BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 22, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
PODCAST Episode 93: Processing with Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, President/CEO at Huston-Tillotson University (SHOW LINK)
Today's podcast features returning guest Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette, Ed.D., President and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University (HT), a private historically black university located in Austin’s East Side.
She and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the state of world in HT’s corner including the May, including the June 7th Black Lives Matter protest sparked by the murder of George Floyd, adapting to COVID-19, and ways organizations can support the university.
Note: Show also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
Travis County’s small business grant program sees $2.5M in requests in three days (Austin Monitor)
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley will stay in his position, a city spokesperson confirmed in an email Thursday.
“I have had very pointed conversations with Chief Manley over the last several weeks,” City Manager Spencer Cronk also said in the email. “He has assured me he is sincerely committed to making the reforms necessary.”
Local activists have called for Manley to be fired, but the police chief cannot be fired, per state law. Instead, he can only be demoted to the position he held before chief, and the only person who has the power to do that is Cronk.
Over the past two weeks, five council members publicly called for new leadership of the police department or asked Manley to resign, after police seriously injured at least two people during protests against systemic racism and police violence.
"I believe the honorable thing would be for you to resign,” Council Member Greg Casar told Manley earlier this month… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
3rd Sixth Street bar suspended for defying coronavirus protocols (Austin American-Statesman)
The alcohol permit for a downtown bar was suspended Sunday after it was found to be violating protocols in place to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease linked to the coronavirus.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced a 30-day permit suspension for UnBARlievable West 6th, located at 513 W. Sixth St. It’s the third Austin bar the agency has reprimanded after announcing similar suspensions Saturday for Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden and Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot Icehouse — both located on West Sixth Street.
UnBARlievable West 6th is one of seven bars the state agency suspended Sunday across the state. In total, 12 businesses have had alcohol permits suspended since the TABC began cracking down on Friday.
“Protecting the health and safety of Texans during this pandemic is our top priority,” TABC Executive Director Bentley Nettles said. “We warned businesses TABC will have no tolerance for breaking the rules, and now, some bars are paying the price. I hope other establishments will learn from these suspensions.”
TABC agents are conducting undercover operations across the state to make sure bars are operating at 50% capacity and restaurants are operating at 75% capacity, per the guidelines set by Gov. Greg Abbott’s Strike Force to Open Texas. Agents are also checking that customers are practicing social distancing by putting at least 6 feet between parties.
The agency has inspected more than 3,000 locations across Texas. A second infraction could result in a 60-day suspension… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City could see sharp decline in traffic fatalities after speed limit reductions (Austin Monitor)
City Council recently made a decision to decrease speed limits to 25 mph on most residential streets. Now it’s up to the Transportation Department to implement the new limits, educate the public and partner with the Austin Police Department to enforce them.
Eric Bollich, Transportation’s managing engineer, said the department is working on a deployment schedule for new signage, and is looking at neighborhoods that already have 25 mph signs (a past city effort) and 30 mph signs to help it prioritize.
The new signs may come with supplemental yellow signs emblazoned with “Notice” or “New,” red borders or flags, flashing beacons, reflective materials or dynamic speed display devices.
Bollich said it’s hard to predict what effect the changes might have on the city’s traffic fatality statistics, which hit 86 last year. He pointed to other cities that have tried similar tactics.
“There was a study in Boston showing that the odds of somebody traveling over 35 mph has decreased by about 30 percent,” he said. “Their effort was mainly signage change like we recently passed in Austin.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Gov. Greg Abbott says he supports making to-go alcohol sales permanent in Texas (Texas Tribune)
During shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texans have been able to purchase alcoholic beverages to go from restaurants, including liquor. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wants to make the change permanent.
Abbott originally signed a waiver March 18 allowing to-go alcohol sales, in an effort to support struggling restaurants after they closed their dining areas. The waiver was originally to last until May 1, but it was extended indefinitely. Abbott teased that this change could be permanent, tweeting at the time, “From what I hear from Texans, we may just let this keep on going forever.”
