Michael Barnes

1 week ago | statesman.com | Michael Barnes

Texas is no stranger to massive explosions like the one that destroyed or badly damaged homes and injured six people in a residential area off U.S. 183 near McNeil Road on Sunday. Looking back in Texas history, these explosions were among the worst:SS Grandcamp explosion in Texas CityTexas City: At 9:12 a.m. on April 16, 1947, the SS Grandcamp exploded at the docks in Texas City.

1 week ago | statesman.com | Michael Barnes

"May Greg use your shower?"This odd request was made several years in a row by my sister, Valerie Barnes Koehler, for her husband, Greg Koehler. That's because Greg, an engineer, rode his bike in the MS 150, a punishing ride, formerly between Houston and Austin. (The route has changed.) University of Texas grads, my sister and brother-in-law already knew their way around Austin. And organizers of the tour always provide portable showers at this city's terminus.

2 weeks ago | statesman.com | Michael Barnes

A Chorus Austin rehearsal starts with hugs. Lots of hugs. Conductor and artistic director Ryan Heller embraces the smiling, chit-chatting singers in the group's chamber ensemble as soon as they enter the choir room at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. Yet when they ease into the first notes of "Road Home," a heartbreakingly beautiful song by Stephen Paulus that will be heard during a 60th anniversary concert April 12-13, the singers quickly switch to a composed and focused mode.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Michael Barnes

A Chorus Austin rehearsal starts with hugs. Lots of hugs. Conductor and artistic director Ryan Heller embraces the smiling, chit-chatting singers in the group's chamber ensemble as soon as they enter the choir room at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. Yet when they ease into the first notes of "Road Home," a heartbreakingly beautiful song by Stephen Paulus that will be heard during a 60th anniversary concert April 12-13, the singers quickly switch to a composed and focused mode.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Michael Barnes

SMITHVILLE — If you confine your Central Texas day trips to the main highways, you might find Smithville easy to skip. This half-hidden, quasi-quirky railroad town maintains its singular character in part because it is buffered from the metastasizing Austin sprawl by two state parks, Bastrop and Buescher, whose ridges, lakes and lost pines hold back the tide — for now.