Since last week, all city of Austin parkland has been under a burn ban. That means parks, greenbelts and reserves have been closed to fires and grilling. Yes, that includes wood and charcoal pits, grills and smokers. Parkgoers are allowed to use propane stoves in designated picnic areas, however. Anyone caught disregarding the ban could face a fine of up to $500. And the burn ban doesn’t end at city limits, either. Travis County has been under a ban since July 6. Both the city and county will alert residents when the bans are no longer in effect.

Get out of the house this summer and learn more about Water Forward, the Austin Water Utility’s effort to fashion a water resource plan for the next century. The Water Forward Summer Series is coming to an Austin Public Library branch in each City Council district and will give residents a chance to get all their water-related thoughts off their chests. As an added incentive, there will be water and Popsicles available, in addition to kids’ activities. The festivities kicked off last Saturday in District 7. The next meeting is scheduled for tonight in District 6 at the Spicewood Springs branch from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Find a full list of the remaining meetings here.

The Commission for Women’s July meeting was different not only because it was in the Austin History Center rather than the Terrazas Library, but also because it was canceled abruptly because two commissioners could not make it and so they did not reach quorum, according to Debbie Maynor of the Human Resources Department. At noon, when the meeting would have started, the commission’s website did not say the meeting was canceled, and unless a special called meeting is made, we will wait ’till next month to see what commissioners are up to.

The Texas Democratic Party warned Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos Thursday not to fully comply with a request from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity and requested a copy of all communications between that commission and the Secretary of State’s office. Writing on behalf of the party, attorney Chad Dunn wrote, “Apparently the President of the United States believes that your office (as well as others around the country) have failed to ensure the integrity of the election process. A commission unilaterally commissioned by the President, in an unprecedented move, has sent letter requests to election officers around the country seeking confidential election information about the state’s citizens.” The purported reason is the massive election fraud claimed by President Donald Trump, but which is not supported by any data. Democrats want to know how much of the requested information Pablos intends to supply to the commission. The request includes voter names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and party affiliation, as well as voter history back to 2006. The information is on hold, however, while a federal court decides whether to issue an injunction preventing the commission from gathering the information. A nonprofit group filed suit saying that release of the information would be an invasion of privacy and could give those intending to commit fraud access to information on many millions of Americans. Texas alone has 15 million registered voters. According to information released by the Secretary of State’s office, Texas does not intend to release either full or partial Social Security numbers, which is consistent with state law. In addition, the state does not track party affiliation, but the Secretary of State intends to release information on voter history, including which primaries voters have participated in. All of this information is available to the public. The state will not release individual dates of birth, however, those birthdays are available in a group request, with exceptions for certain law enforcement officers and judges. The Austin Monitor asked whether the Secretary of State intends to charge the presidential commission the same amount it would charge any person making the same public information request. According to Sam Taylor, a spokesperson for the office, the feds will have to pay the same fee as anyone else. He noted that anyone requesting the information for one specific year would have to pay about $1,500. The commission is asking for 11 years’ worth of information, so that will cost more, but the Secretary of State has not calculated that number, he said. Taylor said the court in Washington, D.C., is expected to rule on the request for an injunction next week. The American Civil Liberties Union has also sued the commission because of its failure to provide public information concerning its meetings. The first meeting was held by teleconference, according to the ACLU. “Our election process must be secure, fair and transparent,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “Yet the commission is conducting its work deep in the shadows, making it alarmingly suspect.”

Monday is the last day for potential applicants to submit their projects for Austin and U.S. Ignite’s GigaTECHs App Competition for developers working on gigabit applications with a civic or governmental focus. The $38,000 awards need to address one of five target areas – transportation, education, clean energy, health and safety – via an app utilizing gigabit-speed Internet. The competition was announced during this year’s South by Southwest conference as part of a “smart cities” initiative to utilize high-speed data networks to improve government performance and quality of life. To be eligible for the award, the majority of an entering team’s members must live in the Austin metropolitan area, including Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. Find more information on the city’s website.

Yesterday was a big day for Austin’s green spaces. That’s because the Austin Parks Foundation announced the winners of its 2017 Austin City Limits Music Festival Park Grants Program. The funds, totaling more than $240,000, will go to projects focused on improving city parks, trails and other green spaces. That can include anything from playscapes to park irrigation systems and meeting places. Here are a few of the now-funded projects: Wooten Park was awarded $70,000 for a community pavilion; Oak Springs Elementary School now has $50,000 to replace its playscape, which was recently lost in a fire; and a $12,000 irrigation system will be installed at Wright Field in Zilker Park. Learn more about applying for Austin Parks Foundation grants here.

