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Most Popular Stories
- APD won’t enforce SB 14 as Paxton and Trump further attack gender-affirming health care
- Austin Transit Partnership presents pedestrian features, changes to stops in revised Project Connect plan
- Austin’s new CapMetro Rapid lines debut with buses every 20 minutes
- Austin ISD announces hiring freeze as budget deficit grows to $110 million
- Commercial EV station moves forward despite opposition
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Stories by Lina Fisher
Travis County outlines the next year of opioid overdose prevention strategy
Even as the Trump administration attempts to gut every kind of federal grant bolstering local services, from transportation to public health and beyond, Travis County is still managing to continue its long-term investments in opioid recovery services and harm reduction.…
Public Health • By Lina Fisher • Mar 3, 2025
APD won’t enforce SB 14 as Paxton and Trump further attack gender-affirming health care
Last week, two federal judges issued temporary restraining orders on an executive order by the Trump administration that would have blocked federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors. That means that – for now – any health care provider or…
Public Health • By Lina Fisher • Feb 18, 2025
How Trump’s federal funding freeze is beginning to affect Austin
On Jan. 31, a U.S. district judge granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Trump administration from implementing a slew of executive orders that would freeze federal funding programs that allow access to health care, housing, education and other basic…
Austin • By Lina Fisher • Feb 14, 2025
Environmental Commission weighs Project Connect’s environmental impact and federal funding
In light of Donald Trump’s recent effort to freeze federal spending authorized by Congress – swiftly blocked by two federal judges – the question on every local policymaker’s mind is: What’s going to happen to all the local projects that…
Transit • By Lina Fisher • Feb 7, 2025
Future of Georgian Acres Mobility Hub still up in the air, with final updates to come this spring
Georgian Acres, a neighborhood in far Northeast Austin, is what is known as a “transit desert.” First coined in 2013 as an extension of the concept of a food desert – an area where there is a dearth of grocery…
Transportation • By Lina Fisher • Jan 22, 2025
City and county to invest in historically underserved Northeast Austin area
At its Tuesday meeting, the Travis County Commissioners Court heard an update on what Commissioner Jeff Travillion called a “Marshall Plan” for the rapidly developing Northeast Austin area, referring to the 1948 plan for the U.S. to help in Western…
Planning • By Lina Fisher • Jan 9, 2025
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Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea urges local climate resilience initiatives to combat coming federal turn
Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea has been a mainstay of the Austin environmental movement for decades. Though she’s seen many gains in that area since her political career began, the relentless changing climate of our region has kept up the…
Travis County • By Lina Fisher • Jan 7, 2025
In 2025, Travis County Commissioner Ann Howard eyes building more supportive housing and strengthening climate resilience
Coming from her background in affordable housing at the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, Travis County Commissioner Ann Howard has always prioritized the same throughout her tenure at the county. 2024 saw two big wins on that front, she says: “There’s…
Travis County • By Lina Fisher • Jan 7, 2025
Travis County Judge Andy Brown pledges continued focus on health care, passenger rail in 2025
For the past two years, Travis County Judge Andy Brown has told the Austin Monitor he wants to double down on overdose prevention, mental health care and passenger rail. Looking ahead to 2025, those priorities have not changed – but…
Travis County • By Lina Fisher • Jan 6, 2025
Travis County awarded $1.6 million federal grant to combat overdose crisis
On Monday, Travis County Judge Andy Brown announced a new resource for combating the opioid overdose crisis in the county – and reported new numbers that suggest current public health strategies are working. The county was awarded a $1.6 million…
Public Health • By Lina Fisher • Dec 4, 2024
County renews opioid overdose crisis declaration, funds more harm reduction
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to extend its opioid overdose crisis declaration to October 2026 and to authorize $100,000 worth of naloxone, a lifesaving overdose reversal drug, as well as $100,000 – and possibly another $300,000…
Public Health • By Lina Fisher • Nov 15, 2024
Travis County passes plan to invest in affordable child care
By the time early votes rolled in on election night, Travis County’s sweeping investment in child care services had already garnered 60 percent of the vote, holding on to that margin through the night. Proposition A will generate $75 million…
