With five days left of early voting, just about half of Travis County registered voters have cast ballots for the Nov. 3 election. A report from the Travis County Clerk’s Office showed 16,519 ballots cast Saturday and 10,114 on Sunday. That brings the total number of early votes to 427,071, with 56,057 of those mailed in. That’s 49.94 percent of all registered voters in the county. (For context, the total turnout record in Travis County was 66 percent, set in 2008.) Statewide, numbers continue to be similarly impressive. The Texas Tribune reported that, through Oct. 24, 42.4 percent of registered voters in Texas had already voted – that’s 7,184,300 people. Early voting will continue through Oct. 30, with extended voting hours on Oct. 28, 29 and 30. A map of early voting locations, with real-time wait times, can be found on the Travis County Clerk’s site.

The Equity Office has opened the application process for the city’s Reimagining Public Safety Grant Fund. Funding for the grants comes from the realignment of the Austin Police Department budget. According to the announcement, the grants “will provide flexible resources for local, community-based organizations to support community engagement projects that are focused on the reimagining of public safety in Austin.” Chief Equity Officer Brion Oaks explained, “The work of racial equity is to critically examine the role our systems play in the quality of life of our communities of color and other vulnerable communities. Nowhere is that more important than in the city’s approach to and definition of public safety.” Find info about eligibility requirements and supported activities on the grant dashboard. Awards of up to $20,000 will be considered with a program cap of $200,000. Apply online by Nov. 6. The awards will be announced on Nov. 23.

As the Austin Monitor reported last week, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department is considering leasing the Hancock Golf Course to a private concession, while the Hancock Conservancy is pushing for the property to be turned into public parkland. The parks department has scheduled two virtual public meetings – Monday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. and Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. – to allow community members to weigh in on the future of the nine-hole course. Both meetings will follow the same agenda: PARD will “review feedback from the February 29 meeting and following survey, discuss the request for proposals process, and share additional opportunities for community input.” Register for either meeting here.

Across the city, community members are having discussions about reimagining public safety in Austin. District 2 residents are invited to join Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza for a virtual community conversation on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sign up here to participate. There are several other ways to share your thoughts and opinions on the future of public safety. Take this short survey on police reform. Share your ideas on a SpeakUpAustin forum. Or host your own virtual listening session with friends, family and neighbors – this kit will provide all the materials you need. And read up to learn what the city is doing to reform Austin’s police department.

The George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center is turning 40 this Saturday, and like many 40-year-olds, the museum wants to party. The cultural facility’s 40th anniversary celebration – which begins at 3 p.m. and will be livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and carvermuseumatx.org – features “musical performances by EimaraL Sol and Distinguished Soundz plus dancers, DJs, and guest appearances from community leaders, artists, and educators.  The celebration will also honor community members who have committed themselves to the growth and development of Austin’s African American community.” RSVP on Eventbrite.

Austin urban forestry nonprofit TreeFolks is launching a new fundraising campaign with an earthy goal – to plant 1 million trees throughout Central Texas as part of the local solution to the climate crisis. The initiative, called Keep Austin Rooted, also hopes to help reverse the trend of tree canopy loss in Austin, to help keep the city cooler. For each $3 contributed, the organization will plant one Texas native tree. To celebrate the campaign launch, the city will officially declare Friday, Nov. 6, as Keep Austin Rooted Day. City Council Member Alison Alter plans to announce the proclamation at the Oct. 29 Council meeting. Learn more about the campaign at TreeFolks.org.

Barton Springs University Day 2020, like soooo many other things, will be a little different this year, but it will still be the diverse, educational program enquiring minds have come to know and love. The free half-day of virtual learning about Central Texas water issues will be livestreamed from 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The day starts with keynote speaker Dr. Robert Mace, the executive director and chief water policy officer at the Meadow Center for Water and the Environment, followed by a tour of Parthenia, Eliza and Zenobia springs at 9:45 a.m. At 10:15 a.m. stay for a presentation on toxic blue-green algae and at 10:45 a.m. you can learn all about the fascinating life cycle of the American eel. Youth climate change activists are in the next slot at 11 a.m. and at 11:20 a.m. you can hear about what it takes to become a lifeguard at Barton Springs. At 11:30 a.m. there’s a talk about managing wastewater in the Hill Country, appropriately titled “Beyond Yuck!” See the full program here.

If you’re like most people, you’ve got at least a few containers of expired prescription medications tucked away in your bathroom medicine cabinet. How do you get rid of this stuff? You know you’re not supposed to flush it down the toilet, because medications can contaminate water and harm aquatic wildlife. Fortunately, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day was invented just for this reason – to give people a safe and responsible way to dispose of unwanted, expired or unused prescription drugs. It’s also very easy: Just gather up all of your unwanted drugs, put them in a bag and bring them to the convenient drive-thru drop-off site at Constable Pct. Two, 10409 Burnet Road, Ste. 150, on Sat., Oct. 24, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. This free, no-questions-asked service is offered by Travis County Constables in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Collection site officials will be wearing masks and community members using the drive-thru are also asked to wear masks. As Travis County Constable Precinct 2 Adan Ballesteros said, “Dropping off your excess medication is a great way to protect our water quality and keep the community safe.”

The city’s parking division has converted pay stations to new “pay-by-plate” technology, which offers “a simplified, more flexible, on-street parking experience that uses less paper and saves time for customers,” according to the division. Drivers simply enter their vehicle’s license plate number at the pay station instead of retrieving a sticker to display on their vehicle window. As opposed to pay-by-space technology, pay-by-plate enables drivers to move to another space and still use whatever time they may have remaining. Other street parking system enhancements announced last month include expanding parking time limits to 10 hours per session and offering customers the ability to pay for parking with the Google Maps app via Google Pay, a new payment option alongside Austin’s mobile payment app Park ATX.

The Trail Foundation, in partnership with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and the Public Works Urban Trail Program, has launched an online survey to gather community input about the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. The survey, which is open until Nov. 13, is focused on understanding “how recent growth in Austin and increased use of the Trail has impacted the Trail experience for residents and visitors. The goal is to establish a vision to ensure the Trail continues to be a natural sanctuary for all of its users.” Responses from the survey will be used in a new Safety and Mobility Study to “help identify and outline the feasibility of key community supported projects such as trail widening, maintenance, lighting, and on-street connections.” Take the survey in English or in Spanish.

This Saturday, Oct. 24, Austin Public Health officials will be offering walk-up flu shots for those without health insurance, at the Southeast Branch Library, 5803 Nuckols Crossing Rd., from 8 a.m.-noon. Around 200 shots will be given. APH encourages those with insurance to look online to find a place where they can obtain a flu shot. Austin Public Health will hold a second, drive-up offering of about 600 flu shots to the uninsured on Nov. 7, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Travis County Expo Center. According to a press release from the city, “Both events are serving as practice for distributing a future Covid-19 vaccine.” Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County health authority, elaborated, “We have begun planning for the distribution of a Covid-19 vaccine and these flu shot events will help us understand the processes we need to have in place to ensure successful rapid distribution.” However, the “Southeast Branch Library Covid-19 neighborhood testing site will be closed on Saturday, Oct. 24k to accommodate the flu shot distribution. On Saturday, Nov. 7, all neighborhood testing sites will be closed (Givens Recreation Center, Little Walnut Creek Branch Library, Montopolis Recreation Center, and Southeast Branch Library). For both dates, drive-thru testing options will still be available.” Find information at AustinTexas.gov/Flu.