Bullseye

Trendy hatchet-throwing venue targets San Antonio for next location

Stumpy's will make all of San Antonio's hatchet throwing dreams come true.

Stumpy's Hatchet House/Facebook

If the name doesn't get you, the concept certainly will. Stumpy's Hatchet House is bringing high-flyin', bullseye-findin' hatchet throwin' to Alamo City. Located at 758 Isom Rd., near North Star Mall, Stumpy's will offer San Antonians the opportunity to throw hatchets at targets, something we never realized we actually wanted to do until it became a possibility.

Part recreation center/part BYOB bar, Stumpy's houses a series of indoor throwing pits outfitted with wire-framed walls and a special wooden target at the end. People take turns throwing hatchets in a safe, controlled environment, which allows them to work on their hatchet throwing form, according to a Stumpy's press alert. After they've mastered the art of the throw, players can then move to hatchet games and activities.

Though Stumpy's offers light snacks and soft drinks for purchase, the 21-and-up age restriction means customers can bring their own booze or order in meals. Stumpy's also offers accommodations for large parties, but reservations for groups of all sizes — especially on the weekends — is encouraged.

After opening its first location in 2016, the New Jersey-based company has rapidly expanded to include seven additional locations, including two in Texas: San Antonio and Austin, according to its website.

CultureMap has reached out to confirm the San Antonio opening date and will update this story as soon as that information becomes available. Considering Stumpy's San Antonio's social media teases and call for new employees, we'd bet our hatchet throwing dreams are about to come true any day now.

openings

Vehicle News

What to know about new car inspection requirements in San Antonio

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Texas is changing requirements for vehicle registration.

Beginning January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners will no longer need to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminates the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles.

We'll all be free, free, free of the oppression of the safety inspection process. However …

Under the new law, the $7.50 fee that drivers had to pay as a safety inspection fee has not gone away. It now appears on your registration notice under a new name: "Inspection Program Replacement Fee."

This name change comes courtesy of the legislature, who want to keep collecting this fee because the funds go to state programs such as construction and expansion of state highways — funds they previously collected from the Safety Inspection Fee.

And while the safety inspection is gone, state law will still require that drivers in 17 counties must pass an "emission inspection" on vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old, in order to get your vehicle registered. In Bexar County, the new requirement will go into effect in 2026.

But what does an "emissions inspection" mean?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) details the following changes:

Safety inspection out, emissions testing in
Until December 31, 2024, safety inspections are required for vehicle registration in all 254 counties. Beginning January 1, 2025, noncommercial vehicles in Texas will no longer be required to have an annual safety inspection. Instead, vehicles will have to get an emissions inspection on gasoline-powered vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old.

What is no longer going to be "inspected"?
Texas Transportation Code §548.051 specifies the list of old-school inspection items which will no longer be checked. Moving forward, they will no longer be checking: tires, wheel assembly, safety guards, safety flaps, brakes, steering, lighting, horns, mirrors, windshield wipers, sunscreening devices, and front seat belts in vehicles on which seat belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment.

What will still be inspected are listed as "Items 12–15": exhaust system, exhaust emissions system, fuel tank cap, and emissions control equipment. These will be part of the emissions inspection process in 17 counties.

Those 17 counties where this is relevant include:

Austin: Travis and Williamson
DFW: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant
Houston: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery
El Paso County

In Bexar County, emissions inspections will be required beginning on November 1, 2026.

Where will emissions inspections be obtained?
Emissions inspections can be obtained at DPS-certified vehicle inspection stations in the 17 emissions counties. These will be the exact same inspection locations we've been going to all along, when it was called a safety inspection. Emissions inspections are not available in the other 237 Texas counties.

DPS offers an inspection station locator online.

What is the estimated cost of an emissions inspection?
Vehicle owners will pay an emissions inspection fee of $2.50 annually to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) at the time of registration. The actual fee you'll pay at the inspection station (as listed on TCEQ’s website) will be $25.50. Just like the former "safety inspection" fee.

In short: There is little that's changing about the entire inspection process, except they won't bother making you honk your horn.

transportation