BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 31, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW // BG PODCAST - Episode 120: A Discussion with Courtney Santana, Founder and CEO, Survive2Thrive Foundation
On today’s episode Bingham Group CEO A.J. speaks with Courtney Santana, Founder and CEO of the Survive2Thrive Foundation, 501(c)(3). A domestic violence survivor/victor, Courtney founded Survive2Thrive Foundation in 2013 to help provide direct services to survivors of domestic violence.
See also, Nonprofit provides hotel rooms for Central Texas abuse victims (Austin American-Statesman)
Pre-filed bills for the 87th Texas Legislature:
[AUSTIN METRO]
Ken Paxton sues after Austin bans late on-site dining for New Year’s weekend amid COVID-19 surge (Texas Tribune)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Wednesday that he has sued the City of Austin and Travis County, a declaration that came a day after local leaders declared new restrictions for when restaurants and bars can serve customers during New Year's weekend.
Paxton filed a petition for temporary injunction and a temporary restraining order in Travis County District Court targeting orders made by Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown. Citing an increase in COVID-19 cases, they announced that dine-in food and beverage service must be restricted indoors and outdoors from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m., starting Thursday and ending at 6 a.m. Sunday. The measure did allow drive-thru, curbside pick-up, take out, or delivery services.
“Mayor Adler and Judge Brown do not have the authority to flout Gov. [Greg] Abbott’s executive orders by shutting down businesses in Travis County and our state’s capital city,” said Paxton in a statement. “The fact that these two local leaders released their orders at night and on the eve of a major holiday shows how much contempt they have for Texans and local businesses."… (LINK TO STORY)
In Austin, vaccine distribution sites highlight racial, equity disparities (Austin American-Statesman)
Getting access to the COVID-19 vaccine could be challenging in Austin for two populations that have been disproportionately harmed by the disease: Hispanic and Black people.
State government officials published an online map with the locations of 30-plus pharmacies and health care sites in Austin that have received a shipment of the vaccine. All but a handful of them are west of Interstate 35, which for decades has stood as a racial and class divide in Austin.
None of the vaccination sites are in a large portion of southeast Austin that is home to many of the city's lowest-income and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Conversely, there are 16 distribution sites in a rectangular strip from I-35 over to MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and from Lady Bird Lake up to FM 2222… (LINK TO STORY)
'We just want consistent, clear leadership': Austin restaurant, bar owners frustrated over curfew (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin Health officials Tuesday issued a three-day curfew for dine-in food and beverage services at restaurants and bars beginning on New Year's Eve.
Texas governor Greg Abbott followed the announcement with a Tweet saying that city officials could not make decisions that overrode his standing orders, though Austin mayor Steve Adler pushed back against that assertion Wednesday. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton joined the fray with a Tweet Wednesday, warning the Austin-Travis County curfew order is unlawful.
The announcements left bar and restaurant owners to decide which officials to follow, with some deciding to carry on with business as usual and others making adjustments to their plans for what is usually one of the busiest nights of the year for the service industry.
Not all restaurant/bar owners intend to follow the mayor’s order. Jason Carrier, co-owner of the Dogwood, which has locations on West Sixth Street and at Rock Rose at Domain Northside, said his business will stay open as planned and run the risk of a $1,000 fine from the city… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin Police must make 'Sweeping' reform to training, recruitment to address racism, report says (KUT)
A new report suggests the Austin Police Department faces "systemic" issues in how it is handling efforts to diversify its workforce and revamp its training.
Commissioned by the city's Equity Office, the report from Peace Mill Research and Communications calls for Austin to continue its moratorium on police cadet classes until the department's training and recruitment undergo "sweeping structural reforms."
Peace Mill's report was part of a 152-page memo from the city's Equity Office released Tuesday afternoon. The analysis is part of a larger effort to examine equity in the city government.
The report comes at the tail end of a tumultuous year in which the City Council voted to cut APD's budget and "reimagine" public safety in response to a national reckoning with police violence and systemic racism – and a summer of protests against police violence that, in turn, led to serious injuries of protesters at the hands of police.
