Austin Energy is among the organizers of this weekend’s Electrify Expo at Circuit of the Americas, which will showcase the electric vehicle industry for manufacturers and EV enthusiasts. The industry day kicks off Friday, with activities for the general public on Saturday and Sunday. Participants can see a variety of EV products, including e-bikes, e-scooters, e-motorcycles, and e-skateboards, as well as full-sized vehicles. Select EVs will be available to drive on the racetrack, and a professional driver will perform drifting and sliding techniques in a Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400. The industry day panel discussions will bring together leaders from more than a dozen car makers and EV brands, including BMW, Ford, Lexus, Tesla and Porsche. Full programming and schedule details are available online.

The Austin Parks Foundation and the Parks and Recreation Department are looking for feedback on a new Montopolis playground this Wednesday. To gather information, the groups are hosting an open house filled with project information in order to weigh the public’s preferences on how the renovation of Montopolis Neighborhood Park should look. The revamp of the plan came out of feedback gathered during planning for a major overhaul of the Montopolis pool, where “the community expressed a desire for more shade around the park and a nature play area to increase play opportunities. Coupled with the need for improved drainage in the existing playground area, Austin Parks Foundation will lead the project to renovate the playground and provide the community with updated amenities and play opportunities. The renovation of the existing playground will include new play equipment, play surfacing, improved drainage, concrete walks, seating, shade, and nature play elements,” according to a press release from the parks department. Wednesday’s pop-up open house will take place at the Montopolis Recreation and Community Center from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Those unable to attend can provide feedback online through an upcoming survey that will be open this month.

This week is Municipal Courts Week, a statewide focus honoring court staff and the public services they provide. The City of Austin Municipal Court will host some helpful activities open to the public. Today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first-floor lobby at Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second St., a traffic safety table provides a chance to meet court staff, learn useful tips on traffic safety and get answers to questions on court services, such as educational traffic programs for youth. And if you’d like help resolving a outstanding class C misdemeanor criminal case, a prosecutor, judge and court staff will be available to do so and to help answer questions at the Terrazas library branch at 1105 E. Cesar Chavez St. No appointments needed. Spanish interpreters will be available. This mobile court event will cover two days: 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, and 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, Nov. 9. There are also options to set up a payment plan, request community service or petition for a hardship waiver.

Enrollment is open for the spring 2024 term at Austin Police Department’s Community Police Academy, a 14-week program that familiarizes members of the public with APD’s work with a stated goal to “increase the rapport between community members and police officers.” The class curriculum covers the work of different units within the department, and meetings will be held 5:30-9:30 p.m. once a week from Feb. 6 through May 14. Interested community members can apply here.

Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Marketplace begins today, and Central Health is offering Travis County residents options for help. These options include calling 211 for assistance with the application process or getting assistance through Foundation Communities and Sendero Health Plans. According to a press release from the district, 10.8 percent of Travis County residents don’t have health insurance, concentrated in neighborhoods east of Interstate 35. Central Health serves more than 150,000 residents through its Medical Access Program, MAP Basic and sliding-fee-scaled programs that provide health care to low-income residents.

“Central Health is encouraging all Travis County residents who need health insurance to take advantage of the expert help available to assist them with finding the best insurance for them at the best price. Individuals already enrolled in a Marketplace plan should also review the new plans available. Plan prices have changed, and you may be able to find a comparable or better plan at a better price,” said Central Health’s Kit Abney Spelce, vice president of operations, in a statement to the press. “No one should delay – you only have about 12 weeks to apply, and we know the holidays are busy for everyone.” You must enroll in a Marketplace plan by Dec. 15 to start coverage on Jan. 1. Open enrollment runs from Nov. 1 until Jan. 15, 2024.

Next Monday, the Texas Demographic Center will release its final population estimates for Texas as of July 2022 and January 2023. Anyone interested in a dive into the methodology behind the estimates is invited to register for a free public webinar that will get into the details at 10 a.m. Nov. 7. In related news, Texas maintained its position as one of the top destinations for domestic migrants, according to the Census Bureau, though in 2022, Florida edged ahead as the top destination for those moving to another state.

