The Texas Observer and the University of Texas Press are presenting a conversation series about the future of water in Texas, an issue that affects the immediate lives of all Austinites. Speakers include Observer editor Forrest Wilder, reporters Christopher Collins and Naveena Sadasivam, and Seamus McGraw, author of A Thirsty Land: The Making of an American Water Crisis. The first meeting of “State of Drought” is on June 26 at Hotel Ella, and the second two are in Alpine and Brownsville in July. RSVP here.

Friends and family of advocate and lobbyist Mike Kelly will gather to celebrate his life this Sunday, June 3, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Threadgill’s on Barton Springs Road. Kelly passed away on May 1, just a few days short of his 73rd birthday, from a pneumonia-related illness. Friends will remember a staunch liberal Democrat who lobbied at the state Legislature, at City Hall and also outside the city. Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea and Mary Elizabeth Cofer are organizing the event. Kelly’s wife, Teresa, encouraged friends to bring photos and stories.

The Anti-Displacement Task Force has set a Community Forum for Monday, June 4, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gus Garcia Recreation Center, 1201 East Rundberg Lane. The group would like to hear what displacement issues are pertinent to Austinites right now and gather ideas for addressing these issues. Check out the Facebook event page to follow the discussion and spread the word. Flyers are available in English and Spanish: Email nhcd@austintexas.gov with questions or to request more information.

Last week, the Austin Chamber of Commerce revealed its 2018 A-List of the Hottest Startups. The awards are divided into categories to cover all stages of development: Emerging (early/seed stage), Growth (mid-stage) and Scale (later stage). In addition, four companies received Culture awards. “Austin’s innovation community plays a vital role in our region’s economic success,” said Leigh Christie, the chamber’s senior vice president for global technology and innovation. “We have grown to become a major hub for innovation in the country. This year’s A-List winners typify the best of Austin’s emerging, growth and scale companies. We are thrilled to recognize these outstanding businesses.” View the full list of winners on the chamber’s website.

The working group formed to bring together creative and cultural groups asking for more than $120 million in November’s bond election has scheduled its first meeting for Saturday, and it is expected to decide on a statement of support for the wide-ranging requests made in recent months. Music Commission members Oren Rosenthal and Paul Pinon have joined Arts Commission members Brett Barnes and Alissa McCain, along with representatives from the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, and the Asian American Resource Center in the working group that was formed out of concerns that City Council could receive mixed messages about the assortment of bond requests and decide to ask voters for a lesser amount. To date, the city’s Bond Election Advisory Task Force has recommended $67.5 million for the city’s three ethnic cultural centers, Dougherty Arts Center and Mexic-Arte Museum, but the Music Commission has asked for $15 million to fund a music hub, the Arts Commission is seeking $25 million for an arts/creative campus, and the MACC Advisory Board has requested an extra $25 million on top of the $15 million it was recommended to receive. The working group will present its decision at Monday’s Music Commission meeting and is attempting to make presentations to the advisory boards and quality-of-life commissions associated with the various ethnic cultural centers to gather support ahead of Council’s expected vote in August on the size and composition of the bond package.

After much hype and hand-wringing and postcard sending, City Council held their first CodeNEXT public hearing. The meeting, which was just over three hours, began in the morning and adjourned until the afternoon, when only a handful of speakers was on hand to say their piece about the Land Development Code rewrite. The entire meeting, for those who were unable to watch in real time, is available on the city’s website. In all, the final tally was 24 speakers against, 17 speakers for and 19 speakers signed up as “neutral.” A complete list of speakers is also available online, here. The second (and final) meeting will take place on Saturday, June 2, at 10 a.m. Here’s how to register to speak at that meeting. Following the public meetings, Council will hold a series of work sessions and voting sessions, which are expected to conclude by the end of June.

With the temperatures creeping up into the triple digits already, it’s time to start planning some air-conditioned summertime activities for the kids. This June through August, the Austin Public Library has a host of programs to keep them occupied:

• Storytimes, for children under 5
• Youth Summer Reading Program, for ages 5 through 10
• Tween STEAM, for ages 8 through 12
• Teen Summer Reading Program, for teenagers 13 through 17

Kids can also win prizes for reading. Visit AustinSummerReading.org, use the hashtag #AustinSRP or just ask a librarian for more information.

