BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 11, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Podcast Episode 107: Entrepreneurship and Resiliency with Musa Ato, Founder & President, League of Rebels (SHOW LINK)
Note: Shows also available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Sound Cloud, and Stitcher
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin Under 40 Awards Name 2020 Category Winners and Austinite Of The Year (TRIBEZA)
For more than two decades, the Young Women’s Alliance and Young Men’s Business League have partnered annually to host the Austin Under 40 Awards. With over 1,300 nominations this year, Tribeza announced the 80 finalists in March. After multiple rounds of deliberations with almost 200 judges weighing in on the finalist’s leadership achievements and community service efforts, the 16 winners have been chosen.
A gala in May to honor winners in each category and name the prestigious Austinite of the Year was canceled due to the pandemic. But it’s time these outstanding women and men receive their recognition.
“For 22 years, the Austin Under 40 Awards have honored the change-makers in our city,” 2020 Austin Under 40 Awards Co-Chairs Lauren Kaufman, Derek Steffen and Patrick Sims said in a statement given to Tribeza. “This year perhaps more than any other, the commitment to leadership and serving the community that these winners have demonstrated is of the utmost importance and value. It is with these individuals that we will continue to move forward as a city and pave a bright future for the next generation of Austin. Congratulations to our 2020 winners!”… (LINK TO STORY)
First coronavirus cases reported at three Austin-area school districts (Austin American-Statesman)
Just two days after launching in-person learning, three area school districts are reporting their first COVID-19 cases.
Four people at Eanes schools and one at Lake Travis High School have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease linked to the coronavirus.
Both school districts opened its campuses the first time since March to teachers and a limited number of students on Tuesday, with more students expected to return this month.
Also on Thursday, Bastrop school district officials announced that two staff members at Cedar Creek Elementary, one student at Bastrop Intermediate, one student at Cedar Creek Middle School, and one staff member and four students at Bastrop High School had tested positive for coronavirus.
Other Central Texas school districts also opened this week, but had not reported any cases at press time. The Austin school district, which began the year remotely on Sept. 8 and has limited the number of people on campus, requires an open records requests for case reporting.
Last week, three Westlake High School students tested positive for the coronavirus. On Thursday, Eanes reported a new coronavirus case at West Ridge Middle School, which lies in West Austin off of Bee Cave Road. It was not clear if the person was a student of a staff member, but the district believes the case was an off-campus exposure and are conducting contact tracing protocols to determine.
Since June 1, 13 positive cases have been reported among Eanes staff, resulting in 86 people needing to quarantine for the 14-day incubation period, district officials said.
In an email to West Ridge parents, Principal Dianne Carter said the known close contacts have been notified.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we advise you to monitor for symptoms as outlined in the Eanes ISD Health Services Management Plan and follow the CDC Public Health Guidance,” the email stated. “There is a 14-day incubation period for anyone possibly exposed to the confirmed case. Contact your primary care physician if you develop symptoms and notify the school should you or your child test positive for COVID-19.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Pandemic slows, but can’t stop, growth of ‘mega region’ (Austin Business Journal)
New Braunfels and San Marcos, the two largest cities along the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin, continue to pursue new opportunities for economic development in the midst of a pandemic — each with a different strategy and focus.
What they have in common is a confidence that the region is poised to leverage its growth before Covid-19 into significant gains in corporate recruitment.
The top economic development officials in the two cities shared that outlook on Sept. 3 during the 2020 Austin-San Antonio Growth Summit, an annual event produced by the San Antonio Business Journal and Austin Business Journal and streamed live online this year in lieu of an in-person event… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas police group puts up billboard warning "enter at your own risk," saying Austin defunded police (CBS Austin)
The Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA) has put up two billboards along Interstate 35 entering Austin after the city council voted last month to cut the Austin police budget. One of them reads: "Warning! Austin defunded police. Enter at your own risk!"
The second says, "Limited support next 20 miles," according to the association.
TMPA, the largest law enforcement association in Texas, said on Facebook it released the billboards – which include the hashtag #BacktheBlue – "to raise public awareness that Austin is a defunded city."
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick backed the campaign, calling them "great new billboards" in a tweet on Wednesday, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted about them with the hashtag #TexasBacksTheBlue… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
UT-Austin says it will require only student ticket holders to test negative for COVID-19 before Saturday’s football game (Texas Tribune)
Officials at the University of Texas at Austin said Wednesday night that students with football season tickets will be required to take COVID-19 tests Friday and test negative before they can attend Saturday's season opener against the University of Texas at El Paso.