Raymond Weyandt, research director with Peace Mill, was contracted by the city to look into seven of the department's 48 divisions, and he says issues at APD's training and recruitment divisions stood out the most.
Weyandt's report argues APD doesn't effectively retain cadets of color and that its training doesn’t jibe with stated goals to reduce racism and inequity within the department and its policing practices.
As far as recruitment, he says APD leans heavily on Black, Latino and female officers in its recruitment material, but cadets of color are far more likely than white cadets to drop out.
"They're just continually underrepresented in the graduating classes, and year after year, it's not like the numbers are improving," he said. "If you're a Black cadet, you're much less likely to graduate the Austin Police Academy than your white, male counterparts – and that's a problem."
Just over 5% of Police Academy graduates from the last five years were Black, according to Weyandt's analysis of APD data… (LINK TO STORY)
Williamson County Sheriff Chody files lawsuit claiming election fraud in race he lost (Austin American-Statesman)
Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody, who lost his November bid for re-election, has filed a lawsuit against the winner claiming there was election fraud. The lawsuit against Michael Gleason says there was an electronic glitch that caused voters in Leander to be given the wrong ballots on Election Day. It also says that Gleason and his wife were seen standing within Wi-Fi range of one of the Leander polling places for most of Election Day. Gleason's wife, Alison Gleason, the director of the Williamson County Enterprise Applications Division, has complete access to the voting machine software, Chody said in an affidavit included in the lawsuit.
"This is interesting considering my opponent declared victory hours before voting was concluded," Chody said in the lawsuit. Gleason's attorney, Robert McCabe, said on Tuesday that "obviously the suit is frivolous and speculative." "I really didn't expect anything else based on the small and disgraced man that Robert Chody is," said McCabe. Chody's attorney did not respond to a request for comment. The county's election results show that Gleason received 153,760 votes, or 56%, while Chody had 120,518 votes, or 44%. The lawsuit, filed Dec. 15, asks for $100,000 in damages. It also says asks if the court finds that the contested elections results cannot be resolved, that a new election for sheriff be held. Williamson County Elections Administrator Chris Davis declined to comment on Wednesday. He previously has said there was a glitch in the voting software during early voting that left out the precinct where a voter voted… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Temperature snag with Moderna vaccine delays additional shipments to Texas (Dallas Morning News)
At least three shipments of Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Texas last week with signs that the shots had strayed from their required temperature range, prompting a delay in other deliveries, according to the state hospital association. Some Moderna vaccine shipments that were scheduled for delivery last week, before the Christmas holiday, were held back over the temperature problems, said Carrie Kroll, vice president of advocacy, quality and public health at the Texas Hospital Association. It was unclear how many doses were affected overall. The affected shipments were replaced by the federal government and others were held back by U.S. officials because of a potential problem with their temperature sensors, Kroll said. Moderna’s vaccine must be kept frozen for shipment and storage.
The temperature problems underscore how the U.S. has faced obstacles in its effort to get 20 million Americans vaccinated by the end of the year, a goal that appears to be out of reach. As of Monday, only 2.13 million people had received shots, even though 11.45 million doses of the vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have been distributed. A Moderna spokesman referred questions to the federal government and Irving-based McKesson Corp., which is distributing the Moderna vaccines. Spokespersons for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and McKesson said they were looking into the matter. Spokespersons for Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccine program, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.
Officials from the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed that doses had been delayed but didn’t directly respond to queries about the temperature problems. “Some of the shipments for week 2 were delayed and were not received by providers until Monday and Tuesday of this week,” Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in an email. The delay contributed to the appearance that Texas has administered a relatively small portion of the vaccine doses allocated to the state… (LINK TO STORY)
New Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia says crime reduction, buy-in from residents and staff among top goals (Dallas Morning News)
Incoming Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia says reducing violent crime and gaining the community and staff’s trust are among his top goals when he starts in February.
During a virtual news conference on Monday where he was formally introduced as Dallas’ 30th police chief, Garcia said he plans to listen to his staff, criminologists and residents on ways to decrease crime.
