BG Note | News - What We're Reading (March 7, 2018)
[Austin Metro]
Sheryl Cole and ‘Chito’ Vela head to runoff in Texas House race, pushing Dawnna Dukes out (KUT) LINK TO STORY
Democrats Sheryl Cole and Jose “Chito” Vela will move on to a runoff election for Texas House District 46 after pushing out embattled incumbent Dawnna Dukes in the primary on Tuesday.
The district includes parts of East Austin, Manor and Pflugerville.
Cole, a former City Council member, and Vela, an immigration attorney, both garnered 39 percent of the votes, making it impossible for Dukes to overcome the deficit. They’ll compete in a runoff May 22. The winner will face Gabriel Nila, who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination, in November...
Austin could change the way it issues demolition permits (Austin Monitor) LINK TO STORY
As the number of demolitions soars in Austin, the city is considering changing the way it issues permits to make sure teardowns are done safely and people affected are properly notified.
Since 2010, the number of demolition permits issued in Austin has gone up an average of 13 percent each year. In the midst of rapid redevelopment, though, the city has gotten some pushback...
Dating app Bumble inks $20 million jersey sponsorship with NBA team (Austin Business Journal) LINK TO STORY
The Los Angeles Clippers have signed a jersey patch deal with Bumble, the Austin-based company behind female-focused apps for dating and networking.
The deal is effective as of March 6 and runs through the 2019-2020 National Basketball Association season, and it marks the 20th jersey patch deal in the league. Other corporate sponsors that have NBA jersey patch deals include General Electric Co. and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co...
With Uber and Lyft back, SXSW attendees will have different ride-hailing options this year (Austin American-Statesman) LINK TO STORY
Last year at South by Southwest, one of the most talked about issues surrounding the conference was the missing presence of ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft.
Uber and Lyft stopped service inside Austin’s city limits in May 2016 because the companies opposed a local ordinance in place then that required ride-hailing companies to fingerprint background check their drivers.
In their absence, other companies filled the market space in Austin and took advantage of the high demand at SXSW...
‘Fear the Walking Dead’ to film scenes in Williamson County next week (CommunityImpact) LINK TO STORY
Williamson County commissioners voted Tuesday morning to allow several roads to be closed in March to allow filming for a post-apocalyptic horror drama television series called “Fear the Walking Dead,” a prequel to AMC’s popular “Walking Dead.”
Under the working title “Bats,” the episode will be filmed by production company Stalwart Films between March 12-15 in east Williamson County, near Thrall and Taylor roads. The same production company filmed scenes in South Austin in November, according to documents filed with the City of Austin...
[STATE]
Here are results from primary races for Texas' eight open congressional seats (Texas Tribune) LINK TO STORY
Despite contributing millions of her own dollars to her campaign, GOP fundraiser Kathaleen Wall failed to make it to a runoff in Texas' 2nd Congressional District, which was one of eight open congressional seats on Tuesday's primary ballot. Here's a look at all those races, five of which will head to runoffs on May 22. Two state representatives are among those heading to runoffs, and two state senators are all but certain to represent Texas in Congress...
In Texas House primaries, two of the three incumbents challenged by Gov. Greg Abbott survive (Texas Tribune) LINK TO STORY
After Gov. Greg Abbott spent more than a quarter of a million dollars in a campaign to unseat three Republican incumbents in the Texas House, two of those incumbents nonetheless defeated their primary challengers Tuesday. And state Rep. Sarah Davis, Abbott’s most explicit target, bested challenger Susanna Dokupil by more than 12 percentage points. In a victory celebration, she thanked voters for re-electing her, telling them this primary race had significance far beyond her Harris County district...
A Bush just won again in Texas, but he did it by proving that it’s Trump’s GOP (Washington Post) LINK TO STORY
To date, there is perhaps no greater symbol that the Republican Party now belongs to President Trump than what just happened in Texas Tuesday night.
George P. Bush, the last of the Bush political dynasty serving in public office, won his primary for land commissioner of Texas on Tuesday. And he won it only after he embraced his family's political enemy.
“I endorsed President Trump in 2016,” Bush says in an recent ad, as his main opponent started to close in...
Ted Cruz calls out challenger Beto O’Rourke in a sign of a tough fight to come in Texas (Washington Post) LINK TO STORY
Even before the primary votes were counted Tuesday in Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz (R) went on the attack against his November opponent. Cruz and Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Tex.) were both quickly declared winners by the Associated Press on Tuesday after polls in the state closed. And, quickly, both candidates turned toward facing each other in November. Cruz called out O’Rourke by name in a conference call with reporters before polls closed and then repeated his criticisms of O’Rourke’s support of gun-control measures, the Affordable Care Act, and “amnesty and open borders” in a TV interview after results were in...