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BG Reads Weekend Edition

BG Reads Weekend Edition

BG Reads Weekend Edition (9.29.2024)

September 29, 2024

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BG Reads Week in Review

Presented by:

LINK TO THIS WEEK’S CITY OF AUSTIN HEARINGS + AGENDA

>>> See also, Austin City Council Regular Meeting Agenda (10.10.2024) <<<

Top Clicks for the Week of September 23rd, 2024

🟪 Austin City Council adopts new rules around allowing residents to speak at meetings (KUT)

🟪 Austin apartments must offer compost collection starting Oct. 1, but many landlords don't know (KUT)

🟪 Watson, Council members refine direction in push to keep Marshalling Yard shelter open (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Watch: Austin's mayoral candidates discuss housing, transit and the future of the city (KUT)

🟪 Austin's police union, city agree to a $218 million, five-year labor contract (KUT)

🟪 Police, state ready to intervene on after-hours bars operating downtown (Austin Monitor)

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WEEKEND NEWS

Here's a look at Austin's proposed new police labor contract (KUT)

The ink is dry on Austin's tentative police labor contract ahead of a City Council vote on the five-year, $218-million deal. The city kept the language in the contract private throughout more than a year of negotiations, but made it public Wednesday night.

The contract gives police officers 28% raises across the board over its lifespan. It also addresses policies to increase civilian access to police complaints that Austinites had voted for last year as part of the Austin Police Oversight Act… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ See also the Austin Council Message Board thread: Requesting Clarification about Police Agreement

Paxton sues Austin over abortion travel fund (Texas Tribune)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the City of Austin over its reproductive health fund that helps city residents pay to travel out of state to have an abortion. This is the second lawsuit against the city since it appropriated $400,000 to pay for abortion-related expenses earlier this month.

Here’s what you need to know… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

As a multimillion-dollar contract ends, Austin votes (again) to keep shelter for homeless open (KUT)

The Marshalling Yard, a Southeast Austin emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness, will be allowed to stay open indefinitely. A multimillion-dollar contract with the city expired earlier this summer.

On Thursday, the Austin City Council approved extending the contract, although it's not yet clear where the money will come from. It is the second extension in five months.

Austin opened the shelter last summer, approving a one-year, $9.1 million contract through August. The facility can house up to 300 people a night.

In April, the City Council extended its operations through early next year. But without other options for people living on the streets to access, Mayor Kirk Watson said last week it was imperative to keep the Marshalling Yard open.

The new extension gives the city more time to look into opening a more permanent shelter in another part of town and gives people a safe place to sleep, city officials said. One local nonprofit estimates that more than 6,300 people have slept on the streets of Austin on any given night this year. That number has doubled since 2021… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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