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Photos: Austin’s year in review

KUT 90.5 | By KUT Staff
Published December 21, 2023 at 3:37 PM CST
A grid of photos
KUT

Another year in Austin has passed us by. We experienced a brutal ice storm, then a record-breaking heat wave. We protested outside of the Texas Capitol, then witnessed a historic impeachment trial behind its doors. We rocked out at ACL Fest, cheered for Austin FC, watched bats fill the sky during their annual migration, mourned the death of a very important tree and so much more.

KUT's multimedia team was there to capture it all. Here's a look back at the biggest moments of 2023 in Austin.

January

Principal Tara Stewart visits students with her therapy dog, Luna Raptor at the Williamson County Juvenile Justice Center in Georgetown.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Tara Stewart, principal of the Successful Transition Education Program, visits students with her therapy dog, Luna Raptor, at the Williamson County Juvenile Justice Center in Georgetown on Jan. 10.
A crowd of people outside the Texas Capitol, with red and blue bunting on an archway and the Texas flag
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are sworn in on the north steps of the Texas Capitol on Jan. 17.
A person wearing a baseball cap on their phone in the dark
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
A volunteer uses a phone to conduct surveys for the point-in-time count after finding a person sleeping outside on Jan. 28. The count is required by cities and counties in order to receive federal money to combat homelessness.
A woman sits on a couch smiling at the camera with her hand against her temple.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Journalist Erna Smith was a student at UT Austin interning at the Austin American-Statesman when City Council debated renaming 19th Street after Martin Luther King Jr.

February

Tree branches encased in ice block part of a road.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Downed tree branches lie across a sidewalk during a winter storm in Austin on Feb. 1. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power at some point during the storm.
An Austin Energy crew member trims branches impacting power lines in South Austin on Feb. 2.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
An Austin Energy crew member trims branches impacting power lines in South Austin on Feb. 2.
A person uses a flashlight to look inside a freezer
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Stef Schrader peeks in her freezer after a power outage left her without electricity on Feb. 3.
YouTube Music employees holding signs picket outside of the Google Austin offices.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
YouTube Music employees picket outside Google's offices in downtown Austin on Feb. 21.

March

Carolyn Williams, sitting on a bench with others, grasps the hands of a person standing.
Renee Dominguez
/
KUT
Carolyn Williams, who is experiencing homelessness, speaks with the media and advocates after a press conference March 2 about the closing of the Salvation Army downtown shelter. The shelter had been a resource for homeless women for nearly 40 years.
People stand and speak at a podium on the lawn of the Texas Capitol
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Amanda Zurawski, who nearly died after being refused an abortion, and representatives from the Center for Reproductive Rights discuss a lawsuit against the state on March 7. They argue the language of the medical exception to the state's abortion ban is murky and prevents physicians from providing essential medical care.
A person in drag points to a crowd of protesters
Alyssa Olvera
/
KUT
Cynthia Lee Fontaine performs for a crowd outside the Texas Capitol protesting anti-LGBTQ legislation on March 20.
A worker wearing an apron holding a stack of meals in plastic containers hands the stack to another person. Dozens of people sit outside on benches eating food.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Members of the North Austin Muslim Community Center distribute meals during iftar, the daily breaking of the fast after sunset, during Ramadan on March 23.

April

Bob Ward, chair of the Travis County Historical Commission, announces a new historical marker for the Broken Spoke on April 12. The dance hall has been around since 1964.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Bob Ward, chair of the Travis County Historical Commission, speaks at an event celebrating a new historical marker for the Broken Spoke on April 12. The dance hall has been around since 1964.
A Texas state trooper performs a traffic stop in the parking lot of a shopping center..
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
A Texas state trooper performs a traffic stop on April 18 off East Riverside Drive in Austin. The Texas Department of Public Safety partnered with the city for state troopers to help the Austin Police Department amid a staffing shortage.
A mural depicting a frog underneath text that says, "Hi, how are you."
Patricia Lim
/
KUT News
The "Hi, How Are You" mural by Daniel Johnston is left standing on April 17 after the building it's painted on was demolished.

