It's been almost two months since
the deadly shooting outside a 6th
Street bar and local officials are
looking at the emergency response to
the tragedy that night.
One topic of discussion, better
regulation of autonomous vehicles in
these kinds of situations.
That's after one vehicle blocked
emergency response here in Austin.
And here in Texas, one of the
country's largest legal cannabis
markets is fighting for its life.
Exceptions allowing the sale of
smokable hemp are slated to expire
this week.
We've got more about both of these
stories coming up on today's show.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
Plus, there's been some changes to
this weekend's inaugural KUT
Fest, it is still going forward
just in a few different locations
around town.
Catch up on the latest, that's
coming up next and it's right here
on Austin Signal.
Howdy out there, you are tuning in
to Austin Signal.
It is Wednesday, April 29th.
I'm your host, Jerry Keakono.
Thank you for spending part of the
day here with us.
This is community-powered public
radio, KUT News.
We'll start today's show with Austin
Public Safety and Mobility officials
meeting at City Hall to discuss the
emergency response to the deadly
shooting at Buford's back in March.
Among those discussions, how to
better regulate autonomous vehicle
use during emergency situations.
That's after a Waymo was seen
blocking the street as first
responders were heading to the scene
of the Buford shooting.
KUT City Hall reporter Luz Moreno
Lozano was at that meeting and she
is joining us now live from City
Hall. Hi Luz.
Hey Jerry, thanks for having me.
Of course.
So tell us what were some of the
topics of discussion at today's
meeting?
Yeah, you know, the the Waymo and
autonomous vehicle discussion was
probably the one that they had the
most the largest discussion about,
you know, as you mentioned during
the Buford shooting, we saw Waymo
blocking in ambulance from
responding.
Public safety officials did say that
didn't significantly hinder the
response, but it did take a few
minutes for an officer to be able to
like, access a vehicle and
physically or manually move it.
There was also some other concerns
outside of the Buford shooting, just
about how AV vehicles
or AVs just
kind of respond to traffic safety
and signals in general.
You know, we've seen videos of
them improperly passing school
busses driving in the wrong
direction.
There was videos of the way
most driving through
flooded roads and
through barricades like train
barricade. And so there's all this
discussion about like how these
vehicles are.
You know, working on the roads and
also like balancing public safety.
So what are some of the proposed
solutions to the issue of autonomous
vehicles potentially hindering
emergency responses or other kinds
of responses?
Yeah, you know, I think the city and
some of these AV companies are kind
of working together to, um,
improve some of these, um
safety precautions and, and
protocols, you know, things like
being able to stop a
Waymo from responding to within a
certain radius of an emergency.
And so, you know, that's just one of
the things that they are working on.
The city doesn't have a lot of,
um power to just
be able to regulate these, you
know, the state is trying to get
them to register.
That's part of a new state law that
just passed.
But I think it's mostly about like,
how can these companies in the city
work together, especially first
responders, so that they are paying
attention to like hand signals, for
example, and being cleared away
from these emergency situations.
Now, you and I here have been
talking about Waymo's, and I'm sure
Waymo was discussed much at this
meeting, but despite that, Waymo
was not actually represented at
this meeting of the Austin Mobility
and Public Safety Committee today.
Is there a specific reason why that
they weren't there?
Yeah, yeah.
I talked to a spokesperson yesterday
who basically said that they have
had several meetings
with both city and state leaders
over the last several weeks.
And they said they felt like those
discussions were substantive enough
to kind of explain things and how
that happened.
They've also kind of detailed some
operational improvements in these
discussions.
So like Waymo, for example, said
that the be expanding their avoid
the area zone when emergency
alerts are coming through.
So yeah, I think that's a little bit
about why they didn't fully
participate today.
I think council members were
disappointed to see that they didn't
have anyone on site today,
but that's little bit about what
we heard from them this week.
Yeah, from the reporting that you
have done, what would you say is the
pulse on public opinion when it
comes to this?
I mean, the video went viral and
obviously there were lots of
emotions during that time.
Did the public have a chance to
speak at this meeting today?
They did, yeah.
