City puts information requests on ice

With normal city operations on hiatus due to freezing rain and glacial temperatures, the city of Austin is also freezing requests for information this week. The city submitted a “catastrophe notice” to the state on Feb. 7, which suspends certain Texas Public Information Act deadlines. That means pending public information requests will be paused for a week, and any PIRs submitted this week will be considered received on Feb. 14. However, according to a press release from the city, “Departments whose operations were not affected by the winter weather should continue to respond to public information requests under normal procedures.” The catastrophe notice will expire on Feb. 13, just in time for Valentine’s Day.