laura morrison

Two Austin city council members are proposing a smaller hike in electric rates than the city's power provider wants.

At a news conference Thursday morning, council members Laura Morrison and Kathie Tovo said they want an interim 3.5 percent system-wide rate increase.

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The YMCA of Austin is looking for help from Austin City Council to build a 40-acre recreational aquatics center in downtown Austin as a family-friendly escape from the heat.

If constructed, the complex would be located between South Mopac Expressway and the intersection of Lamar Boulevard and Cesar Chavez Street, said YMCA spokesman Sean Doles.

Sparked by Texas wildfires and crowding at area festivals, Austin City Council passed a proposal Thursday to ban smoking in all public parks.

Councilmember Mike Martinez has proposed a compromise on the extended downtown parking meter hours, which were originally set to kick in this month but had been delayed until September 6.

It's been an ongoing debate: when should downtown street parking be free and when should the City require payment?

For a long time, the City has operated meters from 8:30am - 5:30pm Monday - Friday. ... One of the reasons for the change was a theory that downtown service workers were taking all of the evening parking and thus displacing paying customers.

In reality, there is a ton of paid parking downtown so nobody is being turned away for a lack of a spot. even when an estimated 200,000 people were downtown for the peak day of SXSW, very few of the garages were full.

On behalf of the Allandale Neighborhood Association, thanks to everyone who came out to this morning's Allandale Parade.

This includes Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Council Members Chris Riley, Kathie Tovo, Laura Morrison, Representative Elliott Naishtat, County Commissioner Sara Eckhart, Constable Bruce...

Only one new face joined the Austin City Council in their inauguration Tuesday night, but new Place 3 member Kathie Tovo is expected to bring new perspectives on education and neighborhood zoning.

In Saturday's runoff election for the Place 3 seat on Austin City Council, Kathie Tovo ended up with 56% of the vote (to incumbent Randi Shade's 44%).

She'll be sworn in with Laura Morrison and Chris Riley on June 28th.

Mildly eccentric (colorful?) lawyer and erstwhile City Council candidate Robin Cravey, like me, worries about the flight of children from central Austin.

 He's a bit more acerbic than I am; he calls it a suicide pact:

In case anybody cares.