- Today on "Austin InSight," with the measles outbreak growing in the Panhandle area, what's the risk in Central Texas?

And music history made right here.

We'll share some artifacts from the Austin City Limits archives.

"Austin InSight" starts right now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(mellow upbeat music) (mellow upbeat music continues) - Hi there and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

The measles outbreak in Texas has now spread to two additional states, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The total number of cases has grown to 400 since late January.

That's according to state health officials.

Recent reports say it could take more than a year to contain the outbreak.

The spread of measles in the Panhandle region has health officials in our area on alert.

A number of Central Texas school districts and private schools have vaccination rates below the 95% threshold that infectious disease experts say is needed to prevent outbreaks.

According to 2023-2024 school year data from the Texas Department of State Health Services, the vaccination coverage rate among kindergartners for the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine is below 95% in several local independent school districts.

Those include Austin, Dripping Springs, Florence, Georgetown, Lago Vista, Lake Travis, Leander, Liberty Hill, Thrall, and Wimberley.

Also, we counted 18 private schools in Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties that are also below the threshold rate.

In Austin, the city administers the federally funded Vaccines for Children Program, offering low-cost or free vaccinations.

- [Announcer] No proof of citizenship or immigration status is needed to get a vaccine, and we do not share your information with law enforcement or immigration agencies.

These clinics, also known as Shots for Tots and Big Shots, are located in both North and South Austin and offer all the recommended vaccines for children and certain vaccines for adults.

Call 512-972-5520 to find out if you qualify and to schedule an appointment.

- Coincidentally, the Vaccines for Children Program marked its 30th anniversary last week.

Joining us now to talk more about this is Dr. Desmar Walkes, the Austin Public Health medical director.

Dr. Walkes, thanks so much for being with us.

- Thank you for having me.

- So Dr. Walkes, I wanted to talk to you.

How are you concerned, how much are you concerned, rather, right now about the vaccination rates in area schools, many of which are below 95%?

What would you say is the overall risk that the outbreak of measles we're following in the Panhandle will spread to Central Texas?

- Right now we are concerned about those areas that have schools with vaccination rates that are low across our jurisdiction.

We've been talking to area principals and superintendents and sharing information about the risk that's associated with that.

We've developed a calculator that they can use to plug in what their vaccine coverage rate is for their particular schools so that they can understand risk.

The CDC has developed a model that shows that if vaccine coverage drops below 90%, that there's a 51% increased risk of having an outbreak in that school.

And so we are doing a lot to get that message out so that we can increase compliance.

- And to add a little historical context here, the city's vaccine program, like we talked about, marked a milestone last week 30 years ago, but also 30 years ago, the country was dealing with another measles outbreak.

- Yes.

- And then 10 years later, the virus was essentially deemed eradicated in the US, but now it's back.

Why do you think that is?

Is it because vaccine rates are low again?

- It is.

They're low again for a number of reasons.

One, of course, is the pandemic and the loss of access to care for periods of time.

Some people have lost that on their to-do list, and other people are now in that movable middle that are asking questions about vaccine safety.

- And what's your messaging to people who may be concerned about vaccine safety?

You touched a little bit about your strategy for addressing this problem in our area schools, but how do you encourage people who may be unvaccinated for a variety of reasons?

How do you rectify that problem?

- This vaccine that we use to protect people against measles has been out for many decades.

It's been proven to be safe.

We have a number of safety reporting networks across our country that have been monitoring its safety for decades now, and it's been proven to be safe.

- And now let's talk a bit about misinformation regarding measles treatment and vaccines in general.

We know there's a lot of it out there.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has recently said vitamin A, cod liver oil, and select steroids and antibiotics can be used as measles treatment.

Is that correct?

And maybe what are some other myths that people may have about the measles or vaccines in general that you'd like to clear up now?

- So, measles does not have a definitive medication that can be used to treat it.

We do know that there's some treatment that's offered to people who are hospitalized with measles, which means they'd have a serious complication or have developed a serious condition that's related to their having measles.

And they're receiving vitamin A under the supervision of a physician.

And that is where vitamin A has its place.

Other than that, we do not have treatment that's available for measles, and care is supportive.

And it's for that reason that it's so important for the public to understand that if you get vaccinated, you protect yourself from having that serious complication, hospitalization, or death.

- And hopefully we can get back to a point again where the measles is once again deemed eradicated in the US.

- Yes.

- Well, Dr. Walkes, thank you so much for your clarification and this good information, and thanks for being with us today.

- Thank you.

- In the Muslim faith, the holy month of Ramadan ended earlier this week.

Ramadan observances can include daytime fasting, reflection, and additional prayer.

For one local group in the Rundberg area, it also means a special act of charity.

Decibel multimedia journalist Blair Waltman-Alexin shows us.