Abbott again tweeted late Saturday that he supports the idea of extending his temporary waiver. State Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, replied, saying that he will file a bill in the upcoming legislative session to make it happen, also advocating to allow restaurants to continue selling bulk retail food items to go.
The 87th Texas legislative session begins Jan. 12, 2021… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Houston panel setting health standards for return of public events (Houston Chronicle)
Representatives of Houston’s professional sports franchises, its publicly funded stadiums and arenas and major convention centers say they expect to announce details this week of basic health and safety standards for venues as the city moves toward reopening for public events. The group, known as the Houston Venue and Events Task Force, said its basic standards will be applied to upcoming events at their venues but are subject to adjustments required by professional leagues and by state and local health authorities.
Executives and operations officials at more than a dozen entities have been working on the standards for more than a month and plan to unveil them as the clock ticks toward the first major events planned for July at the George R. Brown Convention Center and NRG Park, which include high school graduations and the Texas Republican Party Convention. The task force, which has met regularly since the sports shutdown in mid-March, includes representatives of the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., Houston First, the Astros, Texans, Rockets, Dynamo and Dash. It also includes Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, NRG Center, BBVA Stadium, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Houston Marathon Committee, the mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Downtown Houston partnership… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Empower Texans opponents rush to exact revenge over anti-Abbott tirade (Texas Tribune)
For Republicans who have spent years in the trenches battling Empower Texans, it was hard to imagine a bigger gift.
Two staffers for the hardline conservative group were caught on tape profanely disparaging the state's most popular Republican leader, Gov. Greg Abbott, as well as joking about his disability.
With the July runoffs less than a month away, the anti-Empower Texans forces are gearing up to make the group's allied candidates pay dearly — and sink its intraparty reputation for good.
Within hours of the tape's release Friday, candidates and incumbents in some of the most closely watched state House runoffs rushed to link their opponents to the comments, and underscoring the political gravity of the situation, they distanced themselves promptly after being singled out… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Airports beg government to set face mask policy for passengers (The Hill)
Airline passengers are encountering a patchwork of rules when it comes to wearing masks on planes and in airports, creating confusion and frustration among customers and companies alike.
With no federal law for wearing masks on planes or in airports, airlines are setting their own policies. Some have removed non-compliant passengers and banned them from future flights, as was the case earlier this week when American Airlines removed a pro-Trump activist.
Airports across the country, meanwhile, have inconsistent standards for facial coverings, prompting the airline industry to beg government officials to establish national guidelines for air travel. Most airports are allowed to set their own policies for masks… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Turnout at Trump’s Tulsa rally was just under 6,200 – a fraction of the venue’s 19,200 capacity (Forbes)
While President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday was pitched as an over-subscribed event, with Trump campaign staffers touting ticket registrations over a million, the final turnout came to a fraction of the venue’s overall capacity, confirming reports of low turnout that dogged what was meant to be Trump’s triumphant return to the campaign trail. The Trump campaign set expectations high for the rally, announcing that they had received more than a million ticket requests, despite the venue, the BOK Center, seating just 19,200. Anticipating high turnout that would exceed that capacity, the campaign planned a second, outdoor speech to address the crowd in the overflow section.
But those hopes quickly evaporated on the evening of the rally, with reporters tweeting photos of the rally showing huge swaths of empty seats in the stadium. The campaign ended up cancelling the second speech to the overflow section, with Communications Director Tim Murtaugh blaming the low turnout on the media and protesters, who he claimed blocked access to the entrance despite reports that nobody was turned away from the rally. Andrew Little, the Public Information Officer for the Tulsa Fire Department, confirmed to Forbes on Sunday that a tally taken by the fire marshal clocked the turnout at just under 6,200 people, far fewer attendees than the campaign expected… (LINK TO FULL 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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