Tag Archives: COVID-19
Airport officials strive to help employees, concessions
In December 2019, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, or AUS, hosted more than 778,000 passengers, many of whom bought snacks, coffee, lunches and books, as well as gifts for their friends and relatives. By April 2020, that number had plunged to just…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Oct 15, 2020
Council refines SAVES proposal
The city has not yet found the right balance in regards to distributing $15 million in financial assistance under Save Austin’s Vital Economic Sectors (SAVES). As City Council prepares to consider allocating $8.5 million in sales tax revenue to the…
City Council • By Ryan Thornton • Oct 14, 2020
Abbott allows Texas bars to open again
Texas bars will soon be allowed to open at 50 percent capacity indoors at the discretion of the presiding county judge, according to a new order from Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott’s newest executive order applies to areas with “low Covid-19…
Austin • By Elizabeth Pagano • Oct 8, 2020
Staffers explain how Covid relief funds were disbursed
This summer, City Council rushed to provide economic relief to small businesses and nonprofits shouldering the burden of closures during the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic. On Thursday, as they ratified a contract with the Better Business Bureau…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Oct 5, 2020
Austin families navigate food insecurity inflicted by Covid-19
Jacylin Moya and her mom woke up early Saturday morning to do something they had never done before – go to a Central Texas Food Bank drive. With a line of cars ahead of them, they waited in their car…
Austin • By Alyssa Weinstein • Oct 5, 2020
Council approves $15M for vital businesses
City Council unanimously approved a revised version of the Save Austin’s Vital Economic Sectors (SAVES) relief effort on Thursday to provide financial assistance to some of the city’s most vulnerable music and arts venues, child care providers, and restaurants and…
Austin • By Ryan Thornton • Oct 2, 2020
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How Austin Public Library adjusted to the pandemic
Early on a Tuesday morning, Austin’s Central Library would normally be a bustling place. But today, patrons like East Austin resident Todd Fitzgerald arrive one at a time, wait for the phone call to announce that their books are ready,…
Austin • By Minka Atkinson • Oct 2, 2020
Travis County launches new coronavirus relief grants for nonprofits
With $61.1 million to spend and the clock ticking ever closer to the expenditure deadline of Dec. 30 set by the federal government for coronavirus relief funds, the Travis County Commissioners Court authorized a new grant program called TCTX Serve…
Travis County • By Jessi Devenyns • Oct 1, 2020
Questions arise about how BBB administers grants
At Tuesday’s City Council work session, Mayor Steve Adler asked Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, the acting director of the Economic Development Department, to explain what went into the selection of the Better Business Bureau to administer nearly $26 million in federal emergency…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Oct 1, 2020
City offers $15M funding plan for SAVES
In the absence of sufficient state and federal economic relief for Covid-19, the city has identified four potential local funding sources totaling $15 million for the Save Austin’s Vital Economic Sectors (SAVES) effort. If approved by City Council this week,…
City Council • By Ryan Thornton • Sep 30, 2020
PARD contends with homeless encampments during pandemic with limited resources
With nearly 300 parks and 17,409 acres of property to oversee, Wes Bickham, an environmental coordinator with the Parks and Recreation Department, has a lot of ground to cover in his work finding alternative solutions for people experiencing homelessness who…
Parks • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 29, 2020
Over half the city's Covid-19 relief programs enter funding distribution stages
By the end of September, nine of the 13 established economic relief programs for those impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic will have entered their funding distribution phase, providing money to Austinites in need. In a Sept. 23 progress report, Chief…
