The Travis County Commissioners Court is hosting a virtual town hall meeting this afternoon to kick off the process of redrawing commissioner precinct boundaries and eventually adopting a preliminary map. All community members are invited to participate. Register in advance for the meeting here. Monday, Nov. 1, 3 p.m. Public comments may also be submitted via email at redistricting2021@traviscountytx.gov.

The Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting an open house at the historic Montopolis Negro School to give community members “the opportunity to see the school as it is today and imagine what could be possible,” according to the news release about the event. Residents are invited to share their memories and stories of the school as well as their ideas for future uses for the property. Staffers from the Transportation Department will also attend the event “to discuss and answer questions around the city-owned parcel adjacent to the historic school property, which was acquired many years ago for future transportation purposes.” Saturday, Nov. 6, 10 a.m.-noon, 500 Montopolis Drive. Sign up to receive updates about the project.

Construction is scheduled to begin later this month on section 2A of the Northern Walnut Creek Trail. The work will extend the trail by one mile, from Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park to the Walnut Bluffs trailhead, just east of North Lamar Boulevard. According to the announcement, Section 2A “will provide a safe east-west route for people walking and biking with the construction of a pedestrian path beneath North Lamar Boulevard.” Council Member Leslie Pool said, “I’m excited to see this trail extension improve connectivity and increase access to our parks for residents in North Austin.” As city workers prepare the area for construction, neighbors and passersby “can expect to see crews installing tree protection near North Lamar Boulevard, conducting clearing, grubbing and erosion control along the trail route, and placing foundations for boardwalks and bridges.”

The MoPac South Environmental Study was initiated by the Mobility Authority and TxDOT back in 2013, and held its last open house in 2015. Now community members are encouraged to participate in a public comment period and concurrent virtual open house in an effort to find “a solution that improves safety and mobility for drivers, transit riders, bicyclists and pedestrians in a manner that promotes environmental stewardship and sustainability.” The open house runs from Nov. 22-Jan. 7. Sign up to receive updates on next steps.

Travis County, Austin Public Health and their community partners continue to host free Covid-19 vaccine distribution events at convenient locations throughout the county like schools, libraries and grocery stores. Booster shots are now available for those who qualify (check the eligibility requirements here). If you’re receiving your second dose or a booster, remember to bring your vaccination card so it can be updated. Travis County maintains a complete list of clinic locations in this handy online calendar and map. No appointments are required for these clinics.

The Bullock Texas State History Museum is partnering with the Texas Freedom Colonies Project to host a free discussion and workshop at the museum. The event, “Reclaiming Our Stories: Preserving Texas’ African American Placemaking History,” will “explore strategies for preserving the heritage of historic African American settlements in Texas,” according to the news release. Freedom colonies, also called freedmen’s towns, were communities founded by formerly enslaved people in the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. There were hundreds of such settlements in Texas, but many have been lost to history. With the help of their descendants, the Texas Freedom Colonies Project is attempting to locate and map these settlements and document their inhabitants’ stories. Saturday, Oct. 30, noon-2 p.m. See more details about the event here.

While some people are intensely interested in Save Austin Now’s Proposition A, which would require millions of dollars in extra city spending to hire more Austin police officers, and other people are intensely interested in Proposition B, which would essentially result in additional parkland for Austin, not many Austinites have made it to the polls to express their preferences yet. After seven days of early voting, only 4.95 percent of registered Travis County voters had cast ballots for the Nov. 2 election. The polling places most likely to see early voters include the Ben Hur Shrine Center at 7811 Rockwood Lane, which recorded 5,882 voters as of Sunday night, the Austin Oaks Church at 4220 Monterey Oaks Boulevard, which saw 4,416 voters, and Southpark Meadows (Suite 500), where 3,258 ballots were cast. One place not seeing much voter interest was the George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center, where only 425 voters had cast ballots as of Monday night. According to Save Austin Now PAC co-founder Matt Mackowiak, the reason for the paltry turnout is “the low profile of the other items on the ballot” – eight constitutional amendments that have gotten little attention. Mackowiak said his group is “working overtime to educate and motivate voters to early vote before end of day Friday or vote on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The stakes for our city are immense. Violent crime continues to rise as police staffing decreases.” On the other side, Laura Hernandez, No Way on Prop A campaign manager, told the Austin Monitor via email that Prop A is “a dangerous measure with disastrous consequences …. It’s well known that elections in odd-numbered years tend to have lower turnout, and that’s why the Republicans behind Prop A put it on the ballot for this year. They’re trying to pull a fast one on Austinites who aren’t paying attention, and that’s why we’ve dedicated all of our resources to educating voters and getting them to the polls. We know that if Austinites show up, Prop A doesn’t stand a chance.” Pollster Mark Littlefield, who is working in support of Prop B and opposes Prop A, said as of Saturday, “Turnout looks very much as expected in both size and composition.” Find early voting locations here.

