Austin News

You from around these parts?

If the pronunciation of Burnet as “Burn-It” and the reference of Guadalupe as “The Drag” aren’t burned into your brain, then you may not be. Whether you’re a newbie to the city or just haven’t fully acclimated, we’re here to help. Around these parts, we say things a certain way. And now, you can too. This is the Austin Slang Dictionary.

The Thing: Burnet Road | You Say: Burn-It

The Thing: Guadalupe St. near the UT Campus | You Say: The Drag

The Thing: Sixth St. from Congress Ave. to I-35 | You Say: Dirty 6th

The Thing: Lady Bird Lake | You Say: Town Lake

The Thing: Menchaca Rd. | You Say: Man-Shack

The Thing: Texas State Highway Loop 1 | You Say: MoPac

The Thing: Sixth St. West of Congress Ave. | You Say: West

The Thing: 2 mexican martinis at each Trudy’s location | You Say: The Trudy’s Challenge

The Thing: Koenig | You Say: Kay-Nig

The Thing: Manor | You Say: May-Nor

The Thing: The University of Texas Campus | You Say: Forty Acres

The Thing: South Congress | You Say: SoCo

The Thing: The Barton Creek Greenbelt | You Say: The Greenbelt

The Thing: San Jacinto Boulevard | You Say: SanJac

The Thing: A high-alcohol content drink with several different liquors | You Say: Texas Tea

The Thing: Barbarella | You Say: Barbs

The Thing: Hotel Vegas | You Say: Vegas

The Thing: Barton Springs | You Say: Barton

The Thing: Frost Bank Tower | You Say: The Owl Building

The Thing: The area near The Domain Mall | You Say: The Domain

The Thing: SXSW Music, Film, & Interactive Festival | You Say: South By

The Thing: Cheer Up Charlies | You Say: Cheer Ups

The Thing: Circuit of the Americas | You Say: COTA (Coat-Uh)

The Thing: Do512 | You Say: Do Five-One-Two (Not Do Five-Twelve…)

Credit: Do512

Filed under: Austin News by Olga Gilmore

We’re on record as being big-time animal lovers.

In fact, when meeting a new person, we’ve been known to ask what their dog’s name is before their own! Kinda rude? Yup! But hey, it’s not our fault that dogs tend to have cooler, more memorable names than say, Chris, or Ed. Anyway, we digress. Because we are such fans of cats, dogs, and everything in between (Catdog?), we decided to put together a page for the purpose of showcasing some of the best adoption resources for giving some of the cutest animals in Austin a forever home.

Austin Pets Alive!

Arguably the most famous pet rescue in Austin, APA! has cats and dogs in its downtown Austin location, as well as some in foster throughout the city. Austin Pets Alive! is a no-kill shelter committed to rehabilitating at-risk pets and reducing euthanasia rates across Austin. APA! also has a barn cat program, where they place non-traditional cats that are feral or non-socialized with owners that can give them a safe shelter.

Austin Animal Center

Austin Animal Center is the city-sponsored animal shelter that provides rehabilitation programs for at-risk pets and strives to reduce the number of homeless pets in Austin. The center is an open-intake facility that accepts all homeless pets regardless of breed, size or temperament.

Love-A-Bull

The Love-A-Bull dog rescue seeks to help homeless pit bulls find a forever home but has also made it its mission to adjust the stereotypes of pit bulls through education and advocacy programs. The rescue is 100% volunteer-run, with no paid positions on its roster.

Austin Siamese Rescue

The Austin Siamese Rescue is a private shelter that doesn’t have a public space, but rather homes all of their adoptable cats in foster homes. The shelter focuses on the 14 breeds of the Royal Thai Family, including Siamese, Balinese, Javanese, Oriental Shorthairs and Longhairs, Birmans, Burmese, Himalayans, Ocicats, Ragdolls, Snowshoes, and Tonkinese cats.

Lizzy’s Animal Hospice

Lizzy’s Animal Hospice works to provide the most vulnerable shelter dogs – those who are elderly or terminally ill – with a loving home in which to spend the rest of their life. Lizzy’s Animal Hospice was founded on the idea that all dogs deserve a loving and comforting end of life, and seeks to provide that for this vulnerable population. Lizzy’s Animal Hospice also runs Lucky Mutts, a dog rescue organization with younger/healthy dogs that Lizzy’s brings in mistakenly or by choice.

House Rabbit Resource Network

The House Rabbit Resource Network advocates for the livelihood of house rabbits by educating owners about proper rabbit care and facilitating the adoption process for homeless rabbits and potential owners. The resource works not only to facilitate these adoptions but also to provide education about how rabbit owners can take better care of their new pet.

Forgotten Friends Mixed Breed Rescue

The Forgotten Friends rescue is devoted to rescuing mixed-breed dogs and finding them suitable homes. The program has existed for 20 years and is a 100% volunteer-run organization. Mixed-breed dogs enter the program from area shelters, then the rescue finds a suitable foster home and, eventually, adopter.

New Hope Animal Rescue

After volunteering at area shelters and seeing how desperate they were for rescue support partners, Kelley Rice founded New Hope Animal Rescue. New Hope works to reduce the number of dogs that are euthanized in shelters each year by advocating for animal adoption over purchase from breeders and educating the public about the importance of spaying and neutering.

Wee Rescue

The Wee Rescue works with the Austin Animal Center to place small dog breeds – such as Havanese, Lhasa Apsos, Pekingese Shih Tzus – in forever homes. All of the small dogs are spayed/neutered, receive shots and get microchipped before they are made available to adopt. They also spend at least two weeks in a foster home so potential adopters can get a sense of their personality and triggers.

Purrfect Pals Rescue

The Purrfect Pals Rescue specializes in particularly at-risk kittens that require round-the-clock care and bottle feeding. They work to rehabilitate these kittens and prepare them for placement in a forever home, with the goal of reducing the euthanasia rates among kittens that need extra care.

Austin Humane Society

The Austin Humane Society is the largest non-profit and no-kill shelter in Austin. It is also the longest-standing shelter in the city, as it has been in service since 1952. Similar to other large-scale shelters in the city, the Humane Society is dedicated to safely rehoming pets and educating the public about responsible pet ownership.

CONTRIBUTED BY EMILY GIBSON | Do512

Filed under: Austin News by Olga Gilmore

A number of giant employers — including Apple, Google, and the University of Texas System —  have a giant presence in Austin. And the Capital City appears to be a giant when it comes to hard-working people, too.

A study released February 22 by personal finance website WalletHub ranks Austin the seventh hardest-working city in the U.S. It’s not surprising that Austin also secured a top-10 spot on the list. The Capital City has become a magnet for relocation of technology companies and high-profile businesses like Oracle.

To determine which cities outwork the rest of the U.S., WalletHub compared the 116 largest cities across 11 key metrics. Those metrics include average hours worked per week, employment rate, average commute time, and share of workers with multiple jobs. 

The study then split them into two sections: direct work factors and indirect work factors. Austin ranked second for direct work factors (employment rate, hours worked per week, and number of household with no working adults, etc.) and 83 for indirect work factors (average commute times, leisure time, number of hours spent volunteering, etc.).

As a whole, the Lone Star State is filled with hard workers. Texas clocked in eight cities in the top 20, including Irving (No. 5), Corpus Christi (No. 9) Plano (No. 11), Dallas (No. 13), Fort Worth (No. 16), Garland (No. 18), and Arlington (No. 20). 

Anchorage, Alaska, tops the list.

By John Egan Feb 25, 2021, 10:57 am | Culture Map Austin

Filed under: Austin News by Olga Gilmore