BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 4, 2020)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 77 - A Talk with Austin Brand Entrepreneur Doug Guller (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
From Facebook to Intel, companies are pulling out of SXSW over virus concerns (Austin American-Statesman)
An increasing number of big-name companies and speakers are pulling out of South by Southwest as concerns increase about the spread of the coronovirus.
Facebook, Mashable, Capital One, TikTok and Intel have all decided to pull scheduled programming from the festival this year. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who was scheduled as a featured speaker, and investor and podcaster Tim Ferriss who was scheduled to be a keynote speaker, have also canceled appearances.
Internationally, concerns continue to rise about coronavirus. More than 35,000 people have signed a petition calling for SXSW to be canceled.
SXSW officials said Monday that the festival, due to run March 13-22, will go on as planned, andsaid no Texas health officials have requested cancellation of any gatherings. The organizers said the situation will continue to be monitored.
“SXSW is working closely on a daily basis with local, state, and federal agencies to plan for a safe event. As a result of this dialogue and the recommendations of Austin Public Health, the 2020 event is proceeding with safety as a top priority,” festival officials said in a written statement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Garza, Eiserloh in runoff for Travis County Attorney (Austin Monitor)
Longtime county and city lawyer Laurie Eiserloh will face Council Member Delia Garza in a runoff in May to determine who will become Travis County Attorney when David Escamilla retires from the job next January.
In the end, Eiserloh had 43.63 percent of the vote compared to Garza’s 38.15 percent. The other candidates in the race, former Judge Mike Denton and defense attorney Dominic Selvera, were far behind. Denton had nearly 11 percent of the vote and Selvera had about 7 percent.
Eiserloh, 56, has spent the last 27 years practicing law, primarily in the office she wishes to lead and to a lesser extent in the city of Austin’s law department. Garza, 43, is a former firefighter and union leader with four years of legal experience as an assistant attorney general and five years on City Council. She was the first Latina elected to the Austin City Council and serves as mayor pro tem.
Even though Eiserloh had not previously run for an elective office, she won the endorsements of the Austin American-Statesman and The Austin Chronicle, as well as the majority of Democratic clubs.
Both Garza and Eiserloh have stressed the need for change in the County Attorney’s Office, focusing in particular on reducing the number of people charged with minor offenses.
Garza said Tuesday night that she would continue to stress the need for change, characterizing herself as an agent of change and her opponent as the “status quo… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Howard and Bolton earn spots in runoff for Precinct 3 (Austin Monitor)
Ann Howard, the former executive director of Ending Homelessness Community Coalition, won the most votes on Tuesday night, but there is one more hurdle to clear. A runoff election will determine which Democratic candidate will go against Republican Rebecca Bray this November in the contest to replace Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, the sole Republican on the Commissioners Court.
Howard, who received just under a majority of total votes in the primary with 48.70 percent, will likely compete with former Texas House Rep. Valinda Bolton in a runoff election May 26. Bolton won 30.76 percent of the vote, and earned the right to compete in a runoff election.
After 14 years representing Precinct 3, Daugherty announced his decision in December not to run again and endorsed Bray, an engineer and transportation planner, as his replacement. Bray ran uncontested in Tuesday’s primary… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Economic development organization south of Austin picks new leader (Austin Business Journal)
The top economic development organization for Austin's booming southern flank has named a new leader.
The Greater San Marcos Partnership board has selected Jason Giulietti as the organization's new president, according to a March 3 announcement. GSMP leads job creation and business expansion or relocation efforts in Hays and Caldwell counties, which includes cities like San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and Lockhart.
Giulietti said in a statement the region between Austin and San Antonio is on an "unprecedented" growth trajectory.
"As president of the GSMP, I plan to help lead and guide this growth in a manner that aligns with our community's values, assets and aspirations," he said. "Building upon the collaborative partnership we have established across the region will allow us to secure more high-quality jobs and improve the quality of life for everyone in our community.”
