After a month of consultations with the Law Department over the language of the rules governing petitioning on library property, the Austin Public Library may have found a compromise. Instead of limiting petitioning to sidewalks surrounding the libraries, which groups have said restricts their access to library customers, the department is suggesting designating a location […]
Jessi Devenyns
Posted inAustin
Austin can now access a database dedicated to the effects of development on trees
The City Arborist Program has just released a new, interactive tool where everyone has access to all active tree permits at any given time online. Not all trees are being tracked on this dashboard. The city arborist only reviews and protects trees that have heritage or protected status, which is only 5 percent of the total […]
Posted inCity Hall
Austin Energy troubled by hiring concerns
City jobs are notorious for having a prolonged hiring process. However, at Austin Energy, the process has become excruciatingly long, even by its own standards, and it’s starting to have repercussions. At the April 16 Electric Utility Commission meeting, Mark Dombroski, who is the chief financial officer of Austin Energy, distilled the issue down into numbers […]
Posted inWhispers
Should Austin continue to have old clothes picked up curbside?
After a tumultuous debate last year as to whether or not Simple Recycling would continue their curbside pickup of textiles, Austin Resource Recovery is now considering extending their contract past next year. Although the Zero Waste Advisory Commission did not make any recommendations at its April 11 meeting, it asked Austin Resource Recovery to continue […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy’s last employee returns from Puerto Rico
At 6:30 p.m. on April 16, Paul Vasquez, the superintendent of system operations at Austin Energy, announced at the Electric Utility Commission meeting that Austin Energy’s last employee had returned from the disaster reparation efforts that Austin had participated in on Puerto Rico. After the catastrophic damage that Hurricane Maria caused in September of 2017, […]
Posted inWhispers
Where is the renewable energy study?
In August 2017, City Council passed Resolution 61, which requires Austin Energy to push to have 65 percent of its energy come from renewable sources by 2027. This resolution contained an amendment by Council Member Leslie Pool that gave Austin Energy a parallel goal to create models that would show what 75 and 80 percent […]
Posted inWhispers
Recycling comes on board at ABIA
Recently, officials at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport found themselves concerned with what happens to all the in-flight waste that ends up at Austin’s airport. Whose responsibility is it to regulate its disposal? “The challenge is when you fly into Austin, there are no controls (in flight),” said Kane Carpenter, the environmental manager with the airport, […]
Posted inResources
Landfill fix on hold for now
Landfills exist comfortably outside of the public eye until something happens that reminds everyone that their upkeep is a critical component to keep our city functioning. On April 11, Tony Davee, a project manager with Austin Resource Recovery, came to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission asking for some attention for the Travis County landfill on […]
Posted inWhispers
New member of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission from District 8
On April 11, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission welcomed Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s District 8 appointee, Phil Howry. Howry has lived in the District 8 Lost Creek neighborhood since 1981 and has been an active but unofficial voice since this southwestern part of the city was annexed in December 2015. Notably, he recently argued against […]
Posted inParks
Will PARD ever get enough money to implement recycling in the parks?
In every Austin home, there is the option to trash your waste or recycle it (many even have a composting option available). So why aren’t Austinites given the same opportunity at the city of Austin’s parks and recreational facilities? At the April 11 meeting of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission, Liana Kallivoka, the assistant director […]
Posted inWhispers
AISD considers social and emotional learning capabilities for evaluation
In 2019, the Austin Independent School District is considering adding social and emotional learning to the elementary school scorecard. Currently, AISD is piloting the program with kindergartners through second-graders where they assess the children on a scale of 1 to 4 every nine weeks during the school year. After the third quarter of the 2017-18 […]
Posted inAISD
AISD board debates how to prevent a financially insolvent school district
When Austinites passed the $1 billion Austin Independent School District bond that was intended for major improvements in school facilities as well as transportation and district-wide improvements to technology for teachers and students, they knew they were voting to provide the school district with a much-needed financial boost. However, even with a significant amount of […]