At a community meeting in March, the Parks and Recreation Department took suggestions for how to commemorate the unmarked graves found underneath Oakwood Cemetery Chapel. Since then, staff has worked to gather the feedback into a draft report that will be released at a meeting tomorrow, April 11, in the Chestnut Community Center, 1183 Chestnut Ave., beginning at 6:30 p.m. According to a Friday press release, the department will start a public commemoration process including those with ties to the site “along with artists, archaeologists, historians, design professionals, cemetery advocates and the historic preservation community.” Anyone interested in participating in that process can sign up here.

Two years ago, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization honored Austin as a “City of Media Arts” – the first and only city in the country to earn such a distinction. Later this month, Austin will represent the U.S. at UNSECO’s Data City, a “collective exhibition” of “work likely to confront the city’s DNA in digital terms and future tools,” to be held in a suburb of Paris. The city’s contribution comes courtesy of University of Texas assistant professor Clay Odom, who created Flowering Phantasm to explore “the complex relationships between people, space, nature, and technology.” Data City runs April 21-July 13.

Paul Saldaña, elected to the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees in 2014 and to the position of vice president in 2016, announced his resignation Wednesday. The move comes after a fierce debate two days earlier over the Facility Master Plan update, a set of guidelines directing AISD’s structural management for the next 25 years. The board voted to adopt the plan 6-3 and Saldaña was one of the dissenters, although he was able to pass two amendments that both sought to protect AISD’s most underenrolled schools from being consolidated. At the previous meeting on March 27, Saldaña had questioned the equity of the update. “With such an important issue like this,” he said, “it’s really important that we are all on the same page as it relates to equity.” As to the exact motives behind his decision, Saldaña has told reporters so far only that he wants to spend more time with his family, but he will be holding a press conference this morning during which he is expected to divulge more details.

City Council approved a measure Thursday to grant a developer, PSW Real Estate, up to $351,061 in rebates for installing solar electric systems in 147 single-family homes and 48 condo units it plans to build throughout the city. Those rebates, which come from Austin Energy’s operating budget, cover 22 percent of the estimated $1.62 million installation cost to the developer, according to a city staff memo, which also estimated that the solar systems will prevent the emission of 528 tons of carbon dioxide, 665 pounds of sulfur dioxide, 735 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 511 pounds of carbon monoxide. In other words, said the memo, it’s the equivalent of planting 12,296 trees or eliminating over 1 million vehicle miles (or 91 cars on Austin roads). Council Member Ellen Troxclair objected, saying it was essentially a subsidy for wealthy homeowners, noting the high prices of the properties PSW is developing. Council Member Greg Casar countered that he did not see it as a subsidy for the homeowners but as a benefit that the entire community will share. Government intervention on behalf of green energy is necessary, he said, because “the free market is delivering us a pathway to human destruction.” The measure passed 10-1, with only Troxclair in dissent.

Let’s start with the good news. In a growing Travis County, fewer students are using tobacco products, fewer people are dying of lung cancer and the infant mortality rate for African-Americans is dropping. However, according to Austin Public Health’s 2017 Critical Health Indicators Report, there is still work to be done. More Travis County residents lose their lives to cancer than anything else. Beyond that, tuberculosis is on the rise, over 100 citizens commit suicide each year and drug overdoses “are the leading cause of unintentional injury death for those 25 through 64 years of age.” In a statement released Thursday, the Dell Medical School addressed some of the major problems facing the county and how it is working to solve them. A major part of any solution is engaging those who have been left out of the health care system. “As Austin continues to grow, so does the economic divide between rich and poor,” the statement read. “Many historically underserved residents lack access to quality health care and education and are at higher risk for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and other illnesses.”

City Council approved a labor peace agreement for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Thursday in a vote of 10-1, with Council Member Ellen Troxclair voting in opposition. What’s a labor peace agreement? In essence, it is an agreement that will give concession workers in the airport expansion an opportunity to organize in exchange for not striking (and, consequently, disrupting operations at the airport). Troxclair, who voted against the agreement, worried that it would disproportionately impact small, local businesses, despite assurances that most airport concessions are managed by large corporations and arguments that local businesses should be held to a higher standard. Council Member Delia Garza, who sponsored the resolution, became emotional at the sight of Local 23 workers who showed up at City Hall to support the agreement and ask for the right to organize. “In a time where our immigrant families and our low-income families feel under attack – are scared, are vilified – it was really beautiful to see all of you walk in,” she said. “I come from a labor family. I truly believe that I’m only able to sit on this dais because my father … got involved in organizing and got involved in his union, and because he had a job that supported labor and being able to advocate for fair wages.”

