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Martinez's living wage proposal raises questions

A proposal from Council Member Mike Martinez to tie the city’s living wage mandate to an index that would allow it to adjust with the going rate drew a handful of questions from Council members at their Tuesday work session.…

Panel narrows social services funding to 4 options

The difficult decisions continued Monday for the Council Public Health and Human Services Committee, which is in the process of dividing a very limited amount of money among numerous social service agencies seeking funding from the city for FY 2016.…

Austin Energy to operate community solar project

Austinites who want to use solar power but cannot install solar panels will soon be able to draw from a community pool of solar energy. A new project to be operated by Austin Energy will allow electric customers who cannot…

Skeptical Council hears new AE generation plan

Despite disagreements over exactly how much solar energy Austin Energy should purchase by 2020, both sides in a tug of war over the utility’s generation plan agreed Thursday that Austin Energy should move forward with a request for proposals for…

HHS Committee works to fund agency contracts

City Council’s Health and Human Services Committee continues to meet and discuss how to stretch a limited amount of money to fund contracts with Austin social service agencies for the next fiscal year. The panel made progress Wednesday but still has…

Reporter's Notebook: Council chamber progress

New Council Chambers taking shape … We just got a sneak peak at the refurbished City Council chambers and it is spectacular. That brand-new dais is carved ‘pecky Pecan,’ according to Bob Nagelhout, whose company designed and built the dais,…

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Travis County battles shortage of foster homes

There is a severe lack of homes for children and youth in Travis County’s foster care system, according to the judges and officials who administer the system. They say the situation has become critical, to the point that children are…

Reporters Notebook

Hey, it’s our med school, so it must be our sky bridge … Central Health is all for the proposed sky bridge between the new medical school at Seton Medical Center and an associated parking garage, as long as there’s…

Water bills to get increased scrutiny after audit

The City Auditor’s Office has found that the customer billing system that generates the City of Austin’s combined utility bills does not routinely scrutinize the readings on the majority of water bills, leading to the possibility of overcharges. for nine…

City Council studies potential solar power deal

Austin Energy staff is set to present City Council members with a new potential 25-year community solar contract Thursday that would produce as much as 3.2 megawatts of “local” solar power for the utility. If approved, the deal would cost…

Whispers Roundup: Keeping secrets badly

Whispers Roundup is a weekly column of items from our reporters’ notebooks. “We won’t say a thing to anyone – we swear!” . . . Despite a handful of speeches at Wednesday’s Austin Neighborhoods Council forum imploring the candidates to…

AE offers new generation mix proposal

Austin Energy officials presented City Council members Tuesday with a new proposal for a generation mix that would approach the renewable energy numbers suggested by a July task force report. Though no solid generation plan has been presented — let…

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