- Coming up on "Austin InSight", new rules for short-term rentals in Austin aren't easy to follow.

- [Daniel] We do believe that a majority of short-term rentals were operating without the license in place.

- [Laura] Plus a look at mental health challenges for night shift workers.

- It's very difficult for these folks to get the care that they need.

- "Austin InSight" starts now.

- [Narrator] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Daniel L Skret.

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

I'm Laura Laughead.

Short-term rentals, convenient for visitors, sometimes problematic for neighborhoods, and challenging for city leaders to regulate.

Thousands of short-term rental properties face a deadline this summer to officially register under a new City of Austin policy, but with potential tax dollars at stake, following the new rules isn't easy.

Our local government reporter, Sam Stark, has more.

- [Sam] Most Airbnbs and VRBOs in Austin, known officially as short-term rentals, are currently operating without licenses.

This is the case despite regulations requiring them being on the books since 2016.

- We do believe that a majority of short-term rentals were operating without the license in place.

- [Sam] No licenses means the city can miss out on hotel occupancy tax, which funds the redevelopment of the Austin Convention Center, as well as arts programs and other tourism-related activities.

Without licenses, it's also more difficult to ensure everyone is following the rules and being good neighbors.

- Item number 12, as amended, is adopted.

- [Sam] That's why last fall the city approved new regulations to improve compliance.

- Having a license in place ensures that the city has current contact information for who's operating the short term rental.

That way, if we're experiencing issues in the community with that particular business operation, we can respond to those problems much more quickly.

- [Sam] Among the new rules was a cap on short-term rentals in developments, requiring operators to promptly respond to complaints, and a requirement to maintain a local contact in central Texas.

It also forces by July 1st operators like Airbnb to remove listings that do not have a license number displayed upon the city's request.

But after years of weak enforcement, some aren't confident the new rules will work.

- Like cool, they're doing these things, but we still don't even know how effectively they'll even be implemented.

- [Sam] Blake Anthony Carter owns a short term rental business, and has been helping disoriented operators with licensing ahead of the looming deadline.

- It's super cumbersome.

So like no, I have so much empathy for the folks that are like, trying to figure this out, who aren't filing permits constantly.

- [Sam] Short-term rental operators have largely supported these new rules, as they say years of inconsistent enforcement hurt the industry's reputation among neighbors and customers.

- Rules without enforcement don't really mean anything, so.

- [Sam] Sylvie McCracken, who manages a couple of short-term rental properties in Austin, said the historic short-term rental landscape has been unfair to those following the rules.

- We've been paying taxes, as we are supposed to be doing for years, right?

So this is coming to thousands of dollars 'cause these are high revenue properties.

And then our counterparts, a lot of the times, are paying $0 in in taxes.

- [Sam] She said some operators who've been skirting the rules may decide it's no longer worth it once enforcement ramps up.

- But I do think it's going to make folks think twice before jumping in, or think it's just as easy as putting up a post real quick, which I think is gonna benefit everyone at the end of the day is like, this is a real business, and you really need to treat it that way.

- The city said it's working to get a new platform up that will make the application process less cumbersome.

But they said the tool won't be available until sometime in the spring, just weeks before that July 1st deadline.

(upbeat jingle) If you take a look at Austin's nightlife, by some estimates we have nearly 4,000 restaurants, almost 1,000 bars, plus about 8,000 musicians.

For most of them, working in nightlife means working the night shift.

And that kind of work brings unique stresses and mental health challenges any given day, but especially so after incidents like the recent West Sixth Street shooting.

For more on this, we spoke with Night Owl Therapy, a local nonprofit focused on therapy services specifically for nightlife workers.

Joining us now is Patricia Dolan Bouressa, a Licensed Clinician.

She is with the Night Owl Therapy, a nonprofit that provides mental health care to nightlife workers here in Austin.

Patricia, thank you so much for being with us.

- Thanks for having me.

- So, Patricia, the Buford shooting was a traumatic event, but nightlife workers deal with unique mental health challenges routinely.

Can you talk more about that?

- Absolutely, they deal with so many stresses that people don't really recognize, everything from just inconsistent work schedules, working in unsafe neighborhoods where they're having to get to their cars, that's very frightening.

There's a lot of trauma that has been experienced as a result.

Lots of financial stresses, lots of multiple jobs to make ends meet.

And of course the ever-present no insurance situations.

So it's very difficult for these folks to get the care that they need.

- And also, you know, working long hours in the nighttime.

I can't even imagine, you know, the fear of just walking to your car every night after you get off.

And you see a lot of the best and the worst of humanity in these scenarios.

