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Stories by Ryan Thornton

Kelly overtakes Flannigan in District 6 runoff

After a close runoff election Tuesday, residents of District 6 in far Northwest Austin will be represented for the next four years by Mackenzie Kelly, the first Republican to serve on City Council since 2018. “This is a tough night for…

Council approves street impact fee program

Beginning in mid-2022, developers eager to contribute to Austin’s growth will need to pitch in to help pay for the transportation infrastructure costs necessitated by the new development. The street impact fee program that City Council unanimously adopted last week…

Commission moves to bring transgender voices to public safety table

A discussion on providing support to victims of anti-transgender violence quickly gravitated toward the work of the city’s “reimagining public safety” initiative at this week’s meeting of the Public Safety Commission. In line with repeated requests from local LGBTQ community…

Police department sees trend in violent crime uptick

Breaking from typical practice, the Austin Police Department presented the Public Safety Commission with a monthly crime report for the month of October as part of its routine quarterly update on Monday afternoon. While department representatives said the crime report…

Chamber looks back on 2020 mobility highlights, ahead to 2021

Covid-19 may have shattered many of the expectations local industries had for 2020, but in the realm of transportation, business leaders and elected officials consider the year a milestone for the future of regional movement. “Despite our current situation, a…

Application deadline extended for Austin Transit Partnership board

Application deadlines have been extended to 5 p.m. on Dec. 2 for community members interested in serving on the five-member board of the Austin Transit Partnership, the independent organization that will oversee execution of Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Project Connect.…

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TxDOT to hear case for Livable Oak Hill design

Mediation between environmental organizations and the Texas Department of Transportation seeking a compromise in a lawsuit over the state’s controversial plans for the Oak Hill Parkway project will take place Tuesday. The plaintiffs – Save Barton Creek Association, Save Oak Hill,…

City prepares next steps for Bergstrom Spur trail

After holding a virtual open house on the Bergstrom Spur this summer, the city’s Urban Trails Program, in collaboration with the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is finalizing planning concepts for converting the abandoned…

City overlooks police overtime dollars

When City Council cut $21.5 million from the Austin Police Department budget in August, it also provided $3.174 million that could be used for overtime as the department adjusted to its budgetary constraints. The dollars were intended to buy time…

Report finds racial bias in 2019 traffic stops

The Office of Police Oversight, the Equity Office and the Office of Innovation released a joint report Monday determining that racial bias continues to influence outcomes in police traffic stops. The report, which analyzed local traffic stop data from 2019,…

Local advocates envision I-35 as a boulevard

As the Texas Department of Transportation begins the scoping process for the Interstate 35 Capital Express Central project, a new campaign aims to help clarify the decision at hand. Should Austinites allow the state to build its “expensive, polluting, dangerous,…

Council not yet sold on street impact fee plan

City Council passed the first of three readings for a street impact fee program on Thursday, marking a milestone in the multi-year effort to guarantee that developers help carry the cost of adding new transportation infrastructure. Council approved the first…

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