The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded Austin ISD’s Creative Learning Initiative a $100,000 grant to support access to the arts. This is the fifth time the initiative has been awarded this grant. Among other things, the grant will support elementary school drama and dance instruction, partnerships with community arts groups and professional resources for AISD teachers. John Green-Otero, the coordinator of the Creative Learning Initiative, said in an announcement about the award, “Receiving this prestigious grant allows us to better provide all kids with equitable access to the arts and creative learning. As an Initiative, we strive to advance the rigor, relevance and relationships of the arts and education for all AISD students and it is an honor to be with this select group of people doing such amazing work.”

Photo by Alan Schmierer made available through a Creative Commons license.

The February entry in Balcones Canyonlands Preserve’s Wild Neighbors series unrolls a subject close to every Texan’s heart: the armadillo. Originally hailing from Mexico, these armored insectivores ambled over the border sometime in the mid-1800s and decided to hang around. Dr. Pamela Owen, the associate director of the Texas Memorial Museum, will “explore the fossil record, biology and ecology of the nine-banded armadillo – our wild neighbor and cultural icon.” You’ll never look at these beneficial (they eat wasps!) and fascinating (they can jump straight up in the air!) mammals the same way again. Register here for the webinar on Friday, Feb. 26, noon-1 p.m. If you can’t attend the live event, it will be recorded and archived on YouTube with the rest of the Wild Neighbors speaker series.

Austin was downgraded to Stage 4 of Austin Public Health’s Covid-19 Risk-Based Guidelines on Monday. Though the change represents a decrease in severity of the pandemic locally, the health department still urges caution. According to the city, the current recommendations include:

• Higher-risk individuals (those over the age of 65 and those who have chronic medical conditions) should stay home, except for essential trips such as buying groceries or seeking medical care.
• Lower-risk individuals should avoid social gatherings, any gatherings greater than 10 people, and non-essential travel.
• Businesses and restaurants voluntarily operate at a reduced capacity of 25-50 percent.
• Schools voluntarily limit attendance at sporting events to players, coaches and parents.

Austin moved into Stage 5 on Dec. 23, 2020, after a spike in cases spurred by holiday gatherings. More information and updates about the pandemic can be found at AustinTexas.gov/COVID19. “As the pace of vaccinations hopefully continues to rise and people continue to stay safe, we can keep moving this community in a positive direction,” APH Director Stephanie Hayden-Howard said.

The city, Capital Metro and Austin Transit Partnership are seeking qualified individuals to join an 11-member advisory committee that will offer advice on issues surrounding Project Connect and equity. The advisory committee, which will include six community members appointed by a nominating committee, will meet monthly. According to the announcement, the committee will provide counsel on the following topics:

• Design features of the system, particularly those that are intended to serve people with disabilities or people who need to use the system in different ways (such as parents traveling with strollers)
• Community involvement and communications during the environmental process
• Transit-supportive anti-displacement tools and strategies to deploy
• Creation of Key Performance Indicators related to equity

Learn more at CapMetro.org/Get-Involved. The application is open until Feb. 28.

Tomorrow is a big day for Norman-Sims Elementary School – it’s the long-awaited (virtual) grand opening of the new modernized campus. Principal Wendy Mills and AISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde invite the entire community to celebrate via Zoom webinar or watch live on AISD’s Facebook page. According to the news release, a host of improvements to the campus “will allow students to be active learners in 21st-century educational spaces. They will use technology and learn collaboratively in the newly designed classrooms.” Mills called the virtual event, which includes a student reenactment of the school’s namesakes, a tour and a ribbon-cutting, “the next step in a bold new beginning for both the school and our community.” Thursday, Feb. 11, 10:30 a.m. RSVP here.

City Council members have plenty to consider at their meeting today, and if there is not sufficient agreement on items to put before voters on May 1, they will have to come back Wednesday and Thursday to firm up the ballot. In addition to items calling for a special election on the citizen-initiated ordinance that would reinstate criminal penalties for camping in public areas, Council will also consider several charter amendments from the group that wishes to change Austin’s form of government to a strong-mayor system. Austin firefighters have also petitioned Council to place an item on the ballot requiring the city to participate in binding arbitration on firefighter contracts. None of those things come as a surprise since citizens have been collecting signatures on petitions for several months. The surprise item is from Council Member Greg Casar, who proposes a charter amendment he says “would give City Council and the community the opportunity to make the (Office of Police Oversight) even stronger and more independent moving forward through future discussion and Council ordinance.” In a statement released Monday, Casar noted that the cities of New Orleans and Seattle each have police monitors governed by independent boards. As there is likely to be considerable discussion about the timeliness of this item, Casar wrote in a City Council Message Board post, “In most cases, I would prefer more time for community conversation before putting a charter amendment on the ballot. Since the citizen petitions have triggered a charter election, we may not have the opportunity to alter the charter again for two years, given state law. I don’t want to let the moment pass us by. Further, this charter amendment is different. It creates the *option* for Council to create more independent structures, but the charter amendment does not dictate the future path.” He thanked Council members Alison Alter, Vanessa Fuentes, Pio Renteria and Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison, who co-sponsored the item “for discussion.” In order to avoid coming back for meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, an item must receive seven affirmative votes to be placed on the ballot. If an item receives only six votes, Council will have to reconvene to consider the matter again.

