Public Notice: Signs of Summer

Austin Parks and Recreation launches a free park-and-ride shuttle service to Zilker Park this Saturday, running every 20 minutes on weekends through the summer, to and from the One Texas Center parking garage at 505 Barton Springs Rd. As you may recall, one of the main areas of contention in the Zilker Park Master Plan process had to do with transportation, and specifically the amount of on-site parking that's proposed for the park. So those who are arguing for less parking should be heartened by this pilot program, which will run 11am-7pm every Saturday and Sunday, and on the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays. Riders should park in the One Texas Center parking garage and then get their parking ticket (normally $10) validated on the shuttle bus. For more info, see austintexas.gov/zilker.

In the "things are back to normal" department, Bergstrom Airport just reported its sixth straight month of record monthly passenger traffic. March and April set new records not just for those months, but for any month ever, surpassing the previous record from the summer of 2019 by some 200,000 passengers a month, or almost 7,000 a day.

Head shop or gift shop? Cedar Park officials don't want this Planet K store in their city. (© 2022 Google Maps)

In another sign of business as usual, Mike Kleinman, owner of Planet K Gifts, is suing yet another local government, accusing the city of Cedar Park of trying to illegally force the closure of the Planet K store that opened there this summer, by cutting off water service and hounding him with complaints. While he has previously won the legal right to operate in various jurisdictions, and to maintain the large yard-art displays that many of his 21 stores are known for, this time out he's challenging the city's enforcement of a ban on head shops in its city limits. Kleinman claims that his store is indeed a gift shop, in fact selling food items and nonalcoholic beverages as well, and also that the ban on smoking accessories is unwarranted, because many hemp products are now legal to possess and consume.

The lawsuit, filed May 31 in U.S. District Court, asks for water service to be resumed, in addition to an award of monetary damages and the court's declaration that Cedar Park's head shop law is unconstitutional and unenforceable. Read the lawsuit here.

MLS All-Star voting opened this week; here are the Austin FC players who are eligible, by position

Do you love your Austin FC players? I know you do. Do you love them enough to go visit mlssoccer.com/vote every day for the next 10 days, and vote for them for the 2022 MLS All-Star team? Fan voting started June 21 and continues through next Friday, July 1, and fans can vote once per day. And if you need a cheat sheet to see who's eligible from the Verde roster, you can refer to the sample ballot above.