City to create disaster-relief hubs

Spurred into action by Winter Storm Uri, City Council has moved to establish emergency hubs across the city where residents can go during a natural disaster to find food, water and shelter – belatedly acting on plans from two years…

TxDOT wants to add four lanes to I-35, but a citizen work group is pushing 'BAC'

At the April 5 joint meeting of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory councils (BAC and PAC), members reviewed a Google doc detailing their recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation regarding the I-35 Capital Express Project. The massive highway project proposes adding…

Council barely OKs eminent domain for U.S. 290 expansion

With just six members voting in the affirmative last Thursday, City Council authorized staff to move forward with eminent domain proceedings to purchase new right of way in order to move wastewater lines that are in the path of the…

Local organizations step up to expand vaccine access in East Austin

Michele Rountree had reservations about getting the COVID-19 vaccine at first. But the more research she did, the better she began to feel. And when she heard the African American Youth Harvest Foundation was hosting a walk-in vaccine clinic, something…

City awards second round of SAVES funds to closed music venues

The city has begun awarding grants to 28 music venues selected to receive assistance from a $5 million program created to help preserve businesses that have been largely closed since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last spring. The grants…

Council approves Rainey towers, pledges new LDC push

On Thursday City Council approved increased floor area ratio for three new towers in the Rainey Street area, bringing 1,000 more homes – 55 of them affordable – to the area. The approval of the towers may have consequences beyond…

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Landmark commission postpones demolition in West Line Historic District

The Historic Landmark Commission heard a proposal last month to demolish an old building and construct a new one on a property located in the West Line Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in…

City looks to mitigate wildfire hazards caused by Winter Storm Uri

Some tree trimmings from power restoration efforts during Winter Storm Uri are still on the ground nearly two months after the storm, creating a potential wildfire hazard as wildfire season approaches.  Though trimmings in residential areas have been mostly picked…

Neighbors tell ACC board: No concrete plant here

Neighbors of Austin Community College’s Pinnacle campus in Oak Hill begged the ACC Board of Trustees to reverse its apparent decision to allow a Texas Department of Transportation contractor to operate a concrete batch plant on the campus. About 20 neighbors…

City seeks input on post-Covid economic recovery plan

The city is taking feedback from residents on a wide-reaching plan to restructure how many departments operate, and how economic development is handled in the post-pandemic world. The Economic Recovery and Resiliency Framework is a list of 45 ways the…

Landmark Commission votes against front-yard pool proposal

At last month’s meeting on March 22, the Historic Landmark Commission discussed a certificate of appropriateness application to modify the landscape, construct a terrace and build a swimming pool at the historic Jackson-Novy-Kelly-Hoey House at 2406 Harris Blvd. First recommended…

Mayor, City Council express opposition to state legislation

Mayor Steve Adler and several City Council members expressed their frustration with the Legislature at Tuesday’s work session, after Intergovernmental Relations Officer Brie Franco described legislation aimed at curbing Austin’s authority to govern itself. Among Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s announced…