(Altaf praying in foreign language) (soft music) - [Altaf] We want to take care of our neighbors.

That's the most important thing.

(devotee praying in foreign language) - This is part of our religion.

If, you know, our neighbors are sleeping hungry, then it is our responsibility.

We must step up.

(residents chattering) Well, can spread out a little bit, spread out.

Everyone must see each other, everyone seeing each other.

Whenever I moved around the town, it was difficult to find myself and my place in the community.

(devotee speaks in foreign language) - So the mosque has been a place where I find my identity and express myself well.

All right, what we're doing here is a grocery drive-through of 150 boxes.

People have signed up on Friday.

That's where I started volunteering.

My name is Altaf Khatri.

I've been serving this community in a volunteering capacity for over eight years now.

We are very close to Rundberg area.

We're north of Rundberg.

Economically, it has its challenges.

(luggage wheels clacking) People were coming here and looking for clothes.

They were looking for diapers, even for groceries.

So we started this program in April of 2020.

Today we are still running this program every Sunday, rain or shine.

It's called NAMCC grocery drive-through program.

(participant speaks in foreign language) (volunteer speaks in foreign language) (participant speaks in foreign language) - [Altaf] We have people from over, I will say, 60 different cultures coming in.

We're serving 250 families every single week.

- Ah, hi.

Do you want milk?

- Yes, please.

- Chicken?

- Yes, please.

- All right.

- This program is open to anyone irrespective of their faith, belief, as long as they have need for food.

Okay, let's make our intentions very clear.

This is for the needy of our community.

We are fasting.

We try to help them as much as we can.

But given especially the month of Ramadan, it is very taxing for us.

(soft contemplative music) This is the month of Ramadan, where Muslims fast to sunset.

We don't eat.

We do not drink, and practice self-discipline.

This goes on for 30 days.

(traffic humming) Circle, circle, circle.

What we're doing here is a grocery drive-through packing for 250 families.

One of the things that fasting will bring in us is compassion.

We feel the hunger.

We feel the thirst.

We feel the pain and the sufferings of the people who don't even have these resources.

We are doing this by choice.

But there are people in the world who don't even have meals for days.

Wow.

(volunteers chattering) It makes us wonder, are there things that we take for granted?

- [Volunteer] No, I got it.

- [Altaf] It brings a lot of compassion.

- I think we're tremendously blessed, and it was important to sort of do some of these activities, not just for myself, but more for to make sure that they realize how lucky we are.

Ramadan is not about just kind of stopping your life and just like sitting at home.

It's about community.

It's about being involved.

It's about living your life, but then also kind of practicing this beautiful tradition and making sure you can also sort of develop the empathy and the compassion that's required in a world like this.

(volunteers chattering) - Instead of our volunteering going down in the month of Ramadan, where you will expect that people are not eating, they don't have energy, in fact, we are like two times, three times the capacity of volunteering itself.

(gentle music) (vehicle puttering) - Good morning.

- We started this program just to serve the needy of the community just with some food pantry.

Today we are running several successful programs like a free clothes boutique, a diaper bank, a grocery drive-through, a free clinic, and financial assistance as well.

So anyone who has a will to do, don't hold back.

Just take that step, and God will show us the way.

(upbeat music) ♪ Well, I love my lady ♪ ♪ She's long and lean ♪ ♪ You mess with her, you'll see a man gettin' mean ♪ ♪ She's my sweet little thing ♪ ♪ She's my pride and joy ♪ ♪ She's my sweet little baby ♪ ♪ I'm her little lover boy ♪ (upbeat music) - That was local guitar great Gary Clark, Jr. covering the also great Stevie Ray Vaughan in a sneak preview of the "Austin City Limits" TV show's 50th anniversary national broadcast special.

"Austin City Limits" is of course an Austin PBS original and the longest running music show in TV history.

The two-hour special airs on PBS tomorrow night at 7:00.

It's a star-studded lineup including Rufus Wainwright, Lyle Lovett, the Indigo Girls, Leon Bridges, and more.

So much music history made right here at Austin PBS.

And we actually have a museum's worth of unique historic artifacts from the hundreds of performances, including a simple neon sign that has a little bit of mystery around it.

Take a look.

(gentle music) - [Frank] Working for "Austin City Limits" was the best gig I ever had.

I mean, how lucky can you be?

I remember eating lunch at my desk, and I'd go through one door, and there'd be Willie Nelson down there, you know, rehearsing.

I mean, who gets to do that?

- [Ben] I don't know who did that neon.

- Ah, that was- - Wasn't me.

How old is that?

- Augie Kimmel did that.

That's- - No, that.

- Oh, the neon, I don't know.

That's fairly new.

I'm Frank Roberts.

Up until last February, I was an engineer here at KLRU Austin PBS.

