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- Parks Board recommends vendor for Zilker Café, while voicing concerns about lack of local presence
- City leaders evaluate surprising ideas for water conservation
- Audit: Economic official granted arts, music funding against city code
- Office slowdown sparks new downtown housing ambitions
- Downtown Historic Resource Survey eyes seven new districts eligible for designation
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City Hall
Austin Animal Center contemplates 'notifications for possible euthanasia'
In a memo last month, Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland updated City Council and Mayor Steve Adler about the ongoing capacity issues at the Austin Animal Center. The memo included a few lines that made animal lovers around the…
Austin • By Sean Saldaña • Jul 16, 2021
City opens $2M grant program to assist creative sector nonprofits
The city has spun up another emergency relief program for arts organizations, with $2 million in federal aid available for nonprofit groups connected to local arts and cultural communities. The Arts & Culture Non-Profit Relief Grant will provide 100 grants…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 15, 2021
Report: Ex-AE employee misused city resources, lied to auditors
An investigation by the Office of the City Auditor found that a former utility accounts specialist at Austin Energy misused his city computer and email to benefit his secondary employment and failed to do work assigned to him, forcing the…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jul 15, 2021
City budget proposal gives taxpayers a break
Despite a pandemic that still ravages parts of the country and in the face of hostile legislation from the state, Austin “has come through the many challenges of the past year in as good or better shape than any big…
Budget • By Jo Clifton • Jul 13, 2021
What will happen to all the plexiglass barriers Austin businesses set up during the pandemic?
From grocery stores to banks, clear plastic barriers have become an everyday sight over the last year. Large acrylic sheets, or plexiglass, have been set up in front of cash registers and reception desks to reduce the risk of transmitting…
Austin • By Sangita Menon, KUT • Jul 13, 2021
County increases homestead exemptions for 65 and up
On June 29, the Travis County Commissioners Court discussed and passed a proposal to increase homestead exemptions for qualifying homes. The item was a follow-up to the previous week’s discussion in which the Planning and Budget Office had recommended to…
Budget • By Seth Smalley • Jul 6, 2021
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City eyes two sites as finalists for homeless encampments
Two pieces of city-owned property have been identified as potential sites for homeless encampments, with an analysis of possible zoning issues preceding the disclosure of where the sites are located. The estimated cost of preparing the sites with the utilities…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 2, 2021
Cap Metro board fields 2022 budgetary updates
At the June 28 meeting of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, members fielded budgetary updates for the 2022 fiscal year. Deputy CFO Kevin Conlan presented the broad budgetary developments, important assumptions as they relate to budget, expenses,…
Budget • By Seth Smalley • Jul 1, 2021
An Austin nonprofit is raising money to help make state homeless camp feel more like a neighborhood
For the better part of two years, the Esperanza Community in Southeast Austin has been home for many people experiencing homelessness. On any given day, roughly 150 people live and work on the weather-beaten, 5-acre blacktop owned by the Texas…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Jun 28, 2021
Pandemic, winter storm prompt Council to address local food system
In response to the double-whammy of the pandemic and Winter Storm Uri, City Council adopted a resolution at its June 10 meeting with the goal of strengthening the city’s food system and aiding the local agricultural industry. “During the pandemic, one…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Jun 25, 2021
Cyclists split on sharing bike lanes with pizza delivery robots
A small fleet of robots delivering pizza in Central Austin has set off a debate about whether the semi-autonomous machines’ use of bike lanes will squeeze cyclists off the road or launch a technological revolution to reduce motor vehicle deliveries and boost…
Austin • By Nathan Bernier, KUT • Jun 24, 2021
Downtown Community Court finds new temporary home after long search
After City Council went through the rigmarole of trying and failing to choose a new location for the Downtown Austin Community Court last year, city staffers have found a temporary solution. In the coming weeks, DACC will set up shop…
