Did the City of Austin “defund” the police? Did it cut its police budget by 5 percent or by one-third? What’s the truth behind these conflicting claims? Those are hot-button issues that play into the ...

He served more than four years 1997-2001 Kirk Watson, the highest-profile Democrat running to be Austin’s next mayor, has long ago been there, done that, and yet he wants another crack at leading city ...

The theatre was full at the Austin Film Society cinema last Monday evening as director Steve Mims presented his new documentary project The Magic Hole: An Austin Convention Center Expansion ...

This chart shows the eight Austin city managers who served over the past half-century. Council members make policy. The city manager’s job is to implement those policies. A great city manager can get ...

District 10 incumbent Council Member Alison Alter is running for reelection against five opponents and stands ready to defend her record of accomplishments since first elected in 2016. “It is good for ...

During the 2019-2020 Democratic presidential primary, a handful of candidates backed the idea of paying reparations to the African-American descendants of slaves. Joe Biden was lukewarm on the idea, ...

A Travis County court issued a ruling to halt the use of future property taxes to subsidize luxury development of 118 acres of land within the South Center Waterfront District. The plan approved by ...

A lawsuit has been underway for seven years in efforts to stop Central Health from transferring $35 million a year to the University of Texas for Dell Medical School (DMS). (Birch et al v. Travis ...

Two factors have sparked renewed debate around the cost of Project Connect, the light rail and commuter bus project approved by Austin voters in 2020. The first is a draft law in the legislature, HB ...

Primary election to shape Travis County’s five-member governing body Two long-time members of the Travis County Commissioners Court face progressive challengers this year in the Democratic primary ...

Part 1 in a series: Kirk Watson wants the job that he resigned from 21 years ago to run for Texas attorney general This is a story about Kirk Watson, not me, but readers should know that nobody ...

Less than six months after graduating from Harvard Law School in May 2015, Ryan Alter went to work as a policy analyst for State Senator Sylvia Garcia (D-Houston, now a U.S. Representative). In ...