The City of Austin is planning to spend up to $10 million to create an eco-industrial park south of the city’s airport. Officials hope the park will lure dozens of businesses that specialize in manufacturing goods from recycled, reused or repaired materials. They add that the project could bring more than 1,200 new jobs for […]
Mark Richardson
Mark Richardson is a multimedia journalist, editor and writer who has worked in digital, print and broadcast media for three decades. He is a nationally recognized editor and reporter who has covered government, politics and the environment. A journalism graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, he was recently awarded a Foundation for Investigative Journalism grant and has three Associated Press Managing Editors awards for excellence in reporting.
Posted inDevelopment, Resources
Despite ruling, city expects no immediate change to drainage fee
A judge’s ruling rendering a portion of the city’s Drainage Fee invalid could put millions of dollars worth of critical flood control and watershed protection programs at risk. State District Judge Amy Clark Meachum ruled Friday that the flat $9.20 fee charged to almost all of Austin’s utility customers was unfair to people living in […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
National Instruments nixes expansion; Mayor calls incentive rules onerous
National Instruments, the Austin-based high-tech firm with a global reach, has opted out of an estimated $7.4 million economic development deal with Austin, Travis County and the State of Texas. The deal, struck in mid-2013, would have brought as many as 1,000 new, high-paying jobs to Austin over the next decade. Mayor Lee Leffingwell […]
Posted inLocal Government, Transportation
Capping I-35 could provide substantial economic benefit for city
A study commissioned by city staff shows that one plan floated recently to cut traffic congestion – taking a portion of Interstate 35 underground through central Austin – could bring the city millions of dollars in new property tax revenues, and should be the subject of further study. The project, known as Capping I-35 […]
Posted inElections, Local Politics
Cole enters mayoral race emphasizing solving problems together
Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole launched her campaign Saturday to become Austin’s first African-American woman Mayor before a crowd of enthusiastic supporters in the front yard of a North University home. In announcing her candidacy, Cole joins fellow City Council Member Mike Martinez, attorney Steve Adler, maintenance technician Randall Stephens and business owner Todd […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government
Grandfathering approved for 1600-unit development on Hamilton Pool Road
A hearing before the Travis County Commissioners Court for initial approval of a master development plan for the 1600-unit Masonwood subdivision on Hamilton Pool Road drew stiff opposition Tuesday from nearby residents, who objected to the plan’s proposed density and called it an “urban development being forced on a rural setting.” Critics also say […]
Posted inLocal Government, Resources
Western Travis still Wild West of groundwater with no district in sight
A decades-old plan to put an unprotected area of western Travis County into a groundwater conservation district, or GCD, appears to have been killed with the stroke of a pen recently by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The most recent effort to create a district for the area or to merge it with […]
Posted inLocal Government, Public Safety
Attorneys protest Travis County Jail’s cooperation with ICE
Pressure is growing for the Travis County Jail to halt its participation in a federal program to put immigration holds on certain inmates for possible deportation, as a group of more than 100 attorneys and law professors are calling the program unconstitutional. The group sent a letter Thursday to members of the Travis County […]
Posted inLocal Government
Extra cost stops commissioners from changing employee paydays
What started out a few weeks ago as a routine request to change the frequency of paychecks to Travis County employees turned into a major disagreement among Commissioners Tuesday over the cost of making such a change. In the end, the court voted 3-2 to keep the current bimonthly pay system. County Auditor Nicki […]
Posted inLocal Government, Public Safety, Resources
Community group seeks organized assistance for flood victims
A community organization called the Travis Austin Recovery Group (TARG), formed in the aftermath of the historic 2013 Halloween floods, is noting the six-month anniversary of the event with the release of a Draft Recovery Plan for the people and businesses affected by the disaster. Though copies of the plan were sent to officials […]
Posted inTransportation
Study prefers Urban Rail, Lady Bird Lake bridge for Central Corridor project
The Project Connect: Central Corridor study team says Austin should use Urban Rail as the preferred local mode of transportation for the central portion of its proposed $1.4 billion transit project. The Central Corridor project’s 9.5 mile alignment will run from the Highland Mall/ACC area south through the University of Texas and Downtown areas, across […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety
City set to participate in early fire detection system
The severe drought gripping Central Texas brings a high degree of risk for wildfires, and that is a major concern for local fire officials, who do not want a repeat of the massive blazes that devastated areas like Bastrop and Spicewood in recent years. The Austin City Council could take a major step today […]