But the same precautions won't be required of thousands of other fans in the stands this Saturday. There is no testing requirement for fans who aren't UT-Austin students, nor is there a requirement for visitors from El Paso. And not all UT-Austin students are required to be tested — only those who buy "The Big Ticket" season package are subject to the tests, but students who purchase individual game tickets are exempt, said J.B. Bird, a UT-Austin spokesperson.
Bird later said that individual tickets wouldn't be sold for the Saturday game. As of Thursday evening, about 3,000 students purchased the Big Ticket, said John Bianco, a spokesperson for the university's athletic department, in an email… (LINK TO STORY)
These community-led delivery services are Austin’s answer to Grubhub and DoorDash (Eater Austin)
Delivery services and contactless pickups have become de rigueur since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic, as people strive to avoid interactions by staying home. But while these services are convenient for some, they’re not accessible to everyone, and often leave non-native English speakers and those without vehicles especially vulnerable.
Third-party delivery apps, like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Postmates, are, of course, popular. In 2018, the businesses were part of the multibillion-dollar food delivery industry. But recently, these companies have come under scrutiny for charging unsustainably high fees to restaurants, offering low pay and creating tough working conditions for workers, withholding commissions, and imposing fraudulent charges.
In response, several community-led delivery services have sprung up in Austin to meet the city’s growing demand for nuanced, ethical contactless shopping, with no fees levied on restaurants. These services, including Ayuda, Runner City, and Corona Mamas Delivery, also provide much-needed income for the unemployed… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Abbott unveils new plan to punish cities that cut police spending (Austin American-Statesman)
On the heels of the Austin City Council’s move to cut police spending, Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders unveiled a proposal Thursday that would strip cities of annexation powers if local officials cut police department budgets.
“Cities that defund their police departments will forever lose their annexation powers, and any areas and any residents that have ever been annexed by that city in the past will have the power to vote to disannex them from the city,” Abbott said in a news conference at the Austin Police Association headquarters.
It’s the second legislative proposal by the governor to put pressure on cities that move to reduce police spending. Last month, Abbott proposed to withhold property tax revenue growth from local governments.
The City Council last month voted to cut $21.5 million from the Police Department, largely by canceling three cadet classes, with the potential to shift $129 million in police funding toward social service programs and other city departments to take over mental health, addiction and other responses that typically fall to police.
“Combined together, all of these proposals will make it basically financially impossible to defund law enforcement,” Abbott said. “It should leave Austin with no choice but to restore the cuts that they’ve already made to law enforcement.”
The Republican-controlled Legislature, which reconvenes in January, would have to approve the proposals.
State law allows a city to annex the equivalent of up to 10% of its incorporated land from its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the 5-mile area that surrounds city limits.
In 2017, the Legislature voted to limit large cities’ annexation powers, forcing them to receive voter approval before annexing new areas… (LINK TO STORY)
Dallas mayor's plan to cut city hall salaries rejected again (WFAA)
For the second time in seven days, a majority of the Dallas City Council indicated its support to reduce the overtime budget of the Dallas Police Department.
The council voted 13-2 to reject an amendment from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson.
The amendment is one of 90 proposed changes to the $3.8 billion budget for 2021 introduced by City Manager T.C. Broadnax last month.
The amendment championed by Johnson would have required Broadnax to identify $6 million in cuts to salaries at city hall for employees making over $60,000 and used those savings to fund public safety, streets or tax reduction.
The amendment also sought to reverse a proposed cut to the overtime budget for the Dallas Police Department.
Council members indicated their tentative approval one week ago to reduce the $24 million OT budget by $7 million.
After a similar amendment failed last week on cutting city hall salaries, Johnson renewed his push to "defund the bureaucracy," by emailing supporters over the weekend and asking them to write letters supporting his proposals.
During debate on his amendment, District 13 council member Jennifer S. Gates said she also received emails from constituents.
"They haven’t been shared the complete truth. They’ve been shared hashtags about defunding a bureaucracy,” Gates said. “We need to do the tough work and sit here and listen to all the amendments – and that’s what we did for 12 hours last week.”
The city council held a session last week that lasted until 1:30 a.m. the following morning, dealing with 80 possible amendments.