In addition to the upcoming public meetings that will focus on changes to the Land Development Code, the city will also be holding an open house to inform residents about proposed changes to building and occupancy regulations. The open house, which will be held at the Austin Central Library on Monday, Nov. 6, will be a chance for the public to talk with city staff after this Thursday’s meeting, but before the changes go back to Council for a final vote. (Currently, that vote is scheduled for Dec. 7.) Unlike the other meetings, attendees can visit for as long (or short) as they want between the hours of 6 and 8 p.m. Spanish interpretation will be available on-site, and other translation services are available on-demand by calling 311 at least five days prior to the open house. More information about the amendments, meetings and open house can be found here.

Residents interested in advising local leaders on matters involving anti-displacement and equity related to Project Connect are invited to apply for a position on the new Community Advisory Committee. The CAC will advise the city, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Austin Transit Partnership on those and other related issues. Applications are open until Nov. 17, and the goal is to include representation from women, families with small children, Black people, indigenous people, people of color, people from immigrant and/or undocumented populations, members of the LGBTQI community, students and workers’ rights advocates, among others. An applicant must be a city resident (or live in Capital Metro’s service area) and not be a registered lobbyist nor an employee of any of the sponsoring organizations and not have any contract with any of the sponsoring organizations. They also must agree to follow all required ethics policies. Members will be selected based on their use of transit to commute, demographic information and lived experience involving the needs of marginalized communities, including people experiencing homelessness. The application and further information is available online.

In an effort to speed along proposed changes to Austin’s development regulations, City Council and the Planning Commission will be holding three public hearings over the next few months. Among the changes being discussed at the meetings will be new rules that will allow up to three housing units on single-family zoned properties and removing occupancy limits. (More information about Land Development Code amendments currently being considered can be found here or in our previous coverage.)

The meetings, which will be held at City Hall, will take place at:

• 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26: Planning Commission and City Council joint meeting
• 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14: Planning Commission meeting
• 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 7: Austin City Council meeting

Information about how to participate in meetings or weigh in on the changes can be found here. In addition to setting the public meetings, the city will be sending out postcards explaining the changes and process to Austin property owners, perhaps thwarting previous legal challenges that have sunk earlier sweeping changes to the code.

The Sanchez Elementary Green School Park has been spruced up, and a celebratory ribbon cutting will mark the changes at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27. The park is the last in a series of pilot sites in the Green School Parks program that was funded by a grant from Cities Connecting Children to Nature. It was funded, in part, by an ACL Music Festival Grant from Austin Parks Foundation and completed with their support, Austin Independent School District and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. According to a press release about the ribbon cutting, the park now “combines nature play, new trees, an outdoor classroom, and traditional park amenities for an experience that is enjoyed by both children and adults alike. A playful circuit of balance logs, stump jumps, stepping stones, and a play bridge encourage movement, balance, and agility all while engaging with natural materials.”

Pulitzer on the Road is pulling in to Austin Central Library next month for a discussion about storytelling. The Library Foundation and PEN Across America have teamed up for a moderated discussion between author Hernan Diaz and journalist Eli Saslow about telling stories in different genres, “the crucial aspect of truth in journalism as well as historical fiction; American loneliness and omnipotence; whose narratives get told and prioritized, and how they bring their characters to life on the page,” according to a Library Foundation press release. The event is free and open to the public and will take place at the Austin Central Library Gallery at at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 16. Tickets are available here.

The renovation of 1970s-era tennis courts and the pro shop near Patterson Park just off Airport Boulevard will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the coming weeks. The Burnett “Blondie” Pharr Tennis Center now meets accessibility requirements and has refurbished courts, plus energy-efficient sports lighting, among other improvements. On top of that, local artists Rakhee Jain Desai and Melissa Knight convened with community members for ideas on their on-site sculpture “Harmonic Strings,” which was inspired by the energy and camaraderie of tennis. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 4201 Brookview Road. Learn more about the Pharr Tennis Center renovation here.