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Whispers
Monday, July 1, 2019 by Tai Moses
Meet the finalists for medical director
After a lengthy recruiting process, Austin Public Health has narrowed its search for a new medical director to several top-drawer finalists. The final candidates are all exceptionally capable individuals and any of them would make an ideal medical director. According to the city’s announcement, the medical director “is responsible for clinical oversight of medically related services provided by the Austin Public Health Department” and “performs the duties of local Health Authority as described in the City Ordinance, County regulations, and State statute (i.e., quarantine, required reporting of infectious diseases, birth and death records).” You can meet the finalists and decide for yourself who would be the best candidate on Tuesday, July 2, from 6-8 p.m at the Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center at 808 Nile St.
Monday, July 1, 2019 by Tai Moses
Parks department wraps up long-range planning process
The process for the Austin Parks and Recreation Department’s Our Parks, Our Future long-range planning initiative has garnered thousands of ideas from the community, including more community gardens, new signage and expanding linear parks. All of the best ideas are going into the draft plan that will help guide the development of Austin’s parks over the next 10 years. If you want to hear what’s in the plan and offer your feedback on it, attend one of the meetings scheduled for late July or one of the pop-up events that will be announced at a later date. Kim McKnight, project lead for the planning process, said, “We’ve had a great response from the community and we are excited to share the plan we have developed to guide Austin’s park system into the future.” July 25, 4-8 p.m. at Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex, 1156 Hargrave St.; or July 27, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Zilker Botanical Garden, 2220 Barton Springs Road.
Friday, June 28, 2019 by Elizabeth Pagano
Local pols react to census decision
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday on the controversial proposed inclusion of the question, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” on the upcoming 2020 census. The decision, while not definitive, will likely prevent the question’s inclusion in the census. Local politicians feared that the question could lead to an undercount of Latino Texans, leading to millions of lost federal dollars for the region and an estimated $300 million lost for Texas. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and Austin Mayor Steve Adler, co-chairs of the Austin-Travis County Complete Count Committee, released a statement on the ruling, which read in part:
“We are encouraged by today’s Supreme Court of the United States ruling. Having unburdened the census from the repressive citizenship question, the City of Austin and Travis County can move forward with working to obtain as accurate a count as possible, resulting in additional federal funding for our region, and accurate representation during the redistricting process. Citizenship information cannot be used for any other purpose and cannot be shared with any other agency or individual.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has threatened to delay the census to ensure the inclusion of the question.
Seems totally ridiculous that our government, and indeed Country, cannot ask a basic question of Citizenship in a very expensive, detailed and important Census, in this case for 2020. I have asked the lawyers if they can delay the Census, no matter how long, until the…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019
Friday, June 28, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
A new scooter skips into town
Adding to the thousands of scooters gathered mostly on downtown sidewalks, the San Francisco-based e-scooter company Skip is bringing 500 new dockless units to town this week. For those wishing to differentiate Skip from the numerous other scooter operators, the company says it aims to collaborate with local transit authorities and city officials to make operations safe and sustainable. Skip cites its work with the Washington, D.C., Department of Transportation to create the nation’s first permit for shared electric scooters. Not noted is that D.C. recently suspended the company’s operating permit after a scooter caught fire in the city on May 30. The company claims the event was specific to scooters that had their batteries removed and is not an issue for units deployed on city streets or being charged. For its part, the city of Austin has responded to safety concerns on Twitter saying it does not believe the fire represents a flaw in the scooters themselves and that it plans to closely monitor the new scooters as they are deployed. The company is hosting a free group “flash ride” today from 6-8 p.m. starting from the company’s repair shop at 410 Baylor St.
Thursday, June 27, 2019 by Elizabeth Pagano
What happened? Catch up with us
The Austin Monitor/Glasshouse Policy, Austin Tech Alliance and Leadership Austin will be hosting a Texas state legislative session wrap-up this evening and we hope that you will join us. Austin City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan will address city-related legislation; Edna Ramón Butts, director of intergovernmental relations and policy oversight at Austin Independent School District, will talk school finance; Daniela Rojas from Jolt, a nonprofit that works to increase the civic participation of Latinos in Texas, will talk about elections-related legislation; and Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Impact, will be discussing disaster management. Here is some more information on the free 6 p.m. event at Capital Factory.
Thursday, June 27, 2019 by Tai Moses
Where will Pop-Up ATX pop up next?
A new initiative designed to inform Austinites about the city programs and services that can improve their lives is accomplishing its mission by popping up in different places across town. Pop-Up ATX: City Services on the Go will be popping up in East Austin this Saturday, June 29, to offer a variety of free city resources, including health screenings, library cards, virtual home tours and much more. Staff from Austin Transportation’s Smart Trips Program, the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan team, the Austin Public Library Bookmobile, Austin 311, Austin Animal Center, Austin Energy, Austin Water and other departments will be on hand from 10 a.m. to noon, at the YMCA East Communities, 5315 Ed Bluestein Blvd. Find more details on the Pop-Up ATX events page.