The Austin Independent School District is considering $1,000 “retention incentive benefits” for full-time staff and $500 payments for part-time staff. AISD trustees will vote on the benefits at their Feb. 11 meeting. A press release from the district explains that the bonuses are a way to recognize outstanding work throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. If approved, the money will be distributed in March to employees earning less than $150,000 a year. The measure is supported by Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, who has “prioritized the need for this additional monetary award as staff continues to persevere through the many challenges of serving students during the pandemic,” according to the press release.

The Lone Star State’s most congested roadway is finally going to get some relief, though nobody can quite agree on what that will look like. The I-35 Capital Express Central project, aimed at improving mobility on I-35 through Central and Downtown Austin, is in the works and plenty of people have had plenty to say about the project. The Texas Department of Transportation is in the process of reviewing comments submitted by more than a dozen city of Austin departments and several thousand Austinites. TxDOT will hold a virtual public scoping meeting from Wed., Feb. 24, to Thu., March 25, “to provide stakeholders an opportunity to view the project presentation and provide comments.” Read the Monitor’s coverage on the topic here, here and here.

Mayor Steve Adler said Thursday that City Council will be scheduled to discuss Planning Commission appointments at its next work session, which is Feb. 16. Because Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the city over having too many real estate-related appointees on the commission, Council needs to discuss those appointments, rather than making unilateral decisions. Council approved Council Member Leslie Pool’s reappointment of Todd Shaw on Thursday, with Adler explaining it was fine to go ahead with that reappointment, especially since Shaw is not employed in the real estate industry. Council Member Mackenzie Kelly also removed her predecessor’s appointment to the commission, Greg Anderson. Anderson, who was serving in his third term and works for Habitat for Humanity, was philosophical about his removal. He told the Austin Monitor he was not surprised and that he does not live in District 6. Anderson is a strong supporter of denser development who has vowed not to cut his hair until the city has a new Land Development Code.

Feb. 5 marked one year since Austin Public Health started monitoring returning travelers “for a mysterious respiratory illness, now known as Covid-19.” Today the city health department has expanded from monitoring Covid in the community to a program of “robust case investigation, testing, vaccination, and social services operations,” according to a news release. APH Director Stephanie Hayden-Howard said, “Our staff has been incredible in responding to Covid-19 over the past year and our work is not done. While vaccine has started flowing into the community, we cannot let up our guard just yet. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we need to get out of the surge we continue to face.” APH has compiled the following statistics that tell the tale of the department’s battle to contain the pandemic in Austin and Travis County:

• 412,470 APH staff hours spent on Covid-19
• 39,650 people vaccinated by APH
• 153,571 tests administered by APH
• 422 written warnings issued to restaurants/bars by APH Environmental Health Officers
• 240 child care providers given health and safety supplies
• 45 press conferences and media availabilities held
• 1,038,302 emails sent through community distribution lists
• 1,910 translated documents and graphics

A new Development Services Department pilot project aims “to help keep complex projects on track,” according to a news release from the department. Site plans with Master Comment Reports that receive two or more conflicting review comments are eligible for participation. DSD explains: “Your Master Comment Report should include a link inviting eligible customers to participate in the pilot. If your report includes comments that conflict with one another, selecting this option will trigger a review by the staff providing the comments. You will receive follow-up notification after reviewers determine an alternative that allows your project to move forward in a compliant manner.” DSD hopes the project will “help customers save time and money by finding appropriate solutions quickly and efficiently.”

A ballot initiative that seeks to reinstate the city’s ban on camping in public places will likely go before voters on May 1. On Thursday the city clerk verified the validity of the petition submitted by the nonprofit group Save Austin Now, which turned in 27,000 signatures last month. The petition needed 20,000 valid signatures to make it onto the ballot. The push for reinstatement of the camping ban and prohibition of sitting and lying down in most public places is Save Austin Now’s attempt to alter the city’s management of a growing homeless population. The ordinance changes approved by City Council in mid-2019 were seen as a way to decriminalize homelessness, launching a still-hot-button debate over the presence of homeless encampments in various parts of the city. Save Austin Now attempted to put the issue before voters last year but the clerk’s office found that petition lacked enough valid signatures. The next administrative step for the effort will give Council the option – by Feb. 12 – to adopt the proposed action without an election or call for the election. The issue is expected to be discussed at a special Council meeting on Feb. 9.