Giulietti replaces Adriana Cruz, who joined the state late last year as the executive director of the Economic Development and Tourism division in Gov. Greg Abbott's office.
Giulietti joined the partnership last January from the Northeast, where he worked at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center. He was hired by GSMP as a vice president to lead business recruitment efforts and has served as the partnership's interim president for the last two months… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Joe Biden wins Texas primary in a stunning turnaround (Texas Tribune)
Former Vice President Joe Biden has won the Texas presidential primary, continuing a stunning revival of his once-struggling campaign that has helped him solidify himself as one of the two leading contenders in the broader race for the Democratic nomination.
Despite early voting returns putting U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders ahead of the former vice president, election day voters propelled Biden to victory here. Biden’s lead was growing late into the night Tuesday as election day votes continued to trickle in.
Michael Bloomberg, the New York City billionaire, was a distant third, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
“Call it a W,” Biden tweeted. “Thank you, Texas.”
Biden was leading or had won 10 states on Super Tuesday, while Sanders looked likely to win four, including California — the biggest prize of the night given its hefty delegate lode. But how the 228 delegates Texas awarded on primary election day will be divvied up remains to be seen… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas named top state for economic development. (Austin American-Statesman)
Texas has been named the winner of a national economic development prize, marking the eighth consecutive year it has received the distinction for business and job creation. Site Selection magazine’s Governor’s Cup, which annually goes to the state with the most capital investment projects, was presented Monday to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
“I want to thank all of our local, regional and statewide economic development teams for their work to expand economic opportunity in Texas, as well as the companies that continue to invest and create more jobs throughout the Lone Star State,” Abbott said in accepting the award. Texas notched 859 qualifying projects in 2019, according to Site Selection magazine, far outpacing second-place finisher Ohio, at 448 projects. Still, Ohio won a Governor’s Cup as well, for most projects per capita. Qualifying projects counted by the magazine must have a minimum investment of $1 million, create at least 20 new jobs or result in at least 20,000 square feet of new space… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Incendiary State Board of Education candidate Rob Morrow advances to runoff (Texas Tribune)
A man who has called President Donald Trump a “child rapist” is headed to a runoff in the race for a position that would help decide what millions of Texas public school children are taught.
In the three-way Republican race for the District 5 seat on the State Board of Education, Robert Morrow held the lead as primary election returns trickled in Tuesday night. Lani Popp, a speech language pathologist in the Northside Independent School District, and Inga Cotton, a parent activist and founder of San Antonio Charter Moms, were locked in a battle for the second runoff spot.
Neither party wants to see Morrow, who has a history of sexist and racist rhetoric, elected to the board. Morrow is known for wearing a jester's hat, and his top campaign issue is "to impeach, convict and remove Donald Trump and throw his sorry ass in prison."
District 5 covers communities along the Interstate 35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin and stretches into the Hill Country. The Republican incumbent, Ken Mercer, did not seek reelection.
Mercer said he is vehemently opposed to seeing Morrow, whose rhetoric he called "anti-woman" and "pretty bizarre,” take the seat he held for 14 years. In February, he told The Texas Tribune he worries Morrow's name will be a draw for Republican voters who don't know his reputation… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Biden scores big Super Tuesday victories, but Sanders takes California (The Hill)
Former Vice President Joe Biden is projected to win more than half of the 14 states holding contests on Super Tuesday, exceeding expectations for a campaign that was in serious trouble just weeks ago.
Biden’s eight victories included upsets in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Massachusetts, where he defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and home-state Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D).
He was also competing hard with Sanders for Maine, another state where he had been seen as a big underdog.
Biden won blowout victories in Alabama and the swing state of Virginia and was building big leads in North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, three more states where he was declared the winner.
Sanders was projected as the winner of four states, including the biggest prize of the night in California, and he won big in his home state of Vermont. Sanders also looked to be the runaway winner in Colorado and Utah…
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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