Tovo, Garza to help fund downtown toilet project

Downtown Austin has scores of restaurants, bars and shops, but what it does not have is strategically located public toilets. That deficiency has proved problematic for any number of people, including the homeless and late-night visitors on the streets after…

Tovo pushes alternatives in lieu of fees-in-lieu

Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo is pushing ahead in her efforts to steer the city’s density bonus programs in a new direction. Near the end of last year, she initiated a staff review of the current programs, suspecting that there…

Austin and Travis County officials talk sobriety center plans

People picked up in Austin for public intoxication downtown might no longer be headed straight to jail or the emergency room. Austin and Travis County leaders are moving forward with plans to open a sobriety center. The downtown facility would…

Complaint filed against former housing director

The chief of investigations for Austin’s Office of the City Auditor filed a complaint late Wednesday against Betsy Spencer, the former director of Neighborhood Housing and Community Development, with the city’s Ethics Review Commission. In that complaint, Chief of Investigations…

Adler labors to clarify a complicated bond package

Mayor Steve Adler used two separate forums on Wednesday to address a set of “myths” that he said are circulating around his $720 million transportation bond proposal. “The myths as I hear them in the community are that the total…

CTRMA board gives the go-ahead to gondola study

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is leaving the future of mass transit to hang. On Wednesday, the CTRMA board of directors approved without any dissent a small stipend to study the feasibility of a proposed gondola system in South…

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Audit points out flaws in APD complaint process

The process for handling complaints against Austin police officers is difficult to use, and even high-profile incidents involving an officer’s use of force – such as the widely covered incident involving an Austin teacher – have not always made it…

New East Austin survey tells story of loss

To the uninformed, Shonda Mace looked like she was being a real creep. On a morning last March, the young woman loitered in front of a home on East 22nd Street. She eyed the house in front of her before…

East Austin demolition pause raises questions at Historic Landmark Commission

The Historic Landmark Commission started off with a bang Monday night, when an unorthodox postponement of a group of East Austin demolitions put some commissioners on the defensive, left staff confused and sparked a shouting match in City Council chambers.…

District 7 candidates take different approaches to growth

Candidates for the District 7 City Council seat faced off Tuesday night in front of a full audience at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Village. Incumbent Leslie Pool, who has represented the north-central district since her win in 2014, fielded questions…

Central Health critic stirs more trouble

One of the activists who led the charge against Central Health during the recent tussle involving budget transparency has come out swinging against a proposed deal between Travis County and the hospital district. Attorney Fred Lewis called Central Health’s offer…

Police body cam footage remains touchy subject as court case awaits

While the implementation of a planned deployment of body cameras on Austin Police Department officers is on hold until at least late November, city leaders and public accountability advocates are still working out the issue of how the city will…