Jacob Cottingham

The Citizens Water Conservation Implementation Task Force is closer to finalizing its recommendations to City Council, although vigorous debate continues over what metrics the Austin Water Utility will contribute to the report.   Last week, on a night when Save Our Springs Alliance Executive Director Bill Bunch was advocating the creation of a measurable, accountable […]

Travis County Commissioners on Tuesday addressed three different transportation items, each an attempt to address the county’s traffic and, by extension, lower ozone levels.  Commissioners delayed action on a proposed Transportation Management Association shepherded by the Downtown Austin Alliance; were briefed on the Car2Go Smart Car program; and voted to adopt a trial express shuttle […]

Travis County Commissioners found themselves entangled in the complexity of the pharmaceutical industry last Tuesday and ended up declining an official discount pharmacy card for county residents. After a briefing from industry representatives and a tough line of inquiry by Pct. 3 Commissioner Karen Huber, the court declined to endorse a card that would allow […]

While Austinites typically celebrate the city’s quality of life rankings and expensive condos pop up across town, representatives from the Community Action Network on Monday heard several presentations detailing a grimmer side of the city—poverty.   Chantel Bottoms, CAN program associate outlined the “dashboard indicators” of the depth of regional poverty. She told the two-dozen […]

Bill Glavin, the Texas Department of Transportation’s recently appointed Rail Division Director, has a lot to be excited about. As the first head of the new department, his decades of freight industry experience will be instrumental in shaping the future of the state’s passenger rail network. Glavin spoke with In Fact Daily about his vision […]

A coalition of environmental and medical groups as well as state representatives say a new federal Environmental Protection Agency standard for ozone air quality is a positive step for cleaning up the air in Austin and around the state.   The EPA recently lowered the nationwide ozone standard from 75 to 70 parts per million. […]

City Council has voted to authorize a renegotiation of its contract with Greenstar, the company hired to transport, process and sell recycling material from Austin’s Single Stream program until the city completes its own materials recovery facility.   The current contract went into effect in October 2008 and has a two-year term with two six-month […]

Travis County Commissioners this week delayed voting on a controversial mining project in the eastern portion of the county after time constraints prevented all those who wished to speak from having the opportunity. Additional lines of questioning went unanswered from the county, including several inquiries from a knowledgeable citizen about the role federal regulations may […]

Eyeing a potential November 2010 bond election for a downtown rail circulator, City Council – absent Mayor Pro-tem Mike Martinez – voted 6-0 to authorize negotiations with a local firm for a preliminary engineering study that will be critical to answering key questions about the project.   Before voting, Council heard a briefing from Transportation […]

A parade of residents upset about a proposed mining operation east of Austin Bergstrom International Airport came before Travis County Commissioners last week, though the county’s limited authority may stand between them and any remedy.  More than a dozen citizens spoke out against a proposal by mining giant TXI that would place a substantial operation […]

Austin Energy’s long running struggle to find a location for an electric substation near the Mueller development may be heading toward a peaceful resolution. The zoning item before City Council was postponed during the Council’s last meeting until December 17 while the utility works out a new plan to locate the substation on the Morris […]

Council members unanimously approved a resolution Thursday directing the City Manager to work with the Animal Advisory Commission toward developing a plan to dramatically lower the number of animals euthanized at the city’s shelters.   The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Laura Morrison, directs staff to implement the recommendations of the Animal Advisory Commission (AAC). […]