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Reporters’ Notebook
Reporter's Notebook: We do declare
Preservation fight perseveres… Delivering complications once again, the ongoing struggle to create a local historic district in the Bluebonnet Hills section of Travis Heights has experienced another unique twist. This past week, opponents delivered to the city a second valid…
Reporters' Notebook • By Elizabeth Pagano • Nov 9, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: Let the good times roll
Rock ‘n’ roll … and energy audits?… While touting an uptick in compliance with the city’s Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure ordinance at Thursday’s Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee meeting, Debbie Kimberly, Austin Energy’s vice president of customer energy solutions,…
Reporters' Notebook • By Elizabeth Pagano • Oct 26, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: In so many words
Last week, the Austin Monitor reported on a press conference held by the Travis County Taxpayers Union to announce the group’s opposition to Travis County’s $287 million Civil & Family Courts Complex bond. Due to space constraints, we included in…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Oct 19, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: This will be on the test
Political perspective… Travis County politics, though technically partisan, are generally free of the bitter squabbling that typifies ossified proceedings in more visible bodies such as the state Legislature or U.S. Congress. But occasional events sometimes serve as a reminder that…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Oct 12, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: Monitored
Lost Highway… There’s something missing from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2040 Plan, but not for long. While working on a story about the 290 East Toll, also known as the Manor Expressway, one Austin Monitor reporter was left scratching his…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Oct 5, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: Deals, badges and gems
Council Member Pool and the Case of the Adelaide Opal… On Friday, a member of City Council Member Leslie Pool’s staff made an announcement on the City Council Message Board: “Council Member Pool will offer a resolution to return the…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Sep 21, 2015
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Reporter's Notebook: The lighter side of budgets?
Tuesday morning quarterback… Despite Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt’s recent attempts to rein in off-topic monologues, the public communications portion of the Travis County Commissioners Court’s weekly meetings remains a source of colorful commentary. Last week, one rather notorious local communicant…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Sep 14, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: Fix(at)ing (on) crazy
“You can’t fix crazy”… During a presentation about traffic fatalities at a City Council Mobility Committee meeting on Sept. 2, Council Member Don Zimmerman expressed consternation about the fact that 43 percent of the traffic fatalities that have occurred so…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Sep 7, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: A pornographic departure
We make news… Capital Metro Transportation Authority’s Twitter account went off the rails last week after an apparent security breach led to a decidedly non-family-friendly detour. Shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday, Community Impact’s eagle-eyed reporter Jennifer Curington noticed that…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Aug 31, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: Precious moments
ICYMI, a rebuttal… On Friday, we mentioned City Council Member Sheri Gallo’s unusual callout of City Manager Marc Ott, who wasn’t physically present on the dais for the conclusion of the short-term rental discussion. As a refresher, Gallo concluded her…
Reporters' Notebook • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 24, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: The return
Council changes positions – literally… At their Thursday meeting, City Council members drew from a hat to determine where they will sit on the dais for the next six months. Mayor Steve Adler, who will remain seated in the middle…
Reporters' Notebook • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 10, 2015
Reporter's Notebook: Penalty cards and petitions
Eckhardt deals a new hand from a new deck… Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt introduced last week a new method for dealing with citizens whose comments during public communications might stray outside of the Travis County Commissioner Court’s wheelhouse. Perhaps with…
