The city is still offering free chicken-keeping classes, but like so many other things, they’ve gone online. Hosted by the Austin Resource Recovery Home Rebate Program – which offers eligible participants a $75 rebate toward purchasing a chicken coop – the class teaches “the art of keeping chickens from a skilled instructor.” Not only do backyard chickens present an opportunity to recycle your food scraps (by eating them), their poop helps create healthy soil for your garden. And did we mention the fresh eggs? Chickens are also intelligent, personable birds who can learn tricks in their spare time. Tuesday, Feb. 9, 6-7 p.m. Register on Eventbrite.

Kelan Robinson, who has worked at City Hall and for the development-oriented outfits Austin FC and the Downtown Austin Alliance, started his new job Monday as chief of staff for Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison. Harper-Madison told the Austin Monitor via text, “I’m super excited to have Kelan bring his energy and seasoned knowledge of City Hall to Team District 1. My mantra for 2021 is ‘housing, housing, housing,’ and Kelan has the experience and skills that will be indispensable as my team and I make a big push for expanded affordability, equity and access to opportunity for the residents of District 1 and all of Austin.” Robinson is also on the boards of the nonprofit Six Square and the urbanist group AURA.

The Biden administration’s federal mask mandate goes into effect today, requiring all users of public transit to wear face masks in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19. Capital Metro issued an announcement reminding its customers that “new federal regulations now require customers to wear masks while on transit vehicles and when at our facilities. The face masks must cover your nose and mouth and attach around the ears. Bandanas and other single-ply fabric coverings do not meet this new requirement and will be prohibited.” Read the full order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From now on, the AISD Board of Trustees’ regular voting meetings will be held the second Thursday of each month (except for July, when the board does not meet). According to a news release from the school district, the trustees also agreed on a “change to the number of board members needed to request a Special or Emergency Meeting from two members to three. This change will not affect public testimony or public comment. The process will continue to be the same but will be moved to Thursdays. Additional changes regarding agenda setting and approval will be considered at future board meetings.”

While many Austinites are struggling to pay rent and put groceries on the table these days, some are also having a tough time feeding the furry members of their families. In an effort to help, the Austin Humane Society has launched the Pet Food Pantry, distributing bags of pet food to those in need. The next AHS Pet Food Pantry will be held Saturday, Feb. 13, 9 a.m.-noon, rain or shine, 124 W. Anderson Lane. First come, first served; supplies are limited. Find more details about the event here.

Starting Feb. 16, Carol Johnson will become Austin’s first-ever civil rights officer. According to a city announcement about her appointment, she “will develop and monitor a clear vision for the Civil Rights Office, advance the city’s non-discrimination efforts, and promote outreach, education, and awareness events for both businesses and community stakeholders.” Johnson said she was “honored to be appointed as the city of Austin’s first Civil Rights Officer and I look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead in leading the City’s Civil Rights Office toward providing racial and social equity and inclusion for Austin residents.” Formerly the executive director of the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, Johnson also served as civil rights director for the state of Oregon and director for the programs and compliance branch of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Austin Public Health is opening a third vaccination site in northern Travis County that is by appointment only, no walk-ups. The address will be shared with those who have appointments. Residents in Phase 1A who received their first doses from the first allocation from the state health department will start getting their second doses this week. According to APH, people “do not need to get their second dose precisely four weeks after their first dose (for Moderna). The vaccine will be equally effective if they receive it up to 40 days later.” As of Jan. 29, APH has distributed 30,000 first doses of the Covid vaccine. About 80,000 people have signed up on the city’s pre-registration site who fit into Phase 1A or 1B, and over 500,000 in 1A or 1B in Austin-Travis County. APH’s news release says, “We are asking the public to be patient with our teams, as the vaccine doses are still very limited. APH is seeking to vaccinate the community as equitably and efficiently as possible. While the vaccine is still limited in Austin-Travis County, we will continue to survey the community to identify those in Phase 1A and 1B.”

Anyone who has driven along East Riverside Drive, or next to the underpasses along Ben White Boulevard, or more than 60 other locations, has seen a disturbing sight –  mounds of trash, sometimes in piles, sometimes simply scattered across the ground. Austin’s Public Works Department personnel and contractor Relief Enterprises are working daily to clean the right-of-way on East Riverside and 63 underpasses, according to Public Works spokeswoman Elizabeth Ferrer, and the city’s Watershed Protection Department works to clean up watershed areas. Ferrer explained that Relief Enterprises is the same firm TxDOT used when it was doing the cleanups, so the company has a lot of experience. In an email, she told the Austin Monitor, “The 64 locations are on a scheduled monthly rotation to ensure continuity and equal coverage of every site … the Riverside location was cleaned yesterday and will be cleaned again in March.” Ferrer explained that the monthly cleanups are not homeless encampment sweeps and that no one is being relocated. “These are strictly to conduct trash and debris removal in the city’s right-of-way.” The contractor and city staff give advance notice to anyone living in the targeted areas so they can put their possessions in a tent or other shelter before the cleanup begins.

