Lea esta nota en español Austin-Travis County returned to stage 3 of the Covid-19 risk-based guidelines Thursday. The change was made after the detection of four cases of the more infectious Delta variant and recent increases in new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. The more restrictive stage 3 guidelines call for people who are immunocompromised or […]
Public Safety
Posted inPublic Health
Delta variant may be to blame for rise in hospital admissions
On Tuesday, Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes and Austin Public Health interim Director Adrienne Stirrup updated the Travis County Commissioners Court on Covid-19 and vaccination efforts in the county. “So far, we have not received a confirmed case of the Delta variant from the state lab,” Walkes told commissioners on July 13. “However, […]
Posted inFire
Firefighters’ leader says department needs more funds
When City Manager Spencer Cronk presented the Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget to City Council last week, he noted that the new Loop 360 fire/EMS station would be opening in the coming fiscal year. According to the manager’s budget document, the new station would open in July 2022 and cost taxpayers $1.5 million for partial year […]
Posted inPublic Safety
APD to issue citations beginning Sunday as part of Prop B enforcement
The Austin Police Department could begin issuing citations this Sunday, July 11, for camping, panhandling and resting in the public right of way in downtown, West Campus and part of East Austin – areas where such activities were allowed before Proposition B passed in May – Lt. Lawrence Davis told the Public Safety Commission yesterday. […]
Posted inPolice
Nearly four dozen people have applied to be Austin’s next police chief. Here are four things to know.
The police chief in Wichita, Kansas. A commanding officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. An engineer with a cybersecurity firm. A real estate investor. These are some of the 45 candidates who have applied to be Austin’s next police chief. Austin’s been searching for the city’s next top cop since former Chief Brian Manley announced […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin congressman wants to give local governments the ability to expand Medicaid
Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin is introducing legislation that would allow local governments in Texas to expand Medicaid to more of their low-income residents. During this year’s legislative session, Texas lawmakers again refused to expand the program statewide. Texas is one of just a dozen states that have not expanded Medicaid through the […]
Posted inPublic Safety
After public condemnation, county to rework correctional master plan
A highly anticipated Travis County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday was more contentious than usual and lasted later into the evening to accommodate hours of public comments criticizing a plan to allocate $80 million to fund a new women’s jail. Though the item in question specifically referred to the $4.3 million design contract for the Travis […]
Posted inPolice
Austin police can start ticketing people for panhandling and camping or sitting in public
The Austin Police Department will begin enforcing a city ban on camping in public that was reinstated by Austin voters last month. Proposition B, the citizen-led effort to reinstate the rules, officially went into effect May 11, but the city adopted a staggered approach to enforcing the ban, along with prohibitions on panhandling and sitting or lying down in […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Commissioners clap back at justice advocates protesting county jail plan
The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday responded to pushback from criminal justice reform advocates upset at the county’s plan to approve a $4.2 million design contract for a new women’s jail. While commissioners ultimately decided to delay the motion until next week (in a non-unanimous vote), several of them pushed back on the advocates’ […]
Posted inPolice
New police chief expected to be named by late summer
More than three dozen people have applied to become Austin’s next police chief, a role that comes with a number of challenges critical to the success of the city and its process to reimagine public safety. Recruitment for the position will continue until the position is filled. As of mid-afternoon, about 36 applicants had filed […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin-Travis County health officials say Covid vaccine data shows there’s still work to be done
More than three quarters of people age 65 and older in Austin-Travis County are fully vaccinated, public health officials said Tuesday. For the entire eligible population – that’s people 12 years and older – the number is more than 54 percent. The area remains in stage 2 of Austin Public Health’s risk-based guidelines, and the […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Criminal justice reformers push back on county jail renovations
Just outside the Travis County Commissioners Court at 700 Lavaca St. yesterday, a number of criminal justice reform groups held a press conference to protest Travis County’s plan to spend $600 million on construction and renovation of new jail facilities in the county. The plan, says Amanda Woog, executive director of the Texas Fair Defense […]