Johnson did not attend any portion of that original meeting after his amendments were voted on. A spokesperson told WFAA he left to deal with a family matter but did not elaborate.
Before the vote on the amendment, Johnson said the council was playing "a cat and mouse game" with the public for proposing to reduce the tax rate to cut $33 million from the budget, but wouldn't support his plan to reduce it by $6 million… (LINK TO STORY)
Texans players stay in locker room for national anthem (Houston Chronicle)
Houston Texans players stayed in the locker room during the playing of the national anthem and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" before Thursday night's game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs were on the field for both songs with only linebacker Alex Okafor, the former University of Texas star, taking a knee during the national anthem.
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" is often referred to as the Black national anthem.
NBC sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya said Texans executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby told her the Texans players decided as a team to stay in the locker room so "there would be no misinterpretation of celebrating one song or throwing shade on the other."
After the national anthem, the Texans jogged onto the field and players from both teams locked arms and stood at midfield for what the stadium public address announcer called "a moment of silence dedicated to the ongoing fight for equality in our country."
On TV, it sounded like some Chiefs fans bizarrely booed during the moment of silence.
On the stadium scoreboard, seven phrases were displayed, thought of - according to Tafoya - by Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The phrases were: "We support equality; we must end racism; we believe in justice for all; we must end police brutality; we choose unconditional love; we believe Black lives matter; it takes all of us."… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Senate defeat of 'skinny' coronavirus aid bill puts it on 'dead-end street’ (Reuters)
The U.S. Senate on Thursday killed a Republican bill that would have provided around $300 billion in new coronavirus aid, as Democrats seeking far more funding prevented it from advancing.
By a vote of 52-47, the Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed in the 100-member chamber to advance the partisan bill toward passage, leaving the future of any new coronavirus aid in doubt.
“It’s a sort of a dead-end street,” Republican Senator Pat Roberts told reporters following the vote.
“Along with a pandemic - the COVID-19 - we have a pandemic of politics” in Congress, he added.
Senator Rand Paul, who opposed the deficit spending in the bill, was the lone Republican to vote no.
Democratic leaders in Congress have been pushing for a far more vigorous response: around $3 trillion in new funding amid the continuing pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who spearheaded the Republican bill that failed, had offered a more expansive, $1 trillion coronavirus measure in July. Amid strong opposition from Democrats and many Republicans, he was unable to even stage a vote on that proposal… (LINK TO STORY)
Fortnite Maker Tim Sweeney On Apple and Google: 'These Monopolies Need To Be Stopped' (NPR)
From his perch in Cary, North Carolina, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has launched a war against Silicon Valley powerhouses Apple and Google.
The billionaire maker of video game phenomenon Fortnite dragged the tech giants to court last month over the 30% fee they charge on purchases made in their mobile app stores.
Since then, Sweeney, an iconoclastic executive who owns enormous farms and dabbles in fast cars, has not talked publicly about his decision. He broke his silence to NPR, insisting he had the backing of countless other app developers who also believe the tech titans are taking advantage of them.
"It's not just Epic being exploited by Apple, but it's every developer who goes along with that scheme colluding with Apple and Google to further their monopoly," Sweeney said in the interview. "These stores are making a lot more money from creative works than the creators."
In some ways, Sweeney said, being far away from the orbit of Silicon Valley, a culture he has long accused of "groupthink," has made his gamble easier… (LINK TO STORY)
Court blocks Trump order to exclude undocumented immigrants from census (The Hill)
A federal court ruled Thursday that President Trump's order to exclude undocumented immigrants from census numbers for apportioning congressional districts is unlawful.
A unanimous three-judge panel for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said in its decision that Trump's executive memorandum violates the executive branch's "constitutional responsibility to count the whole number of persons in each State and to apportion members of the House of Representatives among the States according to their respective numbers."
"The merits of the parties’ dispute are not particularly close or complicated," the panel wrote in its 86-page unsigned opinion.
"The President is not free to substitute his own view of what is most 'consonant with the principles of representative democracy' for the view that Congress already chose," the panel added, quoting the president's memo.
The panel consisted of two judges appointed by Republican presidents and one by a Democrat.
A White House spokesman declined to comment. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond when asked for comment and the Department of Commerce declined to comment.
In a statement to The Hill, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) noted the decision was a "major victory in the fight to protect the 2020 Decennial Census."… (LINK TO STORY)