Photo courtesy city of Austin.

Few things are more refreshing on a hot day than diving into one of Austin’s sparkling swimming pools. But these pools don’t magically stay clean on their own; regular maintenance keeps them that way. And it’s time for Deep Eddy Pool to get its annual spring cleaning. The pool, at 401 Deep Eddy Ave., is scheduled for closure from Sunday, April 11, through Sunday, May 2. It will reopen on Monday, May 3, scrubbed and sparkling and ready for its close-up. According to the city, the closure is a week longer than usual “in order to address unforeseen storm repair items and cracks in the pool shell.” In the meantime, if you simply must swim, check out AustinTexas.gov/pools for the location and hours of a pool near you.

Austinites who are avidly following the city’s work on the police reform initiative known as “reimagining public safety” may be interested in viewing this recording of a virtual conversation held Tuesday in which the Office of Police Oversight shares “the preliminary findings of independent consultants Kroll & Associates’ assessment of the Austin Police Department’s training academy.” As the Reimagining Public Safety blog posted, “Kroll’s work is part of City Council’s Resolution 66, which includes a comprehensive evaluation of the APD training academy curriculum, training, culture, and recommendations for improvement.” In a Q&A session following the presentation, 40-plus community members weigh in with their feedback, which will find its way into Kroll’s final report, due in mid-April. It’s not too late to comment on this material; if you’d like to add your two cents about the APD training academy, leave your feedback here.

After LCRA’s recent detection of toxic blue-green algae in some of the other Highland Lakes, the Watershed Protection Department has raised the risk level on Lady Bird Lake and Lake Austin from low to “increased risk.” Dogs are particularly in danger from the harmful algae blooms and should be prevented from having any contact with the water of the affected lakes, including splashing, swimming, drinking or licking water off their fur. A harmful algae bloom in Lady Bird Lake in 2019 led to the deaths of at least five dogs. Brent Bellinger, an environmental scientist with Watershed, said in an announcement about the risk level, “Blue-green algae proliferate in warmer times of the year. However, the specific ranges in which they can produce toxins is still under investigation. With the exception of the winter storm, we had a fairly warm winter this year, which probably contributed to the toxicity concerns we have seen so far in the Highland Lakes. We will continue to track algae quantity and toxicity through the spring as we get ready for the summer bloom season.” You can view the results of recent and forthcoming tests of the water at AustinTexas.gov/algae.

Former Austin City Manager Jesús Garza is working on the campaign to defeat Proposition F, which would change the management of Austin’s city government from the current Council-manager form to a strong-mayor system. Garza, who is retired, was surprised to hear that a document had been filed this week indicating he was the treasurer for a group called Yes on Prop E. The group filed an affidavit of dissolution on March 22 and indicated making donations to the nonprofits Avance Austin, Con mi Madre and the Del Valle Coalition. Prop E on the May 1 ballot asks voters, “Shall the City Charter be amended to provide for the use of ranked choice voting in city elections, if such voting is permitted by state law?” Garza clarified that he had been the treasurer for a group supporting Proposition E in 2018, which voters approved to provide $16 million in general obligation bonds for the design, construction and equipping of a new neighborhood public health clinic in the Dove Springs area. Garza told the Austin Monitor that he wasn’t taking a public position on the ranked choice voting proposition and that he would talk to the person who filed the paperwork to see if it could be amended to avoid confusion.

Austin ISD is hosting a post-spring break, drive-thru, mass Covid-19 testing event this Friday, March 26, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. All AISD students and staff who have not been fully vaccinated and who traveled over spring break or “participated in group activities with members outside of their household where masking and social distancing were not consistently practiced” should consider getting tested. The testing, which is free to district staff and students, will be offered at two locations: Northeast Early College High School (Nelson Field), 7105 Berkman Dr., and Austin ISD Central Office, 4000 S. I-35. All participants must register in advance.

