Charles Boisseau

Despite the better-than-expected U.S. unemployment report on Friday, two Austin economists predicted the local economy will remain sluggish for several months before true signs of recovery emerge. On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the national unemployment rate edged down to 10.0 percent in November from 10.2 percent in October, and the soaring […]

Say you purchase an older Austin home and you want to make some extensive improvements. At what point does your redo cross the line from a simple remodel to being a new construction project?   That was one of the issues that the Board of Adjustment grappled with last month as numerous property owners stepped […]

State Sen. Kirk Watson has told a Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) committee that he would not run for re-election as chair of the regional planning organization, a leadership position he has held since 2007.   Watson made his announcement in his opening remarks on Monday afternoon before a special CAMPO-appointed committee that is […]

An Austin attorney who specializes in freedom of the press issues said Thursday that the Lower Colorado River Authority may have violated state law when its board discussed in executive session changing a staff proposal for how the river authority addresses the drought.   On Wednesday, several board members told an In Fact Daily reporter […]

Earlier this week, Lower Colorado River Authority board members discussed a staff recommendation that would suspend all new water contracts until the depleted Highland Lakes return to more normal elevations.   That was Tuesday afternoon.   By Wednesday morning, the proposal board members were being asked to vote on was less stringent — one apparently […]

The board of directors of the Lower Colorado River Authority this morning approved a less stringent plan than the one they had been considering to deal with a shortage of water in the Highland Lakes. The plan includes for the first time cutting off water for rice and other agricultural users in 2010.   However, […]

The city’s Electric Utility Commission recommended last night that the Austin City Council adopt a plan that would push the city to use more renewable energy sources and step up conservation programs by 2020. Renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomass) would supply a minimum of 35 percent of the city’s power needs by 2020 under […]

At a special public meeting on Tuesday, competing water users gathered before the board members of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) to argue their cases at a time when the river authority is considering unprecedented suspensions of water supplies in the coming year.   LCRA staff is recommending that its 15-member board approve several […]

Most people know if you start digging you might hit water.   The City of Austin is now finding that it may need to adopt new rules and procedures as dense developments disturb groundwater in its urban core.   On Aug. 5, the city’s Environmental Board heard a presentation from Tom Ennis, an engineer with […]

City Manager Marc Ott defended himself last week shortly after city employees criticized his six-figure pay package while he proposes furloughs and cuts in incentive pay for the rest of the city’s work force to balance the city’s budget.   Approached in hallway at City Hall just after midnight early Friday morning as City Council […]

Braving record temperatures of 105 degrees, about 100 city employees gathered outside City Hall Thursday afternoon to protest proposed cuts in next year’s city budget that could eliminate incentive pay for the most senior employees and require furloughs of employees for up to three days without pay.   Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Council Members Mike […]

With the blessing of the city’s Audit and Finance Committee, the Board of Adjustment can update the old adage “if at first you don’t succeed try, try again.”   The Board of Adjustment, which decides on property owners’ requests for variances to city zoning codes, has traditionally operated under a rule that permitted it to […]