A study of live music venues within the Red River Cultural District has found that an extension of weekend noise curfew hours is generating more money for those businesses, their employees and Austin musicians. In a March 7 memo to City Council members, Interim Economic Development Director Rebecca Giello reported that the five clubs with outdoor stages saw modest single-digit increases in ticket revenue, staff earnings, number of Central Texas acts booked and payments to bands during the pilot program compared to the same May-to-October time period in 2016. The data also show a small decrease in the number of tickets sold. The department tracked alcohol sales – the main revenue driver for most music venues – from May to December, which showed monthly fluctuations amounting to an 8 percent increase overall, or roughly $325,000 total. The study also found no quantitative sound impact on nearby neighborhoods, with no difference in day and night decibel levels taken at nearby residences. An increase in crime in the area was attributed to Austin Police Department’s efforts to address drug-related incidents at the nearby Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, with the memo stating the “data does not suggest a link between the pilot and crime.” The analysis was completed ahead of presentations in April to the Music Commission and Council, which could lead to the later noise curfews becoming permanent.

Well, as the Austin American-Statesman reported yesterday, this is no good.

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Among the roughly 100,000 transit trips taken in Austin on Wednesday, perhaps one of the most notable was the 3-mile jaunt that began when Randy Clarke, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s new CEO, started his first day on the job by boarding the No. 17 at Republic Square Park. Clarke, who lives downtown, had previously pledged to regularly ride his agency’s buses, a commitment he stuck to by taking the 17, which is one of two routes that stop in front of Capital Metro’s East Austin headquarters. The agency had alerted the media that Clarke would be available at the park for roughly an hour before his departure, but an overnight police shooting hijacked the attention of local news outlets, prompting Clarke and team to head out early, just minutes before the Austin Monitor arrived on the scene. No problemo, say we, since one of Clarke’s other actions on his first morning was to create a Twitter account through which we trust he will be virtually available to answer all of our important and engaging questions around the clock.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has determined the participants in a contested case hearing for a proposed discharge permit that would allow Dripping Springs to discharge close to a million gallons of wastewater a day into Walnut Springs Creek, a tributary of Onion Creek. Today, the commission announced that the city of Austin could proceed to the hearing for a determination of how it is affected. Save Barton Creek Association, Protect Our Water, Save Our Springs Alliance and several landowners will be allowed to participate in the hearing as well. The preliminary hearing is likely to be set for approximately 45 days from yesterday, March 7, and will be complete 180 days after that. At the hearing, the affected parties will present arguments for and against the proposed permit, and TCEQ will make a ruling to grant the permit as-is, deny the permit or change the permit’s terms. Onion Creek recharges Barton Springs, as well as the Trinity and Edwards aquifers. TCEQ approved the draft permit in 2016 amid vocal concern from landowners, environmental groups and the city of Austin. Protect Our Water said on Facebook today that the group “continues to protest this permit particularly because of the recent dye/trace study results that confirm groundwater (wells providing drinking water) will be at risk if any discharges are released into Onion Creek or its tributaries.” At press time, the city had not issued a public response to the hearing news, however, Dripping Springs Mayor Todd Purcell published a blog post at the end of January in response to these dye trace study results. He writes that the study found “that there is a connection between some wells in the area and water in Onion Creek,” but he urges the public to consider the difference between “connectivity” and “impact.” “I want to point out the difference between CONNECTIVITY between the Creek and groundwater or wells and IMPACT on the groundwater and wells,” the post says. “These are two separate and distinct issues when it comes to the subject of the City’s pending wastewater discharge permit. Even if this study ends up definitively showing connectivity, we have no information that would suggest that any discharge of wastewater effluent would negatively affect wells or water that is currently suitable for drinking. What I can say is that, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s response to comments, our draft permit includes some of the most stringent effluent limits of any discharge permit in the State of Texas and the level of surface water protection specified in the permit will ensure protection of groundwater quality. If the TCEQ reaches a different conclusion based on this study, we will address any new conclusions as they come.”

In a joint meeting of the Pedestrian Advisory Council and Bicycle Advisory Council on Monday evening, members officially gave their support to the proposed Corridor Construction Program. The $482 million draft road map charts out the scope of projects coming to nine sections of the city’s busiest corridors as directed by voters in November 2016. The formal recommendation from Monday’s meeting hails the draft program as a package “that improves safety and connectivity for all people, including people walking and biking, through the implementation of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.” It also urges City Council to help expand transit service through low-cost improvements to frequency and reliability such as temporary bus lanes. Finally, the two bodies requested for staff to bring back reports to them in the fall regarding those temporary bus lanes, design speeds as low as 20 miles per hour and implementing the entire corridor program “in accordance with the Vision Zero Action Plan’s goal of zero deaths and incapacitating injuries by 2025.” The BAC and PAC voted on the recommendation following a briefing on the draft construction program from Corridor Program Office Director Mike Trimble, who delivered a similar presentation to the Urban Transportation Commission on Wednesday evening. Council is set to vote on the draft plan at its March 22 meeting.

Austin’s daily newspaper will have new owners as of April 2. On Tuesday, the Austin American-Statesman announced it is being purchased by New York-based GateHouse Media. The paper was put up for sale by current owner Cox Enterprises in the fall and the sale to GateHouse – for $47.5 million – had been rumored since early this year. The deal includes the Spanish-language publication Ahora Sí and Statesman’s community newspaper group, but it does not include the 19 acres of property on Lady Bird Lake where the paper now operates. That parcel was retained by the Cox family and is being sold separately with the intent of converting it into a mixed-use development. On Monday it was announced that Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill – an architecture, urban planning and design firm – had joined the project to redevelop that site, which is being led by Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group. There is no timetable for the sale of that property, which is the key piece of a larger redevelopment plan for the area just south of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge.

Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gómez extended her decades-old streak of victorious campaigns Tuesday night by handily dispatching Susanna Woody in her Democratic primary. Woody, a Del Valle Independent School District trustee, had pledged to bring fresh leadership to the Commissioners Court Precinct 4 seat that Gómez has held since she first secured it in 1994. However, Woody’s message failed to resonate, and she started Tuesday night badly trailing Gómez by nearly 4,000 of the 10,824 early votes cast, a massive deficit she never overcame. Gómez, who has not lost an election since her first campaign for county constable back in 1980, will not face a Republican opponent in November.

District Judge Scott Jenkins last week denied the Austin Police Association’s request for a temporary restraining order to keep the Austin police monitor from attending interviews conducted by the department’s internal affairs officers. The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas represented Austin police officers in court. Sgt. Todd Harrison, president of CLEAT, released a statement saying that although they are disappointed in the result of the hearing, “CLEAT remains steadfast in its strong belief that the working conditions and rights of Austin Police Officers still matter. We will continue to pursue justice. However, we are still hopeful that a Meet and Confer agreement can be reached in Austin. Officers want a labor contract that is fair and just for both sides.” It was not clear whether the APA would continue its lawsuit after losing on its request for the temporary restraining order. A spokesperson for the city said, “We stand ready to defend the city. Our position on the Office of the Police Monitor has been consistent and we continue to strive to uphold the accountability of police actions to maintain and improve relations between law enforcement and the community. We will continue to operate within the law and the Office of the Police Monitor will continue to carry out its important work.”

The Friday that marks the beginning of Spring Break and the first weekend of the South by Southwest festival is historically a traffic nightmare. Because of this, the city of Austin is recognizing March 9, 2018, as ATX Detour Day. Detour Day is an effort to “encourage employers and employees, especially downtown, to think about alternative commute options for this day and the week after.” Ways to “detour” from your usual commute include teleworking, biking, using public transit and carpooling. Use the hashtag #ATXDetourDay to inspire your friends to join the effort to reduce congestion during these busy times.

The leader of a group working to gather enough petition signatures to put a question on next November’s ballot about whether the city should reject a new Land Development Code said Monday night that petitioners have gathered about 24,700 signatures so far. If all those signatures are verified, that would be enough to put the matter before voters. Linda Curtis, the leader of IndyAustin, which is working to put CodeNEXT on the ballot, told a small group of supporters that by the time the group files the signatures it will have approximately 28,300 signatures. The group aims to have all of the paperwork from its petitioners in IndyAustin’s hands by March 15, and Curtis said it would file those signatures with the city around March 22. She said the deadline for filing is April 1. According to the city charter, a group seeking a referendum must have valid signatures from 5 percent of qualified voters within the city or 20,000 qualified voters, whichever number is less. The group has had some problems gathering signatures at Austin public libraries, with several petitioners being told that they could not stand on public property and had to restrict themselves to sidewalks, where it was difficult to reach out to members of the public. Bill Aleshire, the group’s pro bono attorney, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the city attorney and said he has not heard back on the issue. He told the Monitor that he had advised petitioners to stand on the sidewalk. Curtis reported that she and other petitioners have had no problems seeking signatures since that time. But the real test will come on Saturday when petitioners gather at various public libraries for perhaps a final push to get all the signatures they want. Curtis stressed that petitioners should not be confrontational and should always be polite. If the city does not interfere with petitioners, then there will be no lawsuit. Aleshire said he is hoping that City Council will step up and tell the City Manager’s Office it does not approve of the restrictive rules written by a previous manager.

This whisper has been edited for clarity.

With workers who climb poles, work with electricity and drive vehicles under all conditions, safety is a paramount concern for Austin Energy. To put it lightly, Elaina Ball, chief operating officer and deputy general manager at Austin Energy, told the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee on Feb. 28, “We want to make sure all our team members go home the way they came.” For the last several years, the energy utility has slowly been lowering the number of accidents on the job. Recently, however, there has been an increase in injuries on the job. Council Member Greg Casar noted that the rate has almost doubled over the last fiscal year. Ball explained one of the surprising causes. “Last year we saw an uptick in the number of vehicle accidents we had,” she said. However, this is not the only reason for the rise. “I think there are two drivers,” said Ball. “First and foremost, our number one injuries … are sprains and strains.” The reason for these strains is unsurprising. “I don’t know how to say this politely, but we’re not getting younger,” she said. To help combat this growing issue, the utility has implemented stretching classes to help employees remain limber and in peak physical condition. In an effort to reduce the number of car accidents, Austin Energy is sending its employees who drive city vehicles through “advanced defensive driving.” Since the utility tracks safety incidents throughout the year, we will shortly see the effects of their renewed attention to the matter.

Just in time for South by Southwest, the Transportation Department and Austin Energy are launching a pilot program allowing electric-assist pedicabs to operate on city streets. Though current rules allow them to rove around an area roughly bounded by 38th ½ Street and Oltorf Street to the north and south, and Mopac Expressway and Pleasant Valley Road on the west and east, most of the city’s 503 licensed pedicabs don’t stray far from downtown. Under the one-year pilot, as many as 65 of the pedal-powered vehicles could be equipped with electric motors that help drivers climb hills and cover longer distances. “This pedicab electrification pilot is one of the first in the United States, according to our research,” said Jacob Culberson, acting mobility services division manager at the department. “That’s why community feedback and the collection of pertinent data is essential to determining whether e-pedicabs will travel on Austin roads in the future.” In addition to feedback and data collected from the pedicab operators, passengers will also be able to provide input through an online survey.