Tarrytown Neighborhood Park‘s playscape has gotten an upgrade, and the community is invited to celebrate at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Dec. 5. The new playscape involves a new tunnel tube, shade canopy and new sensory play equipment, and improvements that bring the playground into ADA compliance.

Central Health, Travis County’s hospital district, is in the process of selecting a new president and CEO to succeed Mike Geeslin as he steps down at the end of this year. As part of the process, Central Health is hosting community conversations featuring the two finalists, who were interviewed last month and were recommended by the ad hoc Succession Committee of the organization’s board of managers. The meetings are a chance for Travis County residents, advocates, local officials, partner organizations and the Central Health workforce to meet and hear directly from the two finalists. One finalist will be present from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 27, and the second will be available from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 29. The meetings will be held at the Central Health administrative offices, 1111 East Cesar Chavez St., Austin, TX 78702. The full board plans to make its final choice in mid-December.

The city’s Animal Services Office has asked for a little more time executing a resolution that asked all “pet animals” to be microchipped. The resolution, which was approved by City Council in June, also directed the city manager to “ensure that all Animal Protection Officers and vehicles, all Austin Police Stations, all Austin Fire Stations, all Austin Recreation Centers, and all Austin Public Libraries are outfitted with microchip scanners” and train employees to use them. In addition, the resolution called for a review of the Animal Services Office policies, practices and processes to ensure that they do not limit microchipping. In a Nov. 20 memo, Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland wrote that his department “has evaluated the current free microchip measures, ensured that all police, fire, and recreation centers are outfitted with microchip scanners, and reviewed policies and practices that could potentially limit the application of the microchipping program. ASO is working with the Law department to assess additional information needed to meet the requirements of the Resolution.” However, he said, more time would be needed to complete the work and an update will be provided on Jan. 31.

Former state Rep. Celia Israel has officially filed to run for Travis County tax assessor-collector in the upcoming 2024 Democratic primary. “I’m more committed than ever to ensuring government works for us, especially in this landscape of the state attempting to control aspects of our local governments and when a former President and his supporters are on the attack against the foundation of our democracy,” Israel said in a statement to the press. “I’m running for Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector to protect the vote as our county’s chief voter registrar, to stand up for people by providing the best customer service, and to ensure our government works for us by taking care of the basic functions of the office.” The press release from her campaign also notes that Israel has won early endorsements from Austin Firefighters Association IAFF Local 975, CWA Local 6132, LiUNA 1095 and LPAC. Bruce Elfant, who currently serves as tax assessor, will not be running for reelection. Israel also ran for mayor of Austin, losing out to current Mayor Kirk Watson in the most recent mayoral election.

City Council has put out a call for qualified people who can serve on Central Health’s Board of Managers.  According to a press release about the opening, the minimum time commitment for the position is about 10 to 15 hours per month, but that can vary. More information about the experience that is (and isn’t) preferred can be found here, and interested applicants can complete an application online here. If selected, applicants will be interviewed by Council’s Public Health Committee and, ultimately, one will be approved by Council as a whole. The term of service will run from January 2024 through Dec. 31, 2027.

This Sunday, Nov. 26, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, Austin Energy and the Trail of Lights Foundation will host the 57th annual Zilker Holiday Tree lighting. The holiday tradition kicks off at 6 p.m. and will feature food and live music at 2100 Barton Springs Road. Young artists who prevailed in the Zilker Holiday Tree Youth Art Contest will help light the tree. A press release from the city about the tradition notes that the tree is 155 feet tall and “is composed of 39 streamers, each holding 81 multicolored, mostly LED bulbs, totaling 3,309 lights. … The unique spiral pattern of the lights was created by City of Austin electricians. At its circumference, the tree measures 380 feet. The diameter is 120 feet. The base of the tree is made up of 19 utility poles, each 14 feet tall, arranged in a circle around the Moonlight Tower.”

Deborah Roberts, an Austin-based mixed-media artist whose work challenges notions of ideal beauty, will be hosted next month by the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center for a signing of her new monograph, “Deborah Roberts: Twenty Years of Art/Work.” The expansive monograph contains new texts that dive into Roberts’ archive and offer a comprehensive view of this significant social observer’s work. It is published by Radius Books. Roberts challenges stereotypes using images from American history, Black culture, pop culture and Black history in her art, combining found and manipulated images with hand-drawn and painted details. The signing will take place 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at 1165 Angelina St. The event is sponsored by Art Galleries at Black Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, Austin African American Book Festival, the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, Radius Books and soulciti.

