City can be pawn in conflicts between neighbors

Last week’s Board of Adjustment meeting provided a window into how city codes can be used as a weapon by neighbors who have other disagreements with each other — a practice that is tacitly encouraged by the city’s inconsistent code enforcement…

One-Stop Shop becomes part of Planning Department

Effective today, employees of the Watershed Protection and Development Review Department who deal with development—about 250 city workers—are part of the Neighborhood Planning and Zoning Department—and that department is being renamed Planning and Development Review to reflect its new enhanced…

Citizens group accuses county of undervaluing commercial property

A few dozen people organized by ChangeAustin.org protested yesterday at the Travis Central Appraisal District’s offices, saying the entity undervalues commercial property appraisals. The group, born out of the Stop Domain Subsides PAC, is drawing attention to what they say are a…

New parking pay stations debut downtown

Parking pay stations, an early effort of City Manager Marc Ott, will roll out downtown and in West University beginning today, with the possibility of solar-powered units being placed in the Capitol complex. The new meters will have a five-hour…

Final fundraising totals for May election released

Final campaign finance reports from this spring’s election are in and they show that both Council Member Chris Riley and his Place 1 rival Perla Cavazos raised significant amounts of money and spent it freely until the day of the…

Talk show hosts suspended over use of racial slur

Facing a backlash from Austinites unsatisfied with the station’s apology for a racial slur uttered by talk show host Don Pryor, KLBJ AM announced that the “The Todd and Don Show” has been suspended for two weeks and both Todd…

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Campaign report shows steep price of Mayor’s race, even for winner

The final round of campaign finance reports for the 2009 Mayoral race show that in addition to getting the most votes, Lee Leffingwell raised the most money of any of the candidates for the city’s top elected office. He spent…

Huber says land management is her biggest priority

Travis County Pct. 3 Commissioner Karen Huber, the newest member of Commissioners Court, spoke for the first time to the South Austin Democrats at Casa Garcia’s on Tuesday evening. She told the influential group of political donors and organizers that…

Travis inching forward in Balcones Canyonlands acquisitions

Travis County Commissioners approved the purchase of the “Karnik tract,” a 30-acre stretch of hill country along Spicewood Springs Road, now part of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Travis County has added 1,200 acres to the preserve this fiscal year. It’s…

Austin water utility hopes to buy share in Brushy Creek system

Preparing for continued population growth in the far North Austin area, the Austin Water Utility is moving forward with plans to buy a share of the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater System from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA).  The system…

City embarks on plan for the future of Austin

More than 70 people showed up last week for Livable City’s community conversation on the city’s upcoming overhaul of Austin’s comprehensive plan. This new plan will be the first significant update to the Austin Tomorrow Plan of 1979. Planning is…

Economic woes kill plan for Travis County bilingual pay bonus

Travis County currently has a pilot program that pays an additional $900 per year to bi-lingual employees who pass a language test. But it appears that the program will be postponed for a couple years.   County staff had conducted…