As the county’s May 8 end date for its stay-at-home order draws near, the Commissioners Court began to discuss the next steps in the battle to flatten the curve. “There is no return to ‘normal,’” County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Commissioners Court. However, she did say there must be an […]
COVID-19
Posted inEnergy
City utilities offering more help with bills
Austin Energy and Austin Water, two enterprise departments that help fund the city’s operations, are giving back to the community in the form of reduced electric and water and wastewater bills during the Covid-19 pandemic. Each utility is also contributing $5 million to the fund that helps low-income customers pay their utility bills. As a […]
Posted inAustin
Austin gets millions to deal with coronavirus
As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to climb, Austin and Travis County learned this week they would receive $170.8 million and $54 million, respectively, from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund to help local governments deal with the crisis. During a briefing for City Council Tuesday, Austin-Travis County Medical Director Dr. Mark Escott said that […]
Posted inTransportation
Council to address transit-related displacement in anticipation of Project Connect
Amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has indefinitely deferred $7.7 million in capital projects and another $11.9 million in operating projects, yet work on Project Connect, the region’s first mass transit system, may soon continue. City Council will consider a resolution Thursday to make sure low-income residents won’t be pushed […]
Posted inAustin
Commissioners Court approves community-generated emergency food contract
In an effort to simultaneously cut down on food waste and increase community access to food, the Commissioners Court unanimously approved a contract to provide supplemental emergency prepared food to Travis County residents. The $160,000 contract is the result of a collaborative effort between the Cook’s Nook culinary incubator and commercial kitchen, food distributors and […]
Posted inCity Council
Adler urges Austinites to stay at home despite state rollback
When Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that he would gradually begin to reopen the state, confusion began to mount about what that means for daily life. Is the stay-at-home order lifted? Should we begin to go back to life as it was before? Austin Mayor Steve Adler told the Austin Monitor on Monday night […]
Posted inAustin
City braces for cuts to cultural arts funding, citing likely drastic hotel tax drop
The city has advised local artists and cultural contractors to hold off on submitting proposals for the next cycle of Cultural Arts project funding because of a likely drastic cut in arts money due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. At Monday’s meeting of the Arts Commission, city staff said that Hotel Occupancy Tax […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin Recovery says it can’t afford to keep addiction treatment centers open because of Covid-19
Austin Recovery, a nonprofit that has provided substance abuse treatment in Central Texas since 1967, is closing its doors because of the coronavirus. In a letter to staff last week, Austin Recovery board members said the organization’s existing funding gaps were further widened because of the pandemic and it had made the decision to discontinue […]
Posted inPublic Health
Gov. Abbott outlines plan to relax restrictions and gradually reopen Texas economy
Gov. Greg Abbott announced a plan to gradually reopen aspects of the state’s economy, with a goal of allowing Texans to return to work while containing the spread of COVID-19. A new “strike force” made up of state leaders and health officials will advise the governor on next steps, he said at a news conference […]
Posted inPublic Health
CommUnityCare opens new drive-thru testing sites
After indefinitely closing seven CommUnityCare clinics earlier this month, the community healthcare provider opened its second drive-thru Covid-19 testing center to serve eastern Travis County. CommUnityCare is also reopening two of its clinics in the Eastern Crescent. April 16 was the first day of operation for the Central Health drive-thru testing site at the Del […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Health care, religious leaders join call to reduce jail population amid Covid-19 threat
Leaders in the local health care and religious communities have forwarded a pair of letters to city and county officials calling for early release of more prisoners from the Travis County jail in hopes of preventing the spread of Covid-19 among inmates and staff. Several of the dozens of signees of the two letters participated […]
Posted inAustin
Faith organizations take services online during the Covid-19 pandemic
The city’s stay-at-home order suspended in-person religious services, but that hasn’t stopped churches, mosques and synagogues from reaching their congregations during the pandemic. With all physical gatherings banned, faith communities are going online to practice. Congregation Beth Israel still hosts services every Friday night, with the rabbis reaching the congregation from their homes via Zoom. […]