Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., Jan. 12, 2024
Project Connect Challenged: Project Connect, promised to overhaul transportation in Austin, is facing a lawsuit from plaintiffs including Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gomez and Dirty Martin's Place. They argue the city lost its authority to collect taxes for light rail as the plans and cost of the project have changed after its 2020 passage, the Austin Monitor reported. Council and the Austin Transit Partnership deny all claims in the lawsuit and authorized $350,000 to pay for legal costs.
Less Pumping Please: There's another big lawsuit to watch. KUT reported this week that Aqua Texas, the private water company that was fined by the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District last year for pumping almost twice the water it was allowed out of the Trinity Aquifer, is suing the district. In the suit, Aqua Texas says it could suffer "a possible permanent loss of its valuable property rights in its groundwater" due to penalties. The district says the company is operating illegally as it hasn't renewed its permit for 2024.
Tiny Homes to End Homelessness: A joint investigation by The New York Times and The Texas Tribune took a look this week at the success of a local tiny homes community – Mobile Loaves and Fishes' Community First! Village – which is poised to grow to nearly 2,000 homes across three locations in the next few years, making it the largest project of its kind in the nation – big enough to permanently house half of Austin's homeless population. Homelessness rates are continuing to rise in Austin; an ECHO estimate in October found 5,530 Austinites without shelter, a 125% increase from 2021.
More Money for Red River Cultural District?: At the first Austin Music Commission meeting of the year, Nicole Klepadlo, Red River Cultural District interim executive director, told commissioners that the RRCD requested $75,000 from the 2023 Elevate Grant Program but was denied. The program uses hotel occupancy tax funds to offer $10,000 to $75,000 grants to arts organizations and artists who "produce culturally vibrant and diverse artistic content," per the city of Austin. Klepadlo said the nonprofit is in desperate need of an economic impact analysis. Read more online.
State Says, "Pollution, Shmollution": A joint investigation by The Texas Tribune and Inside Climate News this week found that industrial developers operating in Texas classify large facilities as minor polluters to avoid federal permitting requirements. Worse, environmental lawyers say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality allows it.
ACC for Free: Austin Community College is considering offering free tuition to high school seniors that graduate this spring, starting fall 2024. The proposal, brought to the board of trustees Monday, will have to go through a pilot program before it can be implemented. Tuition and fees are currently $85 per credit hour and have not been raised for a decade; but as Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart put it, "If a student is taking 12 hours, which is full time, this is going to potentially save them over $3,000 in a full academic year ... that's life-changing."
Bastrop ISD Incentivizes Reading With Book Vending Machines: In more good news, Bastrop ISD's Bluebonnet Elementary School librarian Pattie Nix got a grant from the Bastrop Education Foundation to buy a $5,000 book vending machine. Students get tokens for the machine by achieving "positive office referrals" for good behavior or going out of their way to help other students. Since the machine was introduced, positive office referrals have tripled.
Nurses Union Grows: The National Nurses United grew this week after 96% of nurses voted in 225 new members to the Ascension Seton nurses union. Those 225 join 825 already unionized Austin nurses who have been negotiating a contract with Ascension since they unionized with 72% of nurses voting in favor in the fall of 2022. Crucially, the new members are residents and fellows, who were previously barred from joining. Read more online.
Brace Yourself for Winter: ERCOT has issued a Weather Watch for next week, January 15-17, due to extreme cold weather expected across Texas. ERCOT is forecasting enough resources to meet increased demand. Read more about cold weather preparedness at austinchronicle.com.
Quote of the Week
“Once I got here, I said, ‘This is where I’m going to spend pretty much my entire life now.’”
– Ellis Johnston, one of the first residents of Community First! Village, which provides low-cost tiny homes for formerly homeless Austinites
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