For sure, it's Friday!

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 75.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Scott Shepherd and early birthday wishes to member Mary Keller!

Today’s newsletter is 979 words — a 3.5-minute read.

A two-story organ is getting a second life as part of a yearslong restoration process at the University of Texas.

Why it matters: The ongoing effort is helping preserve a historic instrument while reviving the Butler School of Music's organ program, which once faced an uncertain future.

Driving the news: Last week, workers installed 12-foot-long pipes at Bates Recital Hall after almost a year of restoration work — a lengthy process because only a handful of specialists can do the job.

What they're saying: Organist Gregory Eaton, who joined the Butler School's faculty in 2019, has worked to restore both the instrument and the program.

• "I first saw the damaged pipes at my first concert here — before I was teaching here 12 years ago — and I thought, 'Oh, that's really too bad.' There's damage right in front of the organ," Eaton told reporters during the pipes' installation.

Catch up quick: Built in 1982, the two-story Visser-Rowland tracker organ was among the largest of its kind in the country.

• UT's organ program dwindled — and the organ was rarely played — following the death of longtime professor of organ Gerre Hancock in 2012 and the departure of Matthias Maierhofer, chair of organ and church music, in 2016.
• Eaton has since helped rebuild the program to about 10 students, while Austin residents and alumni have contributed to the instrument's restoration.

Zoom in: Eaton says the organ sounds better than it has in a decade.

• "I could finally get all the sounds that this organ was meant to make," Eaton said. "It was just exciting. I couldn't stop playing."

Between the lines: The boost in the organ program comes at a time when Austin churches and performance venues are struggling to find trained organists.

What's next: More restoration work is planned, with technicians focusing on critical mechanical systems, though the timeline remains unclear, per the university.

• The public can hear the organ, along with the school's new chamber organ, at the Butler Holiday Concert on Dec. 5 and 6.

Austin-based defense contractor Allen Control Systems is opening a laser division.

Why it matters: The $2.2 billion startup is diversifying, as demand skyrockets for drone countermeasures and the Pentagon doubles down on microwaves and lasers.

What they're saying: "The defense industry has invested heavily in directed energy, but generating a powerful beam is only part of the challenge," CEO Joe Bingold told Axios in a statement.

• "You still have to find a fast-moving threat, stay on target and engage it with precision."

Zoom out: Laser weapons are guarding — or will be guarding — everything from Cape Canaveral to Mar-a-Lago to nuclear-materials convoys.

• An Emerging Technologies Institute study published in 2024 logged more than two dozen directed-energy projects underway across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

Flashback: ACS, whose headquarters are on St. Elmo Road, in September announced a manufacturing expansion in Austin.

💭 Our thought bubble: Austin has long been home to defense contractors — Tracor, for example, in 1976 became the first Austin company on the New York Stock Exchange — but ACS' rise reflects how the city has become more enmeshed with the tech-and-defense culture than ever before.

🎭 Creative Action broke ground on a shared $15 million arts hub in the Mueller neighborhood. (KUT)

🥯 Bagel shop Nervous Charlie's plans to open a third location, in the former Patika Coffee space on South Lamar Boulevard, in 2027. (Austin American-Statesman 🔒)

🚌 Austin ISD is facing a bus driver shortage. (KXAN)

🗳️ Quote du jour

"I thought we would win, but as my team has reminded me many times, I kept saying I thought we would win by like 5,000-10,000 votes — not by 700,000 votes."

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👋 Sami Sparber here, an Axios reporter based in Austin, with a tip for anyone looking to starter their sourdough journey.

Why it matters: Bubbly starter makes the bread rise and gives it that sour flavor.

• You can make your own starter with flour, water and patience, buy it or get some from a friend — or, in my case, a local bakery.

How it works: ThoroughBread gives away free sourdough starter at its Zilker location almost every morning, according to a bakery employee.

🍞 I went and asked about it on a recent Saturday, and they handed me a plastic cup filled with yeasty goodness.

• Plus, a couple giant chocolate chip and banana Nutella cookies. (Not free, but worth it.)

State of play: So far, I've baked eight sourdough loaves (including two yesterday) and one focaccia using the starter.

• Reviews I've gotten include: "Outstanding," "So so so good," and "The bottom is a little burnt." It's a work in progress, OK?!
• I follow this bread recipe and these tips for feeding the starter. (The New York Times also has a helpful guide and video.)

If you go: ThoroughBread's Zilker location is at 1709 Bluebonnet Lane. It's open 8am-2pm on weekends and 8am-6pm during the week.

• Get there early — the starter is first come, first served.

Thanks to Bob Gee for editing this newsletter.

📚 Asher is looking forward to hearing his wife interrogate her brother on Saturday at 12:30pm at the Texas Book Festival.

🌃 Nicole is out.

Have a great weekend, y'all!