We had a couple of speakers who
basically kind of touted this idea
that, yes, you know, Austin has been
a testing ground for these emerging
technologies and we've, you know
prided ourselves as a city on
being able to bring
those in, you know.
It's not just Waymo, it's Tesla,
it is AV.
You know, there's other companies
kind of operating within the Austin
city limits.
But I do think that there are a lot
of public safety concerns, you know,
being passing a school bus while
dropping and picking up kids is a
huge concern. And so I think the
sentiment is we can do both,
but how do we balance up?
Okay, Luce, we have about 40 seconds
left. What happens next?
So the city council and
public safety officials will be kind
of working with these AV companies
to find a middle ground.
I think that public
safety is a top concern and
over the next several weeks, they'll
be trying to figure out what that
looks like.
All right, that is Luz Moreno
Lozano.
She is KUT City Hall reporter.
Luz, thanks for joining us live here
on the show.
Thanks, Jerry.
A court fight is playing out this
week that could determine whether
thousands of Texans are able to
continue buying legal
cannabis flower and extract.
The state has allowed the sale of
consumable hemp products since 2019,
but new regulations have upended the
market, and now the Texas hemp
industry is fighting them in court.
KUT's Nathan Bernier has been
following the court hearing at
a Travis County court downtown.
The smell of cannabis greets
people who walk into Terp
House, a hemp store in South Austin.
Co-owner Reese Newland shows me
around their small storefront.
So this is our flower.
We have indoor.
We have top shelf.
We also have pre-rolls.
The products sold at Turp House and
13,000 other registered retail
locations across Texas are called
hemp.
Marijuana and hemp come from the
same plant.
The only difference in Texas law is
hemp has low amounts of Delta-9-THC,
the main psychoactive compound in
cannabis.
But hemp has many other ingredients,
including something called THCA,
which converts to to 9 when heated
or smoked.
And that's how stores in many states
that ban recreational marijuana have
been able to sell smokable forms of
cannabis. But in Texas,
that all changed a few weeks ago.
I think the regulations personally
were designed to kill this industry.
Casey Newlin is Reese's brother,
and also a co-owner of Turp House.
The regulations he's talking about
were adopted by the state's health
department in March, following an
executive order by Governor Greg
Abbott. The new rules clamped
down on THCA, which effectively
banned the sale of smokable hemp
products even though possessing them
remains legal.
They basically took our
highest selling products
off the shelves.
I can tell you our sales went
to 5%.
That's not even enough to cover our
rent.
Earlier this month, Texas hemp
businesses sued the state.
They argued regulators went beyond
their authority by changing what
counts as legal hemp and by
imposing sharply higher fees on
businesses.
A state court issued a temporary
restraining order, allowing smokable
products back on store shelves while
keeping those higher fees in place.
This week, the hemp industry is
asking for something longer-lasting,
a temporary injunction that
would keep some of the new rules on
hold while the lawsuit plays out,
which could take years.
The court will call D1GN26002511,
Texas Hemp Business Council.
During court proceedings, attorneys
for the state of Texas argued
regulators did not rewrite the law.
They said THCA levels have long
been a part of how hemp is tested
prior to harvesting.
And so now, they say, regulators are
just applying that total THC
metric to consumable products.
Zachary Berg is a lawyer with the
Texas Attorney General's office.
The definition of total THC
used in the rules is consistent with
the federal definition and
consistent with definition of other
states such as Colorado.
Texas has the biggest hemp market in
the country.
Country, according to Robin
Goldstein.
He directs research at the Cannabis
Economics Group at UC Davis.
Goldstein says businesses nationwide
are selling products into Texas.
If you suddenly cut off that revenue
stream for them, a lot of the
producers of these products, which
are shipping across state lines and
which are located all across the
country, those are threatened by
the Texas shutdown if that happens.
Goldstein says prohibiting the sale
of smokable hemp products could put
thousands of mom-and-pop retailers
out of business in Texas and
prompt many consumers to turn to the
illegal market.
Well, a little bit more news here
for you. U.S.
Senator John Cornyn and Texas
Attorney General Ken Paxton are in
a May 26 runoff for the
Republican U.
S. Senate nomination.
Well, that part's not new, but this
part is.
