I-35 expansion will force out Spanish-immersion day care, scrambling plans for 200 kids

Child care in Austin is expensive and hard to find. Parents sign up on day care waiting lists long before their kids are even born. And the shortage is getting worse. Escuelita del Alma offers something even harder to find: a chance…

Tourism Commission joins staff in push for agreement with short-term rental companies

The Tourism Commission appears ready to push the city to come to an agreement with short-term rental platforms that will allow some regulation of the industry and allow the collection of millions of dollars in Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue each…

City Council to consider facility management and labor services contract for airport’s South Terminal

On Thursday, City Council will consider a $9 million contract with ClearedDirect LLC for facility management and labor services for the South Terminal at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The contract, if approved, will run from Nov. 1, 2023, through Dec.…

Austinites in the path of wider I-35 prepare to be pushed out

Along Interstate 35, the notices have arrived. The highway expansion has been off and on for years. But now it’s actually happening. People who received letters or phone calls will have to leave. They have a few months, maybe more.…

Hiring headache: $25B in mobility projects will require 10,000 new workers every year through 2040

With $25 billion in infrastructure and mobility projects on tap over the next two decades, the Austin area will have 10,000 new jobs in those sectors per year for the next 17 years. That total is one of the findings…

Preservationists hold out hope for Norwood House restoration project

After a number of setbacks, preservationists are once again eyeing a decadeslong project to return a historic 1920s bungalow overlooking Lady Bird Lake to its former splendor. The Norwood House, which sits on public parkland bordering Interstate 35 and Riverside…

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Rethink35 plans what it hopes will be largest anti-highway protest in Texas history

Rethink35, the organization fighting the Interstate 35 Capital Express Project slated to begin next year, is organizing what it hopes to be the largest anti-highway protest in Texas history. The rally is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Nov. 5 at…

Council members question Garza’s promotion of police oversight director

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza’s recent promotion of Gail McCant to director of the Office of Police Oversight has rankled City Council members, who say he backtracked on a prior commitment to conduct a national search and skirted transparency considerations. …

Commissioners want action, precision on overlays for equitable transit-oriented developments

As planning and zoning strategies for areas around transit corridors are developed over the next year, members of the Urban Transportation Commission want the city to make the density of in-process transit-oriented developments one of the highest priorities. At last…

Austin-area school districts want a Travis County judge to block changes to how Texas grades them

A Travis County judge is considering whether to block the Texas Education Agency from making changes to the A-F accountability rating system, which evaluates school performance. Seven school districts, including Del Valle ISD, sued Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath in August. Since…

Who should regulate Texas Gas Service conservation programs?

Longtime utility critic Paul Robbins has discovered that House Bill 2263, legislation approved by the Texas Legislature this spring, may hamper city efforts to regulate rebates offered by Texas Gas Service. The same would be true of other cities throughout…

APD pushed to improve training, engagement with Austin’s disabled community

Disability advocates in Austin want the Austin Police Department to include training and research on the lives of people with disabilities as part of basic academy education, while encouraging department staff to build stronger relationships with the local disabled community.…