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt was dismayed at how few people have applied to take the place of Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Herb Evans, who is retiring on May 1. Although the Commissioners Court received 13 applications for the job, nine of the applicants were disqualified because they don’t live in the precinct, as required by law. That leaves only four applicants, a number that Eckhardt found pitiful. Although the application process was open for 30 days, Eckhardt appealed to her colleagues on Tuesday to leave it open for an extra two days, during which they could “beat the bushes” to find more potential candidates. “It strains credibility that there are only four people interested and qualified in the county for this extremely important position,” she said. Others were unconvinced it would make a difference. “I thought the bushes were already beaten,” responded Commissioner Jeff Travillion. Eckhardt, along with the rest of the court, voted to go forward with reviewing the four applicants.

At the close of its meeting Tuesday night, the Zoning and Platting Commission discussed the upcoming April 18 release of the CodeNEXT mapping, which it will have the opportunity to review with consultants that night during its regular meeting. Chair Jolene Kiolbassa said that she and Planning Commission Chair Stephen Oliver have been collecting and relaying information and feedback to several other commissions, including the Board of Adjustment and the Historic Landmark Commission, in anticipation of the debut. “The meeting on the 18th is probably going to be one of the most important CodeNEXT meetings,” Commissioner Jim Duncan said. In addition to answering questions about the map, the consultants are expected to respond to issues brought up in the previous two joint work sessions of the land use commissions. “I’m really excited to see what the consultants will bring back to offer us,” Duncan said.

The city is putting on a panel of music industry insiders called “I Know What You Should Do This Summer: Skills to Build As An Aspiring Music Professional.” It’s the second discussion to come from a partnership between the Economic Development Department’s Music & Entertainment Division and music promoter Scoremore Shows. The group of panelists, which includes Brandon Schmidt of Front Gate Tickets and local musician Tameca Jones, will talk professional development, goals and networking. Omar Lozano from the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau was tapped to moderate. Check out the discussion for yourself on Tuesday, April 18, at Google Fiber, 201 Colorado St., starting at 7 p.m.

Austin has lost another lion. Former City Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem John Treviño, the first Mexican-American elected to Council and one of its longest-serving members, has died at the age of 78. According to media reports, he passed away after a brief illness. Treviño, known to his friends as Johnny, was first elected to Council in 1975, after losing a race in 1973. He was re-elected in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1985. He was also acting mayor for three months after Carole Keeton resigned in 1983. He was elected with nearly 75 percent of the vote in that final election but decided that he had had enough after 13 years on Council. His friend, political consultant Peck Young, is currently the director of the Austin Community College Center for Public Policy and Political Studies. Young told the Austin Monitor on Tuesday, “John was a part of a very special generation, and we’ve lost now two of that generation, way too quickly.” He was referring to the recent death of former Travis County Commissioner Richard Moya, the first Hispanic to hold that seat. Young said, “John helped Richard get elected, and that’s the way Johnny was – he was more interested in helping people most of the time than helping himself. John only had two campaigns: He lost one, and then in ’75 he won. I was involved in that runoff campaign. Because of the kind of person John was, in the following 13 years nobody ran against him who was strong enough to beat him. And he was one of the two people for whom the so-called ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ was formed. And a significant part of the business establishment would not run against him, but I don’t know anybody who really wanted to very much because Johnny was not the kind of person who generated antagonistic feelings. Johnny got a lot of things done, getting women and minorities involved in city programs, city hiring before anybody ever heard of a HUB (Historically Underutilized Business) program. … Circumstances change, and we’ll never see Johnny’s like again because there never will be a first, like Johnny was, or like Richard was,” or former Mayor Gus Garcia, or former Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos. He was “a great guy, made a great contribution to the city, not just at City Hall but also at (the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and at the University of Texas. He will be missed, but he will not be forgotten,” Young said.

Deece Eckstein, who heads Travis County’s lobbying team, had bad news for the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday. The budget that was approved unanimously last week by the Texas Senate includes major cuts to programs that local governments, including Travis County, depend on. Notably, the proposed budget would cut more than $1 billion from school funding, which legislative leaders expect will be made up for by increased property valuations and therefore increased property tax revenue for school districts. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt bemoaned the “double whammy” effect on urban areas, whose school districts will respond by raising property taxes but whose cities and counties are constrained by a 5 percent rollback rate. The upcoming budget, she added, continues the trend of the state “stepping away from its financial responsibilities.”

The Austin Music Commission has doubled down on its request for a list of all city-owned property, with the goal of identifying spaces and structures that could possibly be converted to house artists and creative groups that are being forced to find new spaces by the city’s hot real estate market. The request, directed at the city’s Office of Real Estate Services, came at Monday’s monthly meeting and is a follow-up to a February request, which the office declined because it said it lacks a decision-making matrix to evaluate properties’ suitability for arts uses or a way to determine what groups or individuals would be considered to utilize them. Commissioners expressed frustration at not having access to basic city information and said getting the list would be a first step in asking City Council to create a process for making some city spaces temporary homes for displaced arts groups. The February request was made after commissioners learned of the upcoming displacement of the Rude Mechs theater collective from its East Austin home because of rental increases. Other arts groups, including Austin Music People, have previously sought out similar information from the Office of Real Estate Services and received a response that the data is unavailable.