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.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Saida Carrillo.
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?
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.
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-
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.
And what new information,
if any, have you and other reporters
been able to take away from these
now unsealed?
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.
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
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...
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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
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.
This is Austin Signal.
We've got more coming up right after
this. Stay with us.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There's a lot of big markets and
I feel like this one feels
more eclectically
awesome.
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.
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.
The event was put on by one of the
building's tenants, the press room.
These are the actual physical
printing blocks that were used to
print these advertisements in the
newspaper.
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.
So yeah, we have this historic
collection and it covers about 50
years of cinema history,
graphic design history, industrial
history.
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.
No square pieces, but we have plenty
of old printing equipment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It's a really rich, kind of diverse
cross-section of culture,
art, and design and technology.
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.
It's been a community hub since
the inception of the neighborhood.
And so this is sort
of that natural extension.
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.
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.
Next on the agenda for the Baker
Center, giving people more
reasons to visit.
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.
And making sure they keep coming
back.
Here's Kerry League again.
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.
What could be more in the holiday
spirit?
For KUT News, I'm Ella Kopekin
in Austin.
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.