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Music Commission opts to reevaluate Live Music Fund after affirming diversity goals
The Music Commission will gather more community feedback on the guidelines for the city’s $2.3 million Live Music Fund, but agreed Monday that diversity and inclusion will be one of its baseline goals. The commission unanimously approved three resolutions related…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 5, 2021
Office building planned on 35th Street, pending rezoning
A defunct Burger King on 35th Street looks set to be torn down and replaced with an office building, should City Council approve a rezoning request. The project, located at 3427 Jefferson and 1615 W. 35th streets, will have 36,000…
Planning • By Jonathan Lee • Nov 5, 2021
Council votes to protect rights of intersex children
Austin is one of the first cities in the South Central U.S. to pass a resolution formally condemning non-consensual and medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. “There is an ‘I’ in LGBTQIA – it stands for intersex,” Mayor Pro-Tem Natasha…
Public Health • By Jackie Ibarra • Nov 5, 2021
Austin Council Member Greg Casar will run for Congress, vacating his Council seat midterm
Greg Casar, who has served on Austin City Council since 2015, will run for U.S. Congress, he announced Thursday. Casar last month teased a race for federal office, saying he was “considering” a run and had convened a committee of…
Elections • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Nov 4, 2021
Public Safety Commission frowns on marshal office proposal
While it took no action on a proposal to create a marshal office within the Austin Municipal Court, the Public Safety Commission largely gave the plan a thumbs-down on Monday. Last month, City Council heard concerns from residents about the…
Courts • By Amy Smith • Nov 4, 2021
Consumer advocate angry about elimination of hearing
Paul Robbins, a longtime advocate for energy conservation and a critic of various utility providers, including Texas Gas Service, had been planning for months to testify before City Council in a Nov. 18 hearing on the company’s conservation program. So…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Nov 4, 2021
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Following string of bigoted acts, county joins state in denouncing antisemitism
The only item on Tuesday’s Commissioners Court docket pertained to a resolution condemning antisemitism in all its forms in Travis County. The resolution comes in response to a recent series of antisemitic acts in Austin and Travis County, as well…
Travis County • By Seth Smalley • Nov 4, 2021
Voters soundly reject Prop A throughout city
Austin voters resoundingly rejected Proposition A on Tuesday’s ballot, which became clear as soon as Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir released the early vote numbers. With more than 85,000 early votes cast, more than 67 percent of early voters said…
Bonds & Propositions • By Jo Clifton • Nov 3, 2021
Approval of Prop B allows for potential land swap between city, Oracle
Voters strongly approved a ballot proposal Tuesday that allows the city to begin the process of trading a small piece of parkland for a much larger parcel, along with receiving other significant financial commitments from technology company Oracle, which recently relocated…
Bonds & Propositions • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 3, 2021
Facing displacement, tenants organize to fight for their rights
Mark Menn first saw the flyer stapled to the large pecan trees that shade his apartment building. “NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION FOR REZONING,” it read. “‘Have you seen this?” Menn, a 30-year resident, asked his neighbors. Many had not.…
Development • By Jonathan Lee • Nov 3, 2021
Ethics commission wants to make it easier to file complaints
At its monthly meeting Wednesday night, the Ethics Review Commission discussed a number of moving pieces it has in the works, including an easier-to-navigate complaint form for reporting suspected ethics violations, and a media piece explaining the commission’s function to the…
City Hall • By Willow Higgins • Nov 3, 2021
Austin will keep running Fayette coal power plant, missing key climate goal
Austin Energy will not retire its stake in the Fayette coal power plant next year, the publicly owned electric utility announced Monday. Shutting down its portion of the plant by 2022 had been a key part of the city’s climate…