He also plans to review data to determine what parts of the city need increased police presence while also being mindful of community concerns of racial bias and enforcement disparities.
Garcia, 50, said he felt the statistics and perception of crime in the city went hand in hand — and that both had to go in the opposite direction. He said he felt residents can judge whether his plans are successful by their perceptions of crime in the city, how present officers are and their collaborations with the community.
“I know that there are high expectations,” he said. “I know that we have to work quickly, but we have to work smartly as well.”
Garcia, who spent nearly 30 years as a member of the San Jose Police Department and retired as chief on Dec. 12, was announced as Dallas police chief last Wednesday after a three-month search.
He succeeds U. Reneé Hall, who announced her resignation in September after three years as chief. She officially left the position earlier this month. Assistant Chief Lonzo Anderson has been the department’s interim chief since Dec. 15 and will remain so until Garcia starts Feb. 3.
He succeeds U. Reneé Hall, who announced her resignation in September after three years as chief. She officially left the position earlier this month. Assistant Chief Lonzo Anderson has been the department’s interim chief since Dec. 15 and will remain so until Garcia starts Feb. 3… (LINK TO STORY)
Fulshear fastest-growing city in Texas, census reveals (San Antonio Express-News)
Fulshear is officially the fastest-growing city in Texas, according to numbers from the 2020 U.S. Census. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau were released Dec. 15 and published through the American Community Survey, a division of the Census Bureau responsible for disseminating the information. Fulshear ranked the No. 1 fastest-growing city in the state with an extraordinary 1,332 percent population increase from the previous year. The results were not surprising to Fulshear-area community leaders. This is the second year Fulshear has earned the title, and the explosive growth in the area has only continued to increase.
Only a decade ago, the population of Fulshear was 1,134 according to city demographic reports. Today, the population is more than 16,000 and climbing. Fulshear Mayor Aaron Groff cited new development as an impetus to the city’s growth. To entice developers, the city created highly specific coordinated development ordinances. “The CDO gives clear guidance to developers as to what it means to be in the city and what the city’s priorities are,” Groff said. “I think that's helped spur some of that desire to come in.” Don McCoy, president of the Fulshear-Katy Area Chamber of Commerce, added that Fulshear offers all the major conveniences of big cities while maintaining the verve of a smaller city. “You have the best of both worlds,” McCoy said. “We have an old downtown district, but we also have a commercial district. There’s something for everybody.” The chamber is working closely with city officials to enable local businesses to thrive, McCoy said. “Businesses, both large and small, are coming to Fulshear and finding a city hall that cares about them and a chamber of commerce that wants to help them succeed.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Here are the Republicans planning to challenge the Electoral College results (The Hill)
More Republicans are vowing to challenge the Electoral College results when Congress convenes next week to count the votes from the 2020 presidential election.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Wednesday added momentum to the long-shot bid to overturn the election when he announced he would object to Congress's counting of the electoral votes on Jan. 6, making him the first GOP senator to join an effort launched by House conservatives.
The objection from Hawley, along with at least one House lawmaker, would ensure a debate and vote in the House and Senate despite no hard evidence showing widespread voter fraud.
“It's pretty clear that the momentum is growing in support of the objections to states' submittals of Electoral College votes because of their flawed election systems and render them unworthy of trust,” Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), who is leading the charge on the House side, told reporters after a meeting at the White House earlier this month.
"We now in the House side are up to dozens of congressmen who are willing to object or co-sponsor objections to various states’ submittals, so we have more congressmen than we have states to object to," he added.
According to sources familiar with the effort, Hawley’s participation has prompted a number of other GOP lawmakers to lend their support.
Here’s a look at the current and incoming House GOP lawmakers who have publicly voiced their support for the move… (LINK TO STORY)
McConnell: "No realistic path to quickly pass" stimulus check increase (AXIOS)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Wednesday he does not see a "realistic path to quickly pass" a House-approved standalone measure for $2,000 stimulus checks, despite calls from President Trump for increased payments.
Why it matters: The move effectively kills any pathway to pass the bill before the end of the the 116th Congress… (LINK TO STORY)