And of course, incidents like the West Sixth Street shooting, they're relatively rare, but still the impact, creating this sense of danger, this loss of safety can be long-lasting.

Why is that?

- Well, I mean, it's trauma, and the trauma just lives in our bodies.

So once you've experienced a trauma like that, whether you were injured yourself or you were just there to witness it, it's really horrific to have to deal with.

And the thing that I don't think people know about the nightlife industry is they're a very close-knit group of people.

And so the people who worked in West Sixth, they all know each other, they all hang out together.

Their patrons are the same that come through there.

And so it's really just like something impacting your family.

- Yeah, and it is amazing to see how that family environment really rallied together during that terrible time.

And the body truly remembers, even if the news cycle moves on.

How does, though, Night Owl Therapy work?

Who are you mainly focused on as clients, and what kind of services do you provide?

- Yeah, I'm really so thrilled that I got connected to this organization.

When I met Ana Arellano, the founder, gosh, only like three months ago, and joined the organization, I was thrilled.

I had spent a decade working with people in the music industry and their dependent family members exclusively.

And so this just melded really great for the two of us.

We serve anybody who works evenings, service people, bar staff, security staff who work evenings, people who work in restaurants at night, and then every type of performer you can imagine.

And so we provide individual counseling to those individuals.

We do take insurance, so if the person is lucky enough to have insurance that they can afford to use, we do have clinicians that take insurance.

But those who don't or have insurance that they can't afford to use, which is all too common, then we offer individual counseling at a flat rate of $45 a session.

- Wow, and that's really good to know.

And you serve so many people in the community.

People who we, for the most part, have no idea the struggles they may be going through behind the scenes.

And lastly, for people who are the friends and the loved ones of nightlife workers, what are ways that they can be supportive, and what are the warning signs of mental health problems that they should be on the lookout for?

- You know, we see all too common people making comments on social media, and I think oftentimes we sort of just are like, oh, they're probably just having a bad day.

But the reality is, most likely they're putting that out there for a reason.

They really want somebody to reach out.

And so what you can do is, if you see that of a loved one is just call them immediately and say, "I don't know what's happening, but I'm here for you."

Just opening up that communication, letting 'em know that it's a safe thing to do, to actually talk about what they're feeling.

Definitely reaching out to Night Owl, or even if you're really fearing for suicidality, then you could always call the national hotline at 988.

But locally you could reach out to Night Owl, just send in an inquiry.

We immediately respond.

I'm really proud of our response rate.

And so you'll get a response really quickly.

You can get scheduled for a consultation right away.

And if there's just questions like, what do I do for my friend, we'll answer those as well.

- And that is so important.

A lifeline for so many, Patricia, you and Night Owl Therapy are providing such a needed service that I'm really glad to learn more about and to share with the community.

Thank you so much for sharing these very helpful insights.

- Thank you for having me.

- The requests for Night Owl Therapy went up significantly after the shooting, but the counseling team wants to note they still have plenty of availability for nightlife workers in need.

You can find out more at their website, nightlifetherapy.com.

But speaking of mental health, many children in Austin's underserved communities like Rundberg, where our Decibel reporting team is focused, say they're feeling added pressures and fear due to immigration enforcement.

On top of that, there are obstacles in these communities to accessing mental health care.

Senior multimedia journalist Blair Waltman-Alexin shows us.

- I remember growing up within Rundberg.

I remember it being so, how could I say, lively?

I can't explain it.

Different from downtown Austin, I'll say that.

I really wanted to go into healthcare.

My grandparents, they were sick.

And I remember seeing my parents stepping up and being the caregivers.

I remember sometimes tagging along with my mom or my dad and going over and helping them out.

And I was like, you know, it feels good being able to do something that's impactful, right?

I was like, yeah, I really want to be a nurse.

Like, this is my call.

But obviously things happen in, you know, life.

This is gonna be fun.

And now I'm a community engagement coordinator.

(Jennifer speaking Spanish) Hello.

Oh, and your name's Jennifer too?

My name's Jennifer!

Nice meeting you.

Hi, my name is Jennifer Flores.

I'm with Austin Child Guidance Center.

We provide mental health services for the youth and families across the central Texas area.

Now we're really focused in providing services in a particular neighborhood.

(Jennifer speaking Spanish) We provide free mental health services for those that reside in Rundberg.

(upbeat music) It's a community that's well-diverse, but they also face a lot of barriers, whether it's language barriers, cost barriers, transportation barriers.

Like I said, no wait list at the moment.

I'm here to be able to break those and actually connect those services to that community.

