Former Planning Commission Chair Todd Shaw has thrown his hat into the ring for the soon-to-be-empty District 7 seat. Shaw will be the fifth candidate vying for the City Council chair, which is up for grabs for the first time as incumbent Leslie Pool will not be running again. According to a press release from the campaign, Shaw will prioritize more housing and housing options with an emphasis on consensus and collaboration. In addition, Shaw said in a statement to the press, “We must improve our infrastructure in a way that prepares for the changing climate such as increased flooding, drought, and wildfires with a focus on protecting the most vulnerable populations. Infrastructure resiliency is not a very exciting topic, but it will be the top public safety concern in Austin and other major cities in the years to come. My environmental and construction experience will provide missing expertise on Council to address this issue.” Also running for the position are Texas Housers’ Edwin Bautista; Pierre Nguyễn, a Public Safety and Asian American Quality of Life commissioner, firefighter and EMT; Adam Powell, a union organizer and SAFE Alliance board member; and former congressional Democratic nominee Mike Siegel, who co-founded Ground Game Texas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will bestow $4 million to the city of Austin to construct and maintain a new reuse warehouse thanks, in part, to the efforts of U.S. Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett. The Solid Waste Infrastructure Grant will allow the city to build a space for redistributing used furniture and building materials, among other things, as part of a larger effort to improve recycling in Austin. “Right now, far too many materials are wasted when they could be recycled and reused by people in need. Improved recycling not only lets these items have a second life – but they’ll be a lifeline to struggling Austinites,” Casar said in a statement to the press. “I’m grateful for the Biden Administration supporting this creative way of reducing waste while helping people get back on their feet.” The new warehouse will, according to a press release, “accept and redistribute used furniture at no cost to nonprofits and their clients, with a focus on furnishing the homes of those transitioning out of homelessness,” and will eventually expand to include building materials, reducing the waste sent to landfills.

The Great North American Eclipse drops next Monday, April 8, and in preparation the city’s parks department has teamed up with UT Austin to provide eclipse glasses and telescopes with solar filters in all 10 City Council districts. The telescopes will be available for independent and guided viewing from noon to 3 p.m. at Colony Park, Onion Creek Soccer Complex, Roy G. Guerrero Metropolitan Park, Gus Garcia District Park, Mary Moore Searight Park, Pickfair Pocket Park, Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park, Zilker Metropolitan Park and Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center , which will also offer a livestream of the eclipse for people who want to remain indoors. “We are excited to partner with the City of Austin to enable eclipse viewing in our neighborhoods and Council districts,” UT’s president, Jay Hartzell, said in a statement to the press. “The scientists, researchers and other experts at UT are neighbors to the residents of Austin. We want to make sure that the entire city and its visitors benefit from having one of the top astronomy departments and research universities in the world right down the street.” Because of an expected influx of visitors and traffic, officials are advising everyone to stick close to home. Austin won’t be in the path of totality again for more than 319 years.

The Save Austin Now Political Action Committee has filed a “motion to expedite ruling” this week, in an attempt to speed up its lawsuit against the city for what they say is a refusal to enforce the camping ban. In the May 2021 election, 58 percent of voters approved the ban, resulting in its reinstatement. However, in August 2021, the PAC filed a suit about the perceived lack of enforcement, which was dismissed in November 2022. In August 2023, Save Austin Now appealed that decision to the 3rd Court of Appeals, which has yet to issue a ruling. “This case has been ready for the Court of Appeals to decide for nearly 8 months, so today we filed a motion asking the court to render its decision soon,” Michael Lovins of the Lovins Law Firm, lead attorney for the Save Austin Now Prop B lawsuit, said in a statement to the press. “Regardless of the decision, we expect this case to go to the Texas Supreme Court. We are eager to get to the merits of this case and have the voters’ will enforced.”

A Travis County jury has awarded $1.5 million to former Austin Police Lt. Johnny McMiller for retaliation during the tenure of former Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo. McMiller’s attorneys, Gary Bledsoe and Nadia Stewart, announced the decision in a news release this week. McMiller was forced to retire in 2015 after trying to “prevent discrimination against an African-American sergeant and an African-American Assistant Chief,” according to their statement. Although the jury found that the department had retaliated against McMiller, the court “threw out any claims of the race discrimination before trial,” the city said.

Bledsoe described McMiller as a rising star in the department whose advancement was stymied by Acevedo.

Bledsoe explained that McMiller was trying to help two other officers in a dispute related to their off-duty employment at Capital Metro. Under the “meet and confer” agreement the city had with the Austin Police Association, Bledsoe said APD should not have been allowed to consider the officers’ actions at their secondary employment.

Meghan Riley, city of Austin division chief in the Law Department, released the following statement: “While we very much appreciate the jury’s time and attention to this employment retaliation lawsuit stemming from a 2015 disciplinary decision, we were surprised and disappointed with the result. We continue to review the jury findings and will work with our client to determine the necessary post-verdict steps to take.”