Departing from a new local tradition of sarcastic congressional town halls, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett will host (and attend) a heath care town hall this weekend. The event is being held to hear from constituents about how they are, and will be, impacted by efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Joining Doggett (and constituents) will be a number of health care advocacy groups including Children’s Defense Fund, Cover Texas Now, the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, ADAPT of Texas, Indivisible Austin, Young Invincibles and the Center for Public Policy Priorities. The town hall will take place at 2 p.m. this Sunday, July 16, in the great hall of the First United Methodist Church, which is located at 1300 Lavaca Street. A previous version of this whisper erroneously said the event would be Saturday.

It turns out Austin Independent School District students are pretty good at taking Advanced Placement exams. Yesterday, the district released College Board data that shows more than 60 percent of the AISD students who took exams in the last school year, 2016-17, scored a “qualifying score of 3 or better.” That’s a 1.5 percent increase over the last year, and blows away the state’s 46.4 percent. Even when compared with U.S. (57.5 percent) and international (58 percent) students, AISD test takers stand out. The district also reports 5 percent more students are taking AP exams, and the district saw a 4 percent increase in the number of exams taken.

About a month after the original deadline, the Planning Commission voted Tuesday to finalize a letter of recommendation to City Council in response to the first version of CodeNEXT produced by city staff and consultants. In accordance with a resolution passed by Council last month, the commission will submit another letter in January after reviewing the new land use code’s second iteration. Some commissioners, like Chito Vela, still had reservations about giving feedback at this stage of the process. “I feel like this thing is increasingly turning into an academic exercise,” he said. “I’d rather have something substantive to actually grapple with.” Chair Stephen Oliver encouraged Vela and the rest of the commission to power through, as confusing as it is to engage with a constantly changing document. “Every piece of the process is as valuable as the part before it,” he said. Commissioner Trinity White motioned to approve the letter, seconded by Vice Chair Fayez Kazi. The motion passed 9-0-3, with Vela and commissioners Karen McGraw and Angela De Hoyos Hart abstaining.

On Wednesday, the health care nonprofit Capital City Innovation welcomed its first-ever executive director. Chris Laing, previously vice president of science and technology at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, will take up the post on Sept. 1. His job will be to set in motion the program, which was founded by the University of Texas, Central Health and Seton Healthcare Family in March 2016 to oversee the growth of the Innovation Zone surrounding the Dell Medical School. “Austin is blessed with many assets that will support and leverage an innovation district,” said state Sen. Kirk Watson in a press release. “What we need is someone working to bring them all together in a meaningful way. We’re excited Chris will be heading up Capital City Innovation to do just that.”

The Commission on Immigrant Affairs floated the idea of a town hall meeting meant to inform Austin residents about Senate Bill 4 at its meeting Monday evening. Chair Karen Crawford presented the initial idea. The intention for doing so, she said, is to encourage advocacy groups to gather general concerns and questions coming from the public they represent, and to bring those comments forward to be addressed by the commission and other city leaders. “The reason I brought it up, too, is that I look at the commission as (representing) all immigrant and refugee communities in the city, no matter their origin or immigration status,” said Crawford. “(There are also) a lot of people who have documentation who are worried about this and have questions.” She said turning this topic into a broader conversation, rather than focusing in on certain aspects of the bill, would be beneficial. Some commissioners, though, wondered what the end goal was for acquiring such information. One idea presented was to organize a town hall not for the Austin residents who have questions, but for various advocacy groups instead. That way advocates can attend the meeting to learn about the city’s efforts in regards to the bill, to then relay that information back to the people they serve. Though a final decision whether or not to move forward with a town hall wasn’t agreed upon at the meeting, the commission plans to continue brainstorming ideas on how to best answer questions from those in the community. The bill is scheduled to take effect Sept. 1.

Cinephiles rejoice. All month, longtime local blood bank We Are Blood is rewarding donors with a free movie pass. Anyone visiting a donation location or mobile drive can get one. Additionally, the group’s Bloodstream trailer can be found at different Alamo Drafthouse locations on specific dates during the month. Visit Alamo Drafthouse Mueller on July 16, Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline on July 22 and Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter July 29 to take advantage of prize giveaways and discounts. Find out more about how to donate at weareblood.org/alamo.