Austin City Limits Music Festival is paying Austin $103,530 to shut Zilker Park to the public for at least 27 days, per the 2021 contract Axios obtained through an open records request.

The big picture: The parks fees are a fraction of the overall payouts that festival organizer C3 Presents makes to the city, but it puts a price on the interruption at one of our most popular spots for dog walkers and frisbee players.

• Full disclosure: Asher's own soccer game has gone nomadic, relocating to a weedy, overgrown field at Rosewood Neighborhood Park, the condition of which recalls long-running questions about park spending on the east and west sides of Austin.

By the numbers: The last time ACL Fest was mounted in 2019, C3 paid Austin $2.4 million, including $1.45 million in ticket fees and reimbursements for costs related to police, fire, EMS and transportation — as well as the park rental fees.

• A percentage of ACL Fest ticket sales is directed to the Austin Parks Foundation, which uses the money to improve citywide public parks and trails. In 2019, the parks foundation took in $6 million.
• Organizers have pegged the festival's wider economic impact — from hotel bookings to chicken cone consumption — at more than $250 million annually.

📫 Tell us what you think: Is turning over Zilker Park for ACL Fest worth it?

Read: What's next

Austin could gain a congressional district under a newly proposed map, which adds one Central Texas seat and another in the Houston area.

Why it matters: Political clout hangs in the balance in a closely divided Congress.

• The preliminary map is part of the redistricting process, the redrawing of political boundaries every 10 years to account for population growth.

The state's current congressional delegation is made up of 23 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

• The first sketch of Texas' new congressional districts, drawn by Republicans, would create 25 districts that voted for former President Trump in 2020 and 13 that voted for now-President Biden, according to the Texas Tribune.
• The proposed plan also draws four Houston incumbents into two districts.

What's next: State lawmakers are currently meeting over redistricting in a special session that can last up to 30 days. The drafts are likely to go through changes before landing on Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for his signature.

See what lawmakers and citizens have to say

🚓 Austin Police Department officials are drafting a plan to dispatch civilians instead of officers for certain non-emergency calls. (Austin American-Statesman)

✈️ A new hop-on jet service is offering 30-seat flights from Austin to Dallas Love Field Airport twice daily. (KVUE)

🎶 Austin City Limits Festival released a limited supply of tickets for both weekends of the music event. One-day general admission spots cost $135, while three-day tickets are selling for $300. (KXAN)

💉 Austin health officials are urging residents to get their flu shots as local hospitals remain swamped with COVID-19 patients. (KUT)

The Austin City Council is expected to approve interim police chief Joseph Chacon as the city's top law enforcement leader on Thursday — but Austin NAACP chief Nelson Linder tells Axios he will challenge the selection.

Catch up quick: Chacon won the interim slot after the former chief retired in March in the wake of anti-racism protests and the killing of an unarmed Black and Latino man last year.

• The former top APD deputy was selected last week by the city manager over two Black finalists from Dallas and Los Angeles. If approved, he will be the city's second-ever Latino chief.

What they're saying: "There's nothing wrong with" Chacon, Linder tells Axios, but his appointment goes against pledges for "transformational change" at the department on issues like equity and community engagement.

• Linder said Chacon's assignment was standard for Austin: "You promise people change, but you don’t do that."
• At a news conference last week, city manager Spencer Cronk said Chacon "really brings the reform-mindedness," "relationships" and "stability that our community needs."
• At the same presser, Chacon noted that as interim chief, he has changed the APD policy on releasing videos of officer-involved incidents from 60 days to under 10, reformed cadet training to emphasize community connections and improved anti-racism training.
• "It's important to recognize the amazing work that the Austin Police Department does and has been doing on a daily basis," he said.

Go deeper

🏛 For ancient bakers selling treats from an outpost in the Roman Empire, having the right tools to make their dough was a matter of geology, per a study involving the University of Texas' geology lab.

🥐 What they found: A team of geoscientists and archaeologists uncovered that dough-mixing vats and millstones from the Roman-era ruins of Volubilis, a city in what is now Morocco, were made from specific rock types that likely improved each tool's function.

• Grain millstones, for example, were made from volcanic stone with sharp-edged pores, probably to better grind wheat into flour. Dough vats were made with an impermeable limestone, ideal for containing wet ingredients.

Researchers determined the stones were sourced locally, a discovery that suggests the craftspeople who made the tools received input directly from the bakers and millers who used them.