BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 18, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Blog: Meet Your 2020 Austin City Council Candidates (BLOG LINK)
*NEW* BG Podcast Episode 103: FY 2021 Budget with Council Member Jimmy Flannigan (District 6) (SHOW LINK)
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
Applications open Aug. 19 for direct rental assistance from city of Austin (Community Impact)
The city’s second effort to help struggling Austinites pay rent is set to launch Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants program, or RENT, will dole out $12.9 million to help relieve financial pressure experienced by Austinites who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Officials said the funding for the RENT program, which came mostly from federal CARES Act funding, is set to last at least through January 2021.
As with the first round of the RENT program, Austinites will have to apply and qualify to receive assistance. The city will then choose recipients through a random selection process.
Rosie Truelove, director of the Austin Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department, said the city aims to help about 2,000 households per month, a majority of which earn less than 30% of the area’s median income—$20,550 for an individual and $29,300 for a four-person household.
Households at that income level will be eligible to receive up to three months of rent assistance. Households who make between 30% and 80% of the median income will be eligible to earn only one month of rental assistance… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
TikTok puts Austin hiring on hold after Trump executive order (Austin Business Journal)
Early this year — before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Austin — video-sharing app TikTok quietly opened an office downtown.
But little was known about the company's operations in the Texas capital before President Donald Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order. It declared the app a national security threat because it is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Trump promised to ban it from the United States unless it is sold.
TikTok, which became a sensation amid the pandemic with celebrities and influencers sharing short videos, has less than 100 employees in Austin. Before the coronavirus sent office workers home in mid-March, these employees were working out of WeWork space at the SWSW Center at 14th and Lavaca streets, according to the company, which did not respond to questions about how much square footage it occupies.
Media outlets began reporting on Aug. 9 that TikTok had plans to hire hundreds in Austin despite Trump’s order. TikTok has since stated that it had committed to creating 10,000 jobs across the country in the next three years, including 2,000 in Texas, but the executive order “puts those new jobs in jeopardy.”
“While we're forced to hold on that hiring until we have further clarity from the administration, we're working hard to ensure that we can offer employment for years to come as we build an enduring platform for our users, creators, partners, and the broader community in the US,” a statement sent to media outlets said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Water aims to bring new conservation ordinances before Council in December (Austin Monitor)
Timelines across the city have been adjusted or paused following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the ongoing limitations imposed by the “new normal” have not stopped Austin Water from developing new conservation ordinances to bring before City Council in December.
The city water utility plans to bring at least two ordinances before Council for a vote by the end of the year, the utility’s Mark Jordan told the Resource Management Commission at its Aug. 17 meeting. The two ordinances will include a proposal to add efficiency standards for water cooling towers and associated administrative penalties for violating these standards. An additional proposed ordinance will incentivize the capping or removal of automatic irrigation systems on commercial sites by allowing waivers for eligible properties.
Jordan also told the commission that Austin Water is “looking hard” at taking the three conservation ordinances it proposed as part of the Land Development Code rewrite and moving ahead with bringing these ordinances separately before Council for approval. While he said there is general support for the provisions in the code rewrite, “right now we’ve not yet pulled that trigger.”
The water utility is proposing a water benchmarking and balance calculator ordinance that is geared toward helping commercial properties regulate water use; a reclaimed water connections requirement that mandates small businesses within 250 feet and large-scale developments within 500 feet of a reclaimed water line to connect to the graywater source; and on-site water reuse rules that will require developments of over 250,000 square feet to meet non-potable water demands from on-site reuse and reclamation sources.
Commissioners Smitty Smith and Kaiba White voiced their support for separately proposing these ordinances before Council rather than waiting for the code rewrite to be reignited. “Let’s get started would be my view of that,” White said.
The Land Development Code rewrite has been put on the back burner following the city’s appeal of a court decision earlier this spring that voided Council’s votes on the code; within the same time frame, pandemic-related concerns took precedence on the dais.
Austin Water is also developing a residential landscaping ordinance it hopes to implement in June 2023. The new rules will encourage the use of native, drought-tolerant plants in landscape designs and also limit the use of turf grass and automatic irrigation systems to two and a half times the building footprint or not more than 10,000 square feet, whichever is less… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Abbott, state leaders to travel to Fort Worth to announce proposal on funding police (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Gov. Greg Abbott and the state’s top leaders will join Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price at noon Tuesday to announce a proposal related to funding law enforcement. A press conference is scheduled at the Bob Bolen Public Safety Complex. Joining Abbott and Price will be Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and members of Tarrant County’s Republican delegation, including state Sens. Jane Nelson of Flower Mound and Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, and state Reps. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, Craig Goldman of Fort Worth, Stephanie Klick of Fort Worth and Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake.
