Austin, TX
Music Commission considers space, funding options for Texas Music Museum – Austin Monitor
The Music Commission plans to ask the city to provide emergency storage space and funding for the Texas Music Museum, which is facing overcrowding at its East Austin location and the possible loss of gratis storage space in an Austin Police Department warehouse.
At Monday’s meeting, commissioners heard a presentation from museum leaders and discussed possible options for assisting the museum, which has outlined a three-phase expansion proposal to eventually occupy 13,000 square feet – a dramatic increase from its current 2,000-square-foot space on East 11th Street.
In May, museum representatives told the commission about the dire straits it is facing, with thousands of audio, video and photographic artifacts from over 100 years of Texas musicians currently in storage and at risk of deterioration. For many years, the museum has been a labor of love for Clay Shorkey, president and caretaker of the facility, who covers some of its expenses with his Social Security benefits.
The first phase of the museum’s plan seeks 13,000 square feet of display, meeting and administrative space, plus another 1,000 square feet of storage. Its funding request for staffing, operations and other expenses totals just over $333,000.
“We only have space for three main exhibits, and we have a small conference room that we do presentations and performances that only fit about 60 people max,” said Sylvia Morales, information strategist and policy coordinator for the museum.
“Our ask right now for phase one is gonna be at around $330,000 to keep us afloat, to keep us going where we’re initially at right now. We would love in phase two to go into … discussions of where to go next.”
Commissioners who participated in a working group related to the museum’s future suggested space in the redevelopment of Blocks 16 and 18 or in the reconstructed Austin Convention Center as possible long-term options. For the short term, the commissioners plan to work with staff to draft a realistic recommendation for City Council to allocate money from the city budget toward the museum and assist in finding a stopgap space, possibly using an existing city property or facility.
“It’s gonna be really difficult if you ask for all of this money upfront … so how about we break it up into smaller chunks and see if we can get some help that way?” Commissioner Scott Strickland said of the museum’s long-term, multimillion-dollar plans.
“It would be a lot easier for us to approve a plan that’s immediate and help Council recommend something that is more immediate versus looking at something that’s five, seven years out.”
Shorkey said he and other museum stakeholders have reached out to the Texas Music Office and other would-be supporters of music-related efforts in recent years, with no substantial support having yet materialized. In 2017, the state Legislature considered providing space for a state music museum in the Capitol Complex project downtown, but that effort lost support due to objections from other music museums around the state.
Chair Nagavalli Medicharla asked members of the working group and museum representatives to identify the most critical space and budget needs that could be presented to Council in a way that communicates the severity of the deadline to find a new location and financial support.
“One thing to look at is the absolute must-haves and what is on the critical path, and then next would be the nice-to-haves,” she said. “The museum has a larger vision that could see city support but probably also needs much broader support from outside of the city as well.”
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — As flood threats continue across parts of South Central Texas, Austin Pets Alive! has activated emergency response efforts to support animal shelters affected by the inclement weather.
In a social media post, APA! wrote, “We began offering aid last night, working to secure fosters for 10 dogs in the Castroville shelter, an open-air shelter that sits at the bottom of a valley.”
APA! said the situation escalated overnight with additional shelters reporting flooding. One shelter confirmed that floodwaters reached its facility, APA! added.
Communities overwhelmed due to weather include Uvalde, Castroville and Sabinal.
The nonprofit is asking the Austin community to foster, adopt or donate to free up capacity for animals displaced by the disaster. APA! needs to clear out its facilities to assist the animals in need of shelter.
Here are ways you can help:
- Adopt: APA! is offering a “Name Your Own Adoption Fee” on all animals.
- Foster: The shelter is seeking foster homes for a minimum of three weeks.
- Donate: Proceeds will fund vans and response teams setting up a staging and triage center at the heart of the disaster zone, along with an expanded stockpile of preventatives, PPE and additional supplies.
If you would like to donate, click here.
