Patsy Harnage doesn’t get a lot of holidays. For the last decade, she’s grown accustomed to working herself to the bone. Operating a child care center is hard work, built on razor-thin margins. That’s part of the job; it’s an unsung vocation. The margins over the last half-year have been even thinner, and her business, […]
Andrew Weber, KUT
Posted inAustin
Austin music venues won’t get Covid relief money until next year. They say they’re running out of time.
Jeannette Gregor was shaking, her voice quivering. “I am not a public speaker. This is actually kind of a nightmare for me – especially after about five months of isolation and no social contact,” she said back in September. “So if I don’t act right, sorry about it.” She’d never held a press conference, let […]
Posted inTravis County
Newly sworn in, Travis County Judge Andy Brown says he’ll shift focus from jails to mental health
Andy Brown is now Travis County’s top official. Brown was sworn in at Tuesday’s meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court by interim County Judge Sam Biscoe, who served in the same capacity for over 15 years before retiring. He was brought out of retirement earlier this year when then-County Judge Sarah Eckhardt made a […]
Posted inAustin
Black coalition says Austin should pay out millions in restitution for long-ignored systemic racism
Black residents are calling on Austin to address decades of racism, inequity and displacement, demanding the city move to potentially provide as much as half a billion dollars in restitution for the Black community. Roughly 50 Black Austinites of all ages gathered at 12th and Chicon streets Saturday to announce a proposal that would dole […]
Posted inCourts
Another protester files suit over APD’s use of ‘less-lethal’ rounds. That’s the second this week.
The Austin Police Department is facing yet another lawsuit over its use of less-lethal rounds during protests this summer. A complaint filed on behalf of Steven Arawn accuses an unidentified officer of excessive force for using a so-called beanbag round against him, striking him in the hand and seriously injuring him on May 30. Arawn, […]
Posted inCourts
City faces another lawsuit over police using ‘less lethal’ round during protests
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday argues an Austin police officer used excessive force when he shot a protester with a “less lethal” round in May, irreparably damaging the man’s eyesight. The suit is the latest against the city over the police department’s use of these rounds during largely peaceful demonstrations against police violence earlier this […]
Posted inPublic Health
Officials say Austin will see a second Covid-19 surge, unless people recommit to social distancing
Health officials are pleading with Austinites to avoid gatherings and get tested for Covid-19 as cases and hospitalizations approach the same levels seen in June, right before the first surge. Over the past month, the Austin area doubled its moving average of new cases, hospital admissions and ICU admissions. Austin Public Health said the five-county […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin’s seeing its highest Covid cases since August. Most of those cases are among younger people.
Active Covid-19 cases in Austin have hit their highest levels since August, a rise Austin Public Health officials have largely pinned on 20- to 39-year-olds. In an announcement Thursday morning, health officials said more than half of positive tests in the five-county Austin area were among folks within that age range and urged people who […]
Posted inPolice
Austin protester sues officer for shooting him in the face with ‘less-lethal’ round
An Austinite who was shot by a police officer with a so-called less-lethal shotgun round during a protest this summer is suing the officer and the Austin Police Department in federal court. A federal civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of Anthony Evans alleges the unidentified officer used excessive force when he shot Evans […]
Posted inPolice
Mike Ramos’ mother asks Austin police chief whether he’ll fire officer who killed her son
The mother of Mike Ramos, a Black and Latino man who was shot and killed by an Austin police officer in April, is calling on the department to act on investigations into the officer. At a press conference Wednesday, Brenda Ramos asked Chief Brian Manley to respond to the findings of the investigations into Officer […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
‘We deserve to be saved’: Austin music venues rally for city-backed relief fund
Austin’s music community rallied at City Hall Wednesday to support a measure to bolster the ecosystem around live music in the face of the pandemic. The rally included everyone in that ecosystem, from the folks who help keep the scene alive like bartenders, talent buyers, engineers and stage hands, to club owners and artists who’ve […]
Posted inPolice
Austin could ‘decouple’ victim services from APD. Here’s what that would look like.
Twenty years ago, trombones were echoing in Courtney Santana’s ears – trombones like the ones in Charlie Brown cartoons. There she was, crumpled on parking lot asphalt. Austin police officers were holding her two kids, including her 8-month-old son, who had nearly been shot in the head after her partner’s pistol fell out of a […]