Nina Hernandez

On Friday, City Council Member Delia Garza will journey to Houston to learn strategies that could help Austin incentivize grocery stores in food deserts – areas with limited access to vital nutritional items like fresh meat and produce. In response to its food desert and obesity problems, the city of Houston has been aggressive in […]

Don’t worry if, for some reason, you can’t make it out to next Thursday’s Zero Waste presentation by Austin Resource Recovery and the Design, Technology, and Innovation Fellows. Residents can aid the ongoing research efforts by filling out this survey on recycling habits. A huge component of the research is figuring out how Austinites currently […]

Austin has ambitious Zero Waste goals. By 2040, the city hopes to divert 90 percent of our trash away from the landfill. One way it hopes to achieve that goal is a six-month partnership, which started in September, with the Design, Technology, and Innovation Fellows. Austin Resource Recovery provides the financial muscle, while the wonks […]

The Downtown Austin Alliance is looking for a restaurant to take over space in the revitalized Republic Square this fall. The project aims to re-create the aging square as a community gathering space and will host a farmers market, seasonal film screenings and a counter-service restaurant – one of the most important components in creating […]

For the fourth year, the city’s Youth Council will be hosting a career fair for local high school students. The council, comprising 48 local high school students representing surrounding school districts, created the fair back in 2013 as a way to respond to teenage unemployment. Businesses will be on hand to talk internships and job […]

Low-income pet owners have another option at their disposal when it comes to spaying and neutering their pets. In the next three months, an additional free spay/neuter Emancipet clinic will be posted at the Turner Roberts Recreation Center, 7201 Colony Loop. Clinic dates are Jan. 13, Feb. 2, Feb. 17, March 2 and March 17. […]

The Austin Police Department arrested 230 people for driving while intoxicated during the Christmas and New Year’s Eve no refusal period this year. (No refusal, of course, meaning police will request a search warrant if a driver suspected of DWI declines a sobriety test.) Of those, 82 consented to a breath test, and 32 of […]

Citizens concerned with the operation of the city’s Walsh Boat Landing on Lake Austin are invited to a public meeting at 6pm Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Lions Club Golf Course Club House. In the last few years, safety and capacity issues led the Parks and Recreation Department to study the landing, which has public […]

The application process for Artist INC Live Austin, an eight-week creative entrepreneurship seminar taking place this summer, opened yesterday and will run through March 1. A result of a partnership between the city of Austin and the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the program consists of eight sessions. Artists across disciplines will receive mentorship, attend presentations and […]

Directly impact the size of your water bill in the coming years by attending Austin Water’s cost of service meeting tomorrow, Jan. 4, in Room 104 of the Waller Creek Center, 625 E. 10th Street. The utility’s Public Involvement Committee, made up of representatives from different customer classes, is working on a study into how […]

Venues and event organizers hoping to secure amplified sound and temporary use permits for the upcoming festival season have a rash of permit deadlines coming up in February. Amplified sound permits – necessary for an event with amplified sound that’s not held in a city park or right of way – need to be turned […]

Twenty-three Austin Independent School District schools are at or near capacity and will be closed to transfers for the 2017-18 academic year. Those include Aikins, Bowie, Lanier and McCallum high schools, three middle schools and 16 elementary schools. Overcrowding due to out-of-district transfers has been a problem for AISD for a while. It had to […]