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Most Popular Stories
- HUD cuts could endanger portion of more than $15M in federal housing funds
- 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
- Prompted by convention center controversy, Council seeks changes to public art program
- Amid ongoing measles concerns, Austin ISD’s vaccination rate is below target for its youngest students
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Asian chamber program looks to open contract opportunities for airport expansion
Small businesses owned by women and minorities can get an up-close lesson next month on how they can bid on contracts related to the ongoing expansion work taking place at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 22, 2020
County sets up new committee to put pressure on city leaders over Expo Center
Travis County leaders want to put pressure on the city of Austin to help them rebuild the aging exposition center. On Tuesday the Commissioners Court voted unanimously to set up a nine-member committee tasked with “engaging and educating Travis County…
Austin • By Jack Craver • Jan 8, 2020
Downtown Commission hears fundraising plans for 300 new shelter beds
A partnership between the Downtown Austin Alliance and the Austin Chamber of Commerce has identified 14 sites that could become the location for a new large shelter to serve the city’s homeless population. At last month’s Downtown Commission meeting, representatives…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 8, 2020
2019: Austin's year in review
Homelessness If there was one topic that dominated local news coverage this year – and there was – it was homelessness. In June, City Council voted to lift ordinances that essentially criminalized homelessness in the city, and most significantly, prohibited…
Austin • By Elizabeth Pagano • Dec 30, 2019
Austin's opportunity zones expected to see increased investment, development in 2020
Real estate professionals and the investment community expect development activity to increase in the 21 census tracts in the Austin area that qualify as federal opportunity zones. Those zones, created as part of the 2017 federal tax cut, were designed…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 18, 2019
Friends remember Walter Timberlake
Friends and family shared reminiscences of longtime labor leader and dedicated Democrat Walter Timberlake Monday. Timberlake, 89, passed away Sunday after a long struggle with various health problems, including diabetes. Timberlake was a major force in the Texas Democratic party…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Dec 17, 2019
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Panelists examine impact of taxes, paid leave and school funding for Latinos
The importance of federal tax policies, family paid leave programs and the effects of the state’s school financing structure on affordability in Austin were among the issues discussed Thursday by a panel of state and federal policy analysts, with the…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 16, 2019
Austin cat advocates ask city to reevaluate shelter-neuter-release program
The stated goal of the Austin Animal Center is to place all adoptable animals in forever homes. However, even with this intention and a no-kill policy to back it up, not all animals are given the same chance to find…
Austin • By Jessi Devenyns • Dec 13, 2019
Music commissioners want urgency, care in spending hotel tax money for industry
Members of the Music Commission and interest groups related to the city’s music industry are pushing for quick decisions on how to spend an initial pool of Hotel Occupancy Tax dollars that City Council allocated for the city’s commercial music…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 9, 2019
Chamber forecast sees tight labor, housing markets as biggest threat to Austin economy
Austin’s economy continues to be one of the strongest in the nation and should stay that way for the foreseeable future, but a national economist said the city’s extremely tight labor market is likely acting as a drag on the…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 6, 2019
Proposed partnership with ECHO would convert more motels to temporarily house Austin's homeless
ECHO, the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, says the addition of 200-300 short-term motel units would substantially impact the community of Austinites living without shelter. In a memo sent Tuesday to the mayor and City Council, city staff said they agree.…
Austin • By Jerry Quijano, KUT • Nov 27, 2019
Gov. Abbott says he'll use five acres of state-owned land to temporarily house homeless Austinites
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said the state will use five acres of state land at U.S. Highway 183 and Montopolis Drive as a temporary campsite for homeless Austinites. The site would serve as a stopgap until a privately backed effort…
