Hey, look, there’s some good (if modest) news from the federal government for Austin. This year, the National Endowment for the Arts will endow the city’s Cultural Arts Division with a $50,000 ArtWorks grant to support the Playable Austin initiative. According to the city, the initiative will be “a series of public workshops, presentations, and a public art installation that will activate local neighborhoods and engage the community through creative interaction and play.” Sounds cool, right? Here’s some more info: “At the heart of the ‘Playable Austin’ project is ‘Shadowing,’ a 6-week temporary art installation that will launch in October 2017. Created by Jonathan Chomko and Matthew Rosier, Shadowing gives memory to city lights, enabling them to record and play back the shadows of those who pass underneath them. As the sun sets, and street lights come on, traces of those who have passed will be captured and projected on the pavement below. As one walks under the lights, the shadow of a previous visitor will walk, hop, or dance beside them, and then their own movements will be captured and displayed to the next passerby. Shadowing street lights will be positioned around the City, with one in each of the six Soul-y Austin districts. These include North Lamar, South Congress, East Cesar Chavez, Red River, Manor Road, and East 12th Street.” All that fun will be accompanied by forums and panels – we’ll keep you posted.

On Thursday, Community Care Collaborative, Dell Medical School and RideAustin announced a new partnership that will bring rideshare services to low-income residents of Travis County to help them access health care. The plan comes out of a Transportation Empowerment Fund grant from the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority that was awarded to the CCC in March. The pilot program will provide patients with free transport to medical appointments and pharmacies – targeting those with the greatest needs in the CCC network first. At the moment, according to a press release about the program, “Dell Medical School’s Design Institute for Health is analyzing and researching the CCC patient population’s specific needs and how this program will improve existing voucher programs – seeking to understand the technological literacy of the population and people’s usage of data plans and apps. The Design Institute will help with the selection of patients and their on-boarding and training for an initial prototype, which is scheduled to launch in August.” In that same press release, RideAustin CEO Andy Tryba explained, “One of our goals when starting RideAustin was to make transportation and rideshare services more accessible to areas of the community that are currently underserved by traditional mobility services. We’re proud to partner with the CCC and Dell Medical School to leverage our on-demand platform and help members of the Austin community get to and from doctors visits.”

Looking for something to do on this holiday-ish weekend? The Austin Animal Center suggests attending the 10th annual “KittyPalooza,” which will take place from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the Austin Animal Center. If you missed it the first nine times, the event features waived adoption fees for all shelter pets and free spaying, neutering, microchipping and vaccinating for cats and dogs. There will also be a “cat talent show” featuring the “Foster Kittens.” We’ll let the animal center explain that: “From old favorites, like Simon & Purr-bunkle, Meowrah Carey and The Notorious C.A.T., to some of the hottest artists, like Kitty Minaj, Mike Pawsner and Purrell Williams. These talented felines are sure to put a song in your heart, and unlike most festivals, the shelter will make it easy to take your favorite artist or artists home with you.”

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Board of Directors took two votes on Wednesday that advanced a pair of separate high-dollar highway projects. Each authorized Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein to negotiate agreements with the Texas Department of Transportation that will see that agency reimburse the mobility authority for work done on its behalf. The first project, worth $41 million, involves the CTRMA building a flyover that will connect eastbound Manor Expressway to southbound State Highway 130. The state will ultimately take control of that ramp and cover its maintenance costs. As part of that project, the CTRMA will also build its own direct connectors that will feed traffic from both directions on SH 130 to westbound Manor Expressway. The board also directed Heiligenstein to seek reimbursement from TxDOT to the tune of $120 million for adding one extra non-tolled lane in each direction along bottlenecked parts of U.S. Highway 183 between Mopac Boulevard and RM 620. Part of the 183 North Mobility Project, that work will also add two new express lanes along that 13-mile stretch as well as bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Construction on the Manor Expressway flyovers is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2018 and wrap up by the end of 2020, while work on the 183 North Mobility Project is expected start in late 2018 and finish by the spring of 2022.

The Austin Independent School District and the Austin Public Library are currently contemplating virtual library cards for students so they may access materials without dealing with fines. Dave Inabnitt, Austin Public Library branch services division manager, said students cannot use the libraries if they have fines, and so having a virtual card would allow them to check out virtual materials like eBooks to use until their checkout time has expired instead of having to return physical books and getting fined if they do not. Inabnitt said lower-income families will benefit from the virtual cards since it is harder for them to pay off those fines, and this way their children can still use some materials instead of being barred from them for not returning a book and paying the fine. The cards may be part of this coming school year’s recurring partnership between Austin Public Library and AISD. “The idea of a partnership between the two (is) so that more students will have more access to Austin Public Library resources,” said Toni Lambert, interim director of Libraries. The Library Commission added the initiative to its goals and objectives to tackle when the new school year begins.

Today, the Travis County #StrongerTogether campaign will donate the $133,000 it has raised to help fund several criminal justice programs. The fundraising effort came together after Gov. Greg Abbott cut off $1.5 million in criminal justice grants to the county in February. Victims services, juvenile justice and a veterans court are some of the programs affected. Abbott took the action in response to Sheriff Sally Hernandez changing the county’s policy on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers. State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin), who started the crowdfunding effort, said the sum was made up of thousands of individual donations, which averaged $25 each. “I founded Travis County #StrongerTogether to serve as a vehicle for the community’s desire to help save these important programs,” he said in a Tuesday press release. “I am honored to have played a role in our success, but the community did the real work.”

