April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, and in recognition of survivors, the Alamo Drafthouse will host two screenings of “An Army of Women.” This disturbing yet surprisingly uplifting documentary follows several Austin-area women who lodged a class-action lawsuit after their cases were mishandled by the Austin Police Department. The commitments made in the lawsuit (which the city settled in 2022) led to many of the recent reforms in Austin’s sexual assault response systems. The Alamo has scheduled evening showings on April 1 and 3, followed by a live Q&A with film participants. The April 1 showing is nearly sold out, but there are still spots on April 3 – tickets available here. “An Army of Women” premiered at SXSW Film Festival in 2024. More theatrical screenings are being announced on the film website. Find resources for survivors at atxbelieves.org.

Last month, Travis County confirmed its first reported case of measles since 2019, in an unvaccinated baby “who was exposed to the virus during a vacation overseas.” Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County Health Authority, announced that “measles has arrived in our community” and urged residents to “make sure they’re protected against this vaccine-preventable disease.” The safest and most effective way to protect yourself from measles is by getting the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. Measles is more than just an itchy rash, Walkes said, and it “can put you in the hospital and can even lead to death, as we’ve seen already in Texas.” Measles is so contagious that a single infected person can pass the disease on to nine or 10 people nearby, if they are not protected. Fortunately, Austin Public Health holds free vaccine clinics throughout Travis County, all year long. No insurance is required and noncitizens are welcome. Find dates, locations and times of the clinics here.

​Movability, Central Texas’ transportation management association, will host its inaugural Central Texas Commuter Awards Luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 10. The event, held at HNTB’s office on the 24th floor of the Indeed Tower at 200 W. Sixth St., aims to honor individuals and organizations leading mobility initiatives that enhance commuting experiences in the region. ​The awards will recognize finalists across several categories including Commute Policy Champion, Community Commute Champion and Carbon Reduction Champion. Movability will also recognize Central Texas employers named as national “Best Workplaces for Commuters” in 2025. The more than one dozen recognized organizations offer benefits such as transit pass and vanpool subsidies, guaranteed ride-home programs, secure bike parking, carpool incentives, flex time and telework options. Tickets for the luncheon are available for purchase, and sponsorship opportunities are open for interested organizations.

Fans of Big Stacy Pool at 700 E. Live Oak St. will have to find an alternative next month when the pool closes for its annual spring cleaning and maintenance. During the closure – Saturday, April 26, through Sunday, May 11 – swimmers can get their pool fix at Bartholomew, Deep Eddy, Garrison, Springwoods, Walnut Creek or Barton Springs Pool. For operating hours and locations of open pools, visit AustinTexas/gov/pools.

Several high-profile Austin initiatives – including creek restoration, violence prevention, early childhood education and trail expansion – are now in limbo after Congressional Community Funding requests for Fiscal Year 2025 were shelved due to ongoing disarray in Washington. The city confirmed Friday that roughly $9.7 million in proposed funding for local projects will not proceed this year. The requests, submitted by U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar, included support for Waterloo Greenway Creek Restoration and Water Quality Improvements, Austin Community Violence Intervention, the Dove Springs Early Childhood Education Center and the Oak Brook extension of the Northern Walnut Creek Trail. The halt in funding follows the passage of a continuing resolution that keeps the federal government funded at Fiscal Year 2024 levels, but excludes all pending CCF appropriations. The resolution, signed by President Donald Trump on March 15, effectively stalls all direct congressional project funding for the year. CCF requests – previously known as earmarks – allow members of Congress to direct federal dollars to specific projects within their districts. Since their return in Fiscal Year 2022, Austin has received approximately $23.6 million through the process.

City Council work sessions have been considerably shorter since the new Council took office in January. On Tuesday, work session attendees are scheduled to hear what will likely be a brief presentation on extending the automated license plate reader pilot program. The program was implemented last March and is slated to end on March 28 of this year. However, City Manager T.C. Broadnax is asking for an extension of the program to June so the Office of the City Auditor can present a report to the Audit and Finance Committee. The extension of the pilot is also required by a contract the city has with the provider of the equipment. Data from the reader is kept for no more than seven days except in circumstances related to ongoing criminal investigations or missing persons. While any Council member may pull an item from Thursday’s agenda for discussion on Tuesday, there were no indications that they would do that Monday morning. There are also several executive session items to keep Council talking behind closed doors.

