BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 12, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* SPECIAL EPISODE - ATX COVID-19-COMMUNITY UPDATES: Housing Equity (LINK TO SHOW)
BG PODCAST Episode 85: School District Land Use Talk with Tanya Birks, Director of Real Estate, Austin ISD (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
As Businesses Reopen, Adler Reminds Austinites: We're Not 'Out Of The Woods' Yet (KUT)
KUT Morning Edition host Jennifer Stayton talked with Austin Mayor Steve Adler about how the city is responding to Gov. Greg Abbott’s reopening orders and to answer some of your questions about the city’s response to the pandemic… (FULL CONVERSATION HERE)
Shady Grove on Barton Springs Road closes permanently after 28 years in Austin (Austin 360)
The plug has been pulled on an Austin institution after almost 30 years. Shady Grove, the pastoral comfort food restaurant that was home to one of the longest-running free live music series in Austin, has closed for good, restaurant co-owner Rusty Zagst told the American-Statesman on Monday.
The restaurant’s owners had faced mounting challenges from increasing property taxes on the land they lease, and Zagst said that though he had streamlined operations to position the company for a successful year, the crippling economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic left the owners no choice but to close.
Shady Grove joins Magnolia Cafe West and Threadgill’s on the list of quintessential Austin restaurants that have made the decision to shutter in the face of the economic trauma that accompanied the coronavirus.
Shady Grove might not have been the most critically acclaimed restaurant or the city’s premiere music venue, but it was much more than the sum of its parts. With its family-friendly vibe, unfussy Southwestern comfort food and long-running Unplugged at the Grove music series, the restaurant at 1624 Barton Springs Road was a uniquely Austin treasure that felt like the city’s unofficial backyard… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Victim in fatal officer-involved shooting was unarmed, Austin police say as questions mount (Community Impact)
Michael Ramos, the 42-year-old man who was fatally shot by Austin police officers April 24, was unarmed, Police Chief Brian Manley said, following a search of Ramos’ vehicle and the scene. The finding conflicts with the information given to police by the 911 call that sent officers to the scene.
“We didn’t locate a firearm inside the vehicle, nor did we locate a firearm in the area around the vehicle,” Manley said at May 11 press conference.
Police were sent to a Southeast Austin apartment complex April 24 after a 911 caller reported people smoking “crack and crystal meth” inside a parked car and that the male in the driver’s seat was holding a firearm. Less than an hour later, Manley said that man, identified as Ramos, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital due to gunshot wounds inflicted by Austin police officers… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Trump, in rare presidential move, urges Dallas voters to oust judge who enforced governor’s order on hair salons (Dallas Morning News)
President Donald Trump called on Dallas voters to oust state District Judge Eric Moyé for jailing a hair salon owner who defied state, county and court orders to remain closed during the COVID-19 outbreak — a rare if not unprecedented instance of a president inserting himself into a local judicial election. Trump had already lauded Gov. Greg Abbott for working to free the law-breaking North Dallas salon owner, Shelley Luther, two days into a seven-day jail sentence for contempt of court, glossing past the fact that it was Abbott’s own stay-at-home order that she had violated.
Like most Texas businesses, her studio was required to close on March 22. She reopened on April 24 despite the ban, and tore up a cease-and-desist letter from County Judge Clay Jenkins at a demonstration the next day. Three days later, Moyé signed an order requiring Luther to keep her salon closed. She defied that order and continued to operate the business. “Dallas Judge Eric Moyé should be voted out of office November 3rd. Jailing a mother for keeping her salon open to feed her children is an outrageous abuse of judicial power. Demanding she apologize for “being selfish” is absurd. The order to close salons was illegal. Dumb judge,” tweeted Gregg Jarrett, a Fox News legal and political analyst who has authored pro-Trump books titled The Russia Hoax and Witch Hunt. Jarrett tweeted that out on Wednesday night. Trump retweeted it shortly after 3 p.m. on Sunday — toward the end of a Mother’s Day tweet storm of more than 100 tweets or retweets… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
San Antonio offering free testing for asymptomatic residents (San Antonio Express-News)
San Antonio Metro Health has expanded its COVID-19 testing to include asymptomatic individuals, according to a news release Monday from the city agency.
