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Austin
Hiring headache: $25B in mobility projects will require 10,000 new workers every year through 2040
With $25 billion in infrastructure and mobility projects on tap over the next two decades, the Austin area will have 10,000 new jobs in those sectors per year for the next 17 years. That total is one of the findings…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 16, 2023
The sun is so bright, you gotta wear safe solar shades (for this weekend’s annular eclipse)
Now’s the time to get proper glasses to view the annular eclipse Saturday and be prepared for the big one next spring. This time around, the sun will be about 89 percent obscured from our view in Austin, so long…
Austin • By Jerry Quijano, KUT • Oct 12, 2023
Council members want action, updates to improve city animal shelter
Members of City Council want ongoing updates from the Animal Services Office about the conditions at the Austin Animal Center, which a recent audit found to be routinely overcrowded due to a variety of management issues. Council’s Audit and Finance…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 29, 2023
The city says shelter is coming for homeless Austinites. Nonprofits would like a word.
Lee esta historia en español For years, Austin didn’t focus on finding shelter for people living outdoors. Instead, the city prioritized longer-term solutions, like getting people into apartments. That philosophy at City Hall has changed. Under Mayor Kirk Watson, the…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Sep 29, 2023
Animal shelter audit calls out overcrowding, management issues for no-kill facility
An audit of operations at the Austin Animal Shelter has found that the no-kill facility is often beyond its capacity and lacks the data, staff and processes to meet the city’s 95 percent live-release goal. A draft copy of the…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 26, 2023
Starting next year, researchers will seek relatives of long-lost Oakwood Cemetery residents
City officials say genetic testing of 35 Austinites buried at Oakwood Cemetery more than a century and a half ago is done, and researchers could be ready to test possible descendants of those people as soon as next year. City…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Sep 21, 2023
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Life sciences, housing policy seen as keys for Austin's five-year growth strategy
Business leaders see the life sciences sector as the next major piece of the Austin economy and expect it to grow quickly along with semiconductor and automotive manufacturing, financial services and national defense in the years to come. Focusing on…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 8, 2023
Budget shortfall forces Austin Music Foundation to suspend operations
The Austin Music Foundation nonprofit group has suspended activity and laid off its employees in response to a budget shortfall of nearly $200,000 from its planned budget of just over $300,000. At least $85,000 of that shortfall is the result…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 7, 2023
Judge declares city campaign contribution blackout period unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman on Wednesday declared an Austin regulation on campaign fundraising unconstitutional. The regulation prohibits candidates for City Council seats from seeking or accepting campaign contributions more than a year before an election. Pitman issued his ruling…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Sep 1, 2023
Dianna Grey, Austin’s strategy officer for homelessness, has resigned
Dianna Grey, who has served as Austin’s strategy officer for homelessness since the beginning of 2021, has resigned. Interim City Manager Jesús Garza said in an emailed statement, “Dianna will certainly be missed, and I am sorry to see her…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Aug 31, 2023
Financial justice nonprofit gets boost to expand services
A local financial justice nonprofit group will be able to expand its services in Austin and around the state dramatically with a $250,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation. The banking giant’s gift will let Financial Health Pathways more than…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 23, 2023
City loans up to $38M could shield Hilton downtown during convention center closure
An expected agreement between Hilton Worldwide Holdings, the board that manages the city-owned downtown Hilton Austin, and bondholders who financed the hotel will clear the way for the next steps in the expansion of the Austin Convention Center. Last week,…