Bledsoe responded: “If the City of Austin is truly serious about addressing the problems raised by this case (they should) follow the jury’s verdict and make McMiller whole … and adhere to the advice the jurors gave us, that APD brass follow the policies and procedures of the department and stop meting out discipline willy nilly.”

Easter Sunday – which this year falls on March 31 – is one of the busiest days for the entire Travis County Parks system, so residents are encouraged to plan ahead and arrive early for their festivities. The parks will be open as usual, and Travis County will monitor capacity. If a park reaches maximum capacity, it will close. A closure notice would be posted to that specific park’s web page, and additional visitors would not be allowed in for the day. Visitors would not be allowed to park elsewhere and walk in, and those who leave the park while it’s at capacity would not be able to reenter. Additionally, to help protect the environment, visitors are asked to not bring confetti eggs (cascarones) that contain plastic confetti. For more information, visit each park’s web page and review the “Know Before You Go” sections.

The city may move forward with conducting its first comprehensive census of the local disabled population, a move that disability advocates say will help to properly gauge the need for services and other resources for that community. At a special meeting held last week, the Mayor’s Committee for People With Disabilities passed a recommendation for City Council to approve and carry out a point-in-time count of Austin’s disabled community. Committee Member Pete Salazar, who had requested the census in a recent meeting and helped to draft the language, said Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool has indicated support for the count.

The 23rd annual ¡Sí Se Puede! César Chávez March & Celebration will take place this Saturday, March 30, to honor the life and legacy of César Chávez on his birthday. The celebration will take place at Parque Zaragoza from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with sign-making and gathering for the march to start at 9 a.m. The march itself is a short one around the park. The celebration will feature speakers, community vendors, artists and nonprofits, and performances from Ballet Folklorico, high school drumlines and music from DJ Chris “Tejano Man” Tristan and Mariachi Sin Fronteras. The event is hosted by the United by Our Roots coalition of: HABLA; Amigos de Parque Zaragoza; PODER; East Austin Conservancy; Council Member José Velásquez, Austin City Council, District 3; George Morales, Travis Co. Constable Pct. 4; Del Valle Community Coalition; Fiesta Austin; HABLA y VOTA Action Fund; Muertos Clothing Co.; Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, Austin City Council, District 2; Austin Latino Coalition; LULAC 4221 & 650; Mexicanos 2070; MAS Cultura; La Voz Newspaper; HOT Tejano; Council Member Chito Vela, Austin City Council, District 4; Latino HealthCare Forum; and AFSCME Local 1624.

As the April 8 total solar eclipse draws closer, the Bullock Museum will host two programs exploring the science of eclipses and how to view them safely. Next Wednesday at noon, the museum will hold a discussion about the nature of eclipses and how to properly photograph them, featuring Rob Pettengill, NASA JPL solar system ambassador and Astronomy in Chile education ambassador. A similar program will take place beginning at 10 a.m. April 7, with NASA ambassador Sophie Gairo and representatives from the McDonald Observatory talking about the solar eclipse. Families may also participate in science, technology and engineering demonstrations with Girlstart. More information on museum programming is available at www.thestoryoftexas.com.

The Joint Sustainability Committee will hold a public hearing today to help develop a new Environmental Investment Plan. In February, City Council approved a resolution asking city staff to look at a number of climate initiatives already approved in order to help prioritize and fund those that reduce carbon emissions, decrease water use, advance sustainability and improve community resilience. Today’s hearing, which will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at City Hall, seeks public help in identifying what should be prioritized moving forward. Those unable to attend tonight’s meeting can fill out this online form with ideas and suggestions: bit.ly/JSCPublicForm.

Capital Metro is (kind of) joining in on the solar eclipse fun. First, the fun part: The transportation authority is hosting an eclipse viewing picnic from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Leander Station Park & Ride. On the less-fun side of things, Capital Metro is anticipating severe delays in the time surrounding the eclipse, due to an excess of traffic. In addition, the agency warns that its operators may choose to pull over vehicles during the two or so minutes of the full eclipse, due to total darkness and possible cosmic weirdness. Nonetheless, regular bus service and special rail service will remain up and running on April 8.

The first of 10 new floodgates was installed on Burnet County’s Wirtz Dam, which forms Lake LBJ. It is part of Lower Colorado River Authority’s $76 million, three-year project to remove and replace each of the dam’s original floodgates with new, custom-built floodgates made to today’s engineering standards. The dam was completed in 1951 with nine floodgates, and a 10th was added when a power plant was constructed in 1974. “Most of the floodgates have been in place for 73 years, so it’s time for them to be updated,” said Kelly Payne, LCRA vice president of water operations. “We’re in a drought now, but we’re in Flash Flood Alley, and we know the next flood could be right around the corner.” LCRA is replacing the floodgates one at a time so the dam remains operational and ready to pass floodwaters downstream, if needed. The project is expected to be completed in 2025. Throughout the project, the area up to about 300 feet upstream of the dam on Lake LBJ will remain off-limits to boaters.