One of the most enduring and popular parts of the annual South by Southwest festival is the Faces of Austin short film series, a showcase of original work by Austin-area filmmakers. Every March, the filmmakers – and the community – get to see the selected shorts premiered at SXSW. This year … not. But thanks to the city’s Cultural Arts Division, ATXN and the Austin Film Society, you can enjoy Faces of Austin in the comfort and safety of your own living room via YouTube. We adored “Nana” and “Puppy Love,” but watch them all and make up your own mind. Each of the 12 shorts is 10 minutes or less. This year’s guest judge for Faces of Austin was writer/director Andrew Bujalski.

Last week we told you about the [Re]verse Pitch contest finals; today, you’ll learn the exciting conclusion – who won! There were two winners, LoFi Recycling Systems and Terra Helmets, each of whom won a $10,000 grand prize to turn their pitches into reality. Samantha Panger and Destin Douglas of LoFi Recycling Systems “will repurpose vinyl record scraps made of PVC from Gold Rush Vinyl, a local company, into indoor pots and planters,” according to the press release. Panger noted, “PVC is difficult to recycle and can be hazardous to aquatic ecosystems down the road. We will be able to use and shape this material into pots and planters; it’s a new and exciting way to recycle plastic waste. We want to keep PVC from ever ending up in a landfill, and turn it into something useful.” Aadhikesh Boopalam, Seniru Kottegoda and Collin McCloskey of Terra Helmets “will repurpose a variety of materials including decorator fabric samples,” vinyl record scraps and plastic sandals into shareable helmets. Said McCloskey, “With the local and national rise in use of electric scooters, and an increase in reported head injuries, we created Terra Helmets as a way to help our community. Using byproduct materials from local businesses and turning them into helmets allows us to keep ‘waste’ out of the landfill, and foster a safe community. We’re protecting the earth while protecting your head.” You may watch a video of the Fifth Annual [Re]verse Finalist Pitch competition here.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Council Member Ann Kitchen mentioned that she had a “cabinet meeting” in the afternoon. Wondering what that meant, the Austin Monitor asked Kitchen’s aide, Ken Craig. Craig said that since the Covid-19 crisis sent everyone home from City Hall, staff members were not available to meet with Council members in their offices, as they have been in the past. In addition, the staffers are all incredibly busy with different aspects of the Covid-19 crisis. So in response, some Council members have put together informal committees, interest groups that have two or three Council members on them, that meet with staff (presumably by Zoom) to discuss various policy issues. Topics to date of these cabinet meetings include social services, economic recovery, legislative affairs, and the fiscal health of businesses and individuals.

This has been corrected.

After an AISD kitchen employee reported not feeling well, school district officials decided to be safe rather than sorry, and halted all meal deliveries on routes served by buses 2161, 2162 and 2165 – the employee works in the kitchen that services the affected bus routes. According to a district news release, “The employee was tested for Covid-19 yesterday and staff who were in direct contact have been asked to quarantine until results are released.” Deliveries to these bus routes will resume on Monday, May 5. To see whether your meal delivery site was affected, visit AISD’s meal delivery page.

One silver lining of Covid-19 is the way it has kindled people’s collective creativity. For evidence, take the JetStream Music Festival, an “online celebration of local music” hosted by our very own Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and livestreamed to nearly two dozen airports across North America. A full lineup that will represent “each city’s unique music culture” will be released later this week. The one-night festival will be hosted by Austin Latina pop artist, Gina Chavez. ACI-NA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke noted in a press release that “live music entertainment in the terminal has become a fun way to delight and engage passengers ….We look forward to hearing these musicians again in airport terminals soon.” He added that even when people can’t fly, the festival gives airports a unique way to connect with passengers. Austin-Bergstrom CEO Jacqueline Yaft said, “Airports are known for bringing people together, and we want to continue doing so even when you can’t travel. Virtual music is a great way to do that.” Festival viewers will be able to tip the musicians and also learn about the organizations helping people in each city. Tune in at 5 p.m. CST, Wednesday, May 6, on participating airports’ Facebook Live. Find more information about how to tune in here.

Austin Public Health reported Monday that 583 people of the 1,800 to use the city’s new Covid-19 online test screening met the criteria for testing. One hundred and twenty-three patients have been tested and 300 are scheduled for a test today. According to the city, APH will be ramping up to administer 2,000 tests per week at its testing site. “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to continually increase our testing here, but according to some recommendations we would need to run close to 2,000 tests a day to reach the goal that they suggested. We’ve still got a long way to go,” said Dr. Mark Escott, interim health authority for Austin-Travis County. According to data released by the Department of Health and Human Services, as of April 13, 8,386 tests had been conducted. Escott noted that Austin’s current rate of positive results from tests is between 10 and 12 percent, and that a lower rate of positive results indicates more widespread testing. He said Austin Public Health was working to reach a rate of 5 to 6 percent positive tests. In addition, APH now has a rapid “ID NOW analyzer” that allows for rapid testing and returns results in 15 minutes. However, the public health authority is still waiting on test kits for the machine, which they hope to deploy in facilities dealing with outbreaks of the virus.

