Austin's overabundance of cultural stimuli is one of the things that make it such a great city -- heck, Austinist wouldn't be around were it not for the myriad theatre, music, film, and art events happening around us on a nightly basis. It turns out, in fact, that the cultural sector employs roughly 44,000 Austinites and accounts for an astounding $2.2 billion of economic activity per year. Beyond just improbably large numbers, these figures... more ›

Austinist's chief running resource RunTex and the Salvation Army have teamed up this winter in the hopes of raising $250,000 to help shelter, feed and clothe Central Texas familes. Yesterday, News8 reported that they were at approximately $150,000, pegging the required daily contributions at around $22k through Christmas Day. What broke our hearts was the thought of kids showing up for promised presents, only to be turned away: About 600 needy families will be... more ›