Texas Democrats have been fighting an uphill battle against Republicans for years. The state has been firmly red since 2002. But a new Washington-based group, Battleground Texas, wants to invest tens of millions of dollars to turn Texas blue. Tanene Allison is communications director for the Texas Democratic Party. Her office is adorned with photos of the late governor Ann Richards, a young Bill Clinton in San Antonio, and a portrait of JFK – each representing a period in the glory days of the Democratic Party. Allison just came back from D.C., where she saw President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. While she was there, she met with the organizers of Battleground Texas. “I think our glory days are what’s coming in the future,”...
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When it comes to Austin architecture, the Seaholm Power Plant is about as iconic as it gets. But absent its art deco signage and smokestacks, there’s another component of Seaholm that’s less celebrated but even more unique: the intake structures perched directly over Lady Bird Lake, which used to deliver cooling water to the power plant and a since-demolished water plant nearby. The Seaholm district is slated for big changes: apartments and mixed-use retail are coming to the power plant; the city’s breaking ground on a new central library nearby this year; even  » read more