BG Reads | News You Need to Know (February 6, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW -> Episode 73: Emily Blair, Executive Vice President, Austin Apartment Association (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
City of Austin files lawsuit in attempt to stop Zilker Zephyr operator from pulling up train tracks (Community Impact)
After the company that runs the Zilker Zephyr announced it would no longer operate the miniature train course at Zilker Park in late January, the city of Austin filed a lawsuit arguing for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction to prevent the operators from pulling out train tracks at the park.
According to the lawsuit filed Jan. 31, the operator of the Zephyr, Texas Special, “removed approximately 100 bolts from the track before an Austin Police Department officer stopped the owners.
“They left after that, but the City is concerned they may still try to remove additional track,” reads the lawsuit filed by the city.
In a Jan. 30 Facebook post, the owners of the Zephyr wrote, “we are leaving Zilker Park and we are taking our big green Zephyr train with us!”
In the lawsuit, the city quotes a section of the original contract signed in 1996 with Texas Special, which reads that “all permanent concession facilities and all fixtures shall become the property of the City upon expiration or cancellation of this Agreement.” The final contract extension the two parties signed ends on Feb. 28… (LINK TO STORY)
Downtown Austin Commuters Mostly Drive Alone To Work. Some Business Leaders Want To Change That. (KUT)
A local transportation group hopes a first-of-its-kind study encourages fewer employees to drive alone to work in downtown Austin.
The survey, released Wednesday morning, found that 60% of downtown commuters drive alone to work every day, compared to the citywide average of 74%. The city's goal, outlined in the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan released last year, is 50% of commuters driving alone by 2039.
“In different parts of the city, people have different motivations for driving alone," said Melinda Villagran, director of the Translational Health Research Initiative at Texas State University, which partnered with the transportation group Movability to conduct the survey.
"So the solutions are not going to be simple in that way," she said. "We have to take into account some of the motivations people have for choosing to drive to work as opposed to choosing other forms of transportation.”… (LINK TO STORY)
City leaders vow to improve communication after homeless camp fire (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin firefighters and homeless care providers were aware of a homeless encampment in Northeast Austin well before it erupted in flames Monday. But Austin Resource Recovery crews that oversee homeless camp cleanups throughout the city were not clued in to the dangerous conditions at the site.
The fire has raised concerns about the safety of elaborate encampments that have sprung up throughout the city, and whether other dangerous sites have flown under the radar, just out of public view.
On Tuesday, Austin City Council members pressed city agencies to work harder to ensure such disconnects regarding hazardous situations doesn’t happen again.
The fire began about 8 a.m. at a camp under the eastbound frontage road of Anderson Lane between Interstate 35 and Cameron Road.
Fire officials sent a series of tweets describing the area as approximately three football fields, with “hundreds of needles and other dangerous debris.”
During the Tuesday council work session, Vela Carmen, with Austin Public Health, said members of outreach teams who work with the homeless community knew of people living in the area, and had contacted many of them in the past to connect them to services…(LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Michael Bloomberg is opening 11 additional field offices in Texas ahead of Super Tuesday (Texas Tribune)
Hoping to capitalize on the muddled results of the Iowa caucuses, billionaire Michael Bloomberg is releasing a new slate of Texas endorsements and taking a big step this weekend toward opening nearly 20 offices in the state as Texas prepares for its primary March 3.
Bloomberg’s campaign unveiled an endorsement list that includes three state representatives, several former mayors and some city council members. His campaign also said it plans to open 11 additional field offices throughout the state this weekend, pressing forward on plans to expand the campaign’s footprint into the largest operation of any Democratic presidential candidate in Texas.
Bloomberg’s latest endorsers include some who’ve announced their support in recent days and some making it known for the first time Wednesday — including state Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Carrollton, who’ll serve as a state co-chair for the campaign. One of the state lawmakers on the list, state Rep. Cesár Blanco, D-El Paso, previously supported the failed presidential bids of both Beto O’Rourke and Julián Castro. State Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, also announced his support for Bloomberg on Wednesday… (LINK TO STORY)
How will batteries plug into Texas’ power grid? (Houston Chronicle)
When state lawmakers deregulated the power business two decades ago, they divided the industry into two sectors with distinct duties: Generators could make and sell electricity and regulated utilities could transmit and distribute electricity. But the utilities, whose profits are capped by regulators, want access to a new business opportunity — battery storage.
Batteries are on the cusp of transforming the Texas power grid by making intermittent power sources such as wind and solar into a supply as dependable as natural gas. Demand for battery storage has been driven by rapidly falling prices and more efficient technology, making it easier to store power for use when wind isn’t blowing or sun isn’t shining. Utilities want to invest in the lucrative market, saying batteries can boost grid reliability, reduce transmission line congestion and prevent construction of new transmission lines. But power generators are fighting to keep utilities out, arguing that energy storage is considered generation under state law that makes battery investments off limits to investor-owned utilities that could profit by storing cheap power and selling it when prices rise. And state regulators are loathe to step in, rejecting a request two years ago from AEP Texas North to build two battery storage sites and punting a more-recent request by CenterPoint Energy to add battery storage capability… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
States trying to avoid repeating Iowa's caucus nightmare (AXIOS)
In the wake of Democrats' Iowa disaster, the Nevada Democratic Party has abandoned the problematic app — and Wyoming Democratic Party officials tell Axios they will conduct a thorough run-through with their own technology ahead of their caucuses.
Why it matters: The technological failure in Iowa caucuses is becoming another nail in the coffin of the caucus system, which nearly a dozen states have ditched and replaced with primaries since 2016.
What to watch: Nevada and Wyoming are the only other two states that will hold traditional Democratic presidential caucuses this year, on Feb. 22 and April 4, respectively... (LINK TO STORY)
The Bingham Group, LLC is an Austin-based full service lobbying firm representing and advising clients on municipal, legislative, and regulatory matters throughout Texas.
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