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Austin Monitor Radio: Austin Arts in 2017
Freelance writer Renuka Rayasam joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to chat about her February Austin Monthly feature on the arts – and funding the arts – in Austin, Texas. Program is embedded below:
Music & Entertainment • By Michael Kanin • Feb 20, 2017
Plaza Saltillo advances amid accusations of broken promises
After years in the making, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Plaza Saltillo is only one vote away from its ultimate fate. City Council on Thursday night gave second-reading approval to the zoning change that will clear the way for the…
City Council • By Caleb Pritchard • Feb 17, 2017
Immigration sparks Council fight
After a heated exchange between City Council members Ellen Troxclair and Greg Casar, Council voted 10-1 Thursday to approve $200,000 in emergency funding for immigrant legal services. Troxclair, Council’s only Republican, offered the only no vote and the only negative…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Feb 17, 2017
Two adjacent East Austin streets, two tales of development
Danny Fowler stands in the middle of his driveway holding a vase full of red flowers. He is taking them to his neighbor, who lives just across the street, over the crest of the steep hill that cuts this East…
Development • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Feb 17, 2017
Council approves resolution aimed at creating more Capitol View Corridors
City Council approved a resolution Thursday aimed at preserving “visual corridors” of the state Capitol in East Austin. Brought forward by Council Member Ora Houston – who in a prepared statement described the view of the Capitol that she grew…
City Council • By Jack Craver • Feb 17, 2017
Capitol view corridors to compete at Council today
Stand atop the hill at the northeast corner of the Texas State Cemetery, and you’ll have a clear view of the Texas State Capitol. It rises alongside a row of trees, now leafless, and a Texas flag. That view, some…
City Council • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Feb 16, 2017
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Austin teachers union pushes back on AISD immigration memo
Teachers and principals should not feel afraid to provide information to immigrant families about what to do if ICE shows up at their homes, the local teachers union said at a news conference Wednesday. Education Austin was responding to a…
AISD • By Kate McGee • Feb 16, 2017
ZWAC rejects Republic contract renewal again
In a bit of bureaucratic acrobatics during its Feb. 8 meeting, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission voted to rescind a November recommendation against the proposed renewal of the Republic Services solid waste collection services contract for city facilities, so that…
Resources • By Joseph Caterine • Feb 16, 2017
Survey says: Austinites dissatisfied with traffic, happy with most else
New survey findings show Austin residents are generally happier with city services such as fire, police, library, and parks and recreation than residents of similarly populated cities. But Austin falls behind the national average of satisfaction in an unsurprising category:…
City Council • By Kara Nuzback • Feb 16, 2017
When the music stops - Pitts speaks following resignation
The city will have to move forward with one of its most ambitious policy efforts ever for promoting local music without the executive who spent seven years working to shape that agenda. Don Pitts, who served as director of the…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 15, 2017
Immigration discussion stokes heat at Commissioners Court
The issue of immigration enforcement caused sparks to fly at Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, a rare moment of tension on a dais largely distinguished for its pragmatic cooperation on mundane issues of county administration. The weekly voting session…
Travis County • By Caleb Pritchard • Feb 15, 2017
Poll shows progress at Development Services
When Rodney Gonzales took over the Development Services Department in April 2015, the Zucker Report had reported customer survey results showing that 82 percent of respondents felt that the city’s development review and plan check processes were unnecessarily cumbersome or…
