👋 Bye for now

☀️ Heya, Austin.

It's Friday, and in Austin, that means it's margarita o'clock. But before the drinks start, we've got something to tell you: We're going to stop publishing for a while. Read why — and how much we appreciate every single one of you — below.

Then peep a hilarious tweet of the day and scan some stories you shouldn't miss this week.

Austin Daily is going on hiatus

Today will be the last day that we publish our newsletter. Cue the violin.

But hold on, now! It’s not a final farewell — it’s just a see you later. We’re going to restart publishing our daily issues sometime this summer. And when we do, we’ll have a whole new thing goin’ on.

Don’t know if you’ve heard, but Austin Monthly (AKA the city’s 30-year-old must-read culture magazine) became our sister publication a couple of months back. Well, when we relaunch, we’ll be Austin Monthly’s very own daily newsletter. Cool, huh?

We’ll showcase stories that appear on its online platform every day. And it’ll be a mix of Austin Monthly’s signature lifestyle and trend pieces and newsy items that you’ve become familiar with in our daily issues. 

But don't worry — Austin Daily will still be smartly curated, short and easy to read.

So what does this mean for you as a subscriber? If you’d like to stick around (which we hope you will!), you don’t need to do a thing. When we relaunch, we’ll start appearing in your inbox every day again.

And look, just because we’re getting a bit of a makeover doesn’t mean we’re not proud of what we’ve done since launching in February.

So far, we’ve chatted with council members, grackle experts, everyone’s favorite cover band, restaurant gurus and weather wizards. We even guided you through a historic solar event (can you believe that was just barely a month ago?!). And we’ve done our best to cut through the noise and help you get to know our fair city just a liiiiiiiittle bit better. 

But you tell us: What have you enjoyed most about reading Austin Daily? Is there anything you’d like to see us continue with when we relaunch? Anything you’d rather we leave in our 1.0 version?

As always, we want to hear from you, our beloved Dailies.

Like a good De Nada marg, our cup is full, thanks to each and every one of you.

— The Austin Daily Team

Temperature: 84 degrees | Sun: Under a blanket | What to Expect: Pack the umbrella

We'll wake up to some fog and drizzle, then more widespread rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Some of these storms could be strong and accompanied by gusty winds, lightning and heavy downpours. Stay alert and cautious, especially if you need to be outdoors after school. Remember, if you hear thunder, then lightning is nearby.

Mary’s Tip: It'll be a fun weekend full of Star Wars, Kentucky Derby and Cinco De Mayo festivities. The rain will hold off on Saturday, but you may see more activity on Sunday. So don’t put the rain gear away yet.

Tweet of the day: Old Austin vs. New Austin

Leave it to @EvilMoPac, everyone's favorite Austin area highway, to capture the ~~ culture ~~ right on the nose.

They posted a photo of one of Tesla's boxy-beyond-belief Cybertrucks parked right in front of "Floppy Disk Repair Co." (otherwise known as Red Headed Stepchild, an OG Austin speakeasy) downtown.

It's the juxtaposition for us.

3 big stories from this week in Austin

💊 Seventy-five opioid-related overdoses and nine deaths linked to a “deadly batch” of narcotic drugs were reported between Monday and Wednesday night in Austin. The spike is one of the deadliest overdose outbreaks since 2015, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services officials.  

🛀 Meow Wolf’s co-founder is leaving the company to build a $15 million immersive spa in Austin. Subversive will be an “immersive wellness” experience designed to “get people into elevated states of being.” Honestly, I can think of nothing more quintessentially new Austin than this. 

🌊 Let's talk water. First, leave the cans home when you float the San Marcos River this summer. Single-use containers and large coolers are officially banned. Second, RIP Jacob's Well, again. The 2024 swimming season has been indefinitely suspended due to "below average spring flow and water levels."

🐦 Winguistics

Today's clue is for 17 Down: what Tecovas and Allen's on SoCo specialize in.

What'd you think of today's issue?

• 👍 10 points to Gryffindor. Y'all killed it.
• 😐 Meh. Wasn't bad, wasn't great.
• 👎 Yeah it's gonna be a no from me, dawg.

We’re so glad you found us. Find our bios and contact info here, or reach out at hello@austindaily.com. Behind today’s send: Katie Canales, Cat DeLaura and Mary Wasson.