The city’s Economic Development Department is accepting applications for the Austin Music Disaster Relief Grant, which provides one-time $2,000 grants to professional musicians, independent promoters and music industry workers facing economic hardships due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A news release from the city explains that this latest round of the grant program expands the eligibility criteria “so more professional musicians, promoters and workers qualify for support as our music industry continues to rebound” from the effects of the pandemic. Veronica Briseño, chief economic recovery officer, said, “The $2.3 million available this year builds upon the $1.5 million we distributed in 2020 to ensure workers in this vital sector can afford immediate needs like rent and groceries.” The application deadline is Jan. 28 at 5 p.m.

The Parks and Recreation Department has announced that trail access under Barton Springs Road will be closed while crews do tree work at Zilker Park through Wednesday, Jan. 12, from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Pedestrians and cyclists crossing Barton Springs Road are advised to use the crosswalk west of Barton Creek.

Early voting begins today for the Jan. 25 special election to fill the District 4 City Council seat being vacated by Greg Casar, who is running for Congress. This election is limited to registered voters who live in District 4, in North Central Austin. There are only three early voting locations, open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-6 p.m. on Sunday: 

Early voting ends Jan. 21. The early voting locations will be closed Monday, Jan. 17, in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Jan. 14 is the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot. To vote by mail in Texas, you must be registered to vote, 65 years or older, sick or disabled, out of the county on election day and during early voting, or in jail but otherwise eligible to vote. You can find more details about the special election, including sample ballots and election day polling locations, at the website of the Travis County Clerk.

Photo by Klearchos Kapoutsis, made available through a Creative Commons license.

Omicron is causing all sorts of problems in the labor force, with restaurants closing their doors and flights being canceled as more workers are sidelined by Covid. Austin Pets Alive! is suffering from such a severe staffing shortage that the nonprofit issued an emergency bulletin begging community members to step up and provide foster homes for homeless dogs until APA’s staffing levels return to normal. As an APA spokesperson told KXAN Friday, the shelter is in “crisis mode” and welcomes aid from both new and approved fosters. Start by filling out this emergency dog foster matchmaking form. If you’re new to fostering, you’ll be asked to complete a foster application before you are matched with a mutt.

Due to “delays with sourcing parts for mechanical repairs to the well pump,” Deep Eddy Pool was not able to reopen over the weekend, as was previously announced. The pool closed last Tuesday to allow workers to complete repairs to the well pump. With the ETA for the parts unknown, no new reopening date has been announced. Barton Springs, Bartholomew, Big Stacy, and Springwoods pools are open in the interim.

Jennifer Virden, the only official candidate for Austin mayor so far, has loaned her campaign $300,000, as she reported in an official filing with the Office of the City Clerk earlier this week. She also has a total of $46,670.88 in contributions. But you would never guess that from the press release her campaign put out declaring that she had “raised” over $346,000 so far in her campaign. According to her campaign finance report, Virden loaned her campaign $300,000 on Dec. 20, 2021. Regular contributors are limited in what they can contribute, generally to $400 per person. Lobbyists are prohibited from giving City Council campaigns more than $25. James and Betty Skaggs, who regularly support Republican candidates, particularly those who want to build more roads, donated $400 each. Lobbyist Pete Winstead, on the other hand, contributed $25. Virden is not shy about proclaiming herself to be against much of what the current City Council has done. On her website, the real estate broker says she is opposed to the “transformational change” of society that current city leaders support. On the other hand, Virden supports “fully staffing our police department, compassionately triaging our homeless population, enforcing the ban on public camping, and enacting real property tax relief.” Austin has already granted homeowners a 20 percent homestead exemption, the maximum allowed by state law. Other possible candidates for mayor include Council Member Kathie Tovo, former Mayor Kirk Watson and state Rep. Celia Israel. Mayor Steve Adler has not announced his plans, but does not seem inclined to seek reelection and would need to collect signatures to do so. The election will be on Nov. 8, 2022.

Keep Austin Beautiful is inviting you to love where you live – and providing the supplies to help you do it. Every second Saturday of the month, Keep Austin Beautiful encourages Austinites to beautify their neighborhoods through whatever action they choose, such as picking up litter in a park or mowing their yard. On Saturday, Jan. 8, the group is offering free cleanup kits (sized for groups of 1-5 or 5-10 volunteers) that include litter grabbers, gloves, trash and recycling bags, and safety guidelines. Sign up here for contactless pickup of supplies near the intersection of Holly and I-35 (until they run out).

