BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 6, 2020)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 77 - A Talk with Austin Brand Entrepreneur Doug Guller (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Gov. Abbott Says Austin's State Lab Can Now Test Patients For Coronavirus (KUT)
Six labs in Texas, including a state lab in Austin, can now test for the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.
An additional four labs will have those capabilities by the end of the month, he said, giving the state the ability to process more than 125 COVID-19 tests per day.
Testing of possible cases in the Austin area have had to be done elsewhere by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, delaying results.
“What is starting today is intended to expedite that process," Abbott said during his second news conference on the coronavirus in a month. "We just now have the capability to make sure we can turn around those results a whole lot quicker."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Capital Metro unveils new details of plan to overhaul public transit, including rail through downtown Austin (Community Impact)
For years, Capital Metro has been meeting with city residents and gathering input to put together its Project Connect plan, a blueprint for the future of public transit in Austin.
On Monday, March 9, Capital Metro staff will bring new details of the plan to Austin City Council with a significant update—light rail connecting areas of town from North Lamar Boulevard to South Congress Avenue and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
According to the plans. one light rail line—which Capital Metro is calling the Orange Line—would run between the North Lamar Transit Center and the intersection of South Congress and Stassney Lane, passing through The Drag, downtown and the Colorado River along the way.
The other light rail line—called the Blue Line—would run parallel with the Orange Line between the North Lamar Transit Center and Republic Square downtown, allowing trains to run every five minutes in that section of the city rather than every 10 minutes in other areas. The two lines would split off from a central point downtown, with the Orange Line continuing along South Congress and the Blue Line following Riverside Drive to the airport… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Travis Co. GOP chairman on Robert Morrow: ‘I will light myself on fire’ (Austin American-Statesman)
Robert Morrow has caused another firestorm among the local Republican Party and he hasn’t yet been elected to office. Matt Mackowiak, head of the Travis County GOP, tweeted that he would set himself ablaze if Morrow, an anti-Trump provocateur and de facto menace to local Republicans, wins the May 26 runoff.
Morrow at one point Tuesday night brushed off Mackowiak’s statement in typical Morrow fashion. “Matt Mackowiak can blow me!” For almost all of Tuesday night, Morrow clutched on to a commanding lead in the State Board of Education District 5 Republican primary race with 40% of votes. He will likely face in the runoff Lani Popp, a public school speech pathologist who has been the favorite to win among party establishment. Mackowiak is no stranger to Twitter rebel-rousing either. On election night 2016 amid early signs that Trump might lose to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, he told Trump in a now-deleted equally incendiary post to “Go F*** yourself.” Although he made his latest comment tongue in cheek, Mackowiak said the possibility of Morrow being elected to the State Board of Education is no laughing matter… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly: Coronavirus travel slump ‘has a 9/11-like feel’ (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines says it expects revenues to decrease $200 million to $300 million in the first quarter as carriers begin to see a massive toll from the spread of the COVID-19 virus. “The company experienced healthy passenger booking and revenue trends for the first two months of 2020,” the airline outlined in a regulatory filing Thursday. “However, in recent days, the company has experienced a significant decline in customer demand, as well as an increase in trip cancellations, which is assumed to be attributable to concerns relating to reported cases of COVID-19.”
In an interview with CNBC later Thursday, CEO Gary Kelly said the drop in demand came suddenly. “Through almost the entire month of February, our business was very solid. At the end of last week, we started seeing very sharp declines," he said. “It has a 9/11-like feel,” Kelly said, adding that the slowdown seemed to be motivated by fear, not by economic factors. Kelly told CNBC that the recent drop-off is worse for the airline than the 2004 SARS epidemic, which impacted international travel and Southwest only flew in the United States at that time… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
No, you can’t use Tito’s Vodka to make homemade hand sanitizer (Dallas Morning News)
Vodka is a sought-after remedy for many things, but the coronavirus panic-driven lack of hand sanitizer is forcing one Texas vodka brand to clarify its limitations.
Austin-based Tito’s Vodka appears to have spent the last 24 hours notifying a number of fans on Twitter that its spirits don’t contain high enough concentrations of alcohol to properly fend off germs.
“As soon as we saw the incorrect articles and social posts, we wanted to set the record straight,” a spokesperson for Tito’s said in a statement provided to The Dallas Morning News. “While it would be good for business for our fans to use massive quantities of Tito’s for hand sanitizer, it would be a shame to waste the good stuff, especially if it doesn’t sanitize (which it doesn’t, per the CDC).” The number of articles offering advice on how to make homemade hand sanitizer have spiked (naturally) in the last week as stores across the country have seen their shelves cleared of Purell and other brands. The shortage has also led to complaints about price gouging.
Popular recipes for homemade hand sanitizer recommend combing either isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or spirits that are at least 180 proof with aloe vera.
And while the CDC does acknowledge you can use alcohol-based sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol, health experts say washing your hands with soap and water is a more effective way to prevent the spread of germs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Sequoia Capital calls coronavirus “the black swan of 2020”
Top Silicon Valley investment firm Sequoia Capital today sent a dire warning to portfolio company CEOs about the business impacts of coronavirus, suggesting that they "question every assumption" about their businesses, including cash runway, headcount, and sales forecasts.
Why it matters: The last time Sequoia did something similar was in October 2008, at the peak of the financial crisis, via its famed "RIP Good Times" slide deck. The firm is known for placing early bets on such companies as Airbnb, Google, and WhatsApp… (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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