City, state officials call for legal action against 'sanctuary cities' law

Government officials and community activists from across the state gathered outside the Texas Capitol on Tuesday to voice support for taking legal action to stop the so-called “sanctuary cities” law. Senate Bill 4, which goes into effect September 1, allows…

Pool proposes campaign finance rule changes

City Council Member Leslie Pool will be bringing forward an amendment to the city’s campaign finance law in June. Pool’s proposal is an attempt to remedy the city’s First Amendment problem with part of the old law, which federal Judge…

Entertainment, arts returning to former 'Chitlin’ Circuit' hot spot in East Austin

An East Austin recreation center that was once a hot spot on the so-called “Chitlin’ Circuit” for African-American entertainers is expected to return to its roots as a hub of live entertainment and creative arts. Last month Austin’s Parks and Recreation…

UTC endorses second convention center skybridge

Plans for another new skybridge in downtown Austin have cleared the second of three challenges set forth last month by a skeptical Planning Commission. On May 9, the proposal scored the support of the Urban Transportation Commission after that body…

Planning Commission assembles CodeNEXT working groups

CodeNEXT has a way of inspiring drama, even over as something as mundane as the approval of working groups. Case in point: Planning Commissioner Patricia Seeger attempted to make a motion on May 9 to approve breaking into three committees…

Project Connect goes citywide

Three years after a proposal to lay 9.5 miles of light rail across a sliver of Austin went down in flames, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority planners are broadening their horizons. On Friday, the agency’s board of directors heard the preliminary results…

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Austin won't reopen its housing voucher waitlist anytime soon

The federal housing choice voucher program, which used to be called Section 8, is aimed at helping low-income families meet their housing costs. Here in Austin, it’s one way the city is trying to meet the growing demand for deeply…

Ethics charges dismissed against official in trellis case

A member of the city’s Board of Adjustment will not face a final hearing on charges he involved himself inappropriately in an appeals process involving the neighborhood association of which he is also a founding member. At Wednesday’s meeting of…

Reporter's Notebook: Not our jam

Bit of turbulence during that pilot program… An attempt by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to make “data driven decisions” went slightly off the rails at Tuesday’s City Council work session, where Council members learned that a “parks pass”…

Austin Monitor Radio: Reporters' Roundtable

This week, Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin is joined by editor-in-chief Elizabeth Pagano, copy editor Nina Hernandez and the Austin Chronicle’s Michael King to gossip about City Council, homestead exemptions and other things going on at City Hall. Audio of…

Years after deadly storms, city still lacks comprehensive flood policy

In the wake of devastating flooding over Memorial Day Weekend in 2015, City Council established the 22-member Flood Mitigation Task Force to examine the city’s flood preparedness and come up with a list of recommendations for how to better prepare…

Allegations fly in music division ethics case

Wednesday’s ethics hearing for a former city employee charged with improperly obtaining city funds featured a series of allegations and testimony against the recently departed head of the city’s Music and Entertainment Division. The 11-member Ethics Review Commission was reduced…