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The Rainey Street Trailhead Project is expected to be completed in early 2024.

Downtown Commission hears plans to address Rainey Street safety

The Downtown Commission last week gave an unofficial thumbs-up to the city’s efforts to improve safety in the Rainey Street nightlife district, in an effort to prevent more drownings in the area. On July 19, representatives from the Parks and…

Parks • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 25, 2023

Greg Casar calls for national standard to prevent heat-related illness, deaths on construction sites

Amid an oppressive summer, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar is calling on the federal government to enact stricter protections for workers to ensure they don’t suffer heat-related illness on the job. Casar, a former City Council member whose congressional district includes…

Public Health • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jul 25, 2023

Council approves taller buildings in part of Sixth Street entertainment district

City Council has approved an increase in building height for a portion of the East Sixth Street entertainment district that has been targeted for redevelopment by a Dallas-based real estate firm. The ordinance amendment approved Thursday after a public hearing…

Planning • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 24, 2023

New rules for addressing City Council ‘postponed indefinitely’

At the beginning of Thursday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Kirk Watson announced that a plan to cut back on public input had been “postponed indefinitely.” Many speakers criticized rules originally proposed by City Clerk Myrna Rios, and they expressed hope…

City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jul 24, 2023

Austin ISD considers adding 70 police officers to comply with new Texas school safety law

Lee esta historia en español The Austin Independent School District is considering nearly doubling the size of its police department to comply with a new state law that takes effect Sept. 1. House Bill 3 is a piece of sweeping school…

AISD • By Becky Fogel, KUT • Jul 24, 2023

City Council voted to reduce the amount of land needed to build a home to more than half of what the current rules say.

Council greenlights change to reduce land size needed to build a home in Austin

The size of land Austinites need to build a home on is about to get smaller – as part of an effort to encourage developers to build smaller and cheaper houses. City Council on Thursday approved a resolution that will start…

City Council • By Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT • Jul 21, 2023

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Council OKs lawsuit settlements related to injuries, land

City Council agreed Thursday to settle five lawsuits, including paying $1.2 million to a protester who was injured during the protests outside the Austin Police Department in May 2020. Bomani Barton, who was shot by a police officer with three…

City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jul 21, 2023

Photo courtesy of city of Austin.

$9.1M emergency homeless shelter at the Marshalling Yard expected to open by end of August

City Council on Thursday approved a proposal to operate a $9.1 million temporary emergency homeless shelter at the Marshalling Yard, a city-owned facility located near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The move comes as Austin sees 10 straight days of temperatures…

City Council • By Andrea Guzman • Jul 21, 2023

Council orders overhaul of SMART housing program

City Council voted this week to proceed with an overhaul of the SMART housing program. The SMART (Safe, Mixed-Income, Accessible, Reasonably Priced, Transit-Oriented) housing program grants certain fee waivers to housing developments that agree to include affordable housing. The list…

Housing • By Nina Hernandez • Jul 21, 2023

Proposed budget emphasizes city basics, long-term financial stability

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza and city financial staff on Wednesday presented their proposed $5.5 billion budget for 2023-24. Austin taxpayers currently pay 46.27 cents per $100 taxable value. That rate will decline to 42.42 cents for next year, although…

Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jul 20, 2023

Garza explains motivations behind proposed changes to Equity, Civil Rights offices

At Wednesday’s budget work session, interim City Manager Jesús Garza offered some of his rationale behind the proposed reorganization of four city offices, a change that has drawn criticism from community groups involved in equality and racial justice. During the…

Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 20, 2023

Council to formalize $200 minimum pay for musicians at city events

City Council will likely adopt a new pay scale for musicians performing for city events today, adopting a rate of $200 per musician as a base rate with a sliding scale for performers in larger groups. The resolution set for…

City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 20, 2023

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