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Most Popular Stories
- A plan to end night swimming at Barton Springs is over before it ever began
- Two Years after the Austin Police Oversight Act passed, Community Police Review Commission finally meets
- Austin moves forward with plan for parks over I-35
- External review finds data inconsistencies in APD reporting on use of force
- Audit cites city failures to address discrimination, harassment
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Austin police should budget for 100 more patrol officers, study says. Chief unsure if he’ll ask for funds.
The Austin Police Department should budget for 108 more patrol officers to respond to emergency calls more quickly, researchers hired by the nonprofit Greater Austin Crime Commission say. In an analysis of about 2 million 911 calls going back to 2016, researchers…
Police • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jan 13, 2022
County processes final rental assistance applications, but will need more money to prevent evictions
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court received news that only 443 applications for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program – a recently discontinued county program – have yet to be processed, a number significantly down from last week’s 995. The…
Housing • By Seth Smalley • Jan 13, 2022
Celia Israel announces run for Austin mayor
State Rep. Celia Israel has made it official: On a chilly Tuesday morning at Parque Zaragoza in East Austin, Israel announced that she would be running for mayor of Austin. She was joined by supporters Rubén Cantú, Ashley Cheng, Nelson…
Local Politics • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jan 12, 2022
Alligators in Del Valle aren't as rare as you might think
While some people think states like Louisiana and Florida have cornered the market on alligator territory, Texas has what Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Jonathan Warner called a “healthy” population of about half a million gators. While most live in…
Austin • By Willow Higgins • Jan 12, 2022
Rodriguez pleads guilty to misuse of federal funds, falsifying records
Frank Rodriguez, who served as a senior policy adviser to Mayor Steve Adler beginning in 2015, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to misapply federal funds and falsifying records “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence an investigation into a…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jan 12, 2022
Cap Metro should have stopped bus service sooner during winter storm, unreleased after-action report says
During last February’s deadly winter storm, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers sheltered shivering Austinites and drove dialysis patients along treacherous roads to lifesaving treatments. But the agency had unrealistic expectations of how long it could operate in the worsening conditions,…
Transit • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Jan 11, 2022
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County seeks to expand mental health care for those facing incarceration
Nearly 20 percent of inmates booked into Travis County jails in September 2021 needed mental health treatment, but a month after their incarceration, only a third of them were receiving the needed treatment. That was the conclusion reached by Dr. Steve Strakowski,…
Public Health • By Seth Smalley • Jan 11, 2022
ZAP members OK 'spot zoning' for ADU
Last Tuesday, the Zoning and Platting Commission heard what may be one of the last requests to build an accessory dwelling unit on a Single Family Residence-Standard (SF-2) lot after City Council resolved to allow ADUs in such spots in December.…
Planning • By Jonathan Lee • Jan 11, 2022
District 4 candidates face off before special election
Candidates vying for Greg Casar’s Council seat appealed to voters last Thursday at a forum hosted by the city’s Ethics Commission and the Austin chapter of League of Women Voters. Isa Boonto, Melinda Schiera, Jade Lovera, Jose “Chito” Vela, and…
Elections • By Kali Bramble • Jan 10, 2022
Internal memo reveals TxDOT’s latest changes to I-35 expansion plans
Lowering Interstate 35 under more cross streets including Holly Street and Woodland Avenue, increasing the number of pedestrian crossings and reconfiguring downtown frontage roads are among the changes to TxDOT’s I-35 widening project that are outlined in a new internal…
Roads • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Jan 10, 2022
Chacon highlights priorities for Safer Sixth Street plan
Austin’s police chief has highlighted a handful of action steps as the most important things the police department can do to improve safety in the Sixth Street entertainment district, in the wake of a summer mass shooting that killed an…
Public Safety • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 10, 2022
As ERAP well dries, county turns to other sources to meet renters’ needs
Travis County Health and Human Services broke the bad news to commissioners Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury will not be granting the county’s request for an additional $7.8 million in Emergency Rental Assistance funds. This means hundreds of people counting…