A new poll finds that Democratic
nominee state rep James Tallarico
of Austin is ahead of
both of them.
The Texas public opinion research
poll of likely voters has Tallarica
leading CornyN by three points and
Paxton by five points.
That poll shows Tallarico getting
more support from moderates and
independents.
And support from those voters is
considered key to a Democrat-winning
Texas statewide office
for the first time since
1994.
We have more news on the KUT
app and online at KUT.org.
And we have more Austin Signal
coming up after this break,
including talking with Austin
Film Society about their Doc Days
festival kicking off tomorrow.
And some changes to the KUT
Festival, just the locations.
We're gonna let you know about those
coming up after this.
Thank you for being with us.
This is Austin Signal.
Welcome back to the show.
This year, the Austin Film Society's
Doc Day's Film Festival is
highlighting the effects of SpaceX
on the South Texas coast,
looking at collective action by UPS
workers, the work to return
ancestral remains to native lands,
and a whole lot more.
Joining me now to talk about that is
Holly Herrick, head of film and
creative media at Austin Film
Society.
Holly, thanks for joining us.
Thanks so much for having me.
Of course. So we want to talk about
the films that you're going to be
showcasing this week, but wanted to
ask you a little bit about the focus
on documentary work and why
you think that it's so special.
Sure. So this is Austin Film
Society's annual non-fiction film
festival, AFS Doc Days.
And the curatorial line is
really looking for very
unique, special non-fiction
films, not the paint-by-numbers
documentaries that you might see on
certain streaming services, but
films that speak to the moment,
but are also timeless,
that we'll look back on as
saying something really special or
unique about the world that we're
living in today, but that our
touchstones.
So we often find that films
that we show at Doc Days end up
being in the end of year
conversations around sort of best
films of the year.
And it is with such a small program,
sort of a best of what's out there
in the nonfiction community.
The other thing that we're doing
with the festival is celebrating the
documentary and nonfiction film
community that we have in Austin
and in Texas.
There are many great nonfiction
filmmakers living and working here.
And so we want it to be an
opportunity for them to interact
with guests from.
The greater non-fiction community,
and that's all happening at the AFS
cinema during AFS Doc Days.
Very cool. Well, one of the stories
that focuses on Texas is a
documentary called Shifting
Baselines.
Can you tell us a little bit about
that one?
Yes, this is
such a unique film.
It takes place in
on the Texas coast,
where the SpaceX
operation has been set up.
And it's pretty much an ethnography
of the town
where SpaceX is located,
sort of studying how the
town has been changed by
SpaceX setting up there.
And what we find are
some really unexpected characters.
You know, people who are sort of
migrating, they're going on these
almost pilgrimages to
see SpaceX and
to talk about the future
of humans and space
exploration alongside people
like the person we're going to have
in person at the cinema named Gage
Dabula. He's a journalist who
is documenting the effects of
the residents and how
the town is changing
dramatically from SpaceX
being there.
And then the film takes a really
interesting turn to talk about
how humanity is
not thinking broadly about
our future and about the ways in
which space exploration is gonna
affect life on Earth.
And it's a really fascinating
turn and I can't really say too much
about it. You just kind of have to
see the movie which is also just
stunning black and white
cinematography, it's incredible,
yeah.
Okay, that's definitely a good hook,
and Gage Davila used to report
on public radio for Texas Public
Radio, so that's a voice that many
of our listeners out there might be
familiar with. That is happening on
Friday, correct?
That's right, and Gage will be there
in person talking about
Boca Chica and his
reporting and also appearing in
the film and what that was like.
So he's one of many characters that
the filmmakers follow in Boca-Chica,
Texas.
Well, the movie that's gonna be
opening the Fest is called Who Moves
America?
What is that about?
Who Moves America is about
an almost labor
strike by UPS that
happened about five years ago.
And during the
mobilization towards a
strike, all of the workers were
looking back on a strike that
happened at UPS in the 90s.
And you have to think that UPS is
actually the biggest organized labor
force in the United States.
It represents more than 350,000
workers.
And so a strike by UPS
basically shuts down shipping in
the United States.
