Austin Monitor

Jason Meeker was joined by a handful of supporters Wednesday morning as he launched his campaign for Place 1 on the City Council. Meeker said he is running to represent Austin’s neighborhoods and serve as the “insider” for citizens and small business owners at City Hall.   “I’m not running because of what Wal-Mart wants […]

The group Stop Domain Subsidies—which has been gathering signatures to change the City Charter—is almost ready to turn about 20,000 signatures over to City Clerk Shirley Gentry for verification. Brian Rodgers, the group’s founder, said he would be meeting with Gentry today for clarification of some details and turning in petitions Friday afternoon.   Stop […]

The city’s Civil Service Commission has reversed an earlier ruling and will move the closing arguments and the verdict in former APD Sgt. Michael Olsen’s use of force hearing to City Hall to be televised. The change was particularly gratifying to Council Member Sheryl Cole, who fought to get the proceedings televised live on Channel […]

Council Member Mike Martinez told members of the Public Safety Task Force on Monday he is interested in more discussion of a possible ban on the use of cell phones while driving in Austin. Such a proposal, Martinez said, would help improve safety and reduce the number of traffic accidents.   Martinez’s remarks came after […]

After spending more than a year fighting city hall as the spokesman for Responsible Growth for Northcross, Jason Meeker today will take his activism to the next level by officially launching his bid for Place 1 on the Austin City Council. Meeker will make his announcement at 11:30am in the parking lot of Zinger Hardware […]

After weeks of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, the City Council on Thursday awarded a total of nearly $1 million to 12 lobbyists and/or lobby teams for work during the current year at the state level. The lobbyists are the same as those who worked on the city’s behalf during the 2007 legislative session.   The maneuvering related […]

The request by the developers of the proposed Villa Muse film studios and residential complex to be released from the city’s ETJ will go to the Environmental Board and the Planning Commission this month for review. At the same time, the city staff will intensify talks with the developers to determine if there is a […]

The City Council is scheduled to consider today whether to allow the owner of a West Austin home to move a circa 1900 house to Liberty Hill or to declare it historic, thus preventing the move, as some neighbors have requested. On Tuesday, the Planning Commission recommended historic zoning for the house at 718 Norwalk […]

The Austin City Council today will consider a resolution instructing the City Manager to begin discussions with the developers of Villa Muse, a proposed film studio and mixed-use project in eastern Travis County. Council Members Mike Martinez, Sheryl Cole and Mayor Will Wynn are sponsoring the item.   The developers of the project are seeking […]

Council Member Sheryl Cole, who sponsored a resolution to broadcast police and firefighters disciplinary hearings held by the Civil Service Commission, was surprised and disappointed to learn Monday that the city’s television station, Channel 6, would not be doing any live broadcasting of Sgt Michael Olsen’s appeal hearing. Police Chief Art Acevedo fired Olsen on […]

First Assistant DA Rosemary Lehmberg raised the profile of her campaign for District Attorney Monday night with a campaign party at Matt’s El Rancho in South Austin. The event drew about 100 people, including several notable Austin attorneys. Most prominent among those was current District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who has endorsed Lehmberg’s bid for the […]

One of Austin’s leading economists is predicting continued growth for the Central Texas economy over the next two years, but not at the rate the region has experienced since the economic recovery four years ago. The Economic and Technology Forecast from Angelos Angelou says the region will continue to add jobs and population over the […]