Headlines

Public Works Director Richard Mendoza, Mayor Steve Adler, and Council Members Greg Casar and Kathie Tovo walk the new sidewalk along Chesterfield Avenue in the North Loop neighborhood last Thursday. The 1,800-foot sidewalk cost $130,000 to build, and is the first completed project funded by the $720 million mobility bond voters approved last November. (Photo by John Anderson)

Council's Vacation Continues: There's no regular City Council meeting this week. Members are on their July break, and don't return to the dais for Thursday meetings until Aug. 3.

State lawmakers are also cramming a little vacation time in before they return to Austin on July 18 for the special legislative session.

Good news for legal wonks: Texas' Court of Criminal Appeals will begin mounting video cameras inside its Downtown courtroom this year, with oral arguments to be either streamed live or archived and viewable at a later date. (The court is still working out that issue.) The change in procedure is the result of the recently signed into law House Bill 214, by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg.

TABC Woes Continue: Another departure from the scandal-wracked Texas Alcoholic Bever­age Commission. General Counsel Emily Helm follows Executive Director Sherry Cook and Commis­sioner Steve Weinberg in quitting after lawmakers began scrutinizing questionable decisions and spending at the booze-regulating agency.

A Trump-created panel has requested that states release public voting data so they can get to the bottom of the president's unsubstantiated claim that millions of residents voted illegally in 2016. Concerned about privacy, 44 states have refused to fully comply. Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said the state will comply only by sending info that's already public under state law.

Austin Energy hosts its annual, all-day Affordable Energy Policy Summit next Tuesday, July 11, at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Cen­ter. The summit updates nonprofit social service providers on various assistance programs for low-income AE customers, and on the city of Aus­tin's Customer Assistance Program discounts. In 2016, more than 37,000 customers qualified for CAP discounts; see info at www.austinenergy.com/go/cap.

Austin B-Cycle expands, adding three stations to its stable this week, part of an 18-station, 125-bike expansion over the next 18 months. The new stations are at Cesar Chavez & Con­gress, Sterzing & Barton Springs, and on Henderson between Sixth & Ninth streets. Locations for the other 15 new stations are not yet finalized.

Across the Pond: Ready for a nonstop to London? This week Norwegian Airlines announced nonstop service from ABIA to Gatwick Airport, beginning March 27, 2018, and currently advertised at a base fare of $250 one-way, three days per week.

ABIA's lower level was temporarily evacuated Wednesday after officials found a suspicious package. The evacuation lasted more than two hours before operations continued as usual.