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Austin

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…

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.…

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…

Audit: City water employees misused positions

Two employees of Austin Water misused their positions to generate business for a plumbing business owned by one of the employees, according to an investigative report issued Thursday by the Office of the City Auditor. That business owner/city employee, Rodney…

Abbott says TxDOT will start cleaning up homeless camps under highways in Austin starting Monday

Gov. Greg Abbott’s office says it’s forging ahead with cleanups of homeless encampments under overpasses in Austin. Ahead of a Nov. 1 deadline for state intervention, Abbott’s spokesperson John Wittman confirmed that the Texas Department of Transportation will clear underpasses…

As Austin rolls out its revised camping and resting bans, the future is uncertain

Everitt Walls is a company man. The 73-year-old veteran served in the Army in Vietnam. He follows rules and he follows chain of command. He also shares a camp across the street from the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless…

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Gov. Abbott moves to clean up homeless camps under bridges in Austin

Gov. Greg Abbott’s office says the Austin City Council has taken a “meaningful step” to address homelessness after its vote last night to partially reinstate a camping ban, but that he intends to ask the Texas Department of Transportation to…

Council codifies no-kill practices in controversial ordinance

City Council approved a set of controversial amendments to city code Thursday, giving legal weight to certain no-kill practices that many community advocates consider harmful to people and pets alike. Ellen Jefferson, executive director of Austin Pets Alive!, defended the…

Gov. Abbott threatens state intervention (again) unless Austin reinstates its camping ban

Gov. Greg Abbott doubled down on his threat to intervene over Austin’s homelessness ordinances. Abbott sent a letter to Mayor Steve Adler on Thursday threatening to send in “state agencies and resources,” unless the city reinstates rules banning camping, sitting…

Early data suggests progress on city, county workforce development goals

Some early returns on the two-year workforce development plan unveiled by city and county leaders in 2017 suggest progress is being made at improving the earning power of the area’s residents who are living in poverty. Those findings were among…

This September is on track to be the hottest ever in Austin

There was a time when it seemed like summer could have gone differently; a wet spring and a relatively mild June had us thinking maybe this year wouldn’t be so bad. Boy, that didn’t last long. “Yeah, we dried out…

Eyeing hotel tax dollars, Music Commission signs on to support convention center

With City Council set to consider two items on Thursday related to the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center, the Austin Music Commission voted last week to support the plan, which is projected to cost more than $1 billion…

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