The public health officials at Austin Public Health are hosting a town hall to answer every question you may have about the Covid vaccines. Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County health authority; Stephanie Hayden, director of APH; Dr. Charles Bell, vice chair of Central Health Board of Managers; and Dr. Jason Reichenberg, president of Ascension Medical Group Texas, […]
2021
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Music Commission eyes funding apart from hotel tax among 2021 priorities
The Music Commission wants to decrease the role that Hotel Occupancy Tax will play in funding arts and music programs in the coming years, possibly relying more on the city’s General Fund or other revenue sources while the local hospitality industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic. Restructuring the funding for the Live Music Fund and […]
Posted inWhispers
[RE]verse Pitch seeks competitors
The [RE]verse Pitch Competition is alive and well and inviting businesses and entrepreneurs to enter the contest in which former castoffs become raw materials for new products or services. Find out what’s new this year at reversepitch.org. Register here for the opening pitch event – a virtual presentation – on Feb. 2, from 6-7:30 p.m., in […]
Posted inCity Hall
Postponement shows ZAP issues around receiving timely public comment
The Zoning and Platting Commission voted to postpone the only zoning discussion case of their first meeting of the year. The request was to grant Townhouse & Condominium Residence (SF-6) district zoning on 24.3 acres at 8201 Thaxton Road. But the discussion turned out to be a demonstration of how cases can be affected by […]
Posted inParks
Covid impacted Austin parks concessions
Like many other enterprises, concessions operating in Zilker Park and along Lady Bird Lake suffered various financial impacts last year due to Covid-19, according to a report from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Gross sales generated by Town Lake Park concessions fell about $1.7 million in Fiscal Year 2020, to about $6.7 million compared to about $8.4 […]
Posted inWhispers
Grey appointed new homelessness officer
The city of Austin announced the hiring of a new homelessness strategy officer just before the end of 2020. Dianna Grey began her new job coordinating the city’s continued efforts to end homelessness on Jan. 4. A memo from City Manager Spencer Cronk announced the hiring and explained Grey had come from working at her […]
Posted inPreservation
Historic Landmark Commission delays log cabin relocation decision
Last month, the Historic Landmark Commission discussed a proposal to deconstruct and relocate a log cabin located at 5613 Patton Ranch Road. The cabin is on property owned by St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, a K-12 private school. The organization is looking to relocate the building to Pioneer Farms, a self-styled “living history museum” that sits […]
Posted inWhispers
APH expects 12,000 vaccine doses this week
Austin Public Health is slated to receive 12,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine this week from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The vaccines, according to a news release from the city, will be administered to those who fall into phases 1A and 1B, according to state criteria, which includes health care workers, long-term care […]
Posted inWhispers
Service changes at Austin Resource Recovery
With the start of the new year, Austin Resource Recovery has made a few modifications to its services and facilities. The Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center has been temporarily closed and drop-offs are no longer accepted at this time due to concerns about Covid-19. Residents may schedule contactless pickups of household hazardous waste for safe disposal. The large brush and bulk pickups, which […]
Posted inEMS
Committee reviews EMS response times
Jasper Brown, chief of staff for Travis County Emergency Medical Services, spoke before the Public Safety Commission on Jan. 4 to report the quarterly incident response times for the county. The goal response time for all priority-one calls – a category that includes cardiac arrests, patients who are no longer breathing and a variety of […]
Posted inRoads
Despite fewer drivers, more people died on Austin roads in 2020 than in the past five years
The first traffic death on Aug. 26 happened just before 7 a.m. A man was making a left-hand turn out of an apartment complex in West Austin; he was killed after his car collided with a Jeep Cherokee. Later that day a bicyclist ran a red light and collided with a driver heading south on […]
Posted inWhispers
City extends Shop the Block
The city’s Shop the Block program was launched last summer to give an assist to dining, drinking and shopping establishments that suffered serious financial setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The popular pilot program, which ran from June 15-Dec. 15, has now been extended until June 2021, according to an announcement from the city, “to […]