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TipSheet: City Council 2.3.22

Given the prediction of some pretty wild weather, today’s City Council meeting may be canceled. However, since that decision won’t be made until 10 a.m. (and since this TipSheet was already written), here are our predictions for today’s Council meeting,…

Park renamed to honor civil rights legend Volma Overton Sr.

The 65 acres of northern waterfront at Town Lake Metro Park has a new name following a resolution honoring civil rights activist Volma Overton Sr. The park, formerly known as Lamar Beach, will now go by Volma Overton Sr. Shores.…

Council moves to put a stop to wage theft

Austin is taking a step toward joining El Paso and Houston in punishing employers that engage in wage theft, with a resolution City Council approved unanimously on Thursday. A dozen people signed up to tell Council members to approve the…

Council appears ready to hit pause on downtown court relocation

City Council appears set to delay a decision on relocating the Downtown Austin Community Court to the former City Hall building on West Eighth Street. At Tuesday’s work session, Council Member Kathie Tovo said she planned to ask Council to…

TipSheet: City Council, 1.27.22

Today marks the first regular Council meeting of 2022, after an extended holiday break. Despite that, today’s agenda seems pretty manageable, though that may be the recharge of optimism from the extended break talking. As usual, this is just a…

Library Commission pushes for fine-free books

Austin librarygoers may be in luck: The Library Commission unanimously voted Monday to do away with late fees for overdue library books. While City Council still has to approve the resolution in order for fine-free libraries to become the new norm,…

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New job for Briseño as city announces promotions

City Manager Spencer Cronk has announced the appointment of Veronica Briseño as assistant city manager for the “Government That Works for All” strategic area, starting this week. Briseño has worked for the city for more than 20 years, including an…

Council expands virtual participation in city meetings

Due to the omicron variant disrupting in-person city meetings this month, City Council will allow boards and commissions to gather mostly virtually sooner than planned.  Council is set to approve an ordinance today requiring that only one board or commission member…

Two EMS chief finalists introduce themselves to the public

Any day now, City Manager Spencer Cronk will announce his choice of two finalists to lead Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. Interim Chief Jasper Brown and Robert Luckritz, chief operating officer of a multi-state organization in New England that handles…

Shorthanded shelter temporarily shuts down on Sundays

The Austin Animal Center, which provides shelter for more than 16,000 animals each year, announced this week that it will close its doors to the public on Sundays, beginning Jan. 23. Historically, the shelter has been open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily,…

Alligators in Del Valle aren't as rare as you might think

While some people think states like Louisiana and Florida have cornered the market on alligator territory, Texas has what Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Jonathan Warner called a “healthy” population of about half a million gators. While most live in…

front of City Hall

Rodriguez pleads guilty to misuse of federal funds, falsifying records

Frank Rodriguez, who served as a senior policy adviser to Mayor Steve Adler beginning in 2015, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to misapply federal funds and falsifying records “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence an investigation into a…

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