Nora Ankrum

According to midyear reporting from the Austin Board of Realtors, residential real estate in Austin is even hotter this year than it was in 2015. Single-family home sales in Austin increased 3.3 percent over last year in the first half of 2016, even as prices continued to rise. Median home prices increased by 4.2 percent, […]

Given dry midsummer conditions, the Parks and Recreation Department is asking that Austin park patrons forgo any activities that could start unmanageable blazes in city parks. Smoking, grilling and any other open-fire pastimes are forbidden, although use of propane grills and stoves is still allowed. Violators will owe the city a fine of $300 to […]

Annie’s List, an organization devoted to supporting progressive women in politics, officially endorsed Gina Hinojosa at a luncheon on Friday. Hinojosa, a member (and former president) of the Austin Independent School District board of trustees, won the Democratic primary in March for District 49, the seat that has long belonged to outgoing state Rep. Elliott […]

A group of local organizations – including Leadership Austin, Interfaith Action Central Texas, Civic Collaboration and Community Advancement Network – is hosting a series of meetings inviting community members to share ideas for addressing Austin’s widening economic gap. Called “Building a Community of Equity and Opportunity: How Do We Bridge the Economic Divide?,” the series […]

Normally, we begin the week with a tip sheet about what readers can expect from the week’s City Council committee meetings. However, this week everyone gets a break. There are no committee meetings, hence there is no tip sheet.

According to the Travis County clerk, as of Thursday night, 24,547 voters had cast early ballots in the May 7 Joint General and Special Elections. That figure represents 4.18 percent of Travis County voters. Two North Austin polling locations continue to be the most popular, with 2,275 voters casting ballots at the Randalls grocery story […]

District 6 City Council Member Don Zimmerman will be hosting a town hall meeting this weekend with several items up for discussion. Guests Richard Brady (of Matrix Consulting Group) will lead a discussion about community policing, and city staff will be on hand to talk about the Mobility Talks initiative. Zimmerman also plans to speak […]

Austin needs even more new housing than previously thought, according to findings from the Real Estate Council of Austin. RECA announced yesterday that in order to “tackle Austin’s affordability crisis” as well as “keep up with demand and create stability in the housing market,” a minimum of 15,000 new units need to be made available […]

As we reported earlier this week, the city is hosting an outdoor open house to unveil the proposed South Central Waterfront Plan. The event, which was to take place Saturday, has now been postponed by one day in hopes of avoiding inclement weather. The event caps off three years of stakeholder collaboration on the plan, […]

As of Wednesday, just three days into early voting for the May 7 Joint General and Special Elections, a total of 19,587 Travis County voters (3.3 percent of registered voters) had cast their ballots. That number includes 4,176 voters who mailed in their ballots. The two most popular early voting locations so far – both […]

The city announced yesterday that the Turner-Roberts Recreation Center in East Austin will be hosting an all-star middle school basketball game in honor of longtime basketball coaches L.D. Washington and John Bragg Sr. “They have paved the way for many coaches in our area, as well as coached many generations of basketball players in Austin,” […]

To cap off three years of stakeholder collaboration on the South Central Waterfront Plan, the city is hosting an outdoor open house to share the results with the public. The plan, which will go before City Council in June, lays out recommendations for how to guide development decisions along Lady Bird Lake’s south side over […]