Lee esta historia en español. City Council approved a revival of a police department program to use license plate scanners on police cruisers and at fixed points throughout the city. Council agreed Thursday on a one-year pilot program to reinstate the readers, which passively scan license plates in the hopes of assisting police in tracking […]
Andrew Weber, KUT
Posted inEMS
Austin-Travis County EMS, city OK new raises, contract for medical first responders
Austin-Travis County’s emergency medical personnel are getting a raise. The city of Austin reached a deal with EMS negotiators late last month, and City Council unanimously approved the one-year contract with medics on Thursday. The deal is a stopgap, but it does address pay inequity issues the EMS union has been fighting for since the start […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Travis County’s program to provide lawyers at its downtown jail is (still) on hold
The first court hearing is often the most crucial for people accused of a crime in Travis County. When defendants are booked downtown, they’re charged and given options on how to get out of jail. In some cases, the first hearing determines whether someone spends a few hours locked up or days – even weeks. […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin officials expect more doses of the monkeypox vaccine after U.S. declares a health emergency
Austin health officials say they expect more monkeypox vaccine doses to head to Central Texas after the Biden administration’s declaration of a public health emergency Thursday. Medical Director Desmar Walkes said Austin Public Health anticipates the extra doses next month. It’s unclear how many doses the area will get, though, so public health officials are […]
Posted inPublic Health
Texas has an official death count from the 2021 blackout. The true toll may never be known.
In Minal and Rajeeta Shah’s backyard, there once stood a cedar tree. The tall, broad canopy provided shade for the sisters’ garden below, a garden with sunflowers and tulsi and lemongrass. It’s a garden their mother, Manjula, pruned and nurtured for nearly two decades. It still flourishes, despite the best efforts of the Texas sun. […]
Posted inBudget
Proposed $5B city budget leans on fees, less on property taxes, amid a boom in sales tax revenue
Austinites may not see as steep a hike in property taxes next year. Still, they could see an increase of 2.7% under a budget proposal released Friday. City Manager Spencer Cronk’s proposed $5 billion budget for 2023 leans more heavily on city fees for services like electricity and trash pickup – not on property taxes, as it […]
Posted inEnvironment
The dog-killing algae in Lady Bird Lake is back
Toxic blue-green algae has once again been detected in Lady Bird Lake. The city says it’s working to stifle the blooms that killed a handful of dogs in 2019. Next week, staff will treat the water at Red Bud Isle and on the northern banks of Lady Bird Lake east of Interstate 35 with a […]
Posted inPolice
Austin OKs $850,000 settlement for volunteer medic shot with ‘less-lethal’ ammunition during protest
The city of Austin approved a $850,000 settlement to resolve a lawsuit over the Austin Police Department’s use of so-called less lethal ammunition during the 2020 racial justice protests. Maredith Drake, a street medic during protests outside police headquarters, was shot with a “beanbag” filled with lead pellets while trying to help a demonstrator who’d […]
Posted inTravis County
Travis County launched a program to provide lawyers at the county jail. It lasted nine days.
A pilot program to provide legal representation to people in custody at the Travis County Jail had to be put on hold after just nine days because of staffing shortages. The grant-funded program was part of a Texas A&M study to examine the benefit of providing legal counsel to people accused of crimes immediately after their arrest […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy wants to raise its rates. Here’s how you can give feedback.
Residential customers could see a nearly $16 bump in their monthly electric bills under a rate hike proposed by Austin Energy. But before it can raise base rates, the city-owned utility must first go through a public input process. Austin Energy says it needs to bridge a $48 million gap between its costs and revenue. […]
Posted inPolice
Austin faces another round of lawsuits related to police use of ‘less lethal’ rounds
Three more demonstrators are suing the Austin Police Department for injuries sustained from so-called less-lethal ammunition fired by police over a weekend of racial justice protests in 2020. More than a dozen protesters have sued the department for use of the ammunition, which include either foam rounds fired from a 40 mm launcher or bags filled with lead pellets […]
Posted inPolice
Another demonstrator is suing Austin and an APD officer after being shot with a beanbag round
Austin is being sued in civil court by another demonstrator who was struck by so-called “less-lethal” rounds during protests over police violence and racial justice in 2020. On Tuesday, Bomani Barton filed a civil suit against the city and the Austin police officer he claims shot him three times with beanbag rounds on May 30, […]