South by Southwest is canceled. Mayor Steve Adler, Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and public health officials said the concerns surrounding COVID-19 were too great. “I’ve gone ahead and declared a local disaster in the city, and associated with that, have issued an order that effectively cancels South by Southwest for this year,” Adler said […]
Andrew Weber, KUT
Posted inEnvironment
White-nose syndrome has been found in Texas. Here’s what that means.
Texas’ first case of white-nose syndrome in bats has been confirmed. The fungus that causes the disease was first detected in Texas bats in 2017, but the disease itself, which has killed millions of bats on the East Coast, hadn’t been found by Texas Parks and Wildlife until Feb. 23 in Gillespie County. Because of […]
Posted inPublic Health
With state approval, ATX Helps will take over the homeless campsite at U.S. 183
State officials agreed Thursday to lease state-owned land to an Austin nonprofit for $1 a month to house homeless Austinites, with the goal of ultimately building a shelter on the 6.7-acre tract. The approval from the Texas Transportation Commission will allow ATX Helps, a coalition of business groups and nonprofits, to take over the site […]
Posted inEMS
Austin 911 operators effectively field calls, but audit finds gaps in dispatching overall
Operators field roughly a million calls for emergency services in Austin a year. A new city report says those operators do a serviceable job of answering that glut of calls, but found a disconnect between those calls and the delivery of crucial services. There are a lot of reasons for that, according to the Office […]
Posted inTravis County
Travis County hires law professor as its first-ever public defender
Travis County has hired University of Virginia law professor Adeola Ogunkeyede as the first person to lead its public defender office. Until last year, the county was the largest jurisdiction in the United States without an office to handle cases for poor adults accused of crimes. Travis County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to hire Ogunkeyede, […]
Posted inPublic Health
For the first time since 1999, someone in Travis County has rubella
Public health officials on Thursday morning confirmed the first case of rubella in Travis County since 1999. The confirmation comes roughly a month after the first diagnosis of measles, which was last seen in the Austin area in 1999, too. Austin Public Health said in an announcement that the virus, which is less contagious than […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Citing violence associated with homeless, Abbott asks DPS to patrol state-owned buildings in Austin
Gov. Greg Abbott has directed state troopers to increase patrols within two blocks of state buildings in Central Austin in the wake of two stabbings involving homeless Austinites since Friday. In a letter Thursday, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to increase patrols around the University of Texas, the Texas State Capitol and […]
Posted inCourts
Supreme Court passes on Boise camping ban case, opening up Austin’s rules to lawsuits
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a ruling that found a ban against camping in public in Boise, Idaho, is unconstitutional. The case against Boise’s ban on camping inspired, in part, the city of Austin’s decision to scale back its bans on camping and resting in public earlier this year. The […]
Posted inEnvironment
Zebra mussels have infested lakes Marble Falls and Granger
Zebra mussels are continuing to spread through Texas lakes. Texas Parks and Wildlife said Thursday that both Granger Lake and Lake Marble Falls are infested with the invasive species. The mussels have infested 19 lakes in Texas since their first appearance in Lake Texoma in 2009. It’s the second time this year the Lower Colorado […]
Posted inCity Council
Council members support using hotels to house homeless, but are wary of locations and quick timeline
Austin City Council members say they’re concerned about the timeline, placement and funding strategy for a plan to expand efforts to buy and retrofit hotels to house homeless Austinites. Last month, Council OK’d a plan to buy the Rodeway Inn near Oltorf and Interstate 35 to house at least 87 people. At their work session […]
Posted inEnvironment
Austin reopens Red Bud Isle after dog-killing toxins from algae subside
Red Bud Isle has reopened after being closed for months because of toxins that attached to blue-green algae, city officials say. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department said at noon Friday it reopened the area on Lady Bird Lake, which had been the nexus of an algae bloom that was reportedly responsible for the deaths […]
Posted inCity Council
Austin OKs plan to buy and retrofit a motel to house homeless
The Austin City Council unanimously passed an $8 million plan to buy and repurpose the Rodeway Inn in South Austin to house people transitioning out of homelessness. The motel could house at least 87 people. Billed as a more proactive approach to provide more immediate housing, the proposal allows the city to buy the land […]