Kids in Austin will ride the bus for free this summer under a new pilot program announced Wednesday morning by Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority President and CEO Randy Clarke. The program is one of three the agency is branding together as its Summer Sun, Late Nights and Family Fun initiative set to run from June 8 to Sept. 1. Under current agency rules, kids younger than 5 years old already ride sans fare. The new program will extend that exemption to include all kids through high school seniors. Additionally, the agency is expanding weekend MetroRail service to include runs to Leander until 1:45 a.m. on Fridays and to Lakeline until 2:30 a.m. on Saturdays. MetroRail will also provide all-day Saturday service starting at 10 a.m. rather than 4 p.m. on June 9, July 7 and Aug. 4. “These pilot initiatives respond directly to what I have been hearing from customers and partners during our customer engagement events,” Clarke said. “They enable us to use our existing services and investments to increase ridership and provide community-focused mobility solutions.”

Welcome back to Ken Craig, who has returned to work on a part-time basis as senior policy adviser to District 5 City Council Member Ann Kitchen. Craig suffered serious injuries on Jan. 16 when his truck apparently hit ice on a Slaughter Lane overpass, went through a guardrail and fell 30 feet.  Craig told the Austin Monitor on Wednesday that he is still doing a lot of physical therapy. He said, “I’ve got the crew at St. David’s (hospital)” for physical therapy. “They’re fantastic.” For now, Craig said he is working three days a week.

Mike Kelly, a staunch liberal Democrat who lobbied not only for paying clients but also for people whose causes he believed in, passed away on Tuesday, just three days before his 73rd birthday. His death was caused by a pneumonia-related illness following treatment for cancer. Kelly used his political skills to help elect Democrats in Oklahoma at a time when Oklahomans would still vote for Democrats. He and his wife, Teresa, moved to Austin, where he worked at the Texas Legislature for then-Sen. Hugh Parmer and later as a lobbyist. State Rep. Donna Howard said via email: “I’ve had the good fortune of knowing Mike for many years. He helped steer me in my initial run as a state representative and has been a dear friend and source of witty counsel. I will miss him and am holding his family in my heart.” Other friends noted that he was always willing to help younger people understand the workings of the Texas Legislature. Most recently, he worked in Bastrop for property owner Robert Leffingwell. He also spent many hours in the last few months trying to help Eddie Wilson, the owner of Threadgill’s, to ensure that the restaurant would retain a spot on the current property after it is redeveloped. Journalist and political consultant Glenn W. Smith said he had known Kelly since Kelly came to Austin. “He’s always been engaged. … Mike has kept all variety of different groups of people in our political town in contact with each other because he got along with everybody. … He grew up in Houston not far from me, although he was older. He’s been a loyal friend, entertaining – a man about town. His friendships cross all kinds of different political groups and personalities. He always seemed to know what was going on everywhere. And he was honest to a fault, which you really appreciate in a political town.” Kelly is survived by his wife, their daughter Kate, one grandson and many friends. His family is planning private services this week, with a memorial celebrating Mike’s life to be held later this spring. In lieu of flowers, the family has established a memorial in Mike’s name at the Girls Empowerment Network, PO Box 3122, Austin, TX 78764 or http://www.girlsempowermentnetwork.org.

County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant on Tuesday proposed to the Travis County Commissioners Court to rename the office he works in after his predecessor, Nelda Wells Spears. The first African-American in Texas to serve as a tax assessor-collector, Spears spent 20 years in that role before stepping down in 2011. She died in March at the age of 71. In order to consider the proposal to rename the building at 5501 Airport Blvd., the court unanimously voted to issue a general call for recommendations from the public. Residents can submit their proposals – which must include a biographical sketch of recommended individuals who have made a significant contribution to Travis County – to Facilities Management Director Roger El Khoury by June 11. However, based on statements from the dais, it’s clear that Spears is the clear front-runner for the honor. “It would be a wonderful way to memorialize her,” County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said. Commissioner Jeff Travillion added, “What she represents is so significant in this community: an L.C. Anderson (High School) grad, a person who grew up in the Greater Mount Zion Church, a true community person who lived an honorable life of public service.” The Commissioners Court is set to hold a public hearing on the proposed renaming at its June 19 regular voting session.

The Austin Water Utility has the rarest of good news for its retail customers. As of May 1, rates have gone down for residential, multifamily, commercial and large-volume customers. The average residential customer will see a monthly bill that is $2.40 lower. As a press release from the utility explains, “Refinancing and paying off loans early allowed the utility (to) keep the overall cost down and pass along the savings to ratepayers. Water usage rates were left unchanged in 2017 and then lowered mid-year in 2018. The new current low rates are expected to stay the same through 2018 and 2019.”

