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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
- Amid ongoing measles concerns, Austin ISD’s vaccination rate is below target for its youngest students
- Austin ranks fifth in nation for cities most at risk for wildfires
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Convention center fate looms as Tourism Commission scrutinizes Visit Austin budgets
The most recent meeting of the city’s still-new Tourism Commission followed what could become a regular dynamic for the group: detailed “in the weeds” parsing of budgets and policies related to Austin’s tourism industry, with the proposed expansion of the…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 12, 2018
Homeless services would get a boost from recommended budget earmarks
A budget amendment expected to go before City Council later this month would seek to direct up to $1 million in new money toward improvements to Austin’s downtown homeless shelter and provide other resources to move people out of homelessness.…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 9, 2018
Downtown restroom contract OK'd
On Thursday City Council directed staff to execute a contract with Blue Chem Inc. for waste removal services at a city-owned portable toilet downtown. The initial two-year contract is for $330,000, but if the contract is extended to five years…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Oct 5, 2018
Small progress, but Austin still lags in enabling 5G adoption
A pair of efforts to bring 5G telecommunication technology to portions of Austin is welcome news to proponents of the smart city capabilities available with widespread use. But the city still lags far behind other Texas cities in installation of…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 5, 2018
Veterans center 'needs assessment' coming
In response to a resolution from the city’s Commission on Veterans Affairs and City Council, the Human Resources Department is moving forward with an assessment of how to proceed with setting up a Veterans Resource Center. HR has already allocated…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Oct 4, 2018
Austin reconsiders homelessness ordinances as Houston laws are challenged in court
It’s a new fiscal year for the city of Austin, and one of the myriad items on City Council agendas over the next year will be an overhaul of ordinances relating to homelessness. That won’t be easy, as federal courts…
Austin • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Oct 3, 2018
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Swimming in Austin just became more expensive. Here are some other new city fees.
Every Oct. 1, the city of Austin welcomes a new budget – and with it, new city fees. These can be anything from public library fines to what it costs to adopt a dog from the city shelter. Here’s a…
Austin • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Oct 2, 2018
Austin renters and people of color are most likely to be displaced because of gentrification
A new study from the University of Texas points to widespread gentrification in Austin, stretching from northern neighborhoods to the eastern edge of South Austin. Researchers say the groups most impacted by displacement are low-income African-American and Hispanic renters. Jake…
Austin • By Syeda Hasan • Sep 18, 2018
Cuts to arts groups brings call for changes to funding mechanism
Local arts groups facing dramatic cuts in their funding levels from the city could get some relief this budget year, and possibly an earlier heads-up in future budget years if their funding allocations appear headed for a decrease. The city’s…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 18, 2018
Commission calls on Austin to ban cat declawing
The city Animal Advisory Commission has unanimously recommended that the city ban cat declawing. The commission unanimously approved the resolution on Monday after hearing an hour of testimony from veterinarians and animal rights activists, most of whom described declawing as…
Austin • By Jack Craver • Sep 14, 2018
Innovators, Austin lifestyle, UT brought Army here
Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, who serves as director of combat systems for Austin’s brand-new Army Futures Command, said Tuesday that Austin was chosen as the site of the first new Army command since 1973 because Austin has the talent, the…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Sep 12, 2018
With hotel tax money in play, Tourism Commission meetings grow heated
The second meeting of the city’s new Tourism Commission saw the group vote down a possible $3 million marketing campaign for local live music, while also dusting off the long-running debate about public safety expenses for the South by Southwest…
