Content about Laura Morrison
City officials welcomed Code for America to Austin yesterday, an organization that helps make government work better for everyone with the efforts of people and the power of the Web.
“If it’s halftime in America, I’m fearful of what the final score’s going to be if we let this president start the second half as a quarterback.”
— Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Conservative Political Action Committee meeting Thursday, referencing a line in Clint Eastwood’s Super Bowl commercial, according to KUT News.
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.
While many UT students geared up for a trip to Dallas on Friday, Austin’s City Council made a controversial and highly questionable decision regarding a seemingly innocuous topic: election dates. Instead of moving the 2012 municipal elections to November, the council voted 4-3 to keep them in May.
City Council will meet today to discuss more than 50 different issues facing Austin, including a potential ban on plastic bags, changing city council election dates and delaying implementation of a new schedule for parking meters.
One important item the council will discuss is the reduction of single-use retail plastic bags within city limits, according to the meeting agenda.
Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who sponsored this item, said Austin residents use approximately 363 million plastic bags every year, which cost the city nearly $850,000 to dispose of annually.
The City Council may once again postpone the extension of downtown parking meter hours, this time until at least January.
Council members Kathie Tovo and Laura Morrison will present a measure next week to delay implementation to allow for discussion on the impact the ordinance could have on downtown employees, Tovo said.
Current rules dictate parking meters operate citywide from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. downtown, said city of Austin Transportation Department spokeswoman Leah Fillion.
Austin City Council approved a contract Wednesday that enables the city to host the first U.S. Formula 1 race since 2007, allowing construction on the track to move forward.
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.
Despite Austin’s reputation as a top bicycling destination, the city should improve its bicycling infrastructure, said representatives from bike organizations at a forum for Austin City Council candidates Monday.
As the sun rose Sunday morning, members of a local homeless advocacy group read the names of 168 homeless men and women who died in Austin this year, and mourners hung origami birds on the Tree of Remembrance on Town Lake.
