Travis County Commissioners Court postponed a decision on Tuesday on whether to require food handlers at restaurants in unincorporated areas to have an official training certification. The addition of that regulation would put the county in line with city of Austin rules. However, the notion met bipartisan headwinds from the dais. Republican Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, a restaurateur who opened Jack Allen’s Kitchen in Oak Hill, worried that small-business owners would bear the cost of the new regulation. Meanwhile, Democratic Commissioner Brigid Shea questioned whether the rules would make it more difficult for job seekers – who would have to pay for the certification out of their own pockets – to find employment. In the end, County Judge Sarah Eckhardt delayed the vote until after a public hearing set for Feb. 9. At the end of the discussion, she joked, “I would encourage Jack Allen’s Kitchen to subsidize the servers getting the food handlers certification.” With a chuckle, Daugherty quipped back, “I’ll pass that along.”

Newly formed political action committee Ridesharing Works for Austin has been gathering support over the last few weeks for a measure to overturn City Council’s recent passage of an ordinance placing restrictions on transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. The ordinance penalizes TNCs that don’t require drivers to undergo fingerprint background checks, and Lyft has said it does not operate in cities that make such requirements. Ridesharing Works for Austin has launched a petition that, with enough validated signatures (20,000), would require Council either to revert permanently to the previous incarnation of its TNC rules or to put the matter up for a public vote. The coalition, which includes Austin Music People and ATX Safer Streets, announced this week that about 30 or so local music and entertainment representatives would be getting together today to sign the petition and to show their support for the effort. The announcement lists several organizations represented by the signers, including ACL Live, the Austin Music Foundation, Circuit of the Americas and the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, along with several area bars and music venues. In the meantime, a counter effort with its own petition has also surfaced, as we reported last week.

Spring festival season is on the way, and South by Southwest has begun its annual search for 4,000 or so volunteers in earnest. From March 11 until March 20, the festival is offering a number of volunteer opportunities, including helping out with registration, providing information, technical support and more. Volunteers are asked to work a minimum of 24 hours, and there are day and night positions available online. To apply (and get more information) visit the SXSW volunteer website. There are applications available online. Crew shifts will take place during one of the “volunteer calls,” which will be held on Jan. 24 and Feb. 6. Those unable to attend either of those meetings should contact SXSW Volunteers through email at volunteer@sxsw.com or by calling 512-467-7979.

We might call her Austin’s oldest and best-loved volunteer. Monday was Shudde Fath’s 100th birthday, and she celebrated with about 75 of her closest friends at the University of Texas Etter-Harbin Alumni Center. The Austin Monitor asked the honoree what it felt like to be 100, and she said she didn’t really feel like she was that old. When the late Jeff Friedman was mayor (1975-1977), he appointed Fath to the mayor’s commission on electric rates. Fath said that the only real recommendation from the commission was that City Council create the Electric Utility Commission. When that happened, Friedman appointed Fath, an advocate for residential and small-business customers. That was nearly 39 years ago, and Fath has been serving year in and year out ever since. At the beginning, she said, the commission and Council looked at rates on a yearly basis. At one point during the party, Fath gathered all the current and former elected officials in attendance to have their photo taken with her, giving the Monitor an easy way to name them. Among those currently in office were Council members Delia Garza and Ann Kitchen, Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea, State Rep. Elliott Naishtat, Judge Gisela Triana, Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant and Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District Board Member Craig Smith. Former elected officials included former Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos and former Council members Daryl Slusher, Jackie Goodman, Beverly Griffith and Roger Duncan. (Disclosure: Duncan is married to Monitor reporter Jo Clifton.) Many of these same people were among the guests recording video birthday greetings for Fath. And we wish her many happy returns.

More than 100 people, including Mayor Steve Adler, turned out on a chilly Monday afternoon to take part in the ceremonial dirt-turning for the new downtown residential tower known officially as the Independent but colloquially as the Jenga Tower. The 58-story building will rise in singular fashion over Shoal Creek at West Third Street and West Avenue, and upon completion it will hold the distinction of being the tallest residential tower west of the Mississippi. Before taking part in the groundbreaking, Adler was effusive in praise for the private development and what it means for the city at large. “Great cities do big things,” the mayor declared. “What makes this a big project here in the city of Austin is the fact that … this project is going to contribute $18 million into our affordable housing trust fund.” While the Independent won’t feature any units on-site that fit into the city’s definition of “affordable,” the mayor said it helps projects such as the recently approved Pilot Knob project, which will feature 1,000 affordable units in the far southeast part of town. When asked what the city could do to ensure that downtown doesn’t become an enclave for the wealthy while the less affluent are pushed to the fringes, Adler told the Austin Monitor, “There are projects that we are talking about doing downtown that are going to contain affordable housing on-site. And those projects are wonderful, too. This particular project is contributing a massive amount in lieu of the physical location of the properties, but we need both in this city because it’s our resources that give us the power to get things done, but it’s the diversity that gives us the fabric.”

