At his birthday party/fundraiser last night, Pct. 1 Travis County Commissioner Ron Davis announced his intention to retire. Davis, who was celebrating his 70th birthday, says he will leave office at the end of 2016. He was first elected in November 1998 to fill the unexpired term of Sam Biscoe, who had been elected county judge. Davis will have served for more than 18 years when he retires — probably a record tenure for Precinct 1 — and has been a strong supporter of environmental causes. Among those praising him at the party was colleague Pct. 2 Commissioner Brigid Shea. The only candidate who has filed a campaign treasurer designation for the Precinct 1 seat is James Nortey, a Harvard Law School graduate and member of the city’s Planning Commission. His campaign treasurer is Hoover Alexander, owner of the popular east side eatery, Hoover’s.

Longtime Assistant District Attorney Gary Cobb has indicated that he intends to announce his candidacy for DA in the 2016 Democratic primary. Cobb, director of the Grand Jury/Intake Division of the District Attorney’s Office, has prosecuted numerous high-profile defendants in his 24 years with the DA’s office. That list includes, most recently, George De La Cruz, who was convicted last month of murdering his wife. Cobb also prosecuted Brandon Daniel, who murdered Austin Police Officer Jaime Padron in 2012, and persuaded the jury to assess the death penalty. Cobb is a 1986 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, past president of the Austin Black Lawyers Association and former chair of the board of directors of KAZI, Austin Community Radio. Cobb was one of four assistant district attorneys to run in the Democratic primary in 2008. He endorsed the eventual winner of that race, current District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Attorney Beverly Reeves is his campaign treasurer. Cobb’s list of 500 supporters includes a who’s who of local officials, politicos and lawyers. Lehmberg intends to retire at the end of her term, which makes it likely that there will be several contenders for the seat. However, Cobb is recognized among political observers as the person to beat in the race at this early date.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and technology company Metropia announced Wednesday that they have launched a free app — also called Metropia — designed to help residents shorten travel times and earn rewards. According to a news release, the app, which has been in beta testing in Austin since September, “helps users determine their optimal commute and makes use of existing roadway capacity by directing drivers to less crowded roads and freeways, easing congestion throughout the city.” In addition, users can earn points that can be redeemed for rewards at certain local businesses. Development of the app is part of a federally funded pilot project aimed at helping drivers keep up with lane closures associated with construction on MoPac Boulevard. CTRMA is currently working on the MoPac Improvement Project, which involves adding an express lane in each direction of the highway between Cesar Chavez Street and Parmer Lane. Users can download the app from the App Store and Google Play.

The city, in partnership with the Downtown Austin Alliance and various community stakeholder groups, will host two public meetings to gather community feedback on developing a new vision for Congress Avenue. The plan will provide direction for an urban design initiative, which will guide future improvements to the stretch of the avenue between north of Riverside Drive and the Capitol. The meetings will be the first in a large-scale public engagement process, during which the city and the alliance will involve the community to assess the program’s needs. Design is set to begin in early 2016, at which time the project team will solicit more detailed feedback from local businesses, residents and the City of Austin at large to define the character, functional elements and management structures of the avenue. An open house is planned for 6-8 p.m. May 12 at Town Lake Center, 713 Barton Springs Road, and an “Issues and Eggs” forum is set for 7:30-9 a.m. May 20 at Brazos Hall, 204 E. Fourth St. For more information, visit the city website.

Mayor Steve Adler informed City Council at a work session Tuesday that staff has asked Council members to make their appointments to the city’s boards and commissions sooner rather than later. Though the new commissions system does not go into place until July 1, staff will need time to onboard and train the roughly 500 appointees. “I’m holding off making appointments if I can (until everyone makes) appointments, so that we can see if there’s a gap in skill or demographic or something that we can fill,” Adler said. “But I’m getting a lot of pressure to go ahead and make appointments to some of the ones that don’t have people, so that we can have a quorum.” In addition, he said, three task forces that Council has created have not met due to lack of quorum: the Austin Integrated Water Resource Planning Community Task Force, the Community Engagement Task Force and the Parkland Events Task Force. Boards and commissions priorities that staff have identified are the Arts Commission, the Board of Adjustment, the Environmental Board, the Historic Landmark Commission, the Housing Authority, the Parks and Recreation Board, the Public Safety Commission, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission, the Water and Wastewater Commission, the Urban Renewal Board and the Zoning and Platting Commission. A list of vacancies is available on the city’s website.