Thursday, June 27, 2019 by Tai Moses
Join Parks and Rec for an all-ages playdate
Stay active! That’s the fundamental message behind the Austin Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Keep Austin Playing event. At this free, citywide, interactive play date, kids of all ages can play human foosball (as fun as it sounds), try their skills on a ninja warrior course, climb a rock wall, attempt a bike obstacle course, and slither down inflatable slides. Along with the games and recreational activities there will also be informational booths on health, wellness and play. And did we mention there will be dog adoptions? Saturday, July 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Road.
Thursday, June 27, 2019 by Tai Moses
ASID facilities closed week of July 1-5
All Austin Independent School District offices and schools will be closed for a week, from July 1-5, to observe the Independence Day holiday. AISD is currently on its summer schedule through Aug. 9, functioning on a shortened four-day workweek with offices open from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. AISD’s regular five-day workweek resumes Monday, Aug. 12, and classes for the 2019-20 school year start on Tuesday, Aug. 20. View the entire school year calendar here.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Kinder Morgan wins in fight with landowners
Opponents of a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Texas through the Hill Country to the Texas Gulf Coast have lost their court battle to keep Kinder Morgan Inc. from making its own decisions about where to build the pipeline. Construction of the pipeline, which is estimated to cost $2 billion, is slated to begin in the fall. Several landowners as well as the city of Kyle and Hays County filed suit to try to win a ruling that would put determination of the pipeline route in the hands of the Railroad Commission. Travis County District Judge Lora Livingston ruled Tuesday that Kinder Morgan, not the commission, has the authority to determine the route of the pipeline. The group that calls itself TREAD – Texas Real Estate Advocacy and Defense Coalition – issued the following statement Tuesday night: “We respect but disagree with Judge Livingston’s ruling. We continue to believe the Texas Constitution does not allow for the delegation of this awesome power to a private company without oversight.” The statement went on to say that TREAD was weighing its options for an appeal and considering other legal venues “to challenge this severely problematic route.”
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 by Elizabeth Pagano
A moment of moment
Changes may be on the way for what is now being called the “opening moment” of City Council meetings. Council has always taken an ecumenical approach to the invocation that opens each of its regular meetings. The period has, in years past, been open to all of the city’s religious organizations (including the Satanic Temple, which never did manage to fit the meeting into its schedule). However, a post yesterday by Mayor Steve Adler indicates that the space for invocation may now be broadened even further. Adler states that, unless told otherwise, starting in August, the invocation will be expanded. “It is our custom here at City Council to start our meetings with a peaceful moment by inviting different people from walks of life and different faiths to share their prayers or moments of reflection. This is an important way that we celebrate the diversity that exists in our city and begin our meetings with everyone focused and aligned for the greater good,” he writes. “I’ve asked the Clerk not to limit our opening moment to prayers, but also to include opportunities for short poetry, meditation, moments of silence, etc. We will still be together quietly and thoughtfully, but we will see if we can get and maintain attention while staying in our seats. The Clerk was very positive about the idea and is eager to help expand our experience as described.” The change, he explains, is about context. “It is important that the Council makes it clear to the public that our opening moment is a celebration of diversity of thought in this city and that someone who walks into our meeting, without context, does not think we are endorsing or promoting any particular religion, or even religion itself.”
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 by Tai Moses
City moves ahead with Shoal Creek improvements
It’s taken about six months, but the city is finally ready to proceed with plans to create a two-way protected bikeway on the lower section of Shoal Creek Boulevard between 38th Street and Foster Lane. Known as Alternative E, this plan was the most popular with Austinites who participated in the community engagement process and offered their feedback. Among Alternative E’s other enhancements are improved intersections, new pedestrian crossings and sidewalks, and a new pedestrian and bike underpass. The upper section of Shoal Creek Boulevard hasn’t been forgotten: In a plan known as Alternative Y, a one-way protected bikeway will be built on both sides of the boulevard between Foster Lane to U.S. Highway 183. Construction will start later this summer. More details, and the public input and survey results, can be found here.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 by Tai Moses
One-way streets set to become two-way streets
The Austin Transportation Department is making some directional changes downtown. In alignment with the state’s Capitol Complex Master Plan, the department will be converting two downtown blocks – 17th and 18th streets between San Jacinto Boulevard and Trinity Street – from one-way streets to two-way streets. The conversion will take place Wednesday, June 26, and is expected to take no longer than a day, if the weather cooperates. The workers will keep at least one lane open on each street at any given time, in order to keep traffic moving along.