While few details were provided, the announcement comes on the heels of voters renewing a half-cent sales tax for the next decade that will help fund equipment, vehicles and neighborhood patrol officers for the Fort Worth Police Department. Known as the Crime Control and Prevention District, the tax has been devoted to police since 1995 and will provide the city with an additional $1 billion through 2030. Supporters of the tax, like Price, have said it helps reduce crime. “Just the crime tax alone is enough to show you that the city of Fort Worth supports their police department, and I know our mayor and council do, and I know I do,” Geren said. “I wouldn’t be going to this tomorrow if it were not in support of the police.” Manny Ramirez, president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, said he didn’t know the details of a proposal from the governor, but thought Fort Worth was a logical choice to discuss police funding. “I think we’re in one of the best positions in the country as far as citizen support for funding the police,” Ramirez said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
CDC study finds Hispanics hit disproportionately hard by workplace outbreaks (Texas Public Radio)
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published on Monday is the latest to confirm that the coronavirus disproportionately impacts communities of color in the U.S.
The study looked at COVID-19 cases associated with workplace outbreaks in certain industries in Utah between March and June. It found that Hispanic and nonwhite workers made up 73% of those cases — despite representing just 24% of the workforce in sectors where outbreaks occurred.
"Systemic social inequities have resulted in the overrepresentation of Hispanic and nonwhite workers in frontline occupations where exposure to SARS-CoV-2 ... might be higher," researchers wrote, adding that "extra vigilance" is needed to combat the spread of the coronavirus among the populations over-represented in these sectors.
Health officials defined workplace outbreaks as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases occurring within the same two-week period among coworkers in a shared space. Of the 277 outbreaks in Utah reported during these months, 76% were in workplaces.
Between March 5 and June 6, workplace outbreaks occurred in 15 industry sectors in Utah, from agriculture to educational services to transportation. A majority of those outbreaks — 58% — were in three sectors: manufacturing, wholesale trade and construction.
In those 15 sectors, people who identify as Latino or a race other than white comprise just under one quarter of the workforce. But they accounted for nearly three quarters of the COVID-19 cases associated with workplace outbreaks… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Amazon in talks to invest in cloud services company Rackspace, say sources (Reuters)
Amazon.com Inc is in preliminary talks to invest in U.S. cloud services provider Rackspace Technology Inc, people familiar with the discussion said on Monday.
The deal would involve Amazon acquiring a minority stake in Rackspace, the sources said. Rackspace helps companies migrate their data to Amazon Web Services, and the investment would strengthen the ties between the two companies. Rackspace also migrates companies to Alphabet Inc’s Google Cloud, Microsoft Corp’s Azure and VMware Inc.
There is no certainty that Amazon and Rackspace, which is majority-owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc, will agree a deal, the sources said. If there is one, it could take one to two months to negotiate it, the sourced added, asking anonymity because the matter is confidential.
Rackspace and Apollo declined to comment, while Amazon did not respond to a request for comment… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Read: Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention (The Hill)
Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered the keynote speech during the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday, urging Americans to repudiate President Trump at the ballot box in November by voting for Joe Biden… (READ OBAMAS FULL REMARKS HERE)
Trump elevates Scott Atlas, a doctor with a rosier coronavirus outlook (Politico)
Dr. Scott Atlas warns against coronavirus overreaction and hysteria, pushes for the reopening of schools and sports leagues, and downplays the need for broader testing to root out the virus.
Unlike bigger-name, more circumspect public health officials, who’ve watched their luster dim at the White House, Atlas has become a star adviser in President Donald Trump’s inner circle at a crucial moment during the pandemic.
With the virus showing no sign of letting up — the U.S. has recorded roughly 5.4 million Covid-19 cases and 170,000 deaths — and with less than three months to go in an uphill reelection battle, the president is betting that a telegenic physician with a positive outlook, but no expertise in infectious diseases or epidemiology, can change his fortunes.
Atlas, upbeat and relentlessly on message that Americans should resume life as much as they can, is the living embodiment of the president’s Covid-is-not-that-big-of-a-deal approach. Where school superintendents and football conference officials see a risk of the virus’ spread this fall, Atlas cautions against too-strict measures. During Fox News appearances, he has downplayed the need for students to wear face coverings or practice social distancing if schools do reopen… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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