Two swimming pool projects are taking shape in East Austin: the Givens Aquatic Facility Renovation and the new Colony Park Aquatic Facility. Both projects have their second virtual community meetings coming up, where the design team will “provide possible concepts for the future pools” and solicit feedback. Feedback gathered from the first virtual meetings, SpeakUp Austin surveys and community conversations went into developing the concepts that will be discussed. Interested community members are invited to join in the next phase and attend the meeting of their choice. Register on Zoom for Community Meeting #2 for the Givens Pool Renovation, Monday, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. Register on Zoom for Community Meeting #2 for Colony Park Pool on Wednesday, April 28, at 5:30 p.m.

AISD students, families and community members are invited to attend a virtual ceremony celebrating the opening of Murchison Middle School’s new modernized spaces, which were “inspired by the northwest Austin landscape and the school site’s history as a former rock quarry.” The ceremony will include remarks from Principal Beth Newton and AISD leaders and a video tour of the new facility, which features “a new 6th-grade addition, media resource center and administrative spaces.” Wednesday, March 31, at 8:30 a.m. via Zoom. (The meeting ID is 992 9830 4224 and the password is “matadors.”)

A proposal to add two HOV lanes on Interstate 35 between U.S. Highway 290 East and Ben White Boulevard continues to cause plenty of fuss. If you are one of the many Austinites who has an opinion on the I-35 Capital Express Central Project, don’t miss the chance to comment directly to TxDOT through the second virtual public scoping meeting. Comments are due by April 9, and the meeting, fact sheet and other information about the current proposal can be found online.

Sound in Sculpture, UT’s showcase for student-composed music responding to works from the university’s public art program, Landmarks, returns this spring in an online format. The series features compositions from Geli Li, Sophie Mathieu, Abhi Rao, Thomas A. Rodriguez and Rita Yung “in a variety of styles, ranging from works for a brass quartet, to piano solos, to a mix of voice and instrumental arrangements.” Free, no registration required. The event will stream through the Butler School of Music’s Vimeo channel on April 22 at 7 p.m.

On Friday, Austin Public Health confirmed that more than 29 percent of adults in Travis County have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. About 12 percent of that population is fully vaccinated. In other heartening news, populations that have been fully vaccinated are showing a vast decrease in Covid infections. As of March 18, long-term care facilities reported only six new cases over the previous two weeks, which is a staggering 98 percent decrease compared to Jan. 21, which saw 273 new cases over the same time period. Today, March 29, marks expanded eligibility to all adults, and APH is expecting additional vaccine supply from the state. “We know that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone,” APH Director Stephanie Hayden-Howard said, in a press release from the city. “Whether that be physically or emotionally, everyone has had to change their daily routines and limit interactions that were once normal. These sacrifices have not gone unnoticed, and our community has done comparatively well in limiting Covid-19 cases and deaths. As supply increases and more people are able to get vaccinated, we will be able to begin a return to normalcy.” That said, health officials stress that until the population reaches herd immunity, things are not quite normal yet, and everyone should continue to wear masks, social distance and practice safe hygiene. There are a number of paths for those looking for vaccines, including vaccinefinder.org.

With vaccination rates rising, most Austinites are anticipating a return to normal life in the near future. For our readers (and for us!) that might include a return to City Hall after more than a year away, and obviously, things have not stood still for the past year. Since we have been gone, Austin Java has left its City Hall space. A March 23 memo from the Office of Real Estate Services explains that a mysterious new tenant is on the way and ready for City Council consideration this June. From the memo, here are your clues. Guess accordingly: “The proposed tenant use would be an upscale convenience store, coffee shop and café with in-store and patio seating. Terms with the tenant will be negotiated to be in-line with the market norms of the City’s 2nd Street District.”

Austin ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde and the district’s leadership team are hosting a series of virtual conversations to let the community know about AISD’s 2020-25 Strategic Plan and the 2021-22 budget process. District families, staff and students are all invited to attend “Conversations with the District.” The staff conversations are 4:30-5:30 p.m. while the conversations for families and community members are 5:30-6:30 p.m. View the full list of community conversations and register to participate on the event page.

