Austin is officially in the race for perhaps the biggest corporate prize ever. “This afternoon, we formally submitted the Austin-region bid for Amazon HQ2,” Mike Berman, senior vice president at the Austin Chamber of Commerce, said. Austin Texas Region Bid for @amazon HQ2 submitted. — Austin Chamber (@AustinChamber) October 18, 2017 The quest to lure […]
Austin
Posted inAustin
Clarke Hammond passes away at 66
Clarke Hammond, 66, a larger-than-life figure in the Austin community, died Saturday following liver surgery. His friend, former Mayor Lee Leffingwell, described Hammond as a man “who lived life large. He probably crammed more life into 50 years than most people do in 80.” “He did my very first fundraiser with a keg of beer,” […]
Posted inAustin
Council approves resolution condemning Columbus, celebrating indigenous peoples
City Council jumped into the long-standing debate over Columbus Day when it approved a resolution this week in favor of recognizing the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The vote was purely symbolic. Columbus Day has never been an official city holiday; city employees do not get the day off, nor will they […]
Posted inAustin
Vote moves ‘downtown puzzle’ forward, with amendments aplenty
City Council voted Thursday to move forward with the “downtown puzzle,” a package of possible tax increases and assessment mechanisms seen as a way to fund a variety of public works projects and other community needs. The 10-0 vote – Council Member Ellen Troxclair was absent – directs city staff to begin gathering information on […]
Posted inAustin
Council voices concerns over Visit Austin spending on alcohol, events
A report that the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau (known as Visit Austin) has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on jewelry, alcohol and meals at fancy restaurants prompted City Council to delay approval of the nonprofit agency’s marketing plan and budget. Council Member Leslie Pool, citing “significant questions about the spending of taxpayer […]
Posted inAustin
Updated: Racially tinged comments spark controversy for Capital Metro’s vice chair
Update: Beverly Silas, vice chair of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors told the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday morning that she is resigning. “I most humbly apologize to the community, to you the Travis County Commissioners Court, to the Capital Metro board, and to the entire Capital Metro organization for my […]
Posted inAustin
Homeless service providers say pilot program made downtown Austin safer
An effort to reduce crowds loitering outside the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless has made downtown safer, local service providers say. A 30-day initiative was launched last month to address homelessness outside the ARCH, where dozens of people congregate on lawn chairs and blankets on any given day. The goal was to disrupt the […]
Posted inAustin
Austin’s creative culture holds weight in economic incentives revision
In response to City Council direction in March, Austin’s Economic Development Department has spent the better part of the year meeting with specific groups in the community that have a stake in how the city approaches policies such as business recruitment, real estate planning and business incentives packages in the coming years. In an effort […]
Posted inAustin
Austin is ready to close its shelter for Harvey evacuees
Austin’s centralized shelter for Hurricane Harvey evacuees at the Met Center could close by the end of the week. About 170 people remain at the South Austin shelter. It held as many as 400 evacuees after the storm, which brought record flooding in Houston and devastated parts of the Gulf Coast and Southeast Texas. Travis […]
Posted inAustin
Could Austin be prime location for Amazon HQ?
To hear the Austin tech community talking on Thursday, it was a foregone conclusion that online retail giant Amazon will become Austin’s largest employer and have a major physical footprint here within the next decade. That prediction came about following the news that Amazon plans to build a second company headquarters somewhere in North America, […]
Posted inAustin
Austin helping cities hit by Hurricane Harvey
City Council unanimously approved mutual aid agreements with the cities of Houston and Victoria at a special called meeting on Tuesday in the wake of devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Mayor Steve Adler and Council members Leslie Pool and Greg Casar were attending to other business. As of Monday night, a city official said there were […]
Posted inAustin
Adler attacks plan to move hotel tax money
Mayor Steve Adler made clear at Tuesday’s work session that he would try to derail Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s plan to reallocate money from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue when it comes up for City Council consideration on Thursday. Without saying exactly why, Adler expressed the idea that the Troxclair plan would prevent Council […]