Free Republic

The footage appears to show the groups outside the Voodoo Room on the historic Sixth Street of Austin's entertainment district. The altercation seems to start when one woman grabs a phone out of the hands of another and a Marine tries to intervene. Then, a man in a white long-sleeve shirt attempts to throw a punch at a different Marine and misses, as a group of his fellow military men rush to his defense. While some Marines try to separate the men as they curse at each other, tensions seem to escalate and an all-out brawl begins. The civilians and...

Austin police say a man was caught on video sexually assaulting a woman outside a bar on 6th Street. He is in jail. It's possible another man may be charged as an accomplice. Austin police say on Sunday at 10 a.m., a witness got video that clearly shows 34-year-old Darius Maxwell sexually assaulting a woman. She was lying in the doorway of the Lit Lounge and was unconscious. The witness says another man appeared to serve as a look out while Maxwell committed the assault.

Two men were arrested for driving while intoxicated on 6th Street Friday night. One was riding a horse, while the other was riding a mule. Austin police say the ment were both intoxicated. They were apparently trying to lure people out of bars and into the street to take pictures with them and their farm animals. Bartender Brian Matthews thought he'd seen everything, that is until he walked outside to have a cigarette Friday night. "There were these two guys on horses, or mules, or something, outside of Shakespeare's," he said. "(It) looked like they were being pulled over for...

A Mexican news organization reported a massive breakout from the Matamoros Prison. According to Proceso, the breakout took place Wednesday night when an armed commando arrived at the prison and freed 40 federal inmates. Mexican law enforcement officials would not comment on the purported breakout, and as of Saturday morning there had been no official statement about such an occurrence. A source with firsthand knowledge of criminal activity in Mexico confirmed the escape and said jail breakouts have become a common technique for drug cartels to fill their ranks in the ongoing war between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas...

It's been almost 3 1/2 years since Austin club owner Paresh Patel was last seen. He was leaving one of his clubs on Sixth Street on a late September afternoon with thousands of dollars in cash. Patel told a relative in a subsequent cell phone call that he was heading to another of his clubs in the Warehouse District. But he never arrived. He failed to pick up his children that evening. No one has heard from him since. During a federal court trial that ended last week, Patel's story re-emerged. Three members of the Texas Syndicate prison gang were...

Smokers in Austin can take a deep breath and relax. Six months after voting to ban smoking in the city's bars, nightclubs and restaurants, a revamped City Council appears poised to reaffirm smokers' rights to light up at a concert or after a nice meal. The council is scheduled to vote today on a new smoking ordinance that would effectively reverse the ban approved by former Mayor Gus Garcia's council in June. The new law would allow bars and restaurants to buy a $100 annual smoking license, require live music venues to offer two hours of smoke-free shows a week...