Stories by Josh Rosenblatt
Council committee endorses APA move to old animal shelter
Over the objections of city staff, the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee voted yesterday to support a request by Austin Pets Alive (APA) to allow the animal rescue group to move its entire operation into the old Town Lake…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 21, 2012
Council approves historic designation for West Austin house
Yesterday, over the vocal objections of Zoning and Platting Commission Chair Betty Baker, a split City Council approved historic landmark status for the McCrummen-Wroe house, a two-story Adamesque-style Colonial Revival located on Windsor Road in West Austin. Council voted 5-2…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 9, 2012
Last-minute agreement would hand entire shelter to Austin Pets Alive
At a crowded meeting last night, the Animal Advisory Commission voted 4-1 to recommend to Council a proposed agreement between the city and rescue group Austin Pets Alive that would allow APA to move all of their current operations to…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 6, 2012
Council approves additional hours for MetroRail
Council approved an interlocal agreement with Capital Metro yesterday to fund additional MetroRail service on Friday evenings and on Saturdays. Starting March 23, the Red Line will run hourly between 6pm and midnight and on Saturdays, every 30 minutes from…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 2, 2012
Austin Pets Alive seeks complete takeover of Town Lake shelter
Four months after the city of Austin signed a temporary license agreement with the rescue group Austin Pets Alive to operate the former Town Lake Animal Center as a overflow adoption space, APA executive director Ellen Jefferson is asking the…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Feb 23, 2012
Council candidates argue affordability at first election forum
If Sunday’s first-of-the-season City Council candidates’ forum is any indication, this year’s races are going to be heated affairs. The forum, arranged by the Network of Asian American Organizations – Political Action Committee exposed serious ideological differences between at…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Feb 16, 2012
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Council takes first step toward approving 45 new taxi permits
Nearly six months after an outside transportation consultant recommended Austin put 100 more cabs on the streets, City Council voted last night to approve, on first reading, issuing 45 total additional permits to two of the city’s three taxi cab…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Feb 10, 2012
Shea enters race for mayor, promotes affordability, fewer subsidies
Former City Council Member Brigid Shea officially declared her candidacy for Mayor of Austin before a packed room at Threadgill’s Word Headquarters last night, putting an end to months of speculation and setting up incumbent Mayor Lee Leffingwell for what…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Feb 2, 2012
Council OKs controversial new pregnancy center sign ordinance
In only a matter of minutes yesterday City Council repealed one controversial law regulating crisis pregnancy centers and approved another, setting up what promises to be an extended legal and public relations battle for the city. The new law, co-sponsored…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Jan 27, 2012
Martinez strikes populist tone at kick-off party for re-election campaign
Bolstered by a strong populist message and a song in his heart, two-term incumbent Council Member Mike Martinez kicked off his re-election campaign last night before a large crowd at Nuevo Leon on the city’s East Side. Martinez can now…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Jan 26, 2012
Shoal Creek rezoning could open new chapter in Historic Landmark Program
Reflecting recently discussed changes to the city’s approach to historic zoning, Council has approved on first reading landmark status for two working-class homes that were part of a poor minority neighborhood on the banks of Shoal Creek. Though modest in…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Jan 23, 2012
Diverse crowd shows up to kick off Spelman re-election campaign
City Council Member Bill Spelman kicked off his re-election campaign Tuesday in a room full of supporters representing some of the more disparate, even opposing, constituencies in the city. Acknowledging the variety of political philosophies in the room, and at…