And so what happened in the 90s was
this massive labor strike that sort
of gave birth to
a generational knowledge
about how to organize
as workers.
And so the film is about sort of
looking back at past generations
of organizers and
thinking about organizing, labor
organizing.
As sort of a lineage that there are
things to learn from the past that
can be taken into the future.
And it's really inspiring in that
way. And it was just fascinating
getting the inside story of
how a strike happens or doesn't
happen.
So it's a riveting film,
also really inspiring.
Well, there are lots of great films
that are going to be featured during
the fest and there are lots of a
great Q&A's that happen after a
lot of these films. I've been able
to host some of these and they're
always a really good time.
The audience always asks really
great questions.
What else do you have planned for
this round of Dock Days?
So eight of the nine films that
we're showing will have filmmakers
in attendance.
And we also have, like you said,
amazing moderators.
And Jerry, I'm waiting for you to
come back this year.
So we still have a couple of
opportunities. But we do have some
really, really cool conversations
set up. So Jason Head,
who's the senior editor of Texas
Monthly and has reported on
Boca Chica and SpaceX, he'll be
talking to Gage Davula who's in the
film. So that'll be a fantastic
conversation.
We have the producer of this
film called The Lake, which is about
the ecological crisis
in Salt Lake City, of the drying of
the Great Salt Lake, which is a
massive water issue.
And we can certainly learn some
things about what's happening in
Utah, about our community and water
issues here.
And the producer that film who
made this movie over many years is
named Fletcher Keys, and he'll be
here in person for conversation.
So many sort of
great opportunities.
We also have the producer of
Anikubidjigan, the ancestor,
great-grandparent, great grandchild,
very long title, that
Laura Rice from Texas Standard,
also from your home station here,
KUT, will be moderating a
conversation with the producer that
film, Jackie Clark.
And that film is, of course, about
the repatriation of ancestral
remains to their
tribes.
All right, well it sounds like lots
of great festivals, lots of
opportunities. I'm gonna take a look
at the list and maybe we'll see you
out there this weekend.
We also have the KUT Fest going on,
lots going on. We're gonna be
speaking. I'm doing a panel
called Roll Credits.
I'll be speaking with Martin Jones
from Austin Film Society as well.
So lots of film activity going on
this weekend, Doc Days starts
tomorrow at the Austin Film
society. We've been speaking with
Holly Karick, Head of Film and
Creative Media at Austin Film
Society, Holly, thank you for your
time.
Thank you. It's a great weekend to
be in Oz tonight.
Speaking of the KUT Festival,
you may have heard by now that late
yesterday afternoon, UT-notified
KUT staff and KUTFest attendees
at the bulk of the festival will
be moved off-campus, and panels
slated for Friday will be move
to Saturday.
The Texas newsroom's Nina Satija
has more on that and a reported
piece at KUT.org.
We'll have that in the show notes
for today's podcast.
But ultimately, what does that mean
for festival-goers?
Well, KUT's Jennifer Staten spoke
with Matt Riley, program director
for KUTx, on the last-minute
logistical changes.
So we're talking about the KUT
Festival, which is still coming up
this weekend, Friday and Saturday.
We've done a little bit of shifting
of the venues though.
Talk a little about where we're
gonna be having the Kut Festival
now.
Yeah, so Friday night, there will
still be the keynotes address
here with CEO
of NPR, Catherine Maher.
That's happening at the LBJ
auditorium.
That is pretty much remaining the
same. There's also a dinner if
you're interested in that.
Check out the website,
ktfestival.org.
Also, we're moving
Saturday. So the
portion that was going to be all on
campus Saturday has moved to Central
Machine Works and East End Ballroom.
Now, if you look those up on a map.
You would see they're next to each
other. The addresses will look
different, but they're really just
next door to each.
So don't get stymied
by that.
So we're gonna have all
the programming moving over to East
End Ballroom and Central Machine
Works on Saturday.
So we'll have panels, we'll live
music with Shaky Graves and Black
Odyssey and Melissa Carper and
Jacuzzi and all that.
That's still happening.
You'll still get to see Yoga with
Adrienne, Noah Hawley talking TV.
And so we'll lots of panels,
everything from healthcare to film.
