After much back and forth, Mayor Steve Adler says audio testimony may continue at city meetings, per the city legal department. In a post on the City Council Message Board, Adler said audio testimony can resume at Council’s Sept. 30 meeting, but will necessitate “batching” of speakers. Throughout the pandemic, Council has heard public testimony on its own, divorced from agenda items. Adler said that would continue if audio testimony continues, as “(t)aking up the speakers during the discussion of a pulled item is challenging when we have remote speakers.” In addition, if remote speakers are allowed, speaker signup will continue to close the day before the meeting both for in-person and remote speakers, instead of allowing the public to sign up on meeting days.

With ACL Fest right around the corner (weekends of Oct. 1-3 and 8-10), the city has begun implementing street closures in preparation for the mammoth music event and the gazillions of people and cars that come with it. The great lawn at Zilker Park closed to the public today and will remain closed until Sunday, Oct. 17, to allow for a week of fall maintenance after the festival concludes. The city’s interactive map provides a detailed look at exactly which streets are closed. Planning to take your bike? Check out the bicycle access map to find routes to the festival. And this handy calendar tells you exactly when streets are closing and for how long.

The hottest event trend in our still-not-post-pandemic era is to hold an in-person event as well as a virtual event, thereby covering all bases and hoping for the best. The 31st Turkey Trot will follow this trend, with organizer ThunderCloud Subs scheduling both live and virtual events for Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, “with specific details and safety protocols approved by Austin Public Health to be announced as the date gets closer.” Either way, it’s sure to be a hit: About 7,000 people participated in last year’s entirely virtual event, according to Thundercloud Subs’ website. All proceeds go to the nonprofit Caritas of Austin, “which has received $4.2 million from the Trot since it began in 1991 with just a handful of volunteers and 600 participants.” Register here.

Austin Independent School District is looking for a few handy people to help build picnic tables for AISD students. Volunteers should have experience using cordless drills, screwdrivers and measuring tape. Not very handy? The district would be happy to accept donations of assembled picnic tables. The table-building event will take place Saturday, Oct. 2, from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. or 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Austin ISD Service Center, 5101 E. 51st St. Any questions? E-mail Darien Clary.

Photo courtesy of Texas Parks & Wildlife

The once-common Texas horned lizard is growing so scarce it’s considered a species of concern in its home range. That means the spiky reptile isn’t endangered yet, but it could be soon, without captive breeding and reintroduction programs and stronger habitat protections. With their flat spiny bodies and prominent horns, the lizards may not look too delectable, but they actually have many predators, including birds, mammals and other, bigger reptiles. But the news isn’t all bad. Yesterday, 204 baby horned lizards – or horny toads, if you prefer – were released into the wild, thanks to the Texas Horned Lizard Coalition, a partnership between the Fort Worth Zoo, Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas Christian University. The 204 tiny hatchlings were tagged so researchers can track and study them. (Watch a short video of the release of the hatchlings.) Want to help? Congress is considering bipartisan legislation called the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act that would give biologists the resources they need to protect the horny toad and thousands of other imperiled wildlife species. Learn what you can do to help the passage of RAWA.

It’s always a good idea to examine and make peace with the past before moving forward. That’s the theme behind an Austin ISD community conversation exploring historic inequities in the school district and brainstorming ways to rebuild trust among community members. The online panel is moderated by KUT’s Claire McInerny and Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera. Saturday, Sept. 18, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Register here for the Zoom event.

Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists alike will appreciate the improvements recently completed at the North Central Austin intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and West St. Johns Avenue. The work, courtesy of the Austin Transportation Department, “eliminated dangerous left turns in and out of driveways by adding new raised medians on both approaches of North Lamar that include a connection to the existing median at the intersection of North Lamar and Airport Boulevard.” The crosswalks are newly visible after restriping, and a new shared-use path on the east side of St. Johns, a bicycle lane northbound on North Lamar and ADA-accessible curb ramps improve mobility all around. View photos of the improvements here.

A new mini-grant program launched by the Office of Sustainability targets “people in our community most negatively impacted by food-related injustice.” Twenty grants of up to $3,000 are going to groups like Black Lives Veggies, which “teaches sustainable and organic gardening skills to people of all incomes.” Larry Franklin, who founded the group, explained that his goal is to “put a spin on gardening like it’s basketball – we make it cool to grow vegetables.” Lucia Athens, the city’s chief sustainability officer, emphasized, “Food injustice in our community is real. No one in a city as wealthy as Austin should be going hungry. We are thrilled to offer support to these groups that are improving access to food in our community.” See the complete list of grant recipients here.

With the Delta variant raging, Austin-Travis County remains in stage 5 – the most severe stage – of the Covid-19 risk-based guidelines, and health officials are urging unvaccinated people to get the vaccine without further delay. To make it easy, Austin Public Health, Travis County and their community partners are hosting dozens of opportunities this week. If you need the vaccine, visit the Travis County Covid-19 page and click on the button that says “Get Vaccinated.” The handy online calendar displays multiple vaccine events around the county and is frequently updated with new events, dates and times. No appointments are required and the whole thing takes less time than it does to drink a cup of coffee. Below the calendar, the “Find a Covid-19 Vaccine Near You” button takes you to the vaccine locations map. Kids aged 12-17 must have a parent or guardian present, and the Pfizer vaccine is the only one authorized for that age group.

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas has chosen Geoffrey Tahuahua as its new president. In a press release, the group noted that Tahuahua is succeeding Will McAdams, who was tapped to serve on the Texas Public Utility Commission in April. For the past 10 years, Tahuahua has worked in politics and government affairs both inside and outside the Texas Capitol. Most recently he served as vice president of policy and government affairs for the Real Estate Council of Austin. Before that, he worked for the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin. “In Geoffrey Tahuahua we have chosen a proven leader with a deep understanding of the commercial and industrial construction industry here in Texas,” said GPaul Holliman, board chair of ABC of Texas. “Geoffrey will continue to elevate ABC of Texas’ presence at the Texas Capitol and build upon the success we’ve had the last several sessions.”

Vaccination doesn’t have to be a dour, disagreeable occasion; in fact, getting the lifesaving Covid-19 vaccine should be a celebration. That’s the thinking behind this festive Del Valle community vaccination day. Austin Public Health will be providing free vaccinations – first and second doses, and thirds for the immunocompromised – to all those who are 12 and older. There will be free hot dogs as well as a Ferris wheel, carousel and kiddie rides, and the first 250 people who get a vaccine will receive a free funnel cake. There’s even live music from Javier Jara, Sonya Jevette and Jenn D’Spain. Sunday, Sept. 19, 4 to 7 p.m., Circuit of the Americas.

What if you could get paid not to look at your cellphone while driving? The app Safe 2 Save and the city of Austin are hosting a monthlong competition offering motorists up to $10,000 in cash prizes – just to stay off their phones while driving. With the help of the free app, participants compete to see who can reach the highest score. At the end of a month, drivers who score 98 and above will be entered into a drawing to win cash prizes. The point of this exercise, of course, is to drive home the dangers of distracted driving. But it doesn’t hurt to win a prize either. Find more details and enter the competition here.