The city’s Development Services Department is inviting customers and stakeholders to offer feedback on proposed rule changes that would expand timed inspection options for the Change-Out Program. According to a DSD announcement, “The expanded program will allow more people to benefit from time-specific inspections, an option now provided only for HVAC and water heaters. Upon adoption, residential customers will be able to request time-specific inspections for windows, siding, roofing, and more. Some commercial inspections also will be eligible.” If you’d like to weigh in, you have until July 30 to offer feedback on the proposed rules. Visit the project page on SpeakUp Austin to learn more.

With Covid once again on the rise and hospitalizations increasing, Austin Public Health is redoubling its efforts to provide quick, convenient opportunities for residents to get vaccinated. City and county health officials are partnering with local community organizations to offer pop-up vaccination clinics in many locations around the county this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. No pre-registration or appointment is necessary. See the full list of locations, dates, times and vaccines on offer here.

Austin City Council is inviting qualified individuals to apply to serve on the 11-member Sobering Center Local Government Corporation Board of Directors. The opening is for the next term, which begins Oct. 1, 2021, and ends Sept. 30, 2024. According to the city’s announcement, “The Sobering Center Local Government Corporation is incorporated to aid and to act on behalf of the city and the county to accomplish their governmental purpose; namely to staff, manage, and operate a sobriety center for the safe short-term treatment and management of persons under the influence of alcohol, and to provide those persons with information on and referrals to community-based outpatient services, for the purposes of preservation of law enforcement, judicial, and medical resources in the jurisdictional limits of the city and the county.” Individuals who have experience in the legal, medical, behavioral and mental health fields; public health, chemical dependency and addiction; and business, philanthropy and fundraising are particularly encouraged to apply. Find the application form here.

A new exhibition at the just-reopened LBJ Presidential Library delves into the life, loves and legacy of Lady Bird Johnson. Lady Bird: Beyond the Wildflowers is the library’s first major curated exhibition of the former first lady’s “complete personal and political life,” according to the press material, and library Director Mark Lawrence calls it a “landmark moment.” Daughter Luci Baines Johnson said her mother was “the most curious woman I’ve ever known and believed a day without learning was a day that was wasted. She was a ‘gentle heroine of nature and mankind’ and never wasted a moment of her 94 years.” Her other daughter, Lynda Johnson Robb, described her mother as “always ready for an adventure. … This exhibition captures my mother’s never-ending quest for knowledge about travel, art, literature, and environmental conservation as well as her passion for contributing to the community and our country.” The exhibit, which runs through Aug. 13, includes letters, photographs, clothing and artifacts that are on display to the public for the first time.

Austin ISD’s summer theater series has returned, in-person, to stage three public performances. Mamma Mia! runs July 22-25 at the AISD Performing Arts Center main stage; Charlotte’s Web and Still Life With Iris run July 15-18 at the AISD Performing Arts Center’s black box theater. Mamma Mia! reserved seating tickets are $15 and AISD student and staff tickets are $10. Still Life With Iris and Charlotte’s Web general admission tickets are $10 and AISD student and staff tickets are $5. Tickets for all three productions are on sale now and can be purchased online at Eventbrite.

The Austin Convention Center and the Palmer Events Center want the community to know that both venues “have returned to pre-pandemic guidelines and are open for full capacity events.” That means no social distancing, no face masks and no capacity or occupancy limits. If event participants prefer to wear face coverings, “enforcement is the client’s responsibility.” The convention center will provide optional health screenings and temperature checks if clients request those services. As Paul Barnes, the convention center COO, confirmed in a news release, “We are open! The planning and booking of large, small and other local events are taking place at ACC and PEC, and our team is ready to bring your events to life. We are ready to host face to face events again in order that we may begin to heal our beleaguered meetings and events industry.”

Rendering courtesy of AUS

According to a news release from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, since March 2021, the airport has been experiencing “significant and consistent” passenger growth and summer air travel activity “is on track to match or surpass 2019 air travel activity.” And as travel rebounds, the airport is launching “the most extensive improvement program in its history.” AUS CEO Jacqueline Yaft said the planned infrastructure expansion project “will help us build a better airport and deliver an upgraded passenger experience – one that is not only safe, comfortable and convenient, but also reflects the city’s distinct culture and community.” Assistant City Manager Gina Fiandaca added that the slate of improvements will allow AUS “to meet the needs of Austinites, Central Texas and global travelers while driving regional economic recovery.” The plan includes:

• Optimization of the Barbara Jordan Terminal
• Enabling airfield and utility work to include building a new Central Utility Plant and removing existing structures to prepare for construction activities
• Preparing for a new Midfield Concourse with 10+ new gates and two new taxiways.

Movability, the nonprofit group that seeks to reduce car trips to workplaces, will hold a virtual mobility summit on July 21. The event will focus on the transportation challenges that have returned following the Covid-19 pandemic and how they impact equity, the environment, housing, job access and affordability. Speakers including Travis County Judge Andy Brown, State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, Williamson County Commissioner Cynthia Long, and Catherine Crago, the head of strategic initiatives for the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, will discuss possible changes to federal transportation policy, how to improve local transportation, and the variety of impacts that transportation can have on different segments of the local population. Register for the free summit on Eventbrite.

Editor’s Note: Andy Brown is on the board of the Capital of Texas Media Foundation, the parent nonprofit of the Austin Monitor.

The city is inviting community members to help select an artist for a new public art project intended to improve mobility and safety along Spicewood Springs Road in Northwest Austin. “Feedback from the meeting will help define the inspiration and goals of the creative selection process for this 2016 Bond Regional Mobility Program,” according to a news release from the Transportation Department. The public meeting will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, July 14, 6 p.m. Register here.

The city’s Violet KeepSafe Storage program, which provides a secure place for people experiencing homelessness to store their possessions while they’re out and about, is being expanded to operate seven days a week, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Robert Kingham, court operations manager for the Downtown Austin Community Court, explained the move in a news release. “We know from working with the Austin Homelessness Advisory Council and other individuals with lived experience with homelessness that access to storage is a basic need. Storage is necessary for individuals to be able to pursue job interviews and medical appointments, maintain secure access to identification documents and important belongings, and is a matter of human dignity.” Currently, 174 people use VKS “to store vital documents, family memories, clothing, bedding, and more. Any individual experiencing homelessness may access storage through VKS at no cost to the program participants.” For more info about accessing this service, call 512-974-4879. People may also bring the items they wish to store to VKS and sign up in person at the former HealthSouth Parking Garage at 612 E. 12th St.

Plans for a veterans memorial in Edward Rendon Sr. Metro Park are moving forward. City Council approved a resolution in March asking the city manager to work with the Austin Travis County Vietnam Memorial Association to identify a location. This month comes news confirming that the location has been found: just west of the Nash Hernandez Building in the park. According to a July 9 memo from Parks and Recreation director Kimberly McNeeley, “This area was selected due to its gentle slopes, away from existing utility infrastructure and close to the roadway for better accessibility. The parkland needed for the concept the group is working with requires about 6,500 square feet of land. The association is in the fundraising phase of the project which is anticipated to cost approximately $1.5 million.”

The Austin Transportation Department will be temporarily closing Riverside Drive between South First Street and Barton Springs Road from July 16-18 to allow the road crew to dismantle a crane. There may be traffic delays, so motorists are advised to use alternate routes when traveling in the area.