It's gonna be great.
Right, so the main thing is the
venue is changing as you described
to Central Machine Works and East
End Ballroom, and it is cool because
they're kind of neighbors.
So it's easy footprint to a- They're
right next door to each other.
Yeah, that's gonna be great.
Now, so Matt, the other question
will be for folks who have already
registered and had gotten passes,
the registration and the pass
situation is changing a little bit.
Walk us through what's gonna to be
different with that.
Correct. This is a free event.
This is free event now,
but you must RSVP.
And you can do that at
kutfestival.org.
You have to RSVPs in advance if
you plan on coming. I'm gonna say
that again. You have RSV
P in advance at the website,
kutfestival.or if you planned
on attending because we
need an accurate head count.
This is smaller space.
Both of them are smaller spaces.
And so we wanna make sure we get an
accurate head count and we can fit
everybody who wants to be there.
So, no just walking out.
Right. So I have a question.
Do you have to RSVP?
Yes, Jen,
you do.
You do have to RSVP, I
just want to clarify that.
Those four letters are your friends.
And you can do that at
KUTFestival.org.
And as we'll be having some listing
about the venue changes,
you'll be able to keep up with all
of that at KUTFestival dot
org. So just to kind of recap here,
Friday night, staying the same at
the LBJ Auditorium, we're
gonna hear from Maria Hosa from
Latino USA, NPR's
Domenico Montanaro and Leila Fadal.
Cory Booker's gonna be talking about
his book, Stand, in conversation
with Domenica Montanar.
All of that happening Friday night.
On the UT Austin campus till the LBJ
library. But Saturday,
kind of the centerpiece day,
everything moving to Central Machine
Works and East End Ballroom.
Your festival-ness moves
on Saturday.
So yeah, we're gonna be over at
Central Machine Works in East End
Ballroom.
It's all right there between Cesar
Chavez and Fifth Street.
So if you wanna join us, you
gotta RSVP kids and
you do it at kutfestival.org.
Hey Matt, talk a little bit about
the live music.
That's not my area of expertise
as much as yours.
What's some of the music going to
get expected here on Saturday?
So you've got
Melissa Carper, some great old-timey
sounding country.
Jacuzzi, who I can't describe
because they're insane and awesome.
Black Odyssey, who are amazing soul
and rock and they meld all the
genres.
And then Shaky Graves,
Austin's own ShakyGraves.
And so he's gonna be your headliner.
And we're gonna be wrapping this
thing up by 6 p.m.
So if you're thinking, I'm gonna go
out Saturday night and do this.
No, this is a daytime event.
We're gonna start in the morning and
we're going to end around 6 pm.
That's my kind of timing wrapping up
by 6pm.
Start early, end early.
That's what I say.
Me too. Me too, Matt Raleigh
from KUT and KUTx.
Matt, thanks so much for coming in
to a talk about the KUT Festival.
One note, the kids programming
has been eliminated
from the, it just happened in
the churn of all this.
And so unfortunately we don't have
any kids programming.
But you will be able to keep up with
changes in the venues.
We're not going to be at Central
Machine Works and East End Ballroom.
You'll be able see the schedule and
RSVP at
kutfestival.org.
Thanks so much, Matt.
Happy to do it.
And keep checking back for an
updated schedule and additional
information at KUTFestival.org.
So many great panels and
performances happening this weekend.
It's going to be a great time for
our community to come together and
we hope that you can join us.
It should be a beautiful day here in
Austin. So come hang out with
us and in case you didn't hear you
can RSVP at KUTFestival.org.
Don't forget that AFS Doc
Days kicks off tomorrow
and I am going to be
out at the cinema on Sunday.
I will be moderating a
Q&A following the film called
The Voyage Out.
It's 3 p.m.
On Sunday, we would love to see you
out there, we would like to see at
the Fest.
Wherever you are out there,
we are glad that you are tuned in
right now to Austin Signal.
This is community-powered public
radio KUT News.
That is it for today's show.
We have more in the podcast show
notes and at KUT.org
slash Signal.
Our team is Kristen Cabrera,
Alexandra Hart, and Rayna Sevilla.
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
We'll talk to you tomorrow.