School Choice Week well-received by Austin leaders, volunteers taking to the streets

Here's something you don't see every day: The Mayor of Austin in support of School Choice -- trademark yellow scarf and all!  He is pictured above presenting an official proclamation of School Choice Week to organizers of the Texas School Choice Week Rally.

Be it vouchers, expanded charters, easier in-district and out-of-district transfers, parental triggers, additional freedoms for home schoolers, etc., School Choice Week is a national initiative to promote the benefits of a variety of plans designed to increase parental control over how their children are educated.

Travis GOP Constable candidate endorsed by Democrat Sheriff

This may come as no surprise to those who have heard about the alleged misdeeds of the incumbent Travis County Precinct 2 Constable.

Republican candidate Deke Pierce was just endorsed by Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton, a Democrat, and Bastrop County Sheriff Terry Pickering, a Republican.

Let that sink in for a minute ...

Troxclair: Get the facts before Thursday's Uber/Lyft regulations meeting

Six ordinances will appear on the Austin City Council agenda today (1/28/16) concerning ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

The Council is expected to consider ride-hailing company ordinances at or after 2 p.m. and short term rentals at or after 4 p.m.

Cutting through the municipal jargon is Austin City Council member Ellen Troxclair, who sent out a constituent email regarding the proposed regulations -- dispelling some myths, but also reaffirming what she calls "the Citizen's Petition."

We share her thoughtful defense of the free market economy below.

GOP Precinct 3 Commissioner candidates square off on live TV

Incumbent Precinct 3 Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty and challenger Jason Nassour take to Austin city cable Monday night on the long-running "Trailer Park Show."

The live cable-access show is archived via YouTube -- just click on the "play" button above.

Pro-life rally 'one of the largest ever conducted' in Texas

Overhead view of the 2016 rally, courtesy of Texas Alliance for Life

While the Washington D.C. rally participants braved the snow and ice on Capitol Hill, pro-life supporters at the Texas Capitol enjoyed a crisp sunny day to rally for life on Saturday.

Whether it was the pleasant conditions or a long list of pro-life progress over the past year (be it Planned Parenthood expose videos, a TIME magazine cover admitting that pro-choicers have been losing since 1972, etc.), this year's rally was one of the largest ever conducted, organizers say.

Zimmerman: 'Is this our city, or is this Waterworld?'

Northwest Austin City Councilman Don Zimmerman found himself in hot water with the city hall establishment this week for fighting for fair utility bills. His response, based on a series of that and other water-related woes endured over the past few months: A meme featuring the 1995 post-apocalyptic Kevin Costner film "Waterworld." 

Statesman: Mackowiak lauds Abbott's Article V plan

Travis County Republican Party Vice Chairman and political consultant Matt Mackowiak praised Gov. Greg Abbott's Texas Plan, calling for what's known as an Article V convention to amend the Constitution, in his bi-weekly column in the Austin American-Statesman.

Transportation fixes moving forward ... at least for now

Proposed Y flyover at Oak Hill

Today the group Ridesharing Works announced they submitted around 65,000 signatures to the Austin City Clerk to put on the ballot a measure to preserve status-quo regulations to keep services such as Uber and Lyft from leaving town.

Meanwhile, Mayor Steve Adler has recently announced that 2016 will be the "Year of Mobility," and is pushing for a new set of highway spending proposals for Austinites to vote on.

Austin's newest conservative group named for Republican MLK

A newly formed conservative organization in Travis County took the name of a famous Republican being honored today.

"After all, it was President Ronald Reagan who signed the law that created the Martin Luther King Day holiday," said Michael Lee, the Travis County Republican Party's Outreach Director.

Lee, a passionate local family law attorney, is the director of the freshly formed Austin-area MLK Association, which made its formal debut on Jan. 12. Lee was tapped by Chairman James Dickey to head the community outreach and engagement group, which is designed to further initiatives to show how conservative values line up with the concerns of black Austinites. Lee changed the original name, the African-American Advisory Committee, and decided to align with the statewide MLK Association.

The Raiders in Texas? Ok, how much will it cost the taxpayers?

This is FAR from decided, and nothing is official yet.

But if the Raiders NFL franchise moves from California to Texas, you better believe the investors will insist on a hefty "public commitment" to build a stadium. How much will that cost taxpayers in Central Texas?

We'll keep tracking this.

Read more: * http://www.fox7austin.com/news/local-news/75167566-story (speculates about San Marcos)

* http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14572902/red-mccombs-trying-lure-oakland-raiders-san-antonio

Travis GOP chair weighs in on presidential debate

Fox 7's Dave Froelich and Travis GOP chair James Dickey 

While some were boycotting last night's debate due to the exclusion of Sen. Rand Paul, the Fox Business Channel Republican Debate was nonetheless another powerful showcase of a good share of the 2016 GOP presidential field.

"I think every one of the players on that stage -- with the possible exception of [John] Kasich -- really upped their game ..." said Travis GOP Chairman James Dickey on Friday morning's broadcast of Good Morning Austin.

A moment of silence for the Austin Riverwalk ... and hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars

A moment of silence, please, for the proposed Austin Riverwalk.

