-
Newsletter Signup
The Austin Monitor thanks its sponsors. Become one.
Most Popular Stories
- 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
- Downtown Historic Resource Survey eyes seven new districts eligible for designation
- Austin is losing even more water to leaky city pipes than previously thought
-
-
Discover News By District
-
Popular Whispers
Sorry. No data so far.
City seeks developer to partner on transformation of two historic blocks
Over the next three months, the city’s quasi-governmental development entity will perform the early work that will result in a development plan next year for two long-discussed blocks in East Austin. This week’s Community Development Commission meeting featured a presentation…
Development • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 11, 2022
Equity Action submits police oversight petition ahead of November election
Austin voters may get the chance to decide whether to expand police oversight in the November election. Equity Action, a local political action committee dedicated to public safety reform, submitted 33,000 petition signatures to the city clerk on Monday in support…
Police • By Emma Freer • Aug 10, 2022
Music census leaders try new approach with lessons from other cities
Austin’s second attempt at using a music census to gather data about the state of local musicians and the creative economy is underway. The team conducting the census hopes to use lessons from the 2015 version, as well as results…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 10, 2022
New water quality rules aim to promote green infrastructure
In a presentation to the Environmental Commission last Wednesday, staffers from the Watershed Protection Department presented a bundle of code updates aimed at improving water quality and making drainage infrastructure more environmentally friendly. “We couldn’t be more excited about the…
Land Development Code • By Jonathan Lee • Aug 10, 2022
Austin-Travis County officials issue emergency order in response to monkeypox outbreak
Local leaders issued an emergency order Tuesday in response to the monkeypox outbreak in Austin-Travis County. Since the first case in Travis County was reported on June 23, the number of monkeypox infections has risen to 68, including nine women…
Public Health • By Seema Mathur, KUT • Aug 9, 2022
Proposal to audit animal shelter fuels debate about choice of auditor
Austin’s Animal Services Office, which runs the Austin Animal Center, will soon be audited, per a recent resolution approved by City Council. The Office of the City Auditor will report on the department’s effectiveness and bring in an expert on…
Austin • By Willow Higgins • Aug 9, 2022
Subscribe to our newsletter
Law Department predicts challenges ahead for equity-based preservation programs
The Historic Landmark Commission was in an unusually gloomy mood last Wednesday, as the meeting kicked off with an ominous briefing from the city’s legal department. At the request of Commissioner Blake Tollett, Assistant City Attorney Neal Falgoust dropped by…
Preservation • By Kali Bramble • Aug 9, 2022
Kitchen seeking more funding to house the homeless
It’s budget time, and although City Manager Spencer Cronk’s team has put together its proposed budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, each City Council member will be presenting their ideas for making the city a better place in the form…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Aug 9, 2022
Decision to hike pay to $22/hour will cause future budget deficits
The upcoming wage increases for city staff will cause budget deficits in coming years and force leaders to identify new revenue sources, according to analysis by the Human Resources Department. A memo released last week presents a number of scenarios…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 9, 2022
Mayoral candidates outline plans to make housing more affordable
Since the pandemic began, most Austinites have felt the effects of increased rent, higher property taxes, or home prices growing increasingly out of reach. With rising costs forcing people out of their neighborhoods (or out of the city entirely), candidates…
Housing • By Jonathan Lee • Aug 8, 2022
City pushes to open police personnel files to the public
The city of Austin proposed making portions of police officers’ personnel files public, including disciplinary histories, and raising salaries 6 percent over four years during its Thursday negotiation session. As the current contract’s Sept. 30 expiration date nears, the two…
Police • By Emma Freer • Aug 8, 2022
Austin officials expect more doses of the monkeypox vaccine after U.S. declares a health emergency
Austin health officials say they expect more monkeypox vaccine doses to head to Central Texas after the Biden administration’s declaration of a public health emergency Thursday. Medical Director Desmar Walkes said Austin Public Health anticipates the extra doses next month.…
