In an effort to streamline the cleanup of public spaces occupied by homeless encampments, the city has launched its new Homeless Encampment Management Team. The new system is designed to help prioritize the $4.8 million budgeted for encampment cleanup and a new “tracking and prioritization tool” will support “consistent data capture and improve understanding of needs, risks and trends across encampments citywide.” A memo about the team and the tool has more information about the restructuring, which enlists a number of city departments and redefines the situations they may respond to. Find more information about the city’s efforts to prevent and address homelessness here.

If you’ve been considering adopting a furry family member, there’s no better time than this Saturday, when the Austin Animal Center will be waiving all adoption fees in an effort to find homes for 100 dogs. At the annual Clear the Shelters event, a partnership with KXAN and Telemundo, shelter staffers and volunteers will be on hand to facilitate adoptions and process walk-in foster applications. As shelter chief Don Bland explained in a press release, “This summer we have really struggled with capacity in a new, post-pandemic environment. On Friday we had 61 dogs staying in crates. The dogs keep flowing in and, unfortunately, we’re not getting them out as quickly as they’re coming in. If we can get 100 dogs adopted, fostered or rescued, then we can create needed space and avoid the likelihood of having to suspend intake.” Sixty dogs found their forever homes at the last Clear the Shelters event, which was held before the pandemic in 2019. Adoption program manager Rebekha Montie acknowledged that 100 dogs is a “high goal,” but said the shelter has high hopes that the community will step up. “We have so many dogs and cats just waiting for their forever homes,” she said. Take a look at available pets here. Saturday, Aug. 27, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Austin Animal Center, 7201 Levander Loop.

Though it’s not yet official, Austin EMS Association members and City Council now have a contract to vote on. The proposed contract, which will be effective for one year if approved, includes starting pay of $22/hour for EMTs and $30.03/hour for paramedics. Current employees would receive raises ranging from 4 to 11.2 percent, dependent on position and tenure. Negotiations for the new contract began in November, and have largely focused on wages; an initial offer that would raise new medic pay by 14 cents an hour was loudly rejected. In a statement to the press, Emergency Medical Services chief Robert Luckritz said, “I am very pleased that the city and EMS Association have come to a tentative agreement. This agreement will allow us to continue to focus on recruitment and retention of our sworn staff through improvement of their quality of life, while helping us enhance the already exceptional care provided by our Austin-Travis County EMS clinicians to the residents and visitors of Austin and Travis County.” After a vote by the union, Council is expected to vote on the contract on Sept. 1. If both parties approve it, the contract will go into effect.

This weekend, Bat Fest will close the Congress Avenue bridge from 5 a.m. Saturday until 5 a.m. the following day, so plan accordingly by using a non-car mode of transportation, or routing around the area. The fest, which was canceled the past few years, comes back this year with musical acts like Bun B, Chamillionaire and Toadies. (Fetty Wap, who was originally scheduled to perform, recently pleaded guilty to federal drug charges so Slim Thug will perform in his stead.) In addition to the music, Bat Fest features arts and crafts booths and, you know, bats. (About 1.5 million of them, emerging from beneath the bridge at dusk.)

Four Mexican American heritage sites included in Preservation Austin’s East Austin Barrio Landmarks Project have been selected to receive historic markers from the state. Cisco’s Restaurant & Bakery, the Richard Moya House, Pan American Neighborhood Park and the Herrera House will be honored with official Texas state historical markers. According to a news release, the Barrio Landmarks Project “honors the historic and cultural significance of East Austin’s Mexican American community. In 2021, Preservation Austin’s board of directors adopted Underrepresented Heritage as an Advocacy Priority, showing our commitment to saving places of meaning for Austin’s African American, Mexican American, Native American, and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as women. This project continues the necessary task of celebrating sites that reflect Austin’s diverse history.”

The O. Henry Museum Pun-Off World Championships is back. This year, the event will (temporarily) be held at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center while Brush Square (where the event is usually held) is under renovation. This year’s logo and theme is a 45 vinyl record. And, by way of informing those who are considering attending but aren’t quite sure what they’re getting into, here’s what the press release says about this year’s festivities:

Championship coordinator David Guggenheim states, “for the record, we’ve been ’round 45 years, and it’s been virtually two since punsters have grooved, live and in person, for the O. Henry Museum Pun-Off World Championships. But the tables have turned, and we’re coming back in style – us, and maybe you, too! First, we’ll get in the groove during Punniest of Show, when contestants will deliver a prepared monologue (in full stereo). The punster who soars to the top of the charts will be declared Punniest of Show! Then, we’ll fade out the afternoon with Punslingers, where contestants will go round and round with each other to see who has the best puns up their sleeve. The winner of the vinyl round will be labeled the World Champion Punslinger!”

