Travis County seeks extension of drought declaration from LCRA

Citing continuing low levels of Lake Travis, the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday formalized their support of another emergency drought declaration.   Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution urging the Lower Colorado River Authority to ask for a reauthorization of…

Audit finds questionable EMS financial procedures

Employees with the Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services system would routinely leave bags of cash and checks out in the open as part of their financial services operation.   The office of City Auditor Ken Mory found this and a…

Austin Energy reports better-than-expected quarterly results

Austin Energy officials presented Council members Tuesday with a better-than-expected picture of the utility’s third-quarter revenues and, if their estimates hold, the utility could finish the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30 with a balance of $87.4 million more than…

Huber: Counties need authority to protect water customers

In an appearance before the House County Affairs Committee last week, Travis County Commissioner Karen Huber asked state lawmakers to rein in the abuses of investor-owned water utility companies that are jacking up rates.   Huber said the time had…

Commission recommends independent board for Austin Energy

After no small amount of discussion over specific language as well as their role in the process, the members of the City of Austin’s Electric Utility Commission recommended Monday night that Austin City Council establish an independent body to govern…

Union cites city managers’ track record in supporting Prop. 10

According to documents obtained by In Fact Daily, Austin city managers Toby Futrell and Marc Ott sided with their respective department heads more than 80 percent of the time on the outcome of city employee grievances filed between 2005 and…

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Morrison, neighborhood oppose plan for F1 helicopter service

Members of the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association and Council Member Laura Morrison are up in arms about a proposed helicopter landing pad to serve fans going to next month’s Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix.   A proposal to construct the…

Planning Commission votes against rezoning for proposed hotel

A proposed hotel project at Eighth and Congress hit another road block Tuesday night when the Planning Commission voted against recommending rezoning of the tracts.   The commission voted 5-3 to deny a zoning change to Central Urban Redevelopment (CURE)…

Group seeks independent board to govern Austin Energy

Members of a working group of the City of Austin’s Electric Utility Commission are ready to recommend the appointment of an independent body to govern Austin Energy.   In a draft document vetted by the full commission – but not…

County attorney releases deferred adjudication documents

Travis County Attorney David Escamilla Wednesday released the text of agreements his office struck with seven current and former Austin City Council members concerning their alleged violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act.   In exchange for signatures on the…

Acevedo says downtown crime initiative not targeting homeless

Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo on Tuesday defended a new department initiative targeting crime downtown before Austin City Council’s Public Health and Human Services Committee, but he will need to provide more data to convince some committee members that…

Zoning panel sides with owner over city in rezoning case

Last week, the Zoning and Platting Commission sided with a Slaughter Lane property owner seeking rezoning in an ongoing case that city staffers have wrestled with for some time. The commission voted to recommend the rezoning without staff-supported right-of-way dedication…