The Austin Independent School District heard the results of its yearly demographic report Monday afternoon, and then again on Monday night at its 6:30 p.m. board meeting. The report, which informs the district about student population trends in the community and anticipates how those trends may affect the district, is particularly poignant given AISD’s loss of about 3,000 students since the 2012-2013 school year. This year’s estimates do not show any deviation from past trends. In fact, it forecasts further declines in AISD’s enrollment over the next 10 years, a predicament that will hit AISD’s wallet hard. How many students there are and how often they attend school both play a significant role in the amount of state funding the district will receive. In 2014, the state gave AISD about $5,140 per student who attended school on a regular basis. The report states that, by 2025, the residential student count is projected to be 77,628 students, a reduction of 6,140 students from the 2015 student count, or a 7.4 percent decrease. The greatest declines will be seen in the elementary and middle school grade levels, with an anticipated decline of approximately 2,750 students (6 percent) and 2,100 students (13 percent), respectively, over the 10-year period. The subsequent changes associated with a smaller student body are expected to percolate slowly upward, from elementary school to high school, as the smaller student body ages. According to an AISD press release, the declines at these grade levels can be attributed to decreasing birth rates in the area and a shift in Austin’s new housing market. Student growth from new and planned future residential developments in the district is expected to be limited due to the anticipated high cost of projected future housing. An estimated 11,337 potential units are expected to be developed over the 10-year period, but only a third of these new housing developments are single-family residential units.

The Long Center for the Performing Arts is officially in search of a new president and CEO to replace Jamie Grant, whose resignation was announced today. Grant will remain with the Long Center until April, after which he will move to St. Paul, Minnesota, to serve as president and CEO of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. “Jamie Grant has been a game-changer for the Long Center,” said Marc Seriff, the Long Center’s vice president of special projects, in a press release about the resignation. “He has created a culture of success, and built the staff to execute it.” Seriff, as the new interim president and CEO, will be leading a global search for Grant’s successor. “The job of our search will be finding the right person to … continue the amazing momentum that Jamie has built,” he said.

Last week, on Jan. 6, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued updated floodplain maps for portions of Austin. The new maps are the last step in a Watershed Protection Department study of the floodplains. In that study, the city looked at the floodplains for: Boggy Creek, Bull and West Bull creeks, Carson Creek, Cottonmouth Creek, Dry East Creek, Fort Branch, Shoal Creek and Tannehill Branch Creek. As a result, according to a press release from the city, about 2,200 properties are no longer in the FEMA floodplain, and about 2,400 now are. According to the press release, “The City received a $1.1 million grant from FEMA for a portion of the study costs with the remaining $2.0 million being funded by Watershed Protection through the drainage charge for a total study cost of $3.1 million. The results of the study were updated flood risk information that the City is using to enforce our floodplain management regulations and to design flood mitigation projects. In addition, FEMA is using the information for flood insurance purposes.”

After a bit of back and forth, the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee meeting will no longer take place before City Council’s (potentially epic) Jan. 28 meeting. Instead, Council will meet as the committee at 9 a.m. on Jan. 25. Adjust your calendars accordingly.

Downtown drivers can expect lane closures and delays throughout the month as work crews complete installation of a 10,500-foot reclaimed-water main on the Capitol Complex grounds. According to a press release from Austin Water, the main is part of a project, which began in November, that will help preserve potable water by supplying downtown with reclaimed water for nonpotable uses (e.g., irrigation and cooling towers). The entire project is slated for completion in 2017. During this portion of the project, there will be lane closures on 11th Street: Only one eastbound lane will be open on the block from Lavaca Street to Colorado Street, and only one westbound lane will be open on the adjacent block from Lavaca to Guadalupe Street. Meanwhile, southbound traffic from Guadalupe will be detoured to Ninth Street, as will eastbound traffic from 11th Street (via Guadalupe). Westbound traffic on 11th Street will be detoured to 10th Street via Congress Avenue.

At the start of this year, Meghan Wells began work as the manager of Austin’s Cultural Arts Division, where she is overseeing that division’s programming (which includes cultural funding and the Art in Public Places program, among other things). According to a press release about the hire, “Wells brings over 18 years of professional experience in the cultural arts and nonprofit fields. For the past 11 years, she has worked within the Cultural Arts Division for the Art in Public Places program; first as a project coordinator and, since 2010, as the program’s administrator. She earned a B.A. in English and political science from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO, and an M.A. in museum science from Texas Tech University.” Her official start date was Jan. 1, 2016.

Picking right up where things left off in December, City Council Member Ann Kitchen took to the City Council Message Board on Thursday to announce several meetings to further discuss regulations for transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft. Kitchen notes that while TNC regulations were approved during the final meeting of 2015, there are still some things to be determined. To that end, she has “confirmed the following process approach and timeline with Mayor (Steve) Adler” and suggests that any proposals be posted on the message board prior to Jan. 22. She goes on to suggest that the Jan. 26 work session contain a “discussion of sufficient duration to allow CMs the time to review, understand, discuss the language of proposals” prior to the Jan. 28 meeting, as well as “the approach to public input.”