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- Austin’s airport is getting a new concourse and 20 more gates but not until the 2030s
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Whispers
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 by Tai Moses
Monarch butterflies running out of time
Monarch butterflies started showing up last month on their annual flutter through town. According to local butterfly watchers, Austin is seeing the biggest spring migration in recent memory. Despite this, the fragile black-and-orange insects are under threat from many quarters, including pesticide use, habitat loss, illegal logging, and severe weather events caused by climate change. Their populations have crashed by 80 percent over the past 20 years and their long-term survival is in serious doubt. Yesterday, an alliance of 105 conservation organizations urged Congress to increase spending on monarch conservation programs by $100 million per year. The funds would pay for restoring a million acres of milkweed habitat a year (milkweed is the only plant the monarch caterpillar can eat). Said Stephanie Kurose, an endangered species policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, in an announcement about the funding request, “These beautiful butterflies are running out of time. Congress needs to take effective action to save the monarch before it’s too late.”
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 by Elizabeth Pagano
2020 census effort launched
Yesterday, the city of Austin and Travis County launched a campaign to ensure an accurate 2020 census. A press conference about the effort noted that undercounting Texas residents by 1 percent could result in at least $300 million in lost federal funding determined by the census. A press release explained, “This year campaigners are concerned about a potential addition of a citizenship question added to the Census. This decision is pending and awaiting response from the U.S. Supreme Court. Additionally, the underfunding of the Census Bureau and changing demographics in the State could add up to a significant undercount for Texas.” To combat that, the city, county and the Austin-Travis County Complete Count Committee will work over the next year to raise awareness and increase participation in the census. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said, “Because the 2020 census is a year away, the hard work to make certain we have an accurate count must begin today. Whether it is protecting our voting rights during redistricting or the allocation of federal funds to local communities, census data plays a critical role in all our lives.”
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Public Safety Commission gets a new chair
It was the end of an era at the April 1 meeting of the Public Safety Commission. After serving four and a half years as chair, Rebecca Webber yielded the post to Ed Scruggs, the District 8 representative on the commission. Webber, whose term extends until 2021, will continue to serve as vice chair and parliamentarian simultaneously. With nine years of experience on the commission, Webber was the first woman to be appointed to the post back before Austin had a 10-1 Council and there were seven commission members. After a long career steering the ship, she noted that it was time to step down. After nominating Scruggs to take the position of chair, she sang the commissioner’s praises, saying that the commission would be in good hands going forward. The Public Safety Commission voted unanimously to appoint him. Scruggs reciprocated the niceties, saying that the advisory body had “come a long way” since Webber was appointed as chair. When no one volunteered to perform the role of parliamentarian, Webber volunteered for the task. In keeping with her ethos of smoothing waves and operating in a straightforward manner, she noted that it would take a bit of study on her part to be sure she could keep the commissioners in line with Robert’s Rules of Order when the occasion arises.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin Community Foundation joins effort to preserve affordable housing
Austin Community Foundation has joined as an investor in the Austin Housing Conservancy Fund, a recently created investment vehicle that is intended to preserve middle-class multifamily housing developments throughout the city. The foundation has invested $250,000 in the fund, which so far has purchased three apartment communities with nearly 1,000 total units and will keep rents affordable to families earning between $34,000 and $68,000 per year. The investment funds from Austin Community Foundation came from its FundATX program, which was created to help investors find opportunities that would let them put their dollars toward initiatives that improve the economic security of Central Texans. Since January, FundATX has raised approximately $500,000 and has committed $2.5 million to local organizations.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 by Tai Moses
Putting an end to distracted driving
We’ve all done it – glanced at a text, unwrapped a muffin or fiddled with the radio station while we’re driving. We may have been lucky so far, but no matter the reason or duration, distracted driving can be deadly. Since April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the Austin Transportation Department, Police Department and Capital Metro are partnering to educate the community that simple changes in behavior behind the wheel can save lives. Said Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar in an announcement about the campaign, “As we work to end traffic deaths and serious injuries on our roadways, we’re asking everyone to pitch in. That means everyone should stay focused on the road and point out distracted driving behavior when they see it.” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley didn’t mince words: “There is no excuse for distracted driving,” he says. “Put your phone down and pay attention to the roads when you are driving.” Distracted driving, speeding, drunken driving and failure to yield are the “fatal four” behaviors that collectively contribute to more than half of all serious injury and fatal crashes in Austin. The distracted driving awareness campaign will be rolling out a series of educational materials in an effort to raise awareness around these critical topics. And throughout the month of April, APD will be focusing special attention on areas where vehicle accident data show a high frequency of distracted driving.
