At their May 27 work session, Travis County commissioners fielded a presentation on the 20-year road map for the Travis County Correctional Complex. Representatives from the Planning and Budget Office, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Justice Planning Department presented to commissioners on a range of topics, from demographic breakdowns of the facility population […]
Public Safety
Posted inPublic Safety
Bill penalizing Texas cities that cut funding for police heads to governor’s desk
Texas lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to a bill that would financially punish large cities that cut their police budgets, including prohibiting them from raising new property tax revenue. The legislation now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said he would sign such a bill. If so, the law would go into effect Sept. 1. […]
Posted inFire
Taking cues from audit, Austin continues to shore up its wildfire prevention strategy
Thanks to climate change, Austinites can expect to see more storms, floods and fires in their future. This week, City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee heard what steps the Fire Department has taken to address the threat of wildfires following a 2019 audit. That audit, which was released in October 2019, found that the city […]
Posted inPolice
Group behind Austin’s camping ban revival says it has new plan to put police staffing on the ballot
Save Austin Now, the local political action committee behind the campaign to reinstate rules against camping in public, has started circulating a petition to put a new proposition on the ballot – a mandate that would require certain levels of staffing at the Austin Police Department. “Austin … used to be one of the greatest places […]
Posted inPublic Health
Covid-19 rates in Austin fall below 5% across all races for the first time, health officials say
The Covid-19 positivity rate in Austin and Travis County continues to fall as more people in the area are inoculated against the virus. Dr. Jason Pickett, deputy medical director for the city, said positivity rates for people of all races in the area are down below 5 percent for the first time in the pandemic, […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin, Travis County move down to stage 2 risk level of coronavirus restrictions
Lea esta nota en español The chief medical director for the city of Austin said Tuesday the area is now at stage 2 of Austin Public Health’s risk-based guidelines. The change is effective immediately. Dr. Mark Escott said the decision was made based on the “significant decreases in cases that we’re seeing.” “We feel confident […]
Posted inPublic Health
City waives permit fees for food charities
Effective immediately, City Council has voted to waive permit fees, fines and other charges for charitable feeding organizations like food banks and soup kitchens that distribute food to vulnerable populations and increase access to healthy foods in the community. The waiver also applies to operational requirements and grease traps for food establishments. “This would ensure […]
Posted inPublic Health
Vaccination in the county continues to soar, as FDA approves Pfizer for kids
The Travis County Commissioners Court and Austin City Council convened Tuesday to receive updates from interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott on the Covid-19 vaccination progress in the region. Thirty-eight percent of individuals in Travis County were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, while 13 percent of individuals were partially vaccinated. Just over half the county, […]
Posted inPublic Safety
City leaders, Austin police say arrests will be a ‘last resort’ as enforcement of homelessness ordinances resumes
It’s illegal – once again – for people experiencing homelessness to set up encampments throughout most of the city. Sitting or lying down in some stretches of Austin and panhandling at night are also against the law after voters this month approved a proposition to reinstate criminal penalties for those activities. While those laws are officially […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Breaking down the Reimagining Public Safety task force’s recommendations
Last month, the city’s newly formed joint city-community Reimagining Public Safety task force released its 2021 mid-year recommendations report. At over 70 pages long, the report’s proposals range from popular police reform policy changes to ideas that would fundamentally reshape the way the city operates. Early in the report, the task force makes its ambitions and worldview clear, […]
Posted inPolice
Austin will start training new police again this June, after a yearlong hiatus
City Council members voted Thursday to restart cadet classes after a pause to allow the police department to make changes to how it trains new officers. The next cadet class is set to start by June 7. It will be run as a pilot, so the department can test the changes it made, which include […]
Posted inPublic Health
With tenants still enduring mold damage caused by Uri, Council pushes for more landlord regulation
Though it has been several months since Winter Storm Uri damaged infrastructure and homes across the city, some apartment residents are still dealing with severe mold damage that landlords have failed to fix. Worse, when some tenants asked the city for help, their landlords deemed the homes unlivable and forced the residents to leave. “We’ve […]