Headlines

Mayor Pete and Mayor Steve – close friends as well as peers – led the way as this year's Austin Pride Parade kicked off on Saturday night. Buttigieg, who's been endorsed by Adler, also held a grassroots meetup with his Central Texas supporters earlier in the day. (photo by David Brendan Hall)

Code-NEXT-ra: City Council won't meet this week, but on Aug. 13, the Housing and Planning Committee received a first look at upcoming changes to the city's Land Development Code. Brent Lloyd, one of the code rewrite's leaders, previewed proposed changes to "transition zones," which would regulate how new structures and additions to current homes can be built on neighborhood edges, while preserving existing single-family homes despite being considered "nonconforming." See "Public Notice."

Cap Metro Contract: The Capital Metro governing board approved on Monday a $1.4 billion contract with MV Transportation Inc. to manage the Austin transit agency's fleet and operations. The five-year contract will give the Dallas-based firm, which previously split Cap Metro operations with French firm RATP Dev, full control over CM operations in January.

Free Lunch for Students: As students prepare to return to the classroom next week, Austin ISD officials announced free breakfast and lunch will be provided to all qualifying students at 82 of the district's 130 campuses, up from last year's 43 schools.

Un-welcoming ALEC: The American Legis­lative Exchange Council – a corporate­-friendly bill mill hobnobbing with GOP legislators – is holding its annual conference this week at the JW Marriott Downtown, and was "unwelcomed" Wednesday evening by more than a dozen progressive and union groups. One thing on the ALEC agenda: 2020 redistricting.

Hot Enough Yet? The city of Austin joined Travis and Williamson counties in imposing burn bans this week, as temperatures climbed above 100 degrees with no rain in recent weeks. Bans on any fires in parks or green spaces are expected to stay in place pending a decrease in fire risk.

Wealthy Whites Only: Not content to ­target "illegal" immigrants (i.e., mostly refugees from violence and poverty), the Trump admini­stra­tion announced new rules aimed to reduce the number of poor "legal" immigrants by requiring green card applicants to demonstrate economic self-sufficiency for approval. Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke tweeted: "This administration finally admitted what we've known all along: They think the Statue of Liberty only applies to white people."