The event includes food vendors, live music, and a book and T-shirt sale benefiting the O. Henry Museum. Find more information and register to compete here. Oct. 8, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

This week the Reform Alliance, a national justice reform organization, confirmed the death of Lewis Conway Jr. The East Austin native was an ordained minister, author and an advocate for the formerly incarcerated after serving a prison sentence for a fatal stabbing in the early 1990s. Conway ran for the District 1 City Council seat in 2018, challenging rules barring those with felony convictions from holding public office. He would later advocate for the city’s adoption of Fair Chance Hiring, and most recently worked as a national campaign strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York. At yesterday’s City Council meeting, Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, who ran against Conway in 2018, remembered someone she considered a friend. “I hope we take the opportunity to remember him fondly and count our blessings every day,” she said.

With Labor Day around the corner, the Austin Police Department is revving up its DWI enforcement initiative in an effort to reduce the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities caused by people who choose to drive drunk. Police are well aware that there is a higher number of impaired drivers on the roads during holidays, increasing the potential for alcohol- and drug-related crashes. The initiative, which starts today and runs until Monday, Sept. 5, is “an effort to enforce DWI laws and to keep the public safe by encouraging drivers to make responsible decisions,” according to an APD news release. People who plan on drinking while they are out and about are encouraged to use a ride service, get a lift from a friend or use public transportation to get safely home.

Bertha Delgado is running for the City Council District 3 seat, but the city clerk rejected her first application for a place on the ballot because of a previous felony conviction. A spokesperson for the city said via email that Delgado’s application had been rejected “because it does not meet the statutory requirements under section 141.031(a-1) of the Texas Election Code. The application indicates that she has been convicted of a felony but have been pardoned or released from the resulting disabilities. Although she did include some court documents with her most recent application, none of the documents presented show proof of clemency, pardon, or restoration of rights. She may refile a ballot application with the required proof. The last day to file an application for the November 2022 General Election is Aug. 22, 2022 at 5 p.m.” When the Monitor asked her about the problem, she said she had been convicted of possession of a trace amount of cocaine but expected her attorney, Bill Aleshire, to help her provide the appropriate paperwork to the city in order to get on the ballot. The Austin Bulldog had a lengthy story on the matter on Wednesday revealing that Delgado was also arrested twice for DWI in Travis County in 2007 and 2010. She said she has worked hard to be a voice for the community and has left behind the problems she had as a young person. She is president of the East Town Lake Neighborhood Association and serves on the city’s Community Development Commission.

Three potential City Council candidates recently filed campaign treasurer designations with the Austin city clerk but only two of them will apparently make it onto the ballot. Esala Wueschner has designated himself campaign treasurer for a District 3 race; Melonie House-Dixon chose Seth Fowler as her campaign treasurer to run against Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison in District 1; and Shawn Jamal designated himself as his own treasurer to run for mayor. According to the city clerk’s website, one minute later Jamal attempted to file an application for a place on the ballot on Aug. 15. The website indicates that he filed an “ineligible ballot application.” According to a city spokesperson, “Mr. Jamal was declared ineligible for a place on the ballot for mayor because the information provided on the application for a place on the ballot indicates that he is not registered to vote in the territory he is seeking to represent.” Jamal did not respond to the Austin Monitor’s request for comment.

Photography is a powerful tool that can reach large audiences to convey critical messages about conservation and endangered species. Even well-meaning photographers, however, can unintentionally harm wildlife or their habitats in pursuit of the perfect image. Jennifer Leigh Warner, a Central Texas wildlife photographer who is the ethics committee chair for the North American Nature Photography Association, will be helming the next installment of the Wild Neighbors Speaker Series. She’ll “discuss guidelines and best practices for ethical nature and wildlife photography, sharing real-life examples and her own stories and images from the field.” Friday, Aug. 19, noon-1 p.m. Register for the webinar here. Missed any episodes of the Wild Neighbors Speaker Series? Find all of the archived videos on YouTube.

Although city staff hoped to have a special called City Council meeting on Aug. 22 to discuss the Statesman planned unit development and the South Central Waterfront plan, Council members were unable to agree on a time they would all be available before the Aug. 30 work session. This information comes via Mayor Steve Adler’s posts on the City Council Message Board. In anticipation of the Aug. 22 meeting, Adler wrote, “We will be able, and staff will be available, to discuss the PUD case in front of us as well as the steps necessary to move forward with the South Central Waterfront, including the regulating plan, the (tax increment reinvestment zone), and whether the TIRZ revenue could be impacted by increasing height or (floor area ratio) entitlements.” Those conversations could take hours, but might be truncated because of conversations they might want to have about other items on the Sept. 1 agenda. While it’s too soon to know what’s going to be on that agenda, it will likely have a number of other zoning cases as well as items put off while Council has been working on the budget.