A nationwide search for a new chief of Austin-Travis County Emergency Services is underway, but details are sketchy on the number of people who have applied for the position. At Monday’s Public Safety Commission meeting, Commissioner Rebecca Webber asked Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano how many applications were submitted before last month’s deadline. Arellano said he didn’t know. “I have heard that it’s not a very robust applicant pool,” Webber said, asking Arellano for a ballpark figure. Arellano again said he didn’t know, but estimated between 10 and 20 applications had come in. The number of applicants who applied from within the department is also unknown. Arellano said he will be reviewing the applicants and expects to have a list of candidates narrowed down by the end of the month. Those candidates will advance to the next stage of the hiring process. The new chief will replace Ernesto Rodriguez, who retired from the city earlier this year after 40 years of service.

After a month of suspending fares as a thank-you to riders frustrated by the effects of staffing shortages, Capital Metro returns to collecting fares for services in November. If a month seems like a lifetime and you just can’t recall how much to fork over, find information on Capital Metro fares and passes here.

Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law Senate Bill 5, the Safe Outdoor Dogs Bill. The new law, which is designed to protect dogs from inhumane treatment, includes guidelines for dog owners to follow. Among the requirements, dogs that are kept outdoors must be provided adequate shelter; must not be chained; must be allowed to sit, lie down and move about comfortably; and must have potable water. The law goes into effect in January.

Tomorrow, Nov. 2, is election day. What it probably isn’t, according to a post from Mayor Steve Adler on the City Council Message Board, is a day that Council will hold a work session. According to the post, several Council members expressed a wish to go to the polls. In addition, city employees are allowed to take time off for elections, which could complicate things. Though Adler’s post wasn’t definitive on the topic, no Council member had heeded his call to object as of Sunday afternoon.

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.