- It's clear that the Rundberg area has been underserved for a number of years in terms of services and access to supports.

(bright music) The city of Austin designated a pot of money to target services for families who live, work, or participate in that community.

In Rundberg, anyone who meets income eligibility requirements, the services are free of charge, they pay nothing.

We can provide bus passes.

We can provide tablets and hotspot if traveling is an issue.

But also what we understand is that, especially with mental health services, it's a lot more complicated.

(Jennifer speaking Spanish) So what's been really great is to have someone like Jenny go into the community, talk to them one-on-one about the services that we provide, but also, you know, to overcome some of the perpetual stigma that's still associated with mental health services.

(no audio) - Myself being from Hispanic descent, I had a lot of like, whoa, like, this is a little bit different of what I thought mental health was.

So I think that's why it's really important that I bring what I was able to learn.

Some individuals are more open to hearing what I have to say.

Some of them are more hesitant, especially the older generation.

They're like, (speaking Spanish), brush it off.

And there's trust issues.

(pensive music) Yeah, we can walk now.

Yeah, perfect.

There's a lot of stress within the community.

ICE and immigration, that is the number one that's causing a lot of issues within the community.

It's escalating everywhere.

- It has created a much more, I think, ever-present anxiety in addition to whatever they're already struggling with.

(music continues) - I've noticed with the younger children, they're being impacted by the stress of their guardians, of their parents.

Another one is absences at school.

They're afraid if they come back from home, their parents are not gonna be there.

They're afraid if they leave home, something might happen to them.

(students murmuring) To be honest, when I started doing outreach last year, people were more open.

I feel like they're not speaking up of their needs because they're afraid they're gonna be called out.

They're avoiding bringing eyes on them.

They don't wanna say something that could jeopardize them.

That's what I feel.

So that's why I feel like making sure that the impression is like, hey, we're not here to like, jeopardize you or do anything that's gonna hurt you, but more like we're here to provide those resources.

- I would definitely want families to understand that the work that we do is confidential.

We do not ask people's immigration status.

We do not share information with other entities.

We want people to be free to feel like they can come in, seek services, and this is a safe space for them.

(mellow music) - I never actually fulfilled my dream of becoming a nurse.

So when I ended up applying here at ACGC, I actually started in the front desk.

The further time I was here, I actually ended up understanding more about mental health, and I'm like, you know what?

This is a really good cause.

(Jennifer speaking Spanish) I really want them to feel safe within their community.

I feel like that's the number one thing I want them to understand that they're not alone.

Mental health is a need.

That's, I think, the number one thing.

(mellow music continues) (upbeat jingle) - Okay, it's time for the head to head round.

How many stars are featured on the state flag of Texas?

(buzzer dinging) - One.

- Yes.

Clark Kent is the alter ego of what-- - Superman.

- Yes.

What unofficial holiday observed on February 2nd involves a certain animal?

- Groundhog Day.

- Yes.

Which signs of the zodiac is represented by the twins?

(buzzer dinging) - Gemini?

- Yes.

Okay, we're heading into the final round of play, the Lightning Round.

Talladega Super Speedway is a NASCAR venue in what state?

(buzzer dinging) Madhav?

- Tennessee.

- No, Alabama.

What 17th century Dutch artist painted "Girl With A Pearl Earring"?

(buzzer dinging) Tony?

- Vermeer.

- Vermeer is right.

What term refers to March 21st and September 21st?

(buzzer dinging) Madhav?

- Solstice?

- No, equinox.

Nephrons are the basic functional units (buzzer dinging) of what organ of the, Kaira?

- Kidney.

- Kidney, yes.

The Moonlight Sonata and Fur Elise (buzzer dinging) are works by what, Madhav?

- Beethoven.

- Yes.

- That's a preview of an exciting new show from Austin PBS, "High School Quiz Show Austin".

It's an academic competition that showcases bright minds from central Texas high schools.

The show is new here at Austin PBS, but it's an outgrowth of decades of our commitment to supporting education in local communities.

Here with more on this is Dr.

Benjamin Kramer, the Chief Education Officer here at Austin PBS, who helped make the show happen.

Ben, thanks so much for being here.

- Happy to be here, thanks.

- So first, Ben, why a quiz show?

What made you and your team want to do this right now?

- Well, we felt that a quiz show type program was long overdue for central Texas, that we have, of course, as you know, many, many high schools and many very strong academic high schools in our region.

And we thought that this would be a great thing to bring to our region.

It's happened in other places in the country.

Boston has had one for 17 years, Washington DC has had one for 65 years, and we felt it was our time.