May

Luna, 14, stands in front of the PODS container that's getting shipped to their new home in Boston. Luna, who has been transitioning since 2021, and their family say they are being forced to move out of Texas because of legislation restricting transition-related care for minors.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Luna, 14, stands in front of the POD that's getting shipped to their new home in Boston, on May 29. Luna, who has been transitioning since 2021, says their family is being forced to move out of Texas because of legislation restricting transition-related care for minors.
The recently renovated Texas Capitol Mall, a green pedestrian space running down Congress Avenue from the Blanton Museum to the Texas State Capitol Building, is pictured on May 3.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
The recently renovated Texas Capitol Mall, a green pedestrian space running down Congress Avenue from the Blanton Museum to the state Capitol, is pictured on May 3.
Alyssa Jones poses for a portrait while leaning on lockers in a high school hallway.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Alyssa Jones, at the time a senior at Lehman High School, brought awareness to the fentanyl crisis in Hays CISD by serving on the Hays Student Advisory Council.

June

Reporter and photographers holding signs at the South Congress bridge.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Austin American-Statesman staff strike June 5 during a contract dispute with the newspaper's parent company, Gannett.
A dog sits in a metal crate in the hallway of an animal shelter.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
A dog at Austin Animal Center is left in the hallway due to limited space on June 9. The shelter faced overcrowding issues during the summer that were made worse by the triple-digit heat. At one point in June, the center had 562 dogs and 669 cats, far above its intended capacity.
A person smiles while holding hands with another.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Day Harvey and Alethea Simon get married during the Travis County Clerk's Marriage Equality Anniversary Celebration on June 26.

July

Spectators watch the city's annual Independence Day fireworks show from the tops of cars in the Barton Creek Square parking lot.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Spectators of the city's annual Independence Day fireworks show watch from the tops of cars in the Barton Creek Square parking lot.
People pass out coffee and brown bags to a crowd of people outside.
Renee Dominguez
/
KUT
The Trinity Center in downtown Austin provides breakfast to people experiencing homelessness on July 25.
A goat chews on a leaf.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Goats roam the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail at Lady Bird Lake to eat up poison ivy and other invasive plant species on July 12.
Four band students wearing hats and carrying instruments take a water break during the day.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Marching band members take a water break during practice outside Johnson High School in Buda on July 31.

August

Jacob's Well is pictured with low water levels.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT News
Jacob's Well, the popular spring-fed swimming hole in Wimberley, stops flowing for the sixth time in its recorded history this summer.
A firefighter walks across scorched, smoking ground and trees.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
A firefighter walks across scorched ground behind the Bexley at Silverado apartments in Cedar Park on Aug. 9. A wildfire developed in the area the night before, destroying one apartment building and damaging three others.
Millions of Mexican free-tailed bats fly out of Bracken Cave Preserve at sunset, darkening the sky.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Millions of Mexican free-tailed bats fly out of Bracken Cave Preserve at sunset on Aug. 24. Late summer is the peak season for viewing the bats because of their migration and reproduction cycles.

September

Ken Paxton, left, speaks with his attorney Tony Buzbee, right, in the Texas Senate chambers at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Ken Paxton, left, speaks with his attorney Tony Buzbee, right, on the first day of his impeachment trial, inside the Texas Capitol on Sept. 5.
A person sits on a couch under a loft bed in a crowded room with desks next to each other and a TV on the wall
Renee Dominguez
/
KUT
Alyssa Contreras, left, and Grace Young share a small dorm room on Sept. 8 due to housing shortages at Texas State University.
Capt. Doug Schulz, a paramedic with Austin-Travis County EMS’ C4 clinical navigation team, gathers information from a 911 caller in their Austin home on Sept. 13. The team aims responds to calls for help that don't require an ambulance or trip to the emergency room, reducing the strain on hospitals and the health care system.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Capt. Doug Schulz, a paramedic with Austin-Travis County EMS’ C4 clinical navigation team, gathers information from a 911 caller in an Austin home on Sept. 13. The team responds to calls for help that don't require an ambulance or trip to the emergency room, reducing the strain on hospitals and the health care system.
A bird perches on a tree branch at night east of Austin near the Colorado River.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
A bird perches on a tree branch east of Austin near the Colorado River.
A makeup artist airbrushes glow-in-the-dark makeup on an actor.
Renee Dominguez
/
KUT
Alexander Gelderman, an actor at Bat City Scaregrounds, gets pink paint sprayed onto his teeth before the haunted theme park opens on Sept. 30.