Homebound seniors now have a safe way of getting the Covid vaccine without having to leave their homes. Austin Public Health is partnering with Meals on Wheels Central Texas to “bring the vaccines to older adults who are homebound and medically vulnerable,” according to a news release from the public health agency. “Seniors in our community remain most at risk of serious health consequences from Covid-19, and MOWCTX worked with APH to identify its most frail and medically compromised clients for this first round of mobile vaccinations.” The mobile vaccination program, which kicked off at the start of this week by vaccinating 66 clients in the eastern crescent of Travis County, will administer up to 400 vaccines a week. Spouses or caregivers who fall into the 1B or 1C category may also receive a shot. As more vaccine becomes available and eligibility expands, the program may start serving entire families. “We need to meet people where they are,” said Stephanie Hayden-Howard, director of Austin Public Health. “With a pandemic, government agencies have to be more flexible with their operations than ever before.”

Austin ISD is launching a door-to-door campaign on Saturday, April 10, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., “to reconnect Austin families with AISD program offerings” like free prekindergarten, before- and after-school enrichment, free career preparation programs and early college high schools. Operation Reconnect, as the effort is dubbed, involves teachers, staff members and community volunteers working in teams, walking blocks and sharing information about the district’s programs with the community. The event is focused on schools in the district’s northeast corridor, including Andrews, Harris, Pecan Springs and Winn elementary schools; Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy; and Northeast ECHS. Volunteers will receive breakfast, PPE and an Operation Reconnect T-shirt. Sign up to volunteer on the event page or email Operation Reconnect leads Katrina Bailey at katrina.bailey@austinisd.org or José M.A. Velásquez at jose.m.velasquez@austinisd.org.

Central Health president and CEO Mike Geeslin and Colony Park Neighborhood Association President Barbara Scott will be the guest speakers at the (virtual, of course) grand opening of the Northeast Health Resource Center. The new center, located at Barbara Jordan Elementary School, “will bring health resources and support services to the Colony Park community,” says the announcement, adding that the effort is “part of Central Health’s larger strategy to expand health care services in Eastern Travis County.” The grand opening will feature a virtual tour of the new center and descriptions of the services offered. Monday, March 29, at noon, via Facebook live. RSVP on Eventbrite.

The Austin Transportation Department is inviting nonprofit community groups to submit ideas for Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative grant program. According to a news release, this initiative “is designed to fund visual art interventions on roadways (intersections and crosswalks), pedestrian spaces (plazas and sidewalks), and vertical infrastructure (utility boxes, traffic barriers and underpasses) in U.S. cities with the goal of improving street and pedestrian safety, revitalizing and activating underutilized public space, and promoting collaboration and civic engagement in local communities.” As ATD Director Rob Spillar said, “Austin is a great place to live and work, made of many individual neighborhoods. Art is an important way our community knits its many neighborhoods together. The Bloomberg grant is an opportunity to help us share the messages of our community in our biggest public spaces – our streets.” Read more about the grant here. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 9 at 5 p.m.

Photo of pine siskin by Darren Swim, made available through a Creative Commons license.

Travis Audubon has put out an alert that salmonellosis has made its way to Texas, threatening to infect birds in the area. Particularly at risk are pine siskins, which have appeared in Central Texas in unusual numbers and are particularly vulnerable to the disease. To combat its spread, keep an eye out for birds that appear to be sick, and if you suspect your backyard birds might be infected, take down your feeders and water features and leave them down until the pine siskins have moved on – a few weeks. Travis Audubon goes on to explain that, even if there is no outbreak, bird feeders should be cleaned and disinfected once or twice monthly at a minimum, ideally weekly, to prevent disease spreading among our feathered friends.

If you’d like the power to cite vehicles illegally parked in spaces reserved for people with disabilities, the city of Austin has great news for you. The city is recruiting for its Accessible Parking Enforcement Volunteer Program, which trains volunteers to issue citations and warnings to vehicles illegally parked under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Currently, the program has enlisted about 50 volunteers, with a goal of amassing 200 volunteers by the end of the year. Information about eligibility requirements, training and how to apply to be a parking enforcement volunteer can be found here.

Interested in starting a cooperatively owned business? The city is looking to help Austinites launch co-ops through training, coaching and information via a fairly new contract with University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. According to a press release about the new initiative, the city is offering a series of courses on, among other things, forming a housing cooperative, converting existing businesses to co-op formats and cooperative governance. This spring, the classes will be offered via webinar (with supplemental coaching sessions) starting March 24. Information on all the courses can be found on the city’s website, with registration for the first class available here.