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March 3, 2016 Volume 21, No. 5 Southwest Austin’s Community Newspaper Since 1995
Easy primary win for Daugherty by Ann Fowler OAK HILL - Gerald Daugherty, who has served for 10 years as Travis County Commissioner of Precinct 3, soundly defeated Republican challenger Jason Nassour with 71 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s primary election. Oak Hill precincts largely matched the overall numbers, showing voting support that varied from 65 percent
to 75 percent. Daugherty cited the need for more money for a growing community while trying to keep property tax rates low as the most challenging part of being a Travis County Commissioner. Clearly voters believe he is doing a good job. Nassour, a fifth-generation Austinite, had vowed to lower the tax burden by reducing spending and cutting taxes. He also wanted to
relieve traffic congestion by creating alternate business districts. Nassour failed to sway voters with less than 30 percent of the votes. A challenge may yet exist for Daugherty when he faces Democrat David Holmes in November. Daugherty garnered nearly 20,000 votes in Tuesday’s election, while Holmes, who ran unopposed, earned more than 26,000.
Local nonprofits seek funds through Amplify Austin by Ann Fowler
Gazette: Doug Boes
Maroons senior Matt Duke (#13) pitching against L.D.Bell on Saturday, holding them to just one run in six innings. Austin High went on to win the game 3-1 and finish 4-1 in a Round Rock tournament. Sports, p. 12.
OAK HILL - Amplify Austin is the annual community-wide day of online giving. For 24 hours, people can peruse a list of hundreds of local nonprofits to easily donate to. Over the past three years, Amplify Austin has raised more than $16 million for hundreds of local organizations. Last year, 41 percent of nearly 45,000 Amplify Austin donations were first-time donors, with Austinites giving more than $7.7 million to more than 500 Central Texas nonprofits. Oak Hill resident Beki Halpin told the Gazette, “Amplify Austin is a fabulous way to celebrate and support the local nonprofits that are busy all year round doing work that makes our community stronger. It’s an easy way to donate to several nonprofits at once and a great platform for smaller nonprofits to get the word out about themselves.” Halpin works with Inside Books Gazette: Sarah Weeks Project, a local nonprofit that
annually Amplify Austin begins at 6 p.m. on donates packaging, 50,000 books March 8 and runs for 24 hours supplies and to Texas prisoners. overhead. Halpin said the group “Lots of people have has no paid staff, spending more never even heard of Inside Books, than 80 percent of its budget on but donate during the Amplify event postage; the remainder is devoted to See LOCAL on BACK PAGE