El Paso jumped into the fray Tuesday, with a unanimous City Council vote to join Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and others in opposition to Senate Bill 4 — the so-called “sanctuary cities” bill. The law would punish local officials for not cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers and give law enforcement the ability to question the immigration status of people who have been detained or are under arrest. A press release from the city of El Paso noted that the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) is covering expenses related to the suit, not the city. The press release continues, “Despite El Paso not being a sanctuary city, the City is concerned with provisions in SB 4 that raise questions related to the compliance and integration of the proposed bill in current law enforcement operations…The City of El Paso is hopeful that the suit will prevent SB 4 from putting the responsibilities and duties of federal law enforcement agencies on the back of local law enforcement without training and clear guidance. The unfunded mandate is expected to put additional strain on the El Paso Police Department, as SB 4 will add an extra requirement on the workforce that is already seeing a shortage in staff.. The City of El Paso has a long successful history of working alongside our federal law enforcement partners, to add additional mandates on local resources will only limit officers from performing their public safety responsibilities.” For those keeping track at home, that means Fort Worth is the only major metro in the state that has not signed on to formally oppose the bill. Though the law is currently set to go into effect on September first, a federal court heard arguments Monday.

Though City Council has held its last regular meeting before the July break, it will meet again today for a special-called meeting about CodeNEXT in what has become a new Wednesday afternoon tradition. This time around, Council plans to take up a list of topics (as posted on the City Council Message Board). Those topics are:

• Neighborhood Plans, Small Area Plans and CodeNext
• CodeNext, Imagine Austin and the Imagine Austin Growth Concept Map
• Parking and flooding issues as related to mapping
• Draft 2 format and Zone Naming Convention

And, for those who can’t wait until August to find out what will be taken up then, a spoiler from Mayor Steve Adler, who says he and Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo plan to come back from their break and talk:

• Process and procedure changes in CodeNEXT text
• Infrastructure needs, flooding and planning in the context of CodeNEXT
• Environmental regulations

Last week, the Austin Police Department held commencement ceremonies for the 136th cadet class at the AISD Performing Arts Center. This ceremony was the culmination of a 30-week training program that taught them legal issues, driving, crisis intervention, community policing, leadership, defensive tactics and fitness. Interim Police Chief Brian Manley was on hand to “conduct an inspection” of the cadets before the ceremony, according to a city press release. He then administered the Oath of Office, welcoming the cadets to their new careers. During the ceremony, the academy also named an Honor Cadet and gave out its Humanitarian Award.

Zebra mussels have been identified in Lake Travis for the first time, according to a Tuesday announcement from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The presence was confirmed on June 22, when a zebra mussel was spotted, leading to the discovery of “mussels attached to other nearby boats and on submerged marina infrastructure. Additionally, they found several size classes of adult and juvenile mussels at two different sites in the lake, indicating the lake is infested with an established, reproducing population,” according to a department press release. That’s bad news for the area, as the presence of the highly invasive species can have real consequences. As explained by Texas Parks and Wildlife, “The rapidly reproducing zebra mussels, originally from Eurasia, can have serious economic, environmental and recreational impacts on Texas reservoirs and rivers. Zebra mussels can cover shoreline rocks and litter beaches with treacherously sharp shells, clog public-water intakes, and damage boats and motors left in infested waters.” Zebra mussels were first found in Texas in 2009 and 11 lakes in five river basins are currently considered “infested.” The state has more information about stopping the spread of zebra mussels here.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by several Texas cities – including Austin – over the new “sanctuary cities” law, Senate Bill 4. Garcia is not expected to issue a ruling immediately. Though we stuck to monitoring Austin, our friends at KUT were able to follow the day’s proceedings. According to their report:

“Supporters argue SB 4 will increase public safety. Opponents say it violates the U.S. Constitution by threatening free speech and equal protection.

“Inside the courtroom, Judge Garcia asked how SB 4 would be enforced, for example, whether an officer could ask all passengers in a car about their immigration status and if local police could make immigration sweeps.

“The bill’s author, Republican state Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock, said he’s confident it will pass constitutional muster.

“‘It’s going to be a real stretch to find an unconstitutional issue inside the bill because everything inside the bill is current law,’ he said. ‘We were just telling law enforcement officials they have to comply or cooperate.’

“Austin joined the suit, which was originally filed last month by the City of San Antonio, on June 2. Since then, Dallas and Houston have also signed on.”

For the full story, and analysis by KUT reporter Audrey McGlinchy, head over to KUT’s site now.

Though it won’t be announced officially until this morning, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees is moving forward with a $1.05 billion bond election this November. The Austin Monitor will have the full story in Wednesday’s edition, and the district will have more information about the bond package on AISDFuture.com “in the next few days.” And, after the order to call for the bond election last night, the board unanimously elected recently appointed Trustee Geronimo Rodriguez to fill the empty officer position of vice chair Monday night. Former District 6 representative Paul Saldaña left the vice chair seat vacant when he resigned without warning this past April. He had been elected to the officer position in January 2016. The board appointed Rodriguez, a Seton Healthcare Family executive, to fill the seat June 12. Trustee Jayme Mathias, who had been a strong advocate for Rodriguez during the appointment process, made the motion to approve him as vice chair. Trustee Ann Teich seconded. “I want to publicly thank Trustee Rodriguez for considering serving on the board in this capacity,” Mathias said. “To step up in this role at this time in our history is something for which we are extremely grateful.”