Austin Water aims to bring new conservation ordinances before Council in December

Timelines across the city have been adjusted or paused following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the ongoing limitations imposed by the “new normal” have not stopped Austin Water from developing new conservation ordinances to bring before City Council…

Twenty candidates set to run for Council

While most Austinites were focused on Covid-19, whether or not to send their children to school and how to pay the rent, a surprising number of people – 20 to be exact – signed up to have their names on…

Neighbors of Bright Leaf worry about fire risk

After a City Council vote on July 29 allowing the city to take over management of Bright Leaf Preserve from the Austin Community Foundation, some residents worried about what that might mean for their Northwest Austin neighborhoods, especially in terms of…

City opens grant program to assist creatives impacted by Covid-19

Artists and workers involved in the city’s creative economy can apply today for $2,000 awards from Austin’s new Creative Worker Relief Grant program. The program, which has $3.5 million in total funding, is the latest spun up by the Economic Development…

Parking requirements jam up decision at the Board of Adjustment

In Austin, the subject of parking has a way of striking a nerve. So when a proposal for an office project at 43 N. Interstate 35 came before the Board of Adjustment on Aug. 10, board members struggled to come…

Local attorney Andy Brown will be Democratic nominee for county judge

Local attorney and activist Andy Brown will be the Democratic nominee for Travis County judge in the November election. Brown won 55.88 percent of the vote Sunday night in an election by party precinct chairs. The prior county judge, Sarah…

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Council orders transit election, $460M active transportation bond for November ballot

City Council is giving voters an opportunity to transform the city’s mobility infrastructure on Nov. 3 with a tax rate election for a $7.1 billion investment in a mass transit rail system, and a $460 million active mobility bond. Voters…

City seeks diversity in applicants tasked with redrawing Council district map

Just over six weeks ahead of the application deadline, the Office of the City Auditor is seeking candidates from Latino and other minority groups interested in helping to create the city’s next City Council district map. Applications for the Independent…

Springdale Farm project earns variance from Planning Commission

At its Tuesday meeting, the Planning Commission passed an environmental variance for 755 Springdale Road. The applicant, StoryBuilt, has sought the change for more than a year, but the case failed to clear the Environmental Commission earlier this summer due to concerns…

Austin cuts 5 percent of police budget, promises to cut more over the next year

Austin is immediately cutting $20 million from the city’s police budget – and council members are vowing to make bigger reductions in the coming year. “I think this is without a doubt the most significant change in Austin’s public safety…

Precinct chairs ready to elect new county judge

With former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt taking her seat in the Texas Senate, and no name on the November ballot for Travis County judge, the duty of selecting that nominee falls on the 136 Democratic precinct chairs who normally…

Council floats competing active transportation bond options

Between the transportation portion of the 2018 bond and the $720 million 2016 mobility bond, the city has over $200 million allocated for planned safe mobility projects like protected bike lanes, sidewalks and urban trails. Almost all of that money,…