The latest census of the city’s music industry and ecosystem opened today and will gather input from musicians and others involved in live and recorded music until Aug. 15. The Greater Austin Area Music Census, at austinmusiccensus.org, will be used to help make policy decisions related to affordability and other issues affecting the industry. The initial […]
2022
Posted inAustin
City speeds up Live Music Fund for spring 2023 launch
The city has refined its process for rolling out awards for the $3 million Live Music Fund, with city staff preparing to begin dispersing funds to local musicians next spring. That change shaves roughly three months off the timeline for the initial launch of the program that was approved by City Council in 2019, using […]
Posted inPolice
Notley/Monitor Poll: Austinites stand divided on police spending, public safety
More than two years after a series of mass protests triggered budget cuts for the Austin Police Department, and nearly a year after voters rejected a proposition to expand the department’s ranks, Austinites remain split in their perceptions of law enforcement. Seventeen percent believe the city is spending the right amount on policing, compared to […]
Posted inWhispers
Monkeypox reaches community spread
It’s official: Monkeypox has now progressed to community spread. That sounds pretty bad, but all it really means is that the virus “is moving at such a rate that the source cannot be identified to a single individual or population,” says Austin Public Health. There are six confirmed and seven presumptive cases of monkeypox in […]
Posted inHousing
Planning Commission forms housing policy working groups
Amid a housing crisis some say is exacerbated by the city’s Land Development Code, Planning commissioners decided to take matters into their own hands by creating working groups tasked with studying and proposing changes that might help lower the cost of housing. “(The Land Development Code) was bad 10 years ago, and now it’s just […]
Posted inWhispers
ARR: The heat is on
Austin Resource Recovery is taking steps to protect its workers from the sweltering heat, asking customers to take their trash carts to the curb no later than 5:30 a.m. on collection day. As the agency explains, the change “allows operators, or sanitation drivers, to begin collecting recycling, composting, trash, large brush and bulk items one […]
Posted inPublic Health
AFD on the front lines of effort to combat overdose crisis
The Austin Fire Department spoke about its use of naloxone to combat drug overdoses in its quarterly report at the Public Safety Commission’s July 5 meeting. The department’s report coincides with City Council’s declaration of opioid overdose deaths as a public health crisis. Council approved a resolution officially declaring a public health crisis at its […]
Posted inHousing
Austin builders are starting a lot of new homes. Finishing them is not so simple.
Alexandra Spurlock bought a new three-bedroom home in Hutto, about a half-hour drive north of downtown Austin. When she signed the papers last summer, the home was nothing more than a plot of dirt. The builder said the house would be move-in ready by February. Now it’s July 2022, and the house is still not […]
Posted inAustin
Notley/Monitor Poll: Austinites are eager to vote and disenchanted with local government
Most Austinites disapprove of City Council and think local government isn’t responsive to their concerns, according to a June survey of 507 likely voters conducted by Change Research and commissioned by Notley for the Austin Monitor. Fifty-six percent of respondents disapprove of the job Council is doing, and only a quarter (26 percent) approve. Eighteen […]
Posted inWhispers
City testing Barking Springs after dog’s death
City officials continue to urge caution after another dog fatality that might have been caused by toxic algae. On Sunday, July 10, a dog died within an hour of visiting Barking Springs, and while the cause remains unknown, the city is investigating toxic algae as a possibility. Though harmful algae can always be present in […]
Posted inWhispers
Mayoral candidates campaign quietly
There’s a new candidate for mayor: Former University of Texas student Phil Brual announced his candidacy on Facebook in June, saying, “The time has come and the race has begun! I have decided to run for mayor of this beautiful city in order to help facilitate growth and protect our city values.” Meanwhile the better-known candidates, […]
Posted inHousing
Affordable housing advocates want voters to decide $300M bond proposal
Community groups concerned with affordability issues in the Austin housing market are pushing City Council to approve language for a bond proposal in November that could raise $300 million to build more homes and fund programs related to housing opportunities. A political action committee called Affordable Housing Bond PAC was organized this month to help […]