Planning Commission recommends rezoning for East Austin townhome project

The Planning Commission last week backed a request to rezone a vacant East Austin tract at 4908 Lott Ave. to allow 62 townhomes – including five income-restricted units. Michael Whellan, who was representing the applicant, said that because the current…

Power could get cut to circuits that include hospitals as a 'last resort,' Austin Energy warns

Austin Energy could decide to shut off electricity to circuits that include critical infrastructure – such as fire stations, hospitals and 911 operations – to prevent the state’s power grid from collapsing, the municipal utility warned Tuesday. “Only as an…

PARD gives update on cemetery improvement plans

Last September, around 15 gravestones were vandalized with blue paint at Evergreen Cemetery in East Austin, the city’s first municipal graveyard for Black residents when it was founded in 1926. Commenting on the event, Mayor Steve Adler tweeted that the…

South First multifamily project gets Planning Commission support

A 260-unit apartment proposal at 6311 S. First St. moved one step closer to construction after the Planning Commission recommended rezoning the vacant site at its Feb. 9 meeting. The new zoning allows the developer to add more units, including…

Mobility Authority moves forward with 183 North

Last week, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority unanimously endorsed a contract for construction of the 183 North Mobility Project, which proposes extra lanes to Highway 183 in addition to pedestrian lanes on the service road. The plan includes one…

Storm deals heavy blow to Austin Energy, other utilities

With roughly 40 percent of its customers without power Monday, Austin Energy and other local officials worked to explain what happened when an unprecedented winter storm swept through the entire state, leaving roughly 2 million Texans without electricity. The Electric…

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Texas won't be getting its Covid-19 vaccine shipments until weather conditions improve, state officials say

Snowstorms across the state are expected to affect Texas’ effort to vaccinate people this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “has put vaccine shipments on hold” due to dangerous conditions created by the storm, the Texas Department of…

Winter weather shuts down the city

The storm that brought Austin to a standstill continues to impact city operations this week. Services are closed across the city due to extreme weather with an expectation that more winter is on the way. City officials announced Monday that…

Austin ISD votes to switch mental health provider

The Austin ISD Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to switch the school district’s campus mental health provider to Gramercy Specialty Clinic.  The current partner, Vida Clinic, has begun to transition out. In order to ensure that services continue without disruption, Gramercy…

Council rejects meeting to consider adding ballot measure

After a majority of Council members told City Attorney Anne Morgan they did not believe a special called meeting on Friday night was necessary, Morgan advised Mayor Steve Adler that the mayor would not have a quorum to consider the…

Ethics complaint against Voices of Austin will get final hearing

A complaint that nonprofit Voices of Austin violated city code by campaigning against Proposition A will move to a final hearing, the Ethics Review Commission decided. The preliminary hearing at Wednesday’s meeting was a redo of the first preliminary hearing,…

City opens up grants to help legacy businesses hit hard by Covid-19

A new city program set to go live next week will give long-running hospitality businesses throughout the city another possible source of Covid-19 relief. The first round of the Legacy Business Relief Grant, which was designed to help restaurants, bars,…