Nina Hernandez

The Austin Independent School District Superintendent Paul Cruz said in a press release on Tuesday he was proud of the progress the district has made in the last year when it comes to student achievement. That statement came in the wake of preliminary accountability ratings released by the Texas Education Agency. That report found 117 […]

As most of you may know by now, this weekend the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Joe Straus, sent House Bill 7 back to the Senate. According to the speaker, certain amendments to the bill were not germane and therefore violated House rules. Local environmental activists cheered the move, including the Texas Campaign […]

The corner of Ninth and Red River streets is now the home of an installation celebrating Austin music called “There’s More to ‘Texas Music.’” It’s the work of artist Tim Kerr in collaboration with longtime Austin music writer Michael Corcoran. Eight Austin musical luminaries from the 1920s to the 1960s are now part of the […]

As we head full steam back toward the school year, it’s important to take into account several Austin Independent School District travel safety tips for students. The district reminds drivers to refrain from passing school buses that are stopped with flashing red lights. (It’s a misdemeanor offense that’ll run you an expensive fine.) AISD asks […]

On Thursday, the McBeth Recreation Center and Annex was closed so that plumbers and the Austin Water Utility could find the cause of and ultimately repair a water leak on the site. The city announced yesterday afternoon that at least the first part of that equation has been solved. A temporary fix will allow the […]

On Monday night, the Public Safety Commission unanimously approved a resolution recommending that City Council incorporate a software update for the Emergency Services department in the Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget. The new software has already been approved through the appropriate channels, and is just waiting for the department to free up the funds in its […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently named Austin one of its Top Green Power Partners. That means the city is one of the top 30 in the country in terms of buying renewable energy. Coming in at No. 5, Austin buys around 328 million kilowatt-hours to run its operations every year. Austin Energy’s Lucia Athens […]

Starting in next year’s budget, the city will implement its new fee schedule for development services. The city hired Matrix Consultants to do a financial analysis of the Development Services Department last year, and this is the result of that work. According to a press release from last week, the new schedule “has been developed […]

Next week, from Aug. 15-16, the Texas Colorado River Rolling Exhibit brings water conservation education to Barton Springs Pool. Dedicated to bringing “a water-science-center-on-wheels and classroom curriculum directly to the schools of 7th graders in the Texas Colorado River basin,” the 42-foot trailer contains interactive models and educational video games to help Austin Independent School […]

Yesterday, City Council honored one of its own by renaming the Austin Water Treatment Plant 4 for Berl Handcox, the first African-American elected to Council under the Manager-Council form of government. During his tenure, the former Council member championed the Community Improvement Program and the Handcox Paving Policy, and was known as an advocate for […]

Part of downtown Austin is going to look a little different today, and that’s because the city is opening up the extension of West Avenue to Cesar Chavez Street. There’ll also be a fancy new traffic signal at that intersection to keep everything orderly. The project was intended as a balm to traffic problems in […]