BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 23, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast Special Episode - Discussing the FY2021 City of Austin Budget Talk #1 (SHOW LINK)
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
BG Blog: RE Petition Drives and Austin’s Low Threshold for Signatures
To propose a new law, petitioners in Austin must collect either signatures from 20,000 voters or 5% of voters, whichever number is smaller. Twenty-thousand signatures is currently about 3% of Austin voters and will continue to be a lower percentage as the city grows. Of particular note, this is a relatively low threshold compared to Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Only El Paso has a smaller signature requirement… (Read more)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Travis County coronavirus data trends downward, but caution urged (Austin American-Statesman)
The rate of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in Austin has recently plateaued or even trended downward, but it’s still too soon to relax local orders intended to slow the spread of the virus, health officials say, especially with the school year approaching.
The decline in data that began this week marks the first time since early June that local health officials did not see substantial spikes in cases. From June 9 through July 8, the number of new hospitalizations in Travis County exploded: The seven-day average rose from 11.3 to 75.1. From July 9, the average leveled off to around 70, where it stayed for 10 days. Earlier this week, the number fell to 65.3, then to 63.4.
Despite the apparent good news, interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said continued vigilance and adherence to social distancing and face covering orders remains critical to keep the community safe and avoid another surge in cases when kids return to school, more sectors of the city reopen and businesses increase capacity.
“Now’s not the time to dance. Now’s the time to remain cautious,” Escott said. “We’re certainly pleased that the numbers aren’t going up, but they haven’t gone down very much yet, and we don’t want the message to be, ‘Now it’s time to celebrate and go out and be among friends.’ It’s not that time yet.”
Health officials are cautiously optimistic and will monitor case numbers in the coming days to see if they continue to fall or tick up again after the Fourth of July holiday, which is now a little more than one 14-day incubation period behind us, Austin Public Health Chief Epidemiologist Janet Pichette said.
“Following Memorial Day and other large events like that, we saw the opposite trend occur. I’m hoping that the governor’s orders and our orders within the city of Austin for mask use (and) closing our parks may have had a positive impact on our community,” Pichette said.
Escott said if Austin comes out of the next week without seeing a new bounce in cases, the community will have avoided a significant outbreak during the holiday weekend… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Tesla chooses site east of Austin for new $1 Billion factory (KUT)
Tesla’s new $1 billion electric vehicle factory will be built just east of Austin, the company’s CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday.
The factory will be constructed on 2,100 acres off State Highway 130 in southeastern Travis County. Tesla will use the site to make its new pickup trucks and semi-trucks, along with its Model 3 and Y vehicles for the Eastern U.S.
“It’s right on the Colorado River, so we’re actually going to have a boardwalk, a hiking-biking trail. It’s going to basically be an ecological paradise,” Musk said on a call with investors where he made the announcement. “Birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream and it will be open to the public, as well.”
Musk said on the call that initial construction work is already underway.
Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement shortly after the news broke, saying the facility will create at least 5,000 new jobs.
“Tesla is one of the most exciting and innovative companies in the world, and we are proud to welcome its team to the State of Texas,” Abbott said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Capital Metro offers alternative investment timeline for Project Connect vision (Austin Monitor)
Since June 10, when City Council endorsed the $10 billion Project Connect system, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been considering which of the transit components is most essential for an initial investment to place before voters in November.
“Every city, every state starts out with a portion; it’s not built all at once,” said Dave Couch, Project Connect’s program manager. “The beauty of what we’ve done is that we have an approval for the overall system map; that gives us that road map, if you will, to the future, regardless of how much of it is built at which time.”
In light of the lasting economic hardships of Covid-19, Capital Metro is proposing an option for the November ballot that would allow voters to commit to some core elements of Project Connect at 70 percent of the cost of the $10 billion adopted vision.
The $7 billion plan would bring the local capital investment down to $3.85 billion compared to the $5.5 billion local share of the full system. That lower cost would pull the November tax rate election ask from 11 cents down to 8.5 cents, a difference of $82 on the property tax bill of a median value home… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
‘We’re finally taking a stand.’ Texas Republicans cheer closure of Houston’s Chinese consulate (Houston Chronicle)
An alleged attempt by China to steal American research on a coronavirus vaccine was the “nail in the coffin” that pushed the U.S. to close the Chinese consulate in Houston, according to the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. While the Trump administration’s decision to close the consulate is among the most significant moves yet in an ongoing geopolitical feud between the two nations, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said it’s not the White House that is escalating things. “I would say the Chinese Communist Party has escalated this by their malign behavior,” he said. “We’ve given them every opportunity to join the family of nations and the fact is, it didn’t work. And President Xi has made it clear what his policy is, and it is to dominate in the economic and military space. “We’re finally taking a stand against them.”