A new exhibit opening this Thursday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Elisabet Ney Museum is a tribute to the many talents of Texas artist Marie Elena Ely. “Ongoings” is a collection of photography, collage, painting and prints that “evoke the spirit of the modern American West from Texas Hill Country to the City of Angels and back.” Ney curator Lindsay Barras said, “I’m thrilled for the museum to showcase Marie’s recent work, part of a continuum in her prolific and boundless creation. Her photos and nostalgia meet naturally on paper to create romantic and abstract collage paintings I am certain visitors will enjoy.” Ely, who is described as “somewhat of a creative nomad and free spirit, not unlike Elisabet Ney herself,” also directs music videos and does production design. Noon-5 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday, Elisabet Ney Museum, 304 E. 44th St. The exhibition closes Jan. 9.

After a closure due to mechanical problems, Deep Eddy Pool will be resuming normal winter hours on Tuesday. The popular 105-year-old pool – the oldest swimming pool in Texas! – is open 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. on weekends. Check out these amazing historic photos of Deep Eddy through the years.

Following the CDC’s official authorization, Austin Public Health will be offering booster shots from the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Who’s eligible? Fully vaccinated individuals who live in a long-term care facility, have an underlying medical condition, work in a high-risk setting, or are 65 and older. If you meet any of these qualifications, public health officials strongly urge you to get a booster dose to receive additional protection from Covid-19. Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes explained what’s at stake in an announcement: “Boosters are incredibly important to keeping our community protected and hospitalizations low. Just as we have been urging masking, getting vaccinated and getting tested if you are sick, we are urging the public to stay current with their boosters. If we can stay on top of our vaccinations, we provide protections for our most vulnerable and make it that much harder for Covid to spread in our community.” The CDC guidance allows those who are eligible to choose which vaccine they receive for their booster. Find a vaccination site in Travis County here.

Austin’s annual two-week celebration of nature – with a special emphasis on trees and pollinators – is a hybrid event this year, mixing in-person live events and a curated list of at-home activities in an effort to get the entire community safely involved. The 2021 Roots and Wings Festival, which kicked off yesterday and spans until Nov. 6, aims to help all Austinites attain equitable access to nature, regardless of age, background, ethnicity, religion, or any of that other stuff. The only qualification for participating is a curiosity to learn more about the natural world around you. A great way to get started is to sign the Nature Pledge and then jump into the celebrations with both feet.

New equipment will allow Austin Water to conduct in-house testing of water samples for cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins, or as it’s more commonly known, blue-green algae, which has plagued some of the city’s waterways and killed several dogs who came into contact with the water. Previously the testing was outsourced, with a wait of several weeks for results. With the utility’s new FlowCam, the results can be achieved within 24 hours. The purchase of the new equipment is the result of “growing concerns about harmful algal mats in Lake Travis and Lady Bird Lake,” according to the news release. As Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros explained, “We have a team focused on preparing for a cyanotoxin event, who have been implementing strategic plans for more than a year to be ready if the worst were to happen. We take this threat very seriously, and I’m proud of the vigilance and proactive measures our laboratory analysts and treatment team have put in place to detect and treat for cyanotoxins.”