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The pipeline company Kinder Morgan violated the Safe Drinking Water Act when it spilled tens of thousands of gallons of drilling fluid into Blanco County groundwater, according to a new lawsuit from local landowners and groundwater conservation groups. In late…
The next Austin Police Department cadet class is on hold indefinitely, City Manager Spencer Cronk reiterated Thursday during the Public Safety Committee meeting. The department will not proceed with the new cadet class, which it had hoped to begin in…
The Austin Independent School District’s Board of Trustees passed a $1.65 billion budget early Tuesday, taking $47.6 million from the district’s reserve funds to make up for a shortfall partly caused by COVID-19 expenses. The budget also includes 2% raises…
The city has taken a first look at trash in creeks and identified illegal dumping, littering, large public events and homeless encampments as the four primary sources of trash ending up in city waterways. In a cross-departmental background report posted…
Berl Handcox, Austin’s first elected African American City Council member since Reconstruction, has died at the age of 88. Handcox was elected as part of the seven-member Council on May 1, 1971, and reelected on April 7, 1973. He received…
The Planning Commission is scheduled to hear a cluster of five development cases in Montopolis today, and it hasn’t escaped the notice of community leaders. Eight separate addresses covering more than 10 acres of the Southeast Austin neighborhood are seeking…
In April, Travis County approved $10 million in grant funding to aid small businesses affected by the economic crisis caused by Covid-19. However, it was only last week that Travis County businesses outside of Austin had their first chance to…
A new working group from four of the city’s commissions hopes to identify ways that the town center planning concept spelled out in Imagine Austin could be used to combat affordability issues driving veterans, artists and other vulnerable populations out…
City Council recently made a decision to decrease speed limits to 25 mph on most residential streets. Now it’s up to the Transportation Department to implement the new limits, educate the public and partner with the Austin Police Department to…
The College Student Commission passed a recommendation Monday asking City Council to reallocate at least $30 million from the Austin Police Department budget to college scholarships for low-income and racial minority students in Austin. The recommendation calls for APD Chief…
Among the coronavirus pandemic’s many consequences is an impact on the Watershed Protection Department’s proposed budget for the 2021 fiscal year. Even with the decision to cut back in areas, the department is still proposing a $107.1 million operating budget…
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley will stay in his position, a city spokesperson confirmed in an email Thursday. “I have had very pointed conversations with Chief Manley over the last several weeks,” City Manager Spencer Cronk said in the email.…