According to Fox 7, an ambitious plan that shut down Waterloo Park for four years has taken a dramatic turn -- one that will restore the area around Waller Creek as a natural area rather than turn it into a retail and entertainment corridor similar to the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Lehmberg questioned about lack of response to Kocurek shooting threat

It appears the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing in Travis County District Court. According to the Statesman, District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg could have known there was a threat to District Judge Julie Kocurek's life:

"District Judge Julie Kocurek went to the Travis County criminal courthouse Thursday for the first time since she was attacked outside her home Nov. 6. 

"She and other judges say they did not find out about a threat called into District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg's office three weeks before Kocurek was shot. They met privately with Lehmberg and Sheriff Greg Hamilton on Thursday for two hours.

Want affordable housing? Stop re-developing affordable neighborhoods

Austin Mayor Steve Adler again addressed the high cost of living in Austin -- pointing to a corporate campus development along East Riverside Drive as an example of inexpensive housing giving way to big-dollar developments.

His ideal solution to retaining lower-middle-class citizens, according to the Austin Monitor, (see article) is more taxpayer-supported "affordable housing" initiatives -- a concept that has proven itself another over-promising, costly bureaucratic endeavor.

The irony with mentioning East Riverside, as we reported previously, is that

... the City of Austin continues its war on poorer areas of town in the name of "redevelopment." Exhibit A: the East Riverside Corridor Master Plan, which will no doubt boost rent on some of the more affordable apartments and rental properties in town.

Take a look at the East Riverside Cooridor Master Plan and judge for yourself: Is it the city that needs to rescue the poor from big-bad capitalists? Or is it the city that is the biggest culprit in running off low-income residents?

Zimmerman: City more concerned about Uber drivers than vetting refugees

District 6 Austin City Councilman Don Zimmerman summarized the City of Austin's security priorities -- swiping at proposed ride-sharing service regulations and sanctuary city policies in one move:

"FACT: We're more concerned about Uber drivers than we are vetting our refugee immigrants."

Zimmerman referenced a KVUE-TV story in which he was quoted. The story sought local reaction over news of an alleged ISIS terrorist supporter being arrested in Houston.

For more background, see KVUE's story: http://keyetv.com/news/local/terror-arrests-re-ignite-debate-over-refugees-coming-to-austin

Kyle could turn parking lots, traffic jams into police checkpoints

KYLE -- The Kyle City Council voted Tuesday night to allow for the installation of license plate readers on city police vehicles.

According to an earlier story done by KXAN regarding the Travis County Sheriff's Department's consideration of the same devices, the technology allows police to scan license plates while passing cars and while stationary, which in turn sends the information to a database to check for outstanding warrants. (See above for a training video that demonstrates how the license plate readers operate.)

It's a relatively new technology, and one that has only been implemented by one city in the Austin metro area so far (Round Rock, which, as a side note, suspended its red light camera program effective Jan. 1).

What often happens with these arrangements involving expensive, potentially controversial technology is that a contractor (e.g. the manufacturer of the license plate readers) will attempt to make a splash at first in order to gauge public opinion in a market area. Sometimes the contractors will practically give the equipment away in hopes an agency will begin a trial run or "pilot program" at little or no cost -- but with a promise that the mechanisms will generate revenue in the form of increased delinquent fine payments.

Troxclair reviews highs, lows of 2015

District 8 City Council member Ellen Troxclair sat down with the Austin Monitor to share the highs and lows of her first year on the dais.

“I think we had an unprecedented opportunity this year to address cost of living,” she said. “Even though we made some really great improvements and the average person is going to pay less in property taxes next year, their utility bills are going up, the overall size of government increased and our spending increased.”

You can read the full story here: http://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2016/01/troxclair-looks-back-keeps-eyes-district-8

Travis GOP black community outreach group makes debut

A growing coalition of black community leaders hoping to increase participation in the Travis County Republican Party made their debut on a local cable access show this week.

The Travis GOP's newly formed African American Advisory Council appeared on the Jan. 4 episode of The Trailer Park Show on Austin cable access.

The episode featured Travis GOP Outreach Director Michael Lee, Kenneth Thompson, former Texas House District 51 candidate Marilyn Jackson, RW Bray, and Cliffton Styles.

"My mantra is this ... I think what is good for the black community is good for the community, period," Lee said. "... It's always the right time to do the right thing."

You may watch the video by clicking the image above. The Tracker will have more information on this new development soon.

Matt Mackowiak's latest TV appearance

Travis GOP Vice Chairman Matt Mackowiak is a frequent guest commentator on local TV news stations. Mackowiak is a regular on The Fox 7 News Edge, appearing on Austin's Fox affiliate, KTBC-TV, Channel 7. He often speaks in his capacity as a political consultant and at other times he represents the Travis GOP -- often as a counterbalance to a local Democrat or liberal activist. We are tracking his local TV appearances below.

Ammophobia rampant at Austin restaurants

It looks like Austin 360 did the work for those searching for which restaurants to boycott over the Open Carry issue.

Open Carry became law a handful of days ago, and so far there haven't been any Wild West shootouts. However, many saloon-keepers have started closing their doors to open-carriers in irrational fear of one. Here's the list:

Congressmen: Fort Hood should not become daycare for immigrants, refugees

It's not for a lack of space that U.S. Reps. John Carter and Roger Williams are upset with a plan to house young illegal immigrants at Fort Hood.

Fort Hood is the world's largest military installation with 45,414 assigned soldiers and 8,900 civilian employees on 214,000 acres between Bell and Coryell counties 70 miles north of Austin.

Rather, the Central Texas Congressmen are concerned for the security issues such a plan would raise.