Monday, April 1, 2019 by Tai Moses
Stand up and be counted in the 2020 census
The 2020 census may be a year away, but the city of Austin and Travis County are launching a campaign now to make sure everyone gets counted in the once-every-decade national survey. Participation in the census is critical because the information gathered guides the allocation of more than $800 billion in federal funding. Funding for family and community programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, State Children’s Health Insurance, Section 8 Housing, Head Start, the National School Lunch Program, Special Education Grants and highway planning and construction all rely on accurate census numbers. For the first time, people will be able to respond online, by phone or by mail. Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt will be holding a press conference to announce the Austin-Travis County Census 2020 Complete Count Committee today at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 301 W. Second St.
Monday, April 1, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin’s tallest tower spawns tension
Discontent is growing with the appearance of the tallest tower on the Austin skyline. A new online petition is calling for the developers of The Independent – popularly known as the “Jenga tower” – to make improvements to the top of the residential building that “looks unfinished and is a stunning disappointment.” As of Sunday, the petition from the group known as Fix The Crown had gathered more than 700 signatures, though the campaign can’t exactly cause any local authorities to compel the building’s owners to make any improvements. Austin Business Journal reports that last year the building’s managers explained that the top of the tower would “consist of a box of glimmering steel mesh hanging over a 50,000-gallon water tank at the top that prevents the building from swaying in the wind.”
Monday, April 1, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
New group targets single-passenger vehicle travel
Jim Wick, former campaign manager for Mayor Steve Adler and leader of the Move Austin Forward political action committee that campaigned for the city’s 2016 mobility bond, has stepped into the spotlight with a new project known as MoveATX. The group made its public bow last week with the release of a survey conducted during last fall’s general election that found Austinites favor transit options that would get them out of single-passenger vehicles. The survey found 75 percent of people want the city to speed up improvements to infrastructure for bikes, scooters and pedestrians. Nearly 50 percent of respondents said they would prefer to use something other than a car as their primary transit method. While public education will be a priority for the group, an early goal will be creating a divided bike lane on Shoal Creek Boulevard to allow easier nonvehicular travel from downtown to North Austin.
Monday, April 1, 2019 by Tai Moses
Two bills to help bees and other pollinators
The House Agriculture and Livestock Committee is considering two bills sponsored by Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, to protect pollinators, a group that includes bees and other beneficial insects, songbirds and bats. House Bill 2483 would ban the use of a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids, or neonics, in public road rights of way. The other bill, HB 2484, would create a Bee Pollinator Goals Task Force composed of state agency officials, to develop bee pollinator goals and evaluate what else can be done to protect bees in the state. Bay Scoggin, director of the Texas Public Interest Research Group, said in an announcement, “We hope the committee will have a vibrant discussion about the problems pollinators are facing in this state. We need incremental improvements like these bills to make big steps in protecting our pollinators.” Honeybees and native bee species are essential to our food supply. Without pollination, the Center for Food Safety says that up to 70 percent of plants would be unable to reproduce or provide food.
Friday, March 29, 2019 by Tai Moses
Take a survey to help the city spend $13 million wisely
The city of Austin needs your input deciding how to spend $13 million a year in grant money from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The funds are earmarked for projects related to affordable housing, job creation, and public services for seniors, youth, disabled people, and low- and moderate-income families. The two-minute online survey, managed by the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department, asks you to rank your community priorities and give feedback on the best ways to help the city’s most vulnerable populations thrive. The survey closes in a few days, so get your 2 cents in there soon!
Friday, March 29, 2019 by Elizabeth Pagano
Hensley chooses to stay in Austin
As the Austin Monitor noted two weeks ago, Parks and Recreation Director Sara Hensley visited Flagstaff, Arizona, to discuss the possibility of becoming city manager there. But Hensley returned to Austin having rejected Flagstaff’s proposal. She told a reporter that she would be keeping her job in Austin because she could not “reach an agreement on terms” with the much smaller city. Hensley was an interim assistant city manager for Austin from March 2017 until the end of 2018.
Friday, March 29, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Parks and Rec Board sparsely populated
The March 26 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board barely made a quorum thanks to terms expiring and Council members rotating. With no sitting chair or vice chair to run the meeting, the task was left up to Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Anthony Segura. As the first order of business, Segura went through the remaining tenures of each of the board members. Since the February meeting, Board members Randy Mann and Rick Cofer have resigned and Frank Ward is serving on a 60-day extension that will expire on April 28. Nina Rinaldi is the new representative for District 1 and is replacing former Chair Jane Rivera. Michael Casias in District 3 was replaced by Kate Mason-Murphy.