It’s time for this year’s second Waller Creek Conservancy public meeting series. At these two Conversation Forums, the conservancy would like members of the community “to share stories, photos, and oral histories … in hopes of preserving the unique history that encompasses the Waller Creek area.” The conversations will be Saturday, June 2, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Metz Recreation Center and Wednesday, June 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Austin Central Library. The conversations will begin with a project update from the conservancy, followed by an introduction to the history study that the conservancy has been conducting along with HHM & Associates. Then, participants will be invited to scan their own Waller Creek area-related historical photos and documents and record their own oral histories with volunteers from Preservation Austin. There will also be stations with more information about the area’s history and Waller Creek projects. Spanish interpretation and child care will be available, as well as snacks.

The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District and the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District have officially joined the fight against a permit that would allow the city of Dripping Springs to dump up to 995,000 gallons per day of treated sewage into Onion Creek in the Texas Hill Country. The two parties were added as the result of a hearing at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last week. They join the other parties, which include the Save Barton Creek Association, the Save Our Springs Alliance, Protect Our Water and some Dripping Springs landowners, who are challenging the permit. According to a press statement from those parties, the conservation district did a dye study recently that “showed conclusively that what goes into Onion Creek winds up in the local groundwater, with eight different wells showing presence of dye that was added to Onion Creek. This hydrologic communication between Onion Creek and local groundwater, coupled with the fact that Onion Creek recharges 30 percent of Barton Springs, sits at the heart of the case against direct wastewater discharge in the Texas Hill Country. Despite the Barton Springs connection, the City of Austin was denied standing in the case.” Opponents say they expect to TCEQ to hold a final hearing on the permit request within the next six months. After that hearing the agency will decide whether to grant the permit. Dripping Springs has argued that it would not be dumping nearly as much wastewater as the permit would allow since the city is planning to use the wastewater for irrigation.

After an unreasonable number of unreasonably long meetings, the Planning Commission said goodbye to CodeNEXT, and goodbye to outgoing Chair Stephen Oliver, who ended his tenure with a speech, and praise from his fellow commissioners. “I don’t see any other action we can take at the time. We’ve acted on every single chapter of the code to some degree. We’ve had an amazing amount of thought that we have put into this – the slaving in back rooms, late at night and trying to figure all of this out. The level of cooperativeness that this body maintained throughout this is something I think we can all be proud of. As individuals with differing opinions, with strong minds, strong hearts,” said Oliver. “I want to say this is one of the most difficult experiences of my life, and I’m glad I did it with all of you.” Commissioner Trinity White thanked Oliver for setting the tone for the commission “to really prioritize civility and consideration and compromise. There’s no way we would have gotten 12 and 13 kind of votes without you.” Commissioner Tom Nuckols chimed in, “You are Moses, and you have led your tribe out of the wilderness.”

Along with the Parks and Recreation Department, the Rundberg Educational Advancement District (R.E.A.D.), Restore Rundberg and the YMCA, the Austin Police Department will be facilitating children’s games and events in the Rundberg area all summer such as movie nights, art classes, a basketball league, a coding and animation camp, a theater camp and more. APD is holding several information sessions to share the program with the public, which are viewable in the department’s news release. More information on the activities can also be found on the R.E.A.D. Facebook page here. The organizations would also like to remind interested families that the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that children from kindergarten to grade 12 can ride buses for free from June 8 to Sept. 1, and in addition, the Austin Independent School District will be serving no-cost lunch at Runnymede, Georgian Manor and Forest Park Apartments. Information on the lunch program is here, and the bus program is here.

District 3 Council Member Pio Renteria now has two challengers who would like to unseat him in the November election. Real estate broker James Valadez, who describes himself as a native Austinite, filed his appointment of campaign treasurer on Friday and released a press statement attacking Renteria without naming him. The statement says in part, “District 3 has been poorly represented, underserved, and is under siege. Because I work as a real estate broker, I have seen firsthand what is happening in District 3. You deserve a more responsive Council Member working to preserve your quality of life in Austin.” Valadez has served on the city’s Board of Adjustment as well as the Community Development Commission. It appears from his press statement that he is opposed to the greater density that Renteria supports. Also running for the District 3 seat is Jessica Cohen. Her campaign treasurer is Benjamin Corwin. Corwin described Cohen as a person who does tech work in the medical industry and volunteers in the arts community. In addition to supporting the local music and arts scene downtown, Corwin said Cohen is also concerned about homelessness, traffic and affordable housing. Corwin described Cohen as the first transgender candidate to run for Austin City Council. However, that distinction goes to District 9 candidate Danielle Skidmore.