Latest Headlines for Wednesday, July 24
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 by Andrew Weber
Austin
Packed homelessness forum calls for more shelters, support. ‘We are dealing with human beings here.’
As the city adjusts to new rules for panhandling, camping or sitting or lying in public, the Downtown Austin Alliance hosted a forum Tuesday to discuss the road ahead for dealing with homelessness and plans to expand emergency shelter access…
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Elections
Democrat Howard touts cash for Precinct 3 run
Although he hasn’t made an official announcement, a number of Democrats have made it clear that they plan to run for Travis County Precinct 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty’s seat. Daugherty said Tuesday he would announce his plans by mid-August, possibly…
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 by Jack Craver
Budget
County unveils $1.19 billion preliminary budget
Travis County budget staff unveiled the preliminary draft of the county’s 2019-20 budget Tuesday. This year’s budget is particularly important since it’s the last one the Commissioners Court will approve before tough new restrictions on property tax revenue kick in…
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Preservation
City’s new historic preservation grants offer more eligibility, higher limits
Nearly a year after City Council directed staff to increase eligibility for sites in need of funding for preservation of historic structures, a new program will greatly increase funding to those properties.The Heritage Grant Program opened its application process Monday,…
Tuesday, July 23, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Housing
City finds almost 7,000 unregistered short-term rentals, with enforcement on the way
A vendor hired by the city to determine the number of short-term rental properties active on platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO told the Austin Monitor there are close to 11,000 operators, with less than a quarter of them licensed…
Tuesday, July 23, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Transit
Orange Line alignment brings up question of community priorities
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to have a community-supported recommendation for Project Connect’s central high-capacity Orange Line by the end of the year. The recommended “locally preferred alternative” will likely have some combination of details about the route cost…