October

Two shirtless kids stand with their arms out chant in the stands during an Austin FC games.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Austin FC fans chant during a game against D.C. United on Oct. 4.
William Douglas and others protest the removal of Flo, a pecan tree at Barton Springs that was cut down due to fungal infection, during a celebration of life for Flo on Oct. 4.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
William Douglas and others protest the removal of Flo, a pecan tree at Barton Springs that had a deadly fungal infection, during a celebration of life for the tree on Oct. 4.
Little Simz, wearing a collared shirt, tie and sunglasses, stands against a light pink backdrop.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Little Simz performs during the first day of ACL Fest on Oct. 6.
A small white crescent on black
Deborah Cannon
/
KUT
A partial eclipse is seen through eclipse glasses on Oct. 14. The sun was 89% obscured by the moon in Austin.
Kayla Alonso, 10, center, smiles and talks with her classmates at a table covered with papers and pencils.
Deborah Cannon
/
KUT
Kayla Alonso, 10, center, talks with her classmates as they draw la lechuza during art class at Mathews Elementary School on Oct. 20. In Mexican American folklore, la lechuza is a shape-shifting figure that turns into an owl.

November

A person with red-painted hands shouts in a crowd of protesters.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Protesters with red-painted hands chant during the All Out For Palestine Rally at the Texas Capitol on Nov. 12.
A blur of signs and people move in front of the Texas Capitol.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Thousands of people attend the All Out For Palestine Rally at the Texas Capitol on Nov. 12.
Band director Ryan Dufrene conducts on a stand while students play.
Ivy Fowler
/
KUT
Band director Ryan Dufrene teaches his sixth-grade students at Langford Elementary School on Nov. 17. Dufrene was chosen to perform in this year's Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as part of a group of music educators from across the U.S. and Mexico.
Two people stand on a precipice over a lake surrounded by fall foliage.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
A fisherman and jogger take in the autumn colors on Red Bud Isle on Nov. 28.

December

Residents attend the annual Holiday Sing-Along, Tree Lighting and Downtown Stroll at the Texas Capitol on Dec. 2.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Attendees laugh during the annual Holiday Sing-Along, Tree Lighting and Downtown Stroll at the Texas Capitol on Dec. 2.
A couple walks by a holiday light display in the shape of a tent at night.
Ivy Fowler
/
KUT
A couple walks by a display at 37th Street Lights on Dec. 4. The neighborhood holiday tradition has existed in Central Austin for more than three decades.
Nurses holding protest signs strike outside of Ascension Seton Medical Center.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Nurses strike outside of Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin on Dec. 6. The nurses' union was trying to call attention to staffing and equipment shortages.
Two police investigators stand while a third kneels at a neighborhood crime scene on a sunny fall day.
Patricia Lim
/
KUT
Investigators work at the scene of a double homicide on Austral Loop in Southwest Austin's Circle C neighborhood on Dec. 6. Six people were killed and three others were injured during a string of shootings in Austin and San Antonio the day before.
Two people hold up signs protesting plans to allow builders to erect more homes in neighborhoods across the city.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT
Austin residents gather at City Hall on Dec. 7 to voice their opposition to proposed land code changes. City Council members ultimately voted in favor of the changes, which allow builders to erect more homes in neighborhoods across Austin.
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