The Austin Independent School District has a new police chief. After an exhaustive hiring process that drew candidates from across the nation for multiple interviews and screenings, Ashley Gonzalez was appointed to the position at Monday’s meeting of the board of trustees. His first day on the job will be Thursday, May 24. “Based on his expertise, years of experience and accomplishments, Ashley Gonzalez’s name stood out among the candidates. Particularly, his ability to lead a department, his extensive training in school safety and his reputation as being trustworthy and transparent brought him to the forefront,” Superintendent Paul Cruz said. “We wanted to ensure we had the best person for the job and the best fit for Austin ISD.” Gonzalez was previously deputy chief of police of Norwalk, Connecticut, where he oversaw a $24 million budget. Before he was chief of police, he served as patrol officer, detective, sergeant and lieutenant at the Norwalk Police Department. His achievements throughout his career, such as expanding the School Resource Officer program and handling a program that resulted in reduced juvenile recidivism called the Greater Norwalk Juvenile Review Board, demonstrate his focus on serving the youth in his community. He has an associate degree in criminal justice and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and he is currently working on a master’s in criminal justice.
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CodeNEXT is truly upon us, with the official start of public hearings. The first such hearing was held on Saturday – a joint meeting of the Zoning and Platting Commission and the Planning Commission held at the Dove Springs Recreation Center. That meeting ran from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., ending an hour earlier than scheduled. With most of the public testimony done well before that point, with about 100 people speaking, commissioners remained at the meeting for several hours in case any speakers showed up, managing to catch one last speaker who used his time to complain about the existence of bike lanes. In the absence of speakers, commissioners took the opportunity to comment on CodeNEXT for about an hour. Those remarks, and the public testimony, can be seen in its entirety online. Tonight, the fun resumes with a second public hearing of the joint commissions, which will take place at the Palmer Events Center at 4 p.m. Then, on May 29 and June 2, City Council will hold its public hearings.

This whisper has been corrected to reflect the correct dates of the City Council hearings.

If the sunny days of spring have inspired you to get healthier, Austin Public Health’s “health party” is where you should be this weekend. At the free, family-oriented Fiesta de Salud, you can get free immunizations and health screenings including cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and eye exams. There will be activities to get you moving, such as boot camp demonstrations and Zumba, as well as something called a “bike rodeo,” and even bike giveaways, lotería and bingo for those who are feeling lucky. The Austin Fire Department is bringing a fire truck to show off and, this being Austin, there will of course be live music. Finally, for immigrant communities, the Austin Police Department and American Gateways are providing a “know your rights” session. Nos vemos en la fiesta at the Oswaldo A.B. Cantu/Pan American Recreation Center, 2100 E. Third St., on Saturday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Austin Transportation Department is starting construction at the intersection of 45th and Red River streets this week. The improvements being installed, which include signal timing adjustments and lane reassignments, are part of the Intersection Safety/Vision Zero program that was funded by the mobility bond that voters approved in 2016. Workers will also reconstruct the southeast corner curb, creating a safer turning zone for Capital Metro buses and addressing an issue that has been, according to Todd Hemingson, executive vice president of strategic planning and development, “a routing challenge for many years.” This intersection is the fourth one to get intersection safety program-related upgrades. It should take about three weeks to complete the project; for more information, view the project fact sheet here.

As is tradition, the city is changing up its budget engagement process once again. This year, the city will hold a series of district meetings, with that district’s Council member and City Manager Spencer Cronk in attendance, in addition to the usual public hearings. Though not all the dates are finalized, at the moment things kick off on May 12 at 10 a.m. with a District 1 meeting at at the Millennium Youth Complex. In addition, on May 7 the city will be holding an Ask Me Anything on Reddit, and Austinites are invited to comment on the budget by emailing BudgetQA@austintexas.gov, calling 512-974-1380 or completing an online survey. Details on meetings and other information about budget outreach is all gathered on the city website.

The Austin Parks Foundation has announced major improvements to the west end of Zilker Park near Stratford Drive. The decision to work on the lot came after an exhaustive site study by the city in collaboration with the Atkins engineering firm and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Scott Smiley, division manager and vice president at Atkins, explained the issues with the lot’s current state in the Parks and Recreation Department’s press release. “Many years ago, this area was a quarry which was then filled with city trash and covered over in the 1960s,” he said. “Though additional material was added to the landfill cap in the early 2000s to prevent water from infiltrating into the trash below, use of this area has often been a muddy mess.” To keep this muddiness in check, the planned construction will improve drainage and add an “all-weather surface.” New entrances to the lot will also be created. In addition, the plans include enhancements to the portion of the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail that borders the park. The booking company C3 Presents, which runs the Austin City Limits Festival in the park two weekends every year, will be contributing a large portion of the funding for the project.

The Travis County Clerk’s Office has been trying for several years to upgrade its voting process, and it’s been a bumpy road. The latest development in that quest is County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir’s recent request for proposal for a new ePollBook system. The RFP response deadline is May 21 at 2 p.m., and the office hopes to be able to use the new system in the May 2019 election. According to the county press release, the RFP “will allow Travis County to identify and implement the latest technology available to further enhance the security of the voting process.” The county’s current ePollBook system is over 15 years old. The system is used to ensure the eligibility of voters; it is the first point of contact for people when they visit the polls. “ePollBook systems are critical to our ability to manage the very successful Vote Center concept that we use in Travis County,” said DeBeauvoir. “Voters can vote at any polling place in the County because of the ePollBook – we look forward to implementing the next generation of this technology to make the voter’s experience even better.'”