Photo courtesy city of Austin.

Few things are more refreshing on a hot day than diving into one of Austin’s sparkling swimming pools. But these pools don’t magically stay clean on their own; regular maintenance keeps them that way. And it’s time for Deep Eddy Pool to get its annual spring cleaning. The pool, at 401 Deep Eddy Ave., is scheduled for closure from Sunday, April 11, through Sunday, May 2. It will reopen on Monday, May 3, scrubbed and sparkling and ready for its close-up. According to the city, the closure is a week longer than usual “in order to address unforeseen storm repair items and cracks in the pool shell.” In the meantime, if you simply must swim, check out AustinTexas.gov/pools for the location and hours of a pool near you.

Austinites who are avidly following the city’s work on the police reform initiative known as “reimagining public safety” may be interested in viewing this recording of a virtual conversation held Tuesday in which the Office of Police Oversight shares “the preliminary findings of independent consultants Kroll & Associates’ assessment of the Austin Police Department’s training academy.” As the Reimagining Public Safety blog posted, “Kroll’s work is part of City Council’s Resolution 66, which includes a comprehensive evaluation of the APD training academy curriculum, training, culture, and recommendations for improvement.” In a Q&A session following the presentation, 40-plus community members weigh in with their feedback, which will find its way into Kroll’s final report, due in mid-April. It’s not too late to comment on this material; if you’d like to add your two cents about the APD training academy, leave your feedback here.

After LCRA’s recent detection of toxic blue-green algae in some of the other Highland Lakes, the Watershed Protection Department has raised the risk level on Lady Bird Lake and Lake Austin from low to “increased risk.” Dogs are particularly in danger from the harmful algae blooms and should be prevented from having any contact with the water of the affected lakes, including splashing, swimming, drinking or licking water off their fur. A harmful algae bloom in Lady Bird Lake in 2019 led to the deaths of at least five dogs. Brent Bellinger, an environmental scientist with Watershed, said in an announcement about the risk level, “Blue-green algae proliferate in warmer times of the year. However, the specific ranges in which they can produce toxins is still under investigation. With the exception of the winter storm, we had a fairly warm winter this year, which probably contributed to the toxicity concerns we have seen so far in the Highland Lakes. We will continue to track algae quantity and toxicity through the spring as we get ready for the summer bloom season.” You can view the results of recent and forthcoming tests of the water at AustinTexas.gov/algae.

Former Austin City Manager Jesús Garza is working on the campaign to defeat Proposition F, which would change the management of Austin’s city government from the current Council-manager form to a strong-mayor system. Garza, who is retired, was surprised to hear that a document had been filed this week indicating he was the treasurer for a group called Yes on Prop E. The group filed an affidavit of dissolution on March 22 and indicated making donations to the nonprofits Avance Austin, Con mi Madre and the Del Valle Coalition. Prop E on the May 1 ballot asks voters, “Shall the City Charter be amended to provide for the use of ranked choice voting in city elections, if such voting is permitted by state law?” Garza clarified that he had been the treasurer for a group supporting Proposition E in 2018, which voters approved to provide $16 million in general obligation bonds for the design, construction and equipping of a new neighborhood public health clinic in the Dove Springs area. Garza told the Austin Monitor that he wasn’t taking a public position on the ranked choice voting proposition and that he would talk to the person who filed the paperwork to see if it could be amended to avoid confusion.

Austin ISD is hosting a post-spring break, drive-thru, mass Covid-19 testing event this Friday, March 26, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. All AISD students and staff who have not been fully vaccinated and who traveled over spring break or “participated in group activities with members outside of their household where masking and social distancing were not consistently practiced” should consider getting tested. The testing, which is free to district staff and students, will be offered at two locations: Northeast Early College High School (Nelson Field), 7105 Berkman Dr., and Austin ISD Central Office, 4000 S. I-35. All participants must register in advance.