A coalition of over 30 organizations is urging the city to launch a “Slow Streets” initiative that would restrict vehicles in certain areas in order to create outdoor space that is safer for foot and bike travel, help reduce crowded sidewalks and allow people to maintain social distancing while outdoors. The new pedestrian corridors would still be open to emergency vehicles, delivery drivers and some residential traffic. Adam Greenfield, the board president of Walk Austin, said in a news release, “We need Slow Streets now. By allowing people to exercise safely near home, this crucial measure will mitigate public mental and physical impacts, reduce potential virus transmission, relieve pressure on parks and trails, and increase community resilience.” Joanna Wolaver, the board president of Austin Outside, added, “Communities know their streets best so we’re inviting the public to help roll this out quickly and successfully by showing support and by nominating neighborhood streets as potential Slow Streets.” The online petition begins, “I urge the city of Austin to immediately create an emergency ‘Slow Streets’ program across Austin to enable safe exercise during the Covid-19 pandemic. This program will prioritize safe, socially distanced walking and bicycling on non-arterial, non-transit neighborhood streets in all City Council districts while still allowing access for local traffic.”

In one of those ironies of life, while far more people are working from home and there are fewer cars on the road, the rates of serious injury crash have actually increased, according to the Austin Transportation Department. Why would that be? It’s really quite simple: The data indicate that people who caused recent serious collisions seem to be driving faster. The department has started airing Vision Zero messages locally urging motorists to be more careful “so that health care providers can focus on the crisis at hand rather than injuries from avoidable car crashes.” Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar said, “The strongest safety message we can send during Covid-19 is to stay at home. If you need to go out – walk, drive, or ride carefully and respectfully. This is about all our safety. It’s a small sacrifice to make to do your part during this terrible crisis.”

Well, this is genius: The city has taken its quarterly Fix-It Clinic online. Usually these clinics are held in person, of course, giving residents a chance to learn some basic handyperson skills from volunteer coaches and keep perfectly good stuff out of the landfill at the same time. May’s scheduled clinic will be virtual, in keeping with social distancing guidelines. The way it works is, first you fill out this questionnaire describing your broken item by Wednesday, April 29. Then program staff will email you some general suggestions, telling you the kinds of tools you’ll need to have handy. Then you reserve a time slot with a volunteer fix-it coach during the Fix-It Clinic on Saturday, May 16, and get personal coaching via video chat. Items that are suitable for the clinic include small appliances, electronics, toys, clothing and jewelry – i.e., no automobiles or drip irrigation systems. While everyone does their best, keep in mind that a positive outcome is not assured. Clinic coaches “cannot guarantee your item will be repaired, and by agreeing to participate, you take liability for deciding to disassemble and repair your item.”

Prior to the spread of Covid-19 throughout the state of Texas, the restaurant industry employed one out of every 10 working Texans. Now, the sobering impacts of the quarantine measures that the state enacted in mid-March are coming to light. According to a study done by the University of Houston Hobby School involving 1,342 restaurants, 90 percent of them said sales dropped between March 23 and April 6 compared to the previous year. As a result, four out of five owners of food service venues have laid off employees. And these layoffs are a symptom of deeper impacts. Eighty percent of owners said it will take their businesses nine months or longer to recover from the revenue reductions and 3 percent said they don’t expect to ever recover. Even with government aid, the restaurant industry will face headwinds as it works to recover from this economic crisis. Jim Granato, executive director of the Hobby School, said in a statement, “Restaurants and bars are key players in the national and Texas economy, and they have been among the most negatively affected by the virus and the closures …. How well they recover when we start to reopen commercial activities will be an important part of the nation’s overall recovery.” Restaurant owners have hardly been sitting idle; while the study showed that 41 percent of restaurants have temporarily closed one or more locations, those remaining open have pivoted to takeout and delivery services. Only 38 percent of those surveyed offered takeout prior to the pandemic, with even fewer offering delivery. Others have pivoted their business models even more radically and 25 percent now offer bulk food sales.

The four lucky finalists for the fifth annual Reverse Pitch competition will be pitching their business ideas – virtually, of course – to a panel of judges tonight from 6-7:30 p.m. The idea behind Reverse Pitch, if you don’t know by now, is to create a product or service using only discarded, upcycled materials from an existing business. The goal is twofold: to inspire makers to innovate profitable new ventures and to keep perfectly good stuff out of the landfill. The opening pitch event was Feb. 10 and over the past several weeks, participants have been mighty busy attending online workshops and brainstorming ideas with their materials. The winners will receive two innovation prizes totaling $20,000. The public is invited to the finals; just RSVP here. And if you can’t make it tonight, a recording of the event will be posted on Facebook.

This pandemic will not last forever. For proof of that comes the Dougherty Arts Center’s confident announcement that it will begin accepting reservation requests for the 2021 theater season today at 10 am. Austin’s oldest community theater venue, which has been in operation since 1978, is ideal for “small, staged theatrical performances, acoustic concerts, dance recitals, film screenings, and lectures.” A PDF version of the reservation request form was made available at austintexas.gov/dacrentals on Friday, and a web version of the request form will be available today. According to the announcement, “Request forms will be time stamped and reviewed in the order they are received.” For help with the reservation process, email DACTheater@austintexas.gov.