As of 7 a.m. today, Travis County’s STAR Flight will resume emergency medical flights. STAR Flight Program Director Casey Ping said Tuesday that the limited return to the air will not include firefighting, law enforcement assistance or search and rescue missions. The division’s four helicopters were grounded after flight nurse Kristin McLain’s fatal fall during a rescue mission over the Barton Creek Greenbelt. Ping said crew members are still being evaluated and are receiving counseling. He did not give a timeline for a full reinstatement of STAR Flight’s services.

A recently released summer pool schedule may have ruffled some feathers in some Austin neighborhoods, but Parks and Recreation officials want you to know that nothing has changed since last week’s Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee meeting. Cheryl Bolin, the Parks and Recreation Department’s Aquatics and Athletics manager, said that her division is still considering options for both Metz and Mabel Davis pools. In an email to the Austin Monitor, Bolin explained that additional leak detection is underway, and results from that work are expected “in the near future.” As for the future of the pools, Bolin wrote, “These results and the feedback received from the community will be considered with regards to the status of Metz and Mabel Davis for the 2015 season. If operational changes are made, the pool schedule will be adjusted accordingly and rereleased with new information.”

The Second Street District public-private redevelopment project was recognized with an Impact Award for Influence last month, presented by the Urban Land Institute’s Austin Chapter. The six-block core of the district is the result of a development effort involving the City of Austin and six private entities. Redevelopment of the formerly distressed low-rise commercial properties and surface parking lots produced a dense, walkable mixed-use area that has contributed greatly to downtown vitality. The institute said the Second Street District also exerted significant influence on downtown redevelopment beyond its core by proving the economic viability of downtown mixed-use development. The district had already received recognition in 2011 by the International Economic Development Council, with an Excellence in Economic Development Award for Best Public-Private Partnership in a community with a population over 500,000.

Following three hours of interviews, the City Council Audit and Finance Committee recommended unanimously Monday that Council appoint Michael Murphy and Lottie Dailey to fill two positions on the Municipal Civil Services Commission that expire Saturday. The commission’s outgoing members are Chair Kimberlee Kovach and Commissioner Kevin Russell. The committee also unanimously supported the commission’s April 27 recommendation that Council select current Commissioner Pamela Lancaster to take over as chair. If appointed by Council at its May 14 meeting, Murphy and Dailey would serve three-year terms. Created by voters through a City Charter amendment in the November 2012 election, the five-member commission hears appeals and makes binding decisions relating to disciplinary action for city municipal civil service employees who are not subject to state civil service laws.

This past March, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport had its highest-ever passenger counts. Some 1,006,899 people — many headed to South by Southwest and other March events — traveled through the airport, making it the busiest month ever, and only the second month to break 1 million passengers. (The other was July 2014.) According to a statement from the city, Austin’s airport has seen passenger grown in 62 of the past 63 months. That streak started in January 2010.

Today is the final day of early voting in the May 9 Joint General and Special Election. If you live in Austin, don’t panic — there are no city or Travis County candidates on issues on the ballot. The vote will cover several municipal elections in smaller cities, including Leander, Cedar Park, Manor, Lakeway, Lago Vista and West Lake Hills. There are also other elections for local school districts, emergency services districts and water districts. Early voting locations are open all around Travis County today, and you don’t have to vote in your assigned precinct. On Saturday, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. only in the jurisdiction of the local election. For a list of local polling places and other information, go here.

Applications are now open for the Artist INC Live 2015 seminar, sponsored by the Economic Development Department in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Artist INC is a nationally recognized arts entrepreneurship program designed to give artists from all disciplines the business training and support needed to strengthen their craft and grow their arts business. The department’s Cultural Arts Division will host the eight-week seminar beginning Sept. 8 and continuing on consecutive Tuesday evenings through Oct. 27. Local arts professionals Andrea Ariel, Zell Miller III, Dharmesh Patel, Leticia Rodriguez, Roy Rutngamlug and Jeanette Hill will act as local facilitators and lead the training sessions along with city staff. Artists are encouraged to apply online between May 4 and July 6.