- Well, you know, everybody loves Jeopardy.

Everybody loves a good trivia show.

I'm personally really excited for this, and I've been really impressed with some of our high school interns lately.

They are really smart.

- Yeah.

- So tell us about the show.

How do you make the questions challenging but not too hard?

Because these are high school students, after all.

- That's right.

So if you watch "High School Quiz Show", as we make it through the quarterfinals into the semifinals and finals, the questions will get harder.

The trick is, and we have a team of amazing question writers, the trick is to make the questions at that sweet spot of challenging for high schoolers along with some real stumpers so those audiences at home can shout out the answers and say, "I can't believe you didn't know that, high schoolers!"

We have some questions from '70s and '80s kind of pop trivia kinds of moments and other things to keep the audience engaged at the same time that we're trying to challenge the kids.

- I'll be curious to see how the kids do.

And you know, these kids are of course so smart, but I wanna know how smart these questions writers are, my goodness.

- They're amazing, they're amazing.

They pour over these questions and they fine tune them and they make them just right for television.

- Wow, we're really looking forward to seeing how the questions progress over the season.

How many schools are competing, and when do we get to know the winner?

- So we had an event called Super Sunday that happened in November, where we had 22 schools that took a paper and pencil quiz to qualify.

Of those 22 schools, eight teams made it to the quarterfinals, and we'll have four rounds of quarterfinals, two rounds of semis, and then one final.

- Okay, this is gonna get pretty competitive.

This is gonna get fierce.

And of course, for the people that might not know, local PBS stations, they're much more than just TV, even though we do love the TV part.

One of the core and original purposes of public television from way back in the '60s has been to deliver education services, using TV as a sort of teaching tool.

How does "High School Quiz Show Austin" build upon that legacy?

- Well, there are two ways to think about it.

One is, how do we shine a spotlight on the talented youth in our region?

How do we give them center stage, particularly as we've seen an explosion in high school athletics on television.

Or yes, high school athletics on television.

How do we complement that with the academic component?

The other part of it is we want high schoolers, and not just kids in the PBS Kids range, but we want high schoolers to engage in our programming, shows like "NOVA", "Nature", "American Experience", "American Masters", Ken Burns, our own "Austin InSight".

We would love to connect those kids to the programs that we are airing, and sort of bring them along into the PBS realm.

- I love that.

And you know what, you're right.

We've talked about high school athletics many a time, and that is of course a worthwhile discussion.

But it's time that the nerds, the brainiacs, we get our moment in the sun too.

Because if I had this in high school, oh my gosh, I would've been like, please, please sign me up.

Well, we cannot wait.

We're so looking forward to "High School Quiz Show Austin" on Austin PBS at 8:00 PM on Thursdays.

Dr.

Benjamin Kramer, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you.

(upbeat jingle) - On the topic of brainpower from central Texas, a woman who grew up here in Austin is playing a key role in helping lead the NASA Artemis II moon mission.

- As we come to this really exciting moment, the opportunity is immense for us to finally get the opportunity to send our crew farther than anyone's gone before.

And it's an incredible moment for the Artemis generation, and we're excited and we are ready to press.

I got the opportunity to talk with Reid earlier today, and when the teams are ready and when the spacecraft is ready, the crew is ready and excited to go.

- NASA's chief flight director Emily Nelson went to Austin ISD and UT Austin.

Nelson is directing the operation from the ground as four astronauts attempt to fly around the moon for the first time in 50 years.

According to the "Austin American Statesman", Nelson has previously gone on a NASA podcast, crediting her classes at Austin ISD for giving her a strong set of math and science skills, and she went on to say she got one of the best educations out of a public school district.

We are so proud of her, and best of luck as the mission continues.

And before we go, some frank talk, slash a very important news update.

A couple of weeks ago we told you about the first-ever Austin Hotdog Safari, a sort of hotdog crawl, if you will.

- Any self-respecting city deserves a robust hotdog community.

- Amen to that.

Well, it turns out the city's love for hot dogs was overwhelming, with long lines of people waiting at the hot dog spots participating in the Safari.

The Safari raised more than $6,000 for Farm Share Austin, a nonprofit that helps expand access to healthy, sustainable, locally-grown food.

And just remember, it might be okay in Austin, but apparently in Chicago they say no ketchup.

That's our show, thanks so much for watching.

You can watch and share our stories on the Austin PBS YouTube channel, or catch up on full episodes for free in the Austin PBS app.

We'll see you next time.

(upbeat music) (music continues) - [Narrator] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Daniel L Skret.

(bright flute jingle)