I was here for 31 years.

I was hired full-time here in '93 and kind of worked as needed here for four or five years before that.

Here it is.

Whoa.

(chuckles) Oh.

- Surprise, surprise.

- It has seen better days.

Look at the wooden pegs, the standoffs.

- My name is Ben Livingston.

Ever since 1984, I've had a neon shop called the Beneon Company.

And somehow after I started my business, I ended up here, and I cut a deal with them, and I said, "Listen, if you let me do a neon set for this show, I'll earn my keep."

This is all original.

This is original.

This star is original.

This is new.

- That neon sign actually was here before I was.

It's probably the oldest artifact I've ever seen from the show.

- Oh, I can show 'em.

My name is Liz Antaramian.

I'm responsible for the preservation, access, and retrieval of primary source materials related to both Austin PBS and "Austin City Limits".

This is the actual pilot episode of "Austin City Limits".

By the time we came into season six, we were kind of looking for a little bit more of a rebrand.

So the neon sign was specifically created to really evoke that honky-tonk feel.

The sign was incorporated into the show's open.

So we start with a group of people dancing, and then it starts to zoom in to the sign itself, and then the show begins.

- [Announcer] Recorded live from Austin, Texas, it's "Austin City Limits," presenting the king of southern fried country music with country's instrumental group of the year.

- Good evening.

I wonder, would you welcome from Mount Juliet, Tennessee- - One could say that it was the curtain raiser for season six of "Austin City Limits."

- So this is how you tell if something works or not.

So you can just put this.

(instrument buzzing) So, this is a good sign, no pun intended.

So this is mercury and argon, this tube right here.

This is white.

This is the same gas as in mercury.

Can you smell the ozone?

(Frank sniffs) - I think it was in Bill Arhos's office behind a filing cabinet at one time, and I asked him about that.

And he said it was an artifact from the '70s.

He pulled it out before it got to the dumpster, and it just sat there forever.

And the last time I actually saw it, I was in the Texas History Museum, the Bob Bullock Museum.

(tool buzzing) It's awfully dim.

- It is pretty dim, but I think if it's working at all... Now it's just to whether the transformer works or not.

That star, some piece of it was broken.

I'm just kind of trying to put this back together.

- It's been a long time.

I was so involved with the studio at that point that I don't know why they wouldn't have said, "Can you just fix this thing?"

- One hand in your pocket.

- okay, here we go.

We're gonna plug it in for the big reveal.

Hey, after all these years.

- Yeah, buddy.

- Look at that.

- Well, green, white, and red.

- Wow.

- It's Italian.

- Here's a piece of history right there.

- Yeah, you might wanna let it run a while 'cause I think they said it was not continually running.

- It's in great shape.

Well, I don't see anything wrong with it.

This is gonna have to absorb a little mercury a bit.

- Yeah, it's gonna have to warm up.

- It's beautiful.

- [Frank] It is gorgeous.

- [Ben] Look at that.

- I bet that's the first time that's been lit up in 40 years.

- You think?

- Yeah.

- The historical significance of this sign is really indicative of changes.

And so the season six sign was a little bit more of that experiment of what happens if we change just a little something.

It didn't work out, which is fine, because we went back to the original logo.

- There was always a question as whether we would get funded from year to year.

I mean, I came here in season 13, full-time in 18, and there was some question as to whether we'd make it to 20.

And it was by the skin of our teeth.

But after a while it, it kind of became a really big thing.

Yeah, it was...

I realized that I got the job of my life.

(upbeat music) - Neon artist Ben Livingston did not actually make that neon sign, and so that's the mystery.

We're not entirely sure who did, but if you think, you know, let us know.

Just email us at austininsight@klru.org.

And now let's talk more about the magical ACL history with Liz Antaramian, the director of archives here at Austin PBS.

Liz, thanks so much for joining us.

- Thank you so much for having me.

So, Liz, you've brought some amazing historical treasures for us to look at.

So we're gonna start with my personal favorite.

We're gonna look at this lovely dress.

This is a dress I would actually wear today.

So can you tell us about this dress and who wore it, Liz?

- Yes, so this dress was actually worn and made by Nanci Griffith, beloved Texas singer and songwriter.

And when she got the call to be on the show, you know, for any musician, it's such an honor.

- [Laura] Absolutely.

- And so she immediately went to the store and wanted to look like a bouquet of flowers.

And so she bought this fabric.

She made the dress by herself.

And one of my- - By herself?

- By herself.

And my personal favorite is that she knew what every woman needed when it comes to wearing dresses, and she made her own pockets.

- Stop.

Oh my gosh, wait.

Look at that, and they're deep pockets too.

- [Liz] They are.

So they could even hold a cell phone today.

- Ahead of her time.

