordan terminal, they call it the arrivals and departures hall, those aren’t till the early 2030s. But in early 2026 Checkpoint three, which has been under renovation for almost two years. That’s at the West. End of the departures level that second level has been boarded up you may have noticed that is finally scheduled to reopen in early 2026 with more tsa screening lanes and and more airline ticket counters a little bit later an even bigger project in the spring of 2026 there’s an eighty thousand square foot expansion at the west end of The barber jordan terminal that’s on the secure site where the gates are that’s scheduled to open in the Spring with three additional gates and a whole bunch of new amenities like new dining areas, a new mezzanine with a public outdoor balcony overlooking downtown Austin, a children’s play area, there’s even like a quiet room for meditation or just like you need a quiet space and a place where where pets can pee. So this is a big expansion and it’s as I mentioned set to open in the spring and then once those two things are open then the airport’s going to shut down the South Terminal. And that’s where Allegiant and Frontier have been operating. And they’re just gonna bulldoze that thing. I mean, you may recall the city tried to use eminent domain to evict the private company that was awarded the 30 year lease by the city council to run the South Terminal and that wound up a big legal mess and the city eventually paid 88 million dollars to get the South terminal back so they can knock it down.
Jennifer Stayton [00:08:43] OK, so Nathan, remind us why the South Terminal is being knocked down. And of course, she mentioned the airlines that that operate there right now. Are they going to stay in Austin after that happens?
Nathan Bernier [00:08:53] Yeah, so the South Terminal is being torn down to make space for new taxiways that will allow planes to get around that new concourse that’s opening in the early 2030s. And yes, both airlines are supposed to stay. Allegiant says they’ll be moving into the Barbara Jordan Terminal in February. I have not heard back from Frontier yet, but airport staff say Frontier will be moving to the Barbara-Jordan Terminal as well. Now, something to keep in mind about this, these are ultra-low-cost airlines. People fly these airlines because they’re so cheap. But, once they’re in the Barbara Jordan terminal… They, Allegiant and Frontier, will have to pay much higher fees for all of the things that airports charge airlines, at least a part, if not all of that gets passed on to the customer. So that could affect ticket prices. But just speaking briefly about Frontier and Allegiant, both of those airlines are planning to reduce their schedules in early 2026. So Frontier’s going to go from flying from 11 cities to eight, and then Allegiant will go flying from seven cities to four. I don’t know if that’s related to their move to the Barbara Jordan terminal, but it does happen to coincide with that.
Jennifer Stayton [00:09:57] Well, and Nathan, so we have your full list of new non-stops. You just mentioned some flights that are not gonna be happening, but we’ve got a list of non-stop, that’s at KUT.org. But what can you tell us broadly about what we can expect in 2026?
Nathan Bernier [00:10:11] Well, Southwest is on track to offer a record-breaking number of non-stop flights from Austin. So in January, Southwest will have up to 109 daily departures. And then by June and August, that’s going to rise to 132, which is higher than they’ve ever been in Austin. So just running down the list, a few examples. In March, Southwest, will start non-stops to Hayden slash Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Fort Myers, Florida. Palm Springs, California, and Pensacola, Florida. And then in June, Southwest will begin flying to Cincinnati every day. Of course, these are all non-stops I’m talking about. They’ll bring back a non-stop to Seattle in June. And Southwest hasn’t flown Austin to Seattle non-Stop since 2018, so it’s been a while. Delta, second biggest carrier at ABIA after Southwest, they began new non- stop service in November to Denver and Miami. Delta started flying to Cancun, Mexico on December 20th, so just earlier this month. But in terms of 2026, Delta is launching new nonstop service in June to Columbus, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, Bozeman, Montana, Destin, Fort Walton Beach Airport in Florida. And let me bring up American Airlines real fast. They’re the third largest airline at ABIA in terms of seat capacity. They’ll be flying nonstop to Augusta Regional Airport on April 6th, 11th and 14th for the Masters Tournament. So this is like a special event service. A lot of airlines do for college football, you’ll see some of those flights as well. So a lot of these little tweaks. One I did want to mention, which I just found interesting. I could not afford this myself, but Lufthansa flies non-stop from Austin to Frankfurt, Germany. One of the few non-stops to Europe from Austin. And so Austin is one of the few U.S. Cities where Luftheansa has launched its new Allegris service. It’s very fancy. It’s a premium offering on select flights, and it allows travelers to choose one of five high-end seat configurations. And so you have like a private little area, really comfortable seating. As far as I know, they only have the business class Allegris from Austin to Frankfurt. And that is, you’re looking at over $10,000 for a one way. They may bring the first class Allegres here and that you can actually get a private suite where it is like with a bed and a 43 inch TV. Don’t ask me how much that costs, cause I don’t know. If you’re taking a 9-hour flight to Frankfurt, it sounds lovely. You know, if you have the money for that kind of thing.