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department is delaying its summer camps and aquatic programming due to the uncertainty around how long the pandemic will last and when vaccines will be available. Summer camp registration typically begins in February and aquatic programming in April; but with the city and county in Stage 5 of the Covid-19 risk-based guidelines, PARD is not able to set new registration dates for any summer programs. In a news release, PARD explains that the postponement will allow it, and the Austin Public Health Department, to “consider the local characteristics of the virus as vaccine distribution evolves” and offer in-person programming when it is safe to do so. “Delaying registration until there is a path forward for the safe delivery of programming can eliminate concerns related to program cancellations and refunds. … PARD continues to work closely with state and local health authorities to make operational decisions that ensure both the health and safety of participants, families, and PARD employees.”

District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison is Austin’s new mayor pro tem. While her colleagues voted unanimously to select her, the motion and the vote were atypical of such elections. The post of mayor pro tem is a largely ceremonial position, yet Harper-Madison and District 10 Council Member Alison Alter had both indicated that they wanted the job. As Mayor Steve Adler explained, the pair worked out a deal in which Harper-Madison will serve in the position through 2021 and then Council will take another vote and elect Alter for the following year. Alter said she would actually have the job for 2022 and the beginning of 2023; at that point, the Council will have a new mayor and will elect a new mayor pro tem, who could be Harper-Madison, Alter or any other member of the Council. In response to a comment from City Attorney Anne Morgan, Adler said, “Questions or conversations could be had over whether or not this is even an action that the Council can take in an enforceable way. But I think that those are questions that will be decided by the Council a year from now.” He said the vote would express “a moral commitment to abide by how we vote here and I recognize that people will be making plans accordingly, so I would hope and trust that this carries forward and ends up being executed.” Not everyone supported Harper-Madison’s appointment to the post: Prior to the election, one community member objected on the grounds that the Council member does not represent North Austin (true), while another resident spoke up to cast aspersions on the characters of Harper-Madison and her husband, claims that the Monitor was unable to verify. Adler said such disparaging remarks were not permissible, but he was corrected by a citizen. Adler said he believed he was acting in good faith, relying on rules for conducting Council meetings.

It has been nearly a year since City Council began meeting virtually. While the city has handled the sudden, drastic shift with relative aplomb, there have been some speed bumps. At Monday’s (virtual) work session, Council Member Alison Alter raised the issue of public testimony and how it has been handled during virtual meetings. Unlike the way Travis County has handled it, public testimony has been divorced from the deliberation and is heard in chunks at the beginning of meetings and in the afternoons. “We’ve been hearing increasingly from constituents and organizations … they’re uncomfortable with the virtual format for our zoning public hearings and they are finding that the process is not allowing them to have their voices heard in a comfortable way, because of the separation between the case and when they’re speaking,” said Alter, who cited the inability to respond to assertions made by the applicant when cases are heard. She asked the city clerk to come back with options that more closely resemble the former in-person system. In response, Mayor Steve Adler suggested a “hybrid” system, noting he had heard that some people prefer to give their testimony earlier in the meeting.

The draft of the Cypress & Shoal Creek Public Space Strategy has been released, and Shoal Creek Conservancy and the Downtown Austin Alliance are looking for public feedback. The plan, according to a news release from the conservancy, “is intended to enhance the area around 3rd Street and Shoal Creek through better bikeways, new trail connections and pedestrian plazas connected by urban greenery.” Dewitt Peart, president and CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance, explained that the area “is the gateway to significant communal and cultural spots, including the Central Library and the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. To ensure that all Austinites can visit these places, we must make it easier and safer to reach by foot, bike or bus, as well as make it simpler to navigate once you have arrived.” Ivey Kaiser, executive director of Shoal Creek Conservancy, added that the plan “is a great opportunity to complete the east-west LAB connection, where there is currently a major gap, and improve the overall trail network. The opportunity for relaxation and the connection to wildlife, the creek and the rehabilitated trestle is another game-changer for this part of downtown Austin.” Explore the draft designs and leave your input here.