- Absolutely, and I just love the level of detail and, you know, this tiny stitching that she did, you know, almost that invisible stitching, that showed that she was more than just, you know, a creative singer-songwriter.

But she was also creative in many other ways.

- Oh, she's a real artist.

Like I said, I would wear this if my waist were snatched as her.

I would like absolutely walk away with this.

And so you have another really cool item for us to look at, and this next item is the actual videotape reel from the original pilot episode.

And you may be thinking, "Yes, of course the Willie Nelson show, we know this," but actually there's more to the story.

Liz, can you please explain?

- Yes, so this is the film reel, and if you see the date, it actually has October 16th, 1974.

And we all know that October 17th, 1974 is a big date in our history.

But what a lot of people don't know is that B.W.

Stevenson was the first artist to actually record with "Austin City Limits".

- Huh.

- The reason why we're not celebrating it as the pilot episode though is because, you know, when you try something for the first time, you try to see if it works.

And so the day before, B.W.

Stevenson was actually better known at the time, so, came in, did the performance, but there was kind of an empty audience.

- Oh no.

- Yeah, and so, you know, it was just, people weren't really sure what was going on.

So then the very next day, word had gotten around that our very own redheaded stranger from Texas, Willie Nelson, who was really disillusioned with the Nashville scene, and that's why his hair is so short, you know, came in.

But when you watch the pilot episode and compare it to some of our other episodes, you'll notice that people aren't really singing along as much as they would be because he wasn't as well known at the time.

So they were taking it all in and really enjoying it.

But you know, if the B.W.

Stevenson reel had actually gone to air, you would've seen the people that had been there really engaging with the music at the time.

- Huh, The ACL lore is going very strong right now.

If there's like any ACL trivia leagues now, you guys are gonna absolutely own.

- Yes.

- And speaking of our king, Texas legend Willie Nelson, we have something especially cool.

Liz, please tell us about this microphone here.

- Yes, so any eagle-eyed fans will notice that this is the microphone that Willie Nelson used on the pilot episode of "Austin City Limits".

- Wow, this is like, I don't even wanna touch it.

I feel like it's sacred.

It's hallow.

You told me something so funny before we started this interview.

Like, Willie's DNA is still on this.

- [Liz] Yes, it's still on this microphone.

So to know that, you know, when you see the video, and you can see him getting so close to it, you know that, you know, there's essence of Willie Nelson on this microphone.

- Yeah, if you wanted to clone him, right- - You probably could.

(Laura laughs) - And we also wanna highlight one last artifact.

We weren't unfortunately able to bring it into the studio today.

It's quite massive.

But we do have images we want to show you.

And that is, of course, the famous "Austin City Limits" beer table.

And Liz, I understand some very well-known Texans have actually helped serve beer to the ACL studio audience over the years.

- Yes, so the seven-foot long wood table is kind of the unsung hero of the "Austin City Limits" crew or unofficial member of the crew.

And so back in the UT days, we were able to serve free beer on these tables.

So what better way than to go see free music- - Genius.

- And get free beer?

Such a cheap date.

- I'm there.

- Yeah.

(laughs) And during, you know, election cycles, former First Lady Laura Bush was actually one of the beer volunteers.

- Wow.

- Yeah, so talk about really being a true Texan, this seven-foot long table interacting with, you know, such famous people.

- That is wild.

And I wonder if anyone that maybe was served a beer by Laura Bush is thinking about it now like, "Wait, was that the Laura Bush that like served me a beer back in the day?"

- Absolutely.

- We need to do some investigative journalism and track some of those people down.

I wanna know how she served those beers.

And you know, Liz, having these historical artifacts, it's so fascinating, but why is it important to preserve these artifacts over the years?

- Yeah, so it's really important to preserve this, not just for the historical value, but for the research value as well.

I think a lot of what we aim to do in the world of archiving is to make sure that items, information, and artifacts are accessible by the public.

And we have such a wonderful community here in Central Texas and beyond that, you know, it would be almost criminal to keep this behind closed doors so people couldn't actually get excited about these.

I mean, when you see a dress like this, and you get a story, it really just brings it home, you know, that this is what "Austin City Limits" means not just to the audience, but to the artists.

And I think that's so important.

- It is important, and it's such a powerful visual reminder of how far ACL has come, and what a great tangible way to introduce it to the next generation because 50 years, 50 years long, we need another 50 years, Liz.

- Absolutely.

- Thank you so much, Liz.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Truly a treasure trove of items, and much more than this I know is in your office.

Thank you so much for explaining and showing us.

- Likewise, thank you so much.

(mellow music) - That's our show today.

Thanks so much for watching.

And a reminder, you can always catch up on every episode of "Austin InSight" in the PBS app.

We'll see you next time.

(mellow upbeat music) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(upbeat flute music)