Jennifer Stayton [00:12:38] All right, Nathan, so you’ve been letting us know about some interesting developments in flights out of Austin in 2026. You mentioned Southwest is adding a significant number. They’re gonna have more flights than ever out of Boston, but that makes me think, what about the air traffic controller situation? Somebody’s gotta manage and handle all of these flights. Where do things stand with air traffic controllers staffing in Austin?
Nathan Bernier [00:12:59] There’s still an air traffic controller shortage in Austin. There are more trainees now, but the staffing targets that are set jointly by the FAA and the Air Traffic Controllers Union call for 60 air traffic controllers. Not all at once, but just to have a pool of 60 air traffic controllers in there. At about half that still. And this was amazing to me. The busiest month ever in the history of Austin Berksham International Airport was October. That also happened to be during a government shutdown and there were only a handful of what are called ground delays which are becoming more familiar to people now I think and that’s when if you are in a flight bound for Austin and it has not departed yet you’re still on the ground then you are held on the ground you are delayed on the round so that the controllers here can have more time to sort through the planes in the sky and they actually the FAA reduces the number of planes that can land per hour in Austin. So we had I think three or four during the government the shutdown, but even after the shutdown ended. There have continued to be ground delays at Austin Berksham International Airport as a direct result of staffing shortages in the tower. So I think we’ll likely see more of those because the staffing shortages have not been resolved. And I also think that government shutdown, those men and women working long hours, mandatory overtime six days a week without pay definitely has affected morale. It’s not exactly creating a wonderful environment for recruiting. So don’t expect ground delays to go away anytime soon. But the purpose of the ground delay is to make flying safer so that the controllers do not get overwhelmed when they’re already overworked essentially so you just have to be as patient as you can and factor that in
Jennifer Stayton [00:14:40] Looking to the skies in 2026, Nathan, thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Jen. You can read Nathan’s more comprehensive list of changes to flights from Austin at KUT.org.
Syeda Carillo [00:14:54] This is Austin Signal. We’ve got more coming up right after this. Stay with us.
Jacquie Fuller [00:15:02] Well, hi, you’re listening to the Austin Signal. I’m Jacquie Fuller, Assistant Program Director at KUTX. One of my favorite songs out of Austin this year is Magic of the Sail by the band Teeth. Now, only one of the members of Teeth is from Austin, but the whole band lives here now, so Austinites. They all met at UNT and were playing in different bands around the Denton music scene and then came together around 2020. And this is their second album. Teeth, like a lot of bands that have been emerging as of late, are inspired by the sound of 90s, late 90s indie music, but to me they move beyond just emulating that sound and really nail the emotional heart of it. The first time I heard this song was during their live performance at KUTX back in October. I was running the board during that session and I swear that just listening to it I started to age in reverse. It’s true. I am old enough to have been young in the 90s, and this song just transports me back to that time, reminds me of listening to bands like Lowe and Versus. All I have to do is close my eyes and I’m sending AOL instant messages to a crush, and probably looking at the Delia’s catalog. If I had to boil it down to one word, magic of the sale is brooding. My name is Jacquie Fuller. I’m the Assistant Program Director at KUTx and you can find all of our favorite songs from 2025 at kutx.org. This is The Austin Signal.
Syeda Carillo [00:17:27] This is Austin Signal, I’m Saida Carrillo. The Press Room in the Old Baker School in Austin boasts a vintage letterpress and a collection of printing blocks for old movie ads. Hundreds of Austinites got a look at it and the renovated school during last weekend’s Hyde Park Holiday Market. Ella Kopeikin was one of them.
Ella Kopeikin [00:17:48] If you’ve ever taken a walk around Hyde Park, you may have noticed the old Baker School. This is Travis Smith, interim manager of the building.
Travis Smith [00:17:56] People walk by all the time and they’ll say, what’s in that building? Like what is, I’ve always wondered what that is.
Ella Kopeikin [00:18:00] Maybe you caught a glimpse while driving down Guadalupe, or stopped at Terrible Love, the coffee shop operating out of the former school’s old boiler room. Hundreds of Austinites got to take a peek inside with the rollout of the first ever Hyde Park Holiday Market. I caught Jacqueline, an attendee, as she was leaving a letterpress demonstration.
Georgie [00:18:19] There’s a lot of big markets and I feel like this one feels more eclectically awesome.