Previously, only residents who were showing symptoms of the virus such as a fever, dry cough, and chills were allowed to be tested. Now, you can be tested without symptoms.
Local health care providers, drive-thru locations, and the San Antonio Fire Department’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program will continue to partner to provide free testing, while prioritizing underserved communities, the news release said.
The free testing is aimed at residents who don't have insurance, though anyone can use the testing sites. Those with insurance can also contact their provider for testing, though Metro Health said clinicians should use their best judgment to determine if a patient has signs associated with the virus.
"It is important for the uninsured residents to know they also have access to testing at no charge and have resources to make sure they are healthy and are aware of services that are available in our city,” said Dawn Emerick, Director of Metro Health… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas Education Agency says 2020-21 school year likely to be disrupted by COVID-19 (Community Impact)
Texas school districts are likely to experience disruptions in the 2020-21 instructional year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to guidelines released by May 7 by the Texas Education Agency.
The guidelines are meant to serve as a framework for adjustments to the 2020-21 calendar to help minimize anticipated disruptions, including a potential increase in absence rates. However, individual districts ultimately have final authority over instructional calendars.
The prolonged school closures may have a devastating impact on student achievement, with students potentially returning in August nearly a full year behind, according to the TEA… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Houston council member tests positive for COVID-19 (Houston Chronicle)
Houston City Councilmember Letitia Plummer has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first elected official in the city to have a confirmed infection of the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Plummer, a first-term council member and dentist, has been quarantining at home since Thursday and received her results Monday, she said. She briefly went to the emergency room on Saturday to receive fluids, but otherwise has been at home.
Her staff members will be tested for the virus Tuesday, she said. Her dental office staff have all tested negative, as have her three sons. Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin said the administration is working to ensure any council member or staff member who wants to get tested can do so Tuesday at City Hall, though they are still are working through the details. Mayor Sylvester Turner is scheduled to unveil his proposed budget Tuesday. “We have to be careful. This is a great wake-up call for a lot of people,” Martin said. “We think this is over? No. For us, it’s just beginning.” Plummer said she does not know where she contracted the virus. She started feeling fatigued on Thursday, one day after city council’s most recent meeting. The council has continued to meet in person at City Hall each week, though members generally are spread out around the dais and at the press tables in front of the audience seats. Most wear masks, but they frequently are in close proximity to one another. Plummer said she thought at first she might just be tired from working. By nighttime, she could not get out of bed. “My body feels like it’s been in a wreck, like a really bad car accident,” she said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Pandemic Fuels Growth of Telemedicine (Governing)
The emergence of the coronavirus may be a tipping point for telemedicine. Before the pandemic, about 10 percent of Americans had used such services. The director of telehealth for the Mount Sinai Health System in COVID-19 hot spot New York City says that demand has increased tenfold.
Those at greatest risk from COVID-19 recently gained more access to online care. In March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced new guidelines for that expand coverage for telehealth services.
As health-care infrastructure is overloaded, online pre-screening gives concerned citizens a chance to talk to caregivers without adding to crowds and risks in waiting rooms. A number of bills have been introduced since the beginning of March to further the use of these telehealth services, some with applications beyond the current health crisis… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
What you need to know about four potential COVID-19 vaccines (The Hill)
The coronavirus pandemic has set off an unprecedented global scramble for a vaccine.
There are more than 100 potential vaccine candidates, according to the World Health Organization, but only eight have entered the crucial clinical trials stage. Four are in the United States and Europe, with the rest in China.
“I can never remember anything like this,” Walter Orenstein, associate director of the vaccine center at Emory University in Atlanta, said of the number of vaccines being developed to tackle one disease. “Hopefully, at least one and hopefully more than one will prove to be safe and effective.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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