Media Leaders

L Style G Style magazine announces official plans for national expansion

L Style G Style November/December 2011 issue
L Style G Style owners Lynn Yeldell and Alisa Weldon

It's official. Austin area gay and lesbian magazine, L Style G Style, announced this week they will be expanding their reach to include other in- and out-of-state cities.

After a tremendously successful 2011, business partners and life partners Alisa Weldon and Lynn Yeldell are moving forward with their vision to create versions of the free magazine in Houston and Dallas.

When we spoke to them in October, on the eve of their 5th Birthday Blowout and Nov/Dec Issue Release Party at the swanky W Hotel, Weldon revealed their plan to "hit Houston by September 2012 and then Dallas by March of 2013."

Other states the publishers are considering afterward include: Seattle, WA, Minneapolis, MN, and Charlotte, NC.

In Austin, L Style G Style estimates their readership at around 50,000 to 60,000 readers both online and in print. Twenty thousand copies of the glossy magazine are distributed every two months to more than 400 locations in the Austin area.

Weldon attributes the overwhelming success of the magazine to a universal appeal to gay and straight audiences as well as the wise realization by advertisers of the value of the gay dollar. Anyone reading the magazine will realize quickly the high-end nature of the lifestyle advertisers that appear amongst the in-depth personality profiles of Austin's movers and shakers.

“I’m so proud that [the magazine] has become a portal to bring a community together,” says Weldon. “We want to get our mission out to multiple cities. Building awareness of the gay and lesbian communit[ies] and marketing us in a positive light is really important to us.”

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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