Before we collectively journey into what will hopefully be a much better year, let's take a look back at some of the weird, notable news stories that happened here in Austin this year.
FAKE CHILIS ON THE EAST SIDE
Finally - a Chilis on the East side! Not really, but this was a pretty ingenious prank. We still don't know who did this, but damn was it funny.
UBER AND LYFT RETURNED
Photo Credit: KUT
2017 was the year that ridesharing giants Lyft and Uber returned to Austin, and thus displaced replacement services like Get Me, Ride Austin and Fasten, among others. People have mixed feelings about it, as you might have guessed.
EL ARROYO'S SIGN GOT ON COMEDY CENTRAL
El Arroyo's comedic sign musings have long been a point of local pride and fascination, and this year they hit the big time: their Valentine's Day sign was featured on @midnight on Comedy Central.
THE FAKE(?) GAS SHORTAGE
Photo Credit: Hill Country News
Fearing a gas shortage due to Hurricane Harvey, huge numbers of spooked folks bought up all the gas in town... and created a temporary gas shortage! Go figure.
WE SAID GOODBYE TO SOUND ON SOUND FEST
Photo Credit: Sound on Sound Facebook
A major investor pulled out of Sound on Sound Fest, forcing it to cancel. The peeps at Margin Walker did a commendable job of rescheduling some of the shows at venues around town, but the festival will probably not be returning next year. Some things are too pure for this world.
PEOPLE WANT TO CHANGE THE NAME OF ROBERT E. LEE STREET IN SOUTH AUSTIN
Photo Credit: KUT
Following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, people started discussing removing some of the Confederate remnants here in Austin. Replacement suggestions for Robert E. Lee Road include Whataburger Road, Daniel Johnston Road, and Robert Plant Road.
TRAFFIC SIGNS GOT A LOT COOLER, YES THEY DID
Austin icon Matthew McConaughey's classic line from Dazed and Confused found its way onto traffic signs this year. It's the little things that make sitting in back to back traffic more bearable.
THE HARD TIMES NAILED IT
Music-focused satirical news site The Hard Times utterly nailed it back in March with this article about someone desperately trying to fit into the Austin mindset. What more needs to be said?
ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE HAD A CLOWNS ONLY SCREENING OF IT
Photo Credit: Heather Leah Kennedy
If the movie IT wasn't scary enough already, Alamo Drafthouse upped the scare factor by having a CLOWN ONLY SCREENING OF IT. Terrifying. They also ran a series of female-only screenings of Wonder Woman this year that got some guy's panties in a wad.
FRANKLIN BARBECUE CAUGHT ON FIRE
Photo Credit: Fox 7
Franklin Barbecue caught on fire back in August and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage. Luckily, the building and smokers survived and are back open for business.
HUCK THE ROOF DOG!
This good boy learned how to climb onto his roof and into our hearts forever.
DEADLY DRUG WARNING SIGNS ON RED RIVER
Photo Credit: Reddit user @gyan57
The synthetic drug crisis in and around the Red River area came to a head this year, which necessitated in posting signs warning potential drug buyers that drugs sold might be fatal.
AMAZON BOUGHT WHOLE FOODS
In what was international news, tech giant Amazon purchased hometown market hero Whole Foods for a staggering $13.7 billion dollars. Amazon is also in the midst of deciding whether or not to add its second HQ to Austin, for a rumored $5 billion dollars.
SOME DUDE SUED HIS DATE FOR TEXTING DURING A MOVIE
Photo Credit: Brandon Vezmar
A particularly litigious individual sued his date (to the tune of $17.31) for texting during their date to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at Barton Creek Cinema. Now that's taking movie etiquette seriously.
AUSTIN GOT A SNOW DAY
Photo Credit: KXAN
Every once in a blue moon, Austin actually gets a real, honest-to-goodness taste of winter. December 7th of this year was one of those rare treats. On that cold, frosty day, our city enjoyed getting to play around in what was an admittedly small, but still fun, layer of snow.
Want to take a look at the biggest stories that happened in Austin back in 2016?
