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Alley vacation granted despite protests

City Council voted unanimously on June 4 to grant vacation of an alley between East Eighth and East Ninth streets in order to facilitate construction of a multifamily complex, in spite of a request from neighbors in an adjacent residential…

ZAP deadlocked on Jollyville Apartments case

After three separate deadlocked votes, at its June 2 meeting the Zoning and Platting Commission moved on from the Jollyville Apartments case without making a recommendation to City Council. The applicant is requesting a rezoning of the 0.79-acre parcel at…

The pandemic is making it harder for college students in Austin to get counted in the 2020 census

College students in Austin are at risk of being severely undercounted in the 2020 U.S. Census, which could put federal funding and political power for young people at risk for the next decade. The census – a national headcount that…

New bikeways earn Austin a spot among best bike cities in 2020

Austin has landed a spot in the top 20 best cities for bicycling in a recent survey by the U.S-based bike advocacy group PeopleForBikes. The city received an overall score of 3.0 out of 5, tying with Los Angeles, Detroit…

Travis County’s small business grant program to go live June 15

Small businesses have waited nearly a month and a half to apply for $10 million in grant money set aside for Travis County’s small business grant program, designed to help companies affected by the Covid-19 economic downturn. After weeks of planning…

Springdale Farm development proposal lacks support due to environmental concerns

For over a year, Austin developer StoryBuilt has worked with the Govalle neighborhood to design a site plan for the 4.8-acre site that operates as Springdale Farm and Eden East at 755 Springdale Road. While the overall design for a…

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Council unveils resolutions aimed at dismantling systemic racism

On Monday morning, City Council members Natasha Harper-Madison, Delia Garza, Greg Casar and Jimmy Flannigan, along with Mayor Steve Adler, held a press conference to discuss a group of resolutions aimed at reforming the Austin Police Department and dismantling systemic…

CAMPO pushes transit, active transportation, other projects to the side for I-35

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has at last approved a list of projects to defer from its 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program in order to contribute $633 million for the Interstate 35 Capital Express Central project. However, representatives from Travis…

City calls for help with redistricting

Just like Congress and the Texas Legislature, Austin City Council is required to draw new districts every 10 years to coincide with the U.S. Census. But unlike the Legislature and Congress, the city asks ordinary citizens to participate in the…

City reworks its Community Climate Plan through an equity lens

Five years ago, Austin’s Office of Sustainability began implementing its 2030 Community Climate Plan in order to work toward the city’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Now, the department is revising its plan to update metrics and…

Council's APD grant vote: What happened

After listening to nearly seven hours of heartbreaking testimony from Austinites traumatized by police violence during protests the last week of May, City Council took a vote approving more funds for the Austin Police Department. On its surface, the $430,685…

Austin Council members say they've lost faith in the police chief: Next week they vote on changes

A fractured skull. A severe chest wound. A broken jaw from where a lead-pellet bag lodged inside a person’s mouth. The injuries to protesters over the weekend could have been fatal, the Austin-Travis County EMS chief told City Council members…