Ella Kopeikin [00:18:26] An array of local vendors, offering everything from handmade ceramic cactus lamps to perfectly worn in vintage t-shirts to freshly baked pop tarts, lined the courtyard and filled the 1940s mint green time capsule cafeteria. Another market goer, Georgie, appreciated the level of craftsmanship.
Georgie [00:18:45] I feel like I’m getting something handmade. I like interacting with the people that made them. I like getting to ask about the product from the person.
Ella Kopeikin [00:18:52] The event was put on by one of the building’s tenants, the press room.
Travis Smith [00:18:55] These are the actual physical printing blocks that were used to print these advertisements in the newspaper.
Ella Kopeikin [00:19:02] That’s Smith again. He also manages the press room. He’s showing me the shop’s vintage letterpress. Any of the 60,000 blocks in the collection can be inked and pressed to make prints. His favorite is for Blade Runner, an image of a stoic Harrison Ford holding a gun and surrounded by beams of extraterrestrial light.
Travis Smith [00:19:20] So yeah, we have this historic collection and it covers about 50 years of cinema history, graphic design history, industrial history.
Ella Kopeikin [00:19:28] The press room was founded by one of the owners of the former school, Tim League. When Austin Independent School District put the building up for sale in 2017, League and his wife, Carrie, placed a bid with the hopes of making it the headquarters for their cinema chain, Alamo Drafthouse. Here’s Carrie League. So we won it even though our offer wasn’t the highest. After two years of renovation, the Leagues reopened the building and renamed it the Baker Center. Two of the three floors of former classrooms were dedicated to Alamo offices, and the press room was based in the repurposed cafeteria kitchen.
Travis Smith [00:20:02] No square pieces, but we have plenty of old printing equipment.
Ella Kopeikin [00:20:05] Smith had already built a career in letterpress and printmaking. He began cataloging and organizing the printing blocks and showcasing them to small groups and workshops.
Travis Smith [00:20:14] We open up our space and do ticketed workshops to get people in to see this collection because it needs to be seen and used, especially to keep it working, keeping it healthy.
Ella Kopeikin [00:20:23] But while work in the press room stayed steady, financial struggles in the pandemic led to Sony’s acquisition of Alamo Drafthouse in 2024. The sale created another moment of transition for the former school.
Hyde Park Tenant [00:20:34] Alamo just like really shrank down. And in the end, they only occupied half of one floor. So we just started advertising and looking for tenants. The building didn’t sit empty for long.
Travis Smith [00:20:46] I think adaptive reuse sort of is going to attract people who believe and understand the importance of historic preservation and adapting and reusing spaces.
Ella Kopeikin [00:20:56] By early this year, the Baker Center was transforming into a hub for creativity and activism, with tenants like the League of Women Voters, the Travis Audubon Society, Austin Classical Guitar, Texas Archive of the Moving Image, as well as a number of artists and designers.
Travis Smith [00:21:13] It’s a really rich, kind of diverse cross-section of culture, art, and design and technology.
Ella Kopeikin [00:21:20] With a new community established, the Leagues and Smiths started talking about ways to give the public greater access to the building. That’s where the markets come in.
Travis Smith [00:21:28] It’s been a community hub since the inception of the neighborhood. And so this is sort of that natural extension.
Ella Kopeikin [00:21:35] The Holiday Market was the third hosted in the building this year, and as far as vendors and attendees go, the biggest one yet. Events like these markets also offer a special opportunity for the Press Room to be open to more than just a few people at a time.
Travis Smith [00:21:49] I want more people to come hang out with me. We’ll have the printing press activated running prints. You’ll get a good idea as to what it’s like.
Ella Kopeikin [00:21:55] Next on the agenda for the Baker Center, giving people more reasons to visit.
Travis Smith [00:22:00] I think the building itself is an experience. I see us as sort of this catalyst to kind of bring people together, learn about each other, and sort of build that creative community.
Ella Kopeikin [00:22:11] And making sure they keep coming back. Here’s Kerry League again.
Hyde Park Tenant [00:22:14] Building out the boiler room to put a coffee shop in there and then to start construction on a wine bar right next door. I’m trying to create a place that people love.
Ella Kopeikin [00:22:25] What could be more in the holiday spirit? For KUT News, I’m Ella Kopekin in Austin.
Syeda Carillo [00:22:36] That’s it for us today on Austin’s Signal. Reina Sevilla is our technical director. Kristin Cabrera is our managing producer. You can find more on the show at kut.org slash signal. I’m Saida Carrillo, thank you for listening.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
