Election Day has dawned, and the polls will be open today from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Voters in Texas will be deciding on 10 proposed amendments to the state constitution; Austin voters have two city propositions to decide. If you haven’t made up your mind how to vote yet, here is a bipartisan voter guide from the League of Women Voters Austin Area (and here is the voter guide in Spanish). Travis County has a spiffy new touch-screen voting system; if you’d like to learn more about it before using it, watch this short informational video. Now, before you trot down to the polls, confirm your voter registration status on VoteTravis.com. Check! Make sure you’re going to the right place on this list of Election Day voting locations. Check! Got your ID handy? Check! Now go exercise your civil rights and vote your heart out.

The Eastside Memorial ECHS Vertical Team and Austin Voices are throwing their annual Harvest Festival, a free community event featuring live music, a raffle, crafts and activities for kids, and mounds of delicious food. In addition to the festive stuff, the day includes family resources for housing, jobs and health. Saturday, Nov. 9, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Eastside Memorial ECHS, 1012 Arthur Stiles Rd.

With Revel having launched 1,000 electric mopeds onto the city’s crowded streets on Nov. 1, the Austin Transportation Department has issued a statement reminding motorists to exercise caution – more caution than usual. The department also wants to remind Revel users that helmets are required and that Revel drivers “are required to follow all uniform traffic laws in the State of Texas. Low-speed electric motorcycles are prohibited from using bike lanes and expected to operate in vehicle travel lanes. At no time may these vehicles operate or be parked on sidewalks or urban trails.” The mopeds can reach speeds of up to 30 mph, so keep an eye peeled – there could be one behind you right now.

An army of community volunteers will join KaBOOM! to transform an empty site into a state-of-the-art playground in a single day. Volunteers from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin Parks Foundation and around the Austin area will gather at Wooten Neighborhood Park to build a play area designed by local kids who contributed drawings of their dream playscape in September. Wooten currently has no playground, since the equipment that used to be there was deemed substandard by PARD. Community members who would like to volunteer may register online for the project, which has three days of volunteer opportunities: Two prep days on Nov. 4-5, and one construction day on Nov. 6. No construction experience is necessary and jobs are available for all ability levels.

Assistant Police Chief Justin Newsom abruptly retired Wednesday after 23 years with the Austin Police Department. KXAN reported the news and also reported that an unnamed person had filed a complaint against Newsom with the Office of Police Oversight on Tuesday. Newsom joined the Austin police force in 1997 and has supervised the downtown command, which included dealing with homelessness issues. According to KXAN, part of the reason Newsom gave for his retirement was the stress of dealing with those issues. He told the station he had been thinking about retiring for a while. On Tuesday, Newsom sat with other members of city staff listening to an hours-long report about the city’s attempts to help the homeless. The issue has been a particularly divisive one since City Council decided to repeal the no sit/no lie ordinance last summer, with Police Chief Brian Manley indicating that the change had not improved the situation. Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday told the Austin Monitor that APD recently received a confusing eight-page memo about new rules for dealing with homeless people camping and resting in public.

Advocates for the homeless have planned a protest for Saturday afternoon in response to recent remarks by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott regarding suggested policy measures in Austin related to the homeless. Activist groups including Homes Not Handcuffs, Texas Appleseed, Grassroots Leadership, Austin Justice Coalition, Texas Advocates for Justice, Austin DSA and Gathering Ground Theatre plan to start the noon protest at the governor’s mansion on Colorado Street and march to the Republican Party of Texas headquarters on East Seventh Street. The groups are calling for the state to offer substantive aid and programs to help the homeless across Texas. Last month, Abbott sent a letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler saying the city needed to implement meaningful reforms to its policies concerning homelessness, specifically rules governing where homeless people are allowed to sit and camp in public areas. Abbott gave the city until Nov. 1 – today – to make those changes before bringing in state law enforcement and other agencies to deal with the problem.

With the Centers for Disease Control investigating a nationwide outbreak of lung injuries following the use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, Austin Public Health officials are recommending that community members refrain from using vaping products. APH has launched a new web page, austintexas.gov/ecigarettes, to help keep the public informed and updated on the investigation of illness and injury connected to the practice of vaping. According to the health department, “As of Friday, Oct. 25, the Austin Public Health epidemiology and disease surveillance unit was investigating 12 cases of Austin/Travis County residents with vaping-related lung injury.” The web page includes case definitions, symptoms of lung injury, recommendations for staying healthy, and education and outreach resources.

The city’s Cultural Arts Division has scheduled an information workshop to help applicants interested in receiving funding for the fiscal 2020 round of the Community Initiatives Program, which provides support for small community art projects that celebrate local culture. The session will take place noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Cultural Arts Division office on East Ben White Blvd. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop or tablet and will learn how to complete each section of the online application including the application form, proposed budget and narrative. The program is open to nonprofit organizations, individual artists and other unincorporated groups in the Austin area. Those who have traditionally received Community Initiatives funding include members from communities such as black or African American, Arab American, Asian American, Hispanic or Latinx, Pacific Islander, Indigenous Nations, LGBTQIA, or people with disabilities. Full program information is available here.

In a unanimous 10-0 vote on Oct. 28, the Historic Landmark Commission recommended Richard Overton’s house for historic zoning. Overton, who was the oldest living World War II veteran when he passed away last year, lived in his home from 1948 until his death. Volma Overton Jr., Overton’s cousin and executor of his estate, told the commission that the late veteran’s last wish was to see his home turned into a museum. “I hope that all the stories that were told are in there,” Commissioner Witt Featherston said. Some of the stories Overton told on his porch during the later years of his life were about his time as a soldier during WWII, and his memories of his grandparents who were slaves in Tennessee. All of the commissioners were in support of pursuing historic designation for the property. Commissioner Kevin Koch said that the property speaks for itself. “I think the property is so overwhelmingly qualified I’m afraid to not do it justice (by speaking),” he said. Historic Preservation Officer Steve Sadowsky said that staffers “wholeheartedly” support the recommendation and that Overton was “a man who exemplifies the best of the African American experience in Austin.” Volma Overton agreed. “He was looked upon as the grandfather of Austin, Texas,” he said.

The Elisabet Ney Museum has been awarded $150,000 toward its preservation efforts as part of a national campaign to increase public awareness of the importance of preserving public sites. The award was part of the Partners in Preservation project, which was created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The city-owned museum was one of 20 sites to participate in the campaign to receive a portion of $2 million in total funding. The money will be used to restore 18 exterior doors of the studio and former home of the famed sculptor for which the museum is named. Public voting helped determine the winners in the campaign, with more than 1 million votes online and at promotional events over a five-week period. The Ney Museum was the only Texas site among the 13 winners announced Wednesday.

This Saturday, Nov. 2, Big Stacy Pool at 700 East Live Oak St. will be closing for some winter maintenance and resurfacing of the pool shell. Big Stacy will reopen on Dec. 2. Visit AustinTexas.gov/pools for a list of all city pool facilities and hours.

Police Chief Brian Manley has suspended Officer Jonathan Pax for making “inappropriate comments regarding various racial and cultural demographic areas of the city,” according to a memo from the chief to Joya Hayes in her role as director of civil service. According to the memo, Pax got into an argument with two female citizens and then told another officer about “his belief that different communities within Austin respond/interact differently to police activity in their neighborhoods. His comments do not reflect the values of the Austin Police Department and work against our commitment to building stronger relationships with our community.” The officer has been suspended for 60 days, beginning Oct. 26. Both Chief Manley and Pax signed the disciplinary agreement, which removes the chief’s right to indefinitely suspend Pax as well as Pax’s right to appeal the suspension.