Trick or Treat

Trick or treat: 13 spooky ways to spend Halloween in Austin

Are you ghouls and gals looking for a ghastly way to spend All Hallow's Eve? Take a gander at these 13 different spooky soirees around town. Whether you're looking to dance, eat, trick-or-treat (or something more sinister), you'll find the perfect Halloween event.

5th Annual Comedy Seance Hosted by Satan
Thursday, October 30 at 7 pm
Details: Stop by the Spider House Ballroom to see Satan and his "Cavalcade of Celebrity Corpses" at one of Austin's funniest Halloween traditions. Commune with celebrities — or rather, the spirits of dead celebrities played by Matt Bearden, Mike MacRae, Cody Hustak, Aaron Brooks, Lashonda Lester, Maggie Maye, Ralphie Hardesty and Avery Moore.
Why you should go: The lolz.
Price: $7 in advance; $10 at the door

The Scary Tales Ball: A White Ghost Shivers Halloween
Friday, October 31 at 8:30 pm
Details: Eleven years and running, local band White Ghost Shivers' Halloween ball is the ultimate celebration of all things dark and dangerous. This year's theme, "A Night of Grimm Tales," will offer you a night of storytelling and live performances from The White Ghost Shivers (of course) as well Clyde and Clem's Whiskey Business, East Cameron Folkcore and more.
Why you should go: Because you feel like dancing!
Price: $30

6th Annual Zombie Masquerade Ball with Neon Trees
Friday, October 31 at 7 pm
Details: The Zombie Ball Masquerade is an evening of "Haunte’d Couture." Enjoy a live performance from musical guest Neon Trees as well as a burlesque show, aerial acrobatics, a costume contest and more at this lavishly supernatural event.
Why you should go: You have a not-so-secret zombie apocalypse contingency plan.
Price: $35-$65

Hops and Grains 2nd Annual Halloween Party
Friday, October 31 at 7:30 pm
Details: The Hops & Grains Brewery is opening its doors for all the costumed creeps on All Hallows Eve. Your ticket purchase will also include a special mug to be filled with four beers throughout this spooky, music-bumping night.
Why you should go: Delicious brews.
Price: $20

Hallo-Scream Haunt at Pinballz Arcade
Friday, October 31 at 7 pm
Details: Pinballz is pulling out all the stops for Halloween. Haunted arcade? Check. Games? Check. Complimentary beer? Check. Costume contest? Ed Robertson from the Barenaked Ladies as a guest judge? Check!
Why you should go: Games! Beer! BNL!
Price: Admission is free.

Halloween at the Drive-In Finale: Beetlejuice
Friday, October 31 at 7:30 pm
Details: Blue Starlite Drive-In's Halloween movie series is wrapping up with a screening of Beetlejuice. Come early for the the Charlie Brown Holiday Special pre-show and the first ever car-to-car trick-or-treating — just be sure to bring a bowl of candy to share.
Why you should go: Halloween movie classics ... plus candy.
Price: $5-$25

Gourdough's Public House Two Year Anniversary Halloween Party
Friday, October 31 at 7 pm
Details: Gourdough’s Public House is turning two on Halloween, so to celebrate the it will transform into a creepy circus tent with karaoke, a costume contest and classic carnival games.
Why you should go: Cotton candy, a Frito pie stand and (of course) Gourdough’s famous donuts.
Price: Admission is free.

Halloween Hootenanny at the Thinkery
Friday, October 31 at 6 pm
Details: Celebrate Halloween at Thinkery with story time, crafts, activities, a reptile show, pumpkin decorating and more. This family-friendly affair is perfect for all ages.
Why you should go: You're looking for a fun-filled evening for the kids.
Price: $12-$15

Blood, Guts and Beer Costume Party at School House Pub
Friday, October 31 at 8 pm
Details: Find out why the "Pumpkin Massacre" is so infamous while feeding blood sausages and gut pâtés to the beast in your stomach at School House Pub's Halloween party.
Why you should go: A costume contest with a $100 School House Pub gift card as the prize.
Price: Admission is free.

Hotel San Jose presents Disco Crazy Halloween
Friday, October 31 at 8 pm
Details: Put on your costume (and your dancing shoes) for a Disco Crazy Halloween celebration at the Hotel San Jose Lounge. Later in the evening, prizes will be awarded to the best costumes.
Why you should go: DJ Chino Casino's disco tunes.
Price: Admission is free.

Weird! True Hollywood Tales presents Hollyween!
Friday, October 31 at 8 pm
Details: Weird! True Hollywood Tales is putting on a Halloween special for its third anniversary. Brace yourself for some of the strangest and spookiest stories, including "The Strange True Tale Of Houdini," "The Ghosts Of Hollywood Forever Cemetery," "The Curse Of Poltergeist" and more.
Why you should go: Everyone loves a good ghost story.
Price: $10

Russian House's Halloween House Party
Friday, October 31 at 8 pm
Details: Russian House is hosting a Halloween party with drink specials all night as well as music from Ulrich and the Tribe followed by DJ Mikael's Discotheque. There will also be a best and worst costume contest.
Why you should go: You feel like braving the fright fest that is Halloween in downtown Austin.
Price: Admission is free.

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Defensive Driving

Austin-based Tesla faces new probe focused on remote driving feature

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 2.6 million Teslas.

Federal regulators have opened an investigation into 2.6 million Teslas after reports of crashes involving the use of company technology that allows drivers to remotely command their vehicle to return to them, or move to another location, using a phone app.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said Tuesday, January 7 that Austin-based Tesla did not report any of the accidents. Tesla is under order to report crashes on “publicly accessible roads” involving vehicles being operated through its autonomous driving technology.

The new investigation follows another probe launched in October looking into the company's “Full Self-Driving” system after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. That investigation covers 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

One driver filed a complaint after a crash while using Tesla's “Actually Smart Summon” technology and NHTSA is looking into another three similar incidents based on media reports, the NHTSA said. The agency is looking into 12 total incidents reported by users of the technology.

Each of the vehicles failed to detect posts and other parked vehicles, according to the NHTSA.

Regulators say the vehicles struck objects because the users had "too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.”

Shares of Tesla Inc. slid more than 4 percent in late afternoon trading Tuesday.

Musk has complained that U.S. regulations are too onerous and are holding back the development of self-driving cars. Ethics experts are worried that once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Musk will push him to ease oversight of Tesla, which just suffered its first decline in annual sales in more than a decade.

Musk donated an estimated $250 million to Trump's presidential campaign and is a frequent guest at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, vetting cabinet nominees and meeting with foreign heads of state. Trump has put Musk in charge of an advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, that will recommend where to cut government expenses and staff at federal agencies and reduce regulation.

The NHTSA said it will look into the top speed that Teslas can reach when users deploy its “summons” technology, as well as restrictions on public roads and line of sights requirements. It also said it expects to check for any “connectivity delays" with the app that could result in increased stopping distance.

Tesla’s Model 3 owner’s manual says that its “summons” feature is designed for use only in parking lots and driveways on private property and is disabled on public roads.

The new probe covers 2016-2025 Model S and X vehicles, 2017-2025 Model 3, 2020-2025 Model Y equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving driver assistance system.

tesla elon musk safety

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