Jo Clifton

Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Mayor Kirk Watson held a joint news conference Monday to announce that each had signed disaster declarations related to wildfire risk. “On Friday I signed a disaster declaration,” Brown said. “It will allow Travis County to proactively access resources, streamline emergency coordination (and) reinforce wildfire prevention efforts.” According to […]

Although Austin has fewer overall automobile crashes than other major Texas cities, the percentage of crashes involving serious injury or death of a pedestrian is still at the same rate — 27.9 percent– as other large Texas cities. That is one conclusion of the special report from the Austin City Auditor’s Office. Council members Zo […]

The City Auditor’s Office has released an Investigative Report accusing Nico Hauwert, probably the best- known geoscientist in Central Texas, of misusing city resources and committing fraud when he was program manager of the Balcones Canyonland Preserve (BCP). He worked for Austin Water from June 2000 to July 2024, when he left city employment after being placed […]

Two Travis County property owners filed suit Wednesday against members of the Travis County Commissioners Court, saying the group exceeded their authority when they voted to set the county tax rate in excess of the amount needed to address the July 4 flooding disaster. According to the lawsuit, the county incurred $20 million in increased expenditures […]

Attorneys Bill Aleshire and Rick Fine have warned the city of Austin that the notice of tomorrow’s City Council meeting does not comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act. In a letter delivered earlier today, the attorneys highlight problems with the posted notice for Thursday’s meeting. The meeting is specifically being held to update the […]

Anyone who has been to the Austin airport can tell you that AUS, the official code for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, is bursting at the seams, with more people flying in and out through the airport’s relatively limited number of gates. The city is working to address that problem with a variety of major construction projects […]

As the local union for city and county employees, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFSCME Local 1624, is getting ready for what could be a difficult battle over possible job cuts and departmental consolidation as a result of expected budget cuts. Meanwhile the union has just gone through a bruising fight over […]

The Austin United Political Action Committee and several of its members have filed suit against the City of Austin, saying that City Clerk Erika Brady wrongly disqualified signatures of registered voters on their petition for an election on the Convention Center, causing the petition to fail. That petition asks voters to vote to postpone the […]

A judge will decide whether Travis County can spend $42 million in flood-relief taxes on projects beyond the disaster that justified them.

Travis County District Judge Amy Clark Meachum has ruled that a lawsuit filed November 5, 2025, by two taxpayers against Travis County should move forward The lawsuit is about whether Travis County Commissioners acted legally when they voted to raise property taxes to help pay to repair damage from last July’s floods. (Case No. D-1-GN-25-009885.) Nearly one year […]