The South River City Citizens neighborhood group is officially opposing changing the city’s future land use map to exclude a part of their neighborhood in order to expedite placement of a new transit center station for Project Connect. The group expressed its concerns in a resolution unanimously adopted by those attending last week’s neighborhood meeting. Removing the area and adding a transit center, they said, would introduce “uses inconsistent with quiet enjoyment of their residential neighborhood and (diminish) the value of their residential dwellings.” The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider whether to recommend changes to the future land use map at tonight’s meeting. The item is close to the end of a very full agenda. According to the city, the changes are scheduled to go to Council on April 24. It is not clear when such a transit station might be constructed.

Travis County has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died by suicide in the county jail in early 2022. Dallas attorney Dean Malone filed suit on behalf of the man’s family. According to a news release announcing the settlement, Jared “J.J.” Bell was arrested at an Austin-area hospital where his brother had taken him because he “was experiencing psychosis and self-harm tendencies.” He was taken to jail on an outstanding warrant and put on suicide watch. However, he was not under full supervision and took his own life, according to the law firm.

The Zero Waste Advisory Commission held a special called meeting on March 20 with a single action item – to approve the commission’s recommendations for Fiscal Year 2026 and 2027 budget goals. The commission unanimously passed a resolution containing the following recommendations:

• Initiate adequate reserve funding for the support of daily waste, recycling, heavy brush and organic recycling collection operations.
• Identify and develop a North Austin Transfer Station to address the growth occurring in the area.
• Increase Austin Resource Recovery’s reserve fund balance to meet at a minimum a three-month cost of operation reserve.

The specific amount of the funding increase will be determined at a later date. The resolution will be posted online within the coming month and will be presented to the City Council on April 8.

A new report from Construction Coverage finds that, while Austin’s minority homeownership gap remains significant, it is smaller than the nationwide average. The study, which examines disparities in homeownership across the country, found that 51.3 percent of minority households in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area own their homes, compared to 64 percent of white households – a gap of 12.7 percentage points. Nationally, the gap between white and minority homeownership has remained above 20 percentage points for more than two decades, with the Black-white homeownership divide wider today than it was in the 1960s. The report highlights disparities by race, noting that Asian and Pacific Islander households have the highest homeownership rate at 63.3 percent, while Hispanic and Black households have the lowest at 51 and 45 percent, respectively. The full report, which examines homeownership trends across the 100 largest U.S. metro areas and all 50 states, is available online.

Nick Barbaro, co-founder of The Austin Chronicle, and publisher for the past 43 years, has retired and named longtime staffer Cassidy Frazier as the new publisher. Barbaro will continue as president of the Austin Chronicle Corporation, “and will resume his role of canine chauffeur whenever the new Chronicle dog is identified,” according to the publication’s press release. Frazier has worked at the Chronicle for more than 25 years, starting as a classified ad salesperson and working her way up to associate publisher. The print publisher’s job will be harder than ever, she notes, because of “the obstacles of rising printing costs (thanks to the latest tariffs) and ongoing news media challenges.” Nevertheless, she expresses optimism and commitment to producing independent news. She is also a board member of AAN, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, and currently serves as secretary.

Waterloo Greenway has appointed Colette Pierce Burnette as its new chief executive officer, effective April 1. Burnette, a former board member and longtime Austin community leader, returns to the city after serving as president and CEO of Newfields, a cultural institution in Indianapolis. The Waterloo Greenway Board of Directors selected Burnette following a nationwide search. Burnette previously served as president of Huston-Tillotson University, where she oversaw major growth in the university’s endowment and enrollment. Her tenure at Waterloo Greenway comes during work on phase two of the 35-acre park system, which is focused on Palm Park and slated to open in 2026. Burnette will lead fundraising, operations and community partnerships to ensure the project’s continued success. The public is invited to welcome Burnette at Waterloo Greenway’s Pop-Up Picnic on April 5 at Moody Amphitheater. Find more information at waterloogreenway.org/picnic.