BG Reads | News You Need to Know (October 24, 2019)
[BG PODCAST]
NEW -> Episode 58: The Future of Austin politics with Good Politics' Liz Coufal and Nathan Ryan (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
The Austin Metro has the fifth highest wildfire risk in the United States and city leaders are pushing for more preparation (Community Impact)
The Austin Metro is the only area not in California to rank in the top five most wildfire vulnerable metropolitan areas in the country, according to a report published in September by data analytics company Core Logics.
According to the rankings, 53,984 Austin residences are at high-to-extreme risk of wildfire damage, and the report estimates a $16.4 billion reconstruction price tag should the metropolitan area fall victim to a wild blaze. District 10 Council Member Alison Alter, who represents a large swath of West Austin that runs adjacent to greenspace and preserves, has been sounding the alarm for some time over the city’s and its surrounding suburbs risk.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when, we have a major wildfire here,” Alter said. She said it is up to local government to ensure the city and its property are as prepared as possible for that fateful day… (LINK TO STORY)
Audit Says Austin Could Better Track Outcomes After It Refers People To Mental Health Services (KUT)
The City of Austin does a poor job of tracking the outcomes of people it refers to mental health services, despite the fact that improving access to these providers is one of the city council’s goals over the next couple of years.
“Tracking of referrals to services was informal and varied across and within departments,” Cameron Lagrone, senior auditor with the city, told council members at a meeting of the Audit and Finance Committee Wednesday.
While the city does not directly provide mental health services, it does refer people to non-profit providers in the area. Staff with Austin Public Health, the Parks and Recreation Department and the public libraries can refer people to help, but told auditors they do not formally track what happens afterwards because of privacy concerns… (LINK TO STORY)
Travis County residents urge commissioners to preserve public ownership of Palm School site (Community Impact)
Travis County residents urged the Commissioners Court to keep the Palm School site in downtown Austin under public ownership during a public hearing Oct. 22.
“Now, in our community today, we’re seeing gentrification pushing more of our communities of color and our low-income families out. And we keep doing business the same way,” Travis County resident David King said. “We’re about to optimize the value of the land to make lots of money—but not for the communities that are negatively impacted by this decision, but for those who are already doing well.”
Residents were speaking about a draft set of restrictive covenants, which commissioners approved in June… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Border wall construction advances in South Texas (Houston Chronicle)
Work crews in South Texas are laying steel along the U.S.-Mexico border in preparation for the installation of new segments of border wall.
The U.S. Border Patrol said workers were installing steel rebar at a site south of Donna, a small city in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley.
The rebar will reinforce concrete panels that will in turn be topped with 18-foot (5.5-meter) steel bollards. Crews will also clear vegetation 150 feet (45 meters) in front of the wall… (LINK TO STORY)
State leaders working on 2045 plan to improve transportation, taking feedback (KVUE)
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is working on a plan to improve transportation in Central Texas, and the state leaders want your input.
CAMPO is comprised of a group of leaders from six counties: Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. It is currently putting together a CAMPO 2045 Plan, a long-range regional transportation plan that looks to address transportation needs over the next 25 years.
CAMPO wants the public's input on the plan. It wants to know how commuters and pedestrians get around and what it would take for them to start using public transportation if they aren't already. The organization wants to know what transportation options Central Texans want to see in the future. The survey can be found online.… (LINK TO STORY)
Activists submit complaint against DPD chief over actions at community police oversight meeting (Dallas Morning News)
Community activists are calling for Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall to answer for actions she took at a meeting of a police oversight board earlier this month.
On Wednesday, community activists submitted a complaint against Hall for deploying an extraction team at the first Community Police Oversight Board meeting on Oct. 8, where officers used force on attendees who wanted to give public comment. Some called for Hall’s resignation, while others said they would like to meet with Hall first.
Tensions flared at the board meeting because there was not an agenda item for public comment, and some felt they were being silenced at the first meeting of the newly revamped board. After the altercation, the board chairman allowed attendees to speak…. (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Zuckerberg defends Facebook's currency plans before Congress (CBS Austin)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg endured hours of prickly questioning from lawmakers Wednesday as he defended the company's new globally ambitious project to create a digital currency while also dealing with widening scrutiny from U.S. regulators.
Representatives also grilled Zuckerberg on Facebook's track record on civil rights, hate speech, privacy and misinformation — not surprising given the litany of scandals Facebook has been dealing with over the past two years.… (LINK TO STORY)
Trump Wants To Pick Cuccinelli For DHS, But Worries Senate Would Balk (NPR)
President Trump has told Republican allies in the Senate that he would like to nominate immigration hard-liner Ken Cuccinelli as his next Homeland Security secretary, but has said he does not believe Republican Senate leaders would back the choice, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
Cuccinelli, the former attorney general of Virginia, has made enemies in his own party. He used to lead a group that raised money to challenge incumbent Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump announced two weeks ago that Kevin McAleenan, who had been the acting secretary, would leave his post. That touched off a wave of jockeying for the position between competing factions inside the White House over who should lead the department charged with immigration policy, a key pillar of his presidency and re-election campaign.… (LINK TO STORY)