McCaul is among the Texas Republicans who have been some of the most outspoken hawks about China in recent months. Already, the Chinese government has sanctioned U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and threatened to do the same to Houston U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw. McCaul, meanwhile, leads the House GOP’s wide-ranging investigation of China’s alleged cover-up of the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak, its suppression of dissent and its theft of U.S. intellectual property. “They are our top, really, top competitor and our long-term biggest national security threat,” said McCaul, whose district stretches from Austin to Houston. “I would argue they already are today, the way they’ve stolen so many things.” And Houston’s consulate has been central to those efforts, McCaul said, calling it “the epicenter of where the research theft has taken place.” McCaul pointed to the ouster last year of three scientists at MD Anderson Cancer Center accused of trying to steal research. And he said Houston’s vast medical system is a logical target for hackers — including those hunting for research on the coronavirus vaccine. Within Houston’s medical complex, Houston Methodist, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston are doing that work… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
As Congress feuds over unemployment payments, many jobless Texans are about to lose a $600 weekly benefit (Texas Tribune)
Texans out of work due to the new coronavirus are bracing for the loss of a $600 weekly addition to their unemployment benefits as Congress’ two chambers appear split over extending the payments that are about to expire.
The payments expire nationwide July 31, according to the federal legislation that created them to help Americans stay financially afloat during the coronavirus pandemic’s economic downturn.
But thanks to a technicality in state law, the benefit expires Saturday for Texans, according to a spokesman for the Texas Workforce Commission. The reason: July 31 falls on a Friday, and Texas law prevents the TWC from paying people benefits for only part of a week.
“A full-benefit week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday,” TWC spokesperson Cisco Gamez said in a video statement Tuesday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Arlington bar to reopen, joining others in North Texas protesting Gov. Greg Abbott’s shutdown order (Dallas Morning News)
An Arlington bar is joining others in North Texas in reopening Saturday, despite a statewide shutdown order from Gov. Greg Abbott to combat the spread of COVID-19.
G Willickers Pub manager Sonia Fennel said the bar is participating in Freedom Fest, created by a Fort Worth bar owner, because it isn’t just a bar, but a 30-year establishment where people consider one another family.
“To many of our customers, we’re all they have,” she said. “They have no friends. We are their friends and their family.”
Fennel said she doesn’t have concerns about reopening in the middle of a pandemic. Tarrant County reported 871 new coronavirus cases Wednesday — a single-day high — and six more deaths for a total of 310. A total of 23,536 coronavirus cases have been recorded, which is about 11.2 for every 1,000 residents.
G Willickers will have hand sanitizer stations all over the bar, Fennel said, and masks will be handed out to those who don’t have one. Temperature checks will be administered before patrons can enter the bar.
“If you want to take it further, we even have the plastic covering that can go over your clothes,” she said.
A concert will be held outside the bar on the patio, Fennel said. The proceeds and donations will be split between the Arlington and Grand Prairie police departments, she said.
“We’re expecting a very large crowd,” she said.
Freedom Fest will continue every weekend until the statewide bar shutdown ends, Fennel said, adding that she hopes it encourages other bars to reopen. She said she knows that Abbott is being swarmed with emails and calls from bar owners but that he should at least acknowledge the effort… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
GOP Senators And White House tentatively agree on part of Coronavirus Aid Bill (The Hill)
Republican Senators and the White House have reached an agreement in principle on a major portion of an upcoming Coronavirus aid bill.
The agreement, which includes $105 billion for schools, is meant to be a starting point for bipartisan talks on a final bill. Other committees are still working on other elements. The full details are expected to be released on Thursday.
Republican members of the Senate Appropriations Committee announced the agreement on their portion of the legislation Wednesday following a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The senators said the legislation, which will be released in full on Thursday, meets their priorities of getting people "back to school, back to childcare and back to working."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Philadelphia's top prosecutor is prepared to arrest federal agents (Bloomberg CityLab)
After numerous reports and lawsuits in Portland regarding un-badged and un-uniformed federal officers arresting, beating, and detaining people in unmarked vehicles, the Trump administration’s response is that they’re going to do it even more, and in more cities. Saying that his federal agents are doing a “fantastic job,” Trump has suggested that he will also deploy agents in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Milwaukee to do the same.
In one of those cities, the city prosecutor has already preemptively warned Trump’s police forces what he will do if they bring the same tactics to Philadelphia:
“My dad volunteered and served in World War II to fight fascism, like most of my uncles, so we would not have an American president brutalizing and kidnapping Americans for exercising their constitutional rights and trying to make America a better place, which is what patriots do,” said Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner in a statement. “Anyone, including federal law enforcement, who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face criminal charges from my office.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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