City Council met Wednesday afternoon in a joint discussion session with the Land Development Code Advisory Group, to update Council and the public on the work in drafting CodeNEXT. The next regular Council meeting is Dec. 1; for a report on the most recent actions, see “Council: Pilots, Roses, and Champions.”
Mayor Steve Adler has announced the creation of a task force to be charged with “taking a comprehensive look at institutional racism” in Austin, saying he hopes to formulate an action plan by March. “To deal with racism in Austin, we need to acknowledge that institutional racism exists in Austin” and commit to “root it out,” Adler said in a prepared statement.
Local health care activists released a report Nov. 15 charging that the Central Health Hospital District and the UT Dell Medical School are misappropriating property tax funds intended for direct indigent health care and using it instead for staffing, administrative, and other expenses. Administrators for the district and med school have responded that the charges are false, and that the funding is being legally managed and spent.
APD Officer Bryan Richter will not face prosecution from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office for his June 2015 arrest of Breaion King. See “Bryan Richter No-Billed” online for more details.
Ana Marie Prado won’t face felony charges for the death of APD Officer Amir Abdul-Khaliq. Prado, 51, was originally cited for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle after she collided with Abdul-Khaliq while the 46-year-old officer was providing security to a funeral procession. That charge was dropped in municipal court, so the Travis County District Attorney’s Office could potentially file felony charges, up to manslaughter. But it’s now clear that will not happen.
Tara Doolittle is out at the Austin American-Statesman. The longtime Viewpoints editor announced Monday that she’s taking a job at the University of Texas.
The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested six protesters on Sunday, Nov. 13, for ripping up a pro-Donald Trump sign, during an otherwise peaceful rally against President-elect Trump. The protest began at the Capitol and moved along Congress Avenue and across the river. See online: “Pro-Immigration and Anti-Trump Rallies.”
White supremacist actions have been picking up steam since the presidential elections. Saturday morning, a group of “neo-Nazis” will hold a White Lives Matter protest in response to the unveiling of a Black Texans monument on the State Capitol Grounds. The online group Smash Fascism Austin has also planned a counter-protest.
This article appears in November 18 • 2016.