District 8
Ethics commission sends Ellis letter on campaign finance violations
The city’s Ethics Review Commission has issued a letter of notification to City Council Member Paige Ellis, documenting a handful of campaign contributions that exceeded campaign finance rules and were not returned to donors in a timely fashion. Last week…
Elections • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 21, 2022
City eyes major upgrades, parking garages for Zilker Park
The city has released the draft of its vision plan for the future of Zilker Park, which splits the major enhancements proposed for the park into five regions that include the seven primary activity zones for current public use and…
Parks • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 21, 2022
Ellis and Harper-Madison easily win reelection to Council
In some of the least-surprising news Tuesday night had to offer, City Council incumbents Natasha Harper-Madison and Paige Ellis both held on to their seats in decisive victories over their opponents. In District 1, Harper-Madison, who has served on Council…
Elections • By Elizabeth Pagano • Nov 8, 2022
District 8 City Council candidates chat with the 'Monitor'
Four years ago, Southwest Austin’s District 8 selected the progressive yet pragmatic Paige Ellis as its City Council representative. In November, voters will decide whether to continue Ellis’ leadership on the dais. The incumbent faces three community advocates who each…
Elections • By Nina Hernandez • Oct 14, 2022
Ellis sees opportunity for growth amidst 2021's challenges
Despite a year that brought both public health and environmental disasters, District 8 City Council Member Paige Ellis has pushed forward in her efforts to rethink transportation, parks and affordability solutions in our rapidly growing city. While the Covid-19 pandemic…
City Council • By Kali Bramble • Dec 23, 2021
Fire destroys log cabin and preservation hopes
Plans to reconstruct and relocate a 19th-century log cabin at 5613 Patton Ranch Road are now moot after a fire destroyed the property. “We’ve reviewed the fire report and the cabin is a total loss,” Historic Preservation Officer Steve Sadowsky explained…
Preservation • By Elizabeth Pagano • Sep 15, 2021
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TxDOT halts tree-clearing in Oak Hill, pending court hearing
In light of a federal judge’s concerns over the state’s planned removal of nearly 200 trees to make way for a 12-lane road project through Oak Hill, the Texas Department of Transportation last week agreed to temporarily halt its tree-clearing…
Roads • By Amy Smith • Aug 2, 2021
City begins blue-green algae mitigation at Red Bud Isle
Since 2019, dog-lovers in Austin have had to worry about cyanobacteria, more commonly known as blue-green algae, when stories came out of several dogs dying after swimming in Lady Bird Lake during the algae bloom. A particular area of concern…
Environment • By Sean Saldaña • Jun 24, 2021
Neighbors wary as ACC takes a step back from concrete plant
After hearing numerous complaints from neighbors of Austin Community College’s Pinnacle campus in Oak Hill, the ACC Board of Trustees approved a new resolution Monday night specifically excluding the use of the campus for a concrete batch plant. The board…
Planning • By Jo Clifton • May 5, 2021
Council barely OKs eminent domain for U.S. 290 expansion
With just six members voting in the affirmative last Thursday, City Council authorized staff to move forward with eminent domain proceedings to purchase new right of way in order to move wastewater lines that are in the path of the…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Apr 12, 2021
Neighbors tell ACC board: No concrete plant here
Neighbors of Austin Community College’s Pinnacle campus in Oak Hill begged the ACC Board of Trustees to reverse its apparent decision to allow a Texas Department of Transportation contractor to operate a concrete batch plant on the campus. About 20 neighbors…
Planning • By Jo Clifton • Apr 8, 2021
Proposed concrete plant at ACC upsets neighbors
When Cynthia Wilcox, president of the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods, heard the news that there would soon be a functioning concrete plant at the Austin Community College Pinnacle campus near her home she felt “completely blindsided.” Wilcox reached out…