Significant traffic delays are expected today surrounding the funeral of Jorge “George” Pastore, who died Saturday while on duty. The funeral service will take place at the Germania Insurance Amphitheater at Circuit of the Americas. People traveling to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport should also allow extra time to get there and plan to arrive at least 2.5 hours before their flight’s departure. There will be no dedicated road closures, but traffic delays are expected as the procession passes through major intersections and along roadways. Drivers along the procession route are encouraged to move to the right side of the roadway, if possible, and slow down or stop until the funeral procession has passed.

The procession route begins at 8 a.m.:

From Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home, 5416 Parkcrest Drive, to Mopac Expressway NB
Mopac Expressway NB to Highway 183 SB
Highway 183 SB to Interstate Highway 35 SB
Interstate Highway 35 SB to APD HQ (Eighth Street exit)
APD HQ to East Sixth Street WB
East Sixth Street WB to Congress Avenue NB
Congress Avenue NB to Texas State Capitol/11th Street EB
East 11th Street EB to Comal Street SB
Comal Street SB to East Sixth Street WB
East Sixth Street WB to Interstate Highway 35 SB
Interstate Highway 35 SB to US Highway 71 EB
US Highway 71 EB to 130 Toll Road SB
130 Toll Road SB to FM 812 EB
FM 812 EB to Circuit of the Americas Blvd. (COTA) NB

The call for 2025 exhibit proposals at the Dougherty Arts Center’s Julia C. Butridge Gallery is now open. Applications, which can be found online, can be submitted now through 11:59 p.m. Feb. 4. Submissions, which do not carry a fee, include an artist statement, exhibit proposal and images. Subsequent exhibits and events are free and open to the public. According to a press release from the city, “Through a rigorous selection process involving an anonymous panel of jurors and final approval by Dougherty Arts Center Management, several talented artists are chosen each gallery season to exhibit in one of three Julia C. Butridge Gallery exhibit spaces. For more information about current exhibits and events please visit austintexas.gov/jcbgallery.”

The city’s Planning Department and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department were honored with awards from Preservation Austin’s 2023 Annual Preservation Merit Awards program for projects that preserve cultural heritage and local history in the African American and Mexican American communities.

The Planning Department – with consultants Open Chair, The Projecto and Cultural Strategies – received a Special Recognition in Education award for the Translating Community History Project, which celebrates historically significant African American and Mexican American neighborhoods in East Austin by featuring resident portraits and present-day stories interwoven with archival materials.

Translating Community History recognizes the longstanding impact of Austin’s 1928 city plan, which restricted public services for African Americans to East Austin as new downtown development forced Mexican Americans east. Over the next decades, the city provided subpar municipal services to East Austin and federal dollars funded Interstate 35 to solidify the east-west divide. Despite these challenges, East Austinites established thriving neighborhoods, prosperous business districts, and religious and cultural institutions.

PARD received a Special Recognition in Education award for the Oakwood Cemetery Chapel’s digital history exhibit “To Emancipate,” which gives context to the lives of enslaved people brought to Austin beginning in the 1830s. Through generations of brutality, poverty, and struggle, their descendants survived and some thrived, and their stories are told through oral histories, an interactive map of Freedom Communities in Austin, biographies and photos.

The public is invited to a discussion on the proposed Austin light rail, to be held at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, at St. David’s Episcopal Church. The panel will be hosted by the Downtown Austin Alliance and feature Austin Transit Partnership leaders. They will speak on their work to design and build a light rail line to enhance mobility and downtown’s vibrancy, plus their goal of prioritizing the community’s values and needs. Attendance is free, but tickets are limited and RSVPs are encouraged. Register here.

City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison returned to the dais on Tuesday after taking a temporary leave of absence to address mental health issues. Harper-Madison came back to chair Council’s Housing and Planning Committee, a topic of special interest to her. At the end of the meeting, Harper-Madison thanked her colleagues for their attention to the committee’s business. She said, “I look forward to chairing this committee in 2024 and I invite my colleagues to share ideas and feedback from this past year. Together, we, this committee, worked with staff to make some sense of the vast backlog of Council resolutions related to the Land Development Code and housing.” She emphasized the work the committee has done without minimizing the fact that there is still much to do.