AUSTIN, Texas — With heavy rain expected across parts of Central Texas this week and flooding top of mind, the city of Austin is proposing to put more money toward flood mitigation improvements in next year’s budget.
The proposal would invest in new flood infrastructure, add staff, and help move flood mitigation projects forward, according to city leaders. Austin City Councilmember Ryan Alter said the investments are aimed at keeping the city prepared for future flooding.
Residents who live near waterways say they have seen how quickly conditions can change. David Haderspeck, who lives near Shoal Creek, said the creek “fills up pretty fast” and “gets a lot higher than you’d expect.” He said he has watched the water rise dramatically after rain.
“I’ve seen it come up probably 10 to 15 feet to the ordinary high-water mark,” he said.
This week, parts of Central Texas, including the Hill Country, are expected to get heavy downpours. While Austin is not expecting the same impacts as parts of the Hill Country, leaders said the city is using this year’s budget planning to continue investing in flood safety.
Alter said the city has the expertise to address flooding risks but needs to follow through on projects.
ALSO| Central Texas urged to prepare as heavy rainfall sits in forecast over next two days
“We have the experts. We just have to put the plans into practice, and that’s what we’re doing in this budget,” he said.
Under the budget proposal, the city would provide about $134.5 million for the Drainage Utility Fund, which helps pay for flood mitigation, drainage infrastructure and watershed protection efforts.
Alter said the proposal would shift more of the funding balance toward building new infrastructure.
“What we’re going to do is shift that balance a little bit more to building new infrastructure so that when we do have large flooding events, we’ve got that infrastructure in place to keep people safe,” he said.
The proposal also adds staff and invests in both new and existing flood mitigation projects across the city.
Asked whether the proposed investments would be enough moving forward, Alter said, “I do…I think we’re doing the right thing and just making sure that our residents have the infrastructure to stay safe.”
Alter said heavy rain cannot be prevented, but the city’s goal is to have infrastructure in place to help keep people safe when it happens.
FILE – LinkedIn logos are displayed on an iPhone and computer screen. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Attorney General’s office has opened an investigation into LinkedIn over allegations that the professional networking platform misleads consumers with advertising and profiting from misleading or fake job listings, otherwise known as “ghost jobs.”
LinkedIn investigation
In this photo illustration a Linkedin logo seen displayed on a mobile phone. (Photo Illustration by Stanislav Kogiku/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
What we know:
Texas announced on Tuesday it has issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) seeking documents, data and internal communications related to LinkedIn’s advertising, marketing, job listing verification practices and its Premium subscription services.
The investigation centers on whether LinkedIn violated Texas’ consumer protection laws by promoting paid subscription services while allegedly failing to disclose that some job listings on the platform may not actually be representative of hiring opportunities.
What is a ‘ghost job’?
An image of a woman holding a cell phone in front of a LinkedIn logo displayed on a computer screen. On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and the world’s largest professional networking platform, with more than 1 billion registered users worldwide.
A “ghost job” generally refers to a position advertised online that either is no longer available or that an employer has no immediate intention of filling. The attorney general’s office cited independent studies estimating that ghost jobs account for between one-fifth and one-third of online job postings.
Texas AG targets Premium Subscription Fees
Photographer: Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images
What they’re saying:
According to the office of the attorney general, LinkedIn does not independently verify the hiring status of most job listings on its platform. Ken Paxton’s office alleges that the company’s marketing for its Premium subscription services does not disclose that a significant number of postings could be inactive, unfilled or not reflect genuine employment opportunity.
“I will use every resource available to my office to help job-seeking Texans find and secure real employment opportunities,” Paxton said in a statement. “LinkedIn has a duty to provide the services it advertises and ensure that consumers paying for Premium subscriptions are receiving access to legitimate job postings.”
Texas officials said LinkedIn’s Premium Career and Premium Business subscriptions cost about $39.99 and $69.99 per month, respectively, and are marketed to jobseekers looking to improve their employment prospects.
What’s next:
The investigation does not include any formal allegations of wrongdoing, and no lawsuit has been filed.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
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