Want to help transform a degraded creek bank into a lush riparian zone teeming with diversity and life? Of course you do. The nonprofit TreeFolks is seeking volunteers to help plant saplings at Longhorn Shores. In the process, you may learn a bit about the “art and science of creekside restoration and community.” The program is a collaboration with the city’s Community Tree Preservation Division, Watershed Protection Department and Keep Austin Beautiful. Saturday, Jan. 8, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Longhorn Shores, 60 S. Pleasant Valley Road. Sign up here.

Austin Water has been recognized for its innovative debt management strategies, which have saved its customers almost $700 million over the past six years. According to a press release from the city, the Government Finance Officers Association, an industry group, praised the utility for its creative methods of “increasing affordability for customers, while improving and maintaining critical infrastructure for extreme weather and a growing population.” Joseph Gonzales, the utility’s assistant director of financial services, said in the release, “Striking a careful balance between investments in infrastructure while ensuring rates remain affordable is a common challenge for public utilities. Adding pressures such as the ongoing pandemic, spiraling costs of living, and effects of climate change, and the complexity of this challenge soars. Austin Water has been able to navigate these issues, making major investments to Austin’s water and wastewater system while not raising rates and even providing rate reductions to help customers during difficult times. We are deeply honored to be recognized for our work in this area.” Read more about the Award for Excellence in Government Finance here.

City Council met briefly Tuesday to adopt the schedule for early voting and election day voting in the District 4 race to take over the seat currently held by Council Member Greg Casar. Casar must vacate the Council seat because he is running for Congress. Seven candidates are on the ballot. Early voting will run from Jan. 10-21, and election day is Jan. 25. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir is conducting the election – probably her last one as clerk since she announced her plan to retire at the end of this month.

There are three early voting locations: Chinatown Center at 10901 N. Lamar Blvd.; the city of Austin Permitting and Development office at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive; and the Gus Garcia Recreation Center, 1201 E. Rundberg Lane. Those sites will also serve as election day polling places. District 4 voters will also be able to cast election day ballots at Sawyer Hall at 1302 E. 51st St., the Virginia Brown Recreation Center at 7500 Blessing Ave., Juan P. Navarro High School at 1201 Payton Gin Road, and YMCA North Austin at 1000 W. Rundberg Lane.

City Clerk Myrna Rios told Council that she and her staff are still counting signatures on a petition that could force the city to hold another election. The petition, from a group seeking to decriminalize possession of marijuana and prevent police from arresting anyone on class A or B possession charges (except under certain circumstances), would also prevent police from executing no-knock search warrants. Currently, officers are instructed not to make an arrest for possession of marijuana unless the investigation involves a “high-priority, felony level narcotics case or the investigation of a violent felony,” according to APD general orders. The general orders prevent officers from executing no-knock warrants except by prior authorization from a judge and a supervisor. If the petition is validated, Council will have the option to adopt the proposed ordinance or call an election.

The surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the omicron variant has pushed Austin-Travis County back to Stage 4 of the risk-based guidelines, and health officials are urging unvaccinated Austinites to get vaccinated without further delay. To make it easier, Travis County, Austin Public Health and their community partners continue to host a variety of free Covid vaccine distribution events every week. Simply check out the handy online calendar and map to find the date, time and location of the vaccine event nearest your home or workplace. No appointments are required. Getting vaccinated takes less time than it does to get a mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks – and it’s a whole lot better for your health. People receiving their second dose, third dose or booster shot should bring their CDC Covid-19 Vaccination Record Card so it can be updated.

The city’s Ethics Review Commission and the League of Women Voters Austin Area will be hosting a virtual District 4 candidate forum on Jan. 6. Though there was some debate over where to hold the forum last month, the omicron variant appears to have settled the question by forcing the forum online. The candidates running for District 4, in ballot order, are Amanda Rios, Isa Boonto, Ramesses II Setepenre, Melinda Schiera, Jade Lovera, Monica Guzmán, and José “Chito” Vela. Questions for the candidates may be emailed to forum@lwvaustin.org or phoned in to 512-893-1960 in English by noon on Jan. 6. The forum will be broadcast live on ATXN.TV, Channel 6, A&T U-Verse channel 99, or KAZI FM 88.7. Residents may also listen in by phone by dialing 1-855-756-7520, ext. 78384# for English, 78385# for Spanish or 78390# for Vietnamese.