BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 23, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
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BG Podcast EP. 139: Q1 20201 Review: COVID-19's Impact on the Built Environment with Michael Hsu
On today’s episode we speak with return guest, Austin-based Michael Hsu, Principal and Founder of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. catch up from their June 2020 show, updating on impacts to the design/built environment sector through Q1 2021.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. New content every Wednesday. Please like, link, comment and subscribe!
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
Action taken by the City Council during the meeting of: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Next Regular Meeting of the Austin City Council: Thursday, May 6th (No Agenda Posted)
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (5,722)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,628)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Appointments no longer needed for drive-thru vaccines at Circuit of the Americas (Community Impact)
For the first time, a drive-thru mass vaccination site at the Circuit of the Americas hosted by Travis County and its Central Texas neighbors will not require appointments. Beginning April 23, the site will allow anyone age 16 and up to receive a first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, whether they have signed up ahead of time or not.
"This weekend will get us one step closer to where anyone who wants a vaccine can get a vaccine,” Travis County Judge Andy Brown said in a news release. "If you can make it to COTA this weekend, now is the time to get your vaccine.”The COTA mass vaccination site is jointly operated by the Travis, Caldwell, Hays and Bastrop counties, which together make up the Central Texas Counties Vaccine Collaborative. Since late February, the counties have partnered with CommUnityCare and Ascension Seton to administer thousands of shots each weekend. No-appointment shots will be available at 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd., Austin, on April 23 from 9 a.m.-noon and April 24 and 25 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds need the signature of a parent or guardian to receive a shot.
Several of Travis County's largest vaccine distributors have also expanded to offer walk-up vaccines this week as the supply has exceeded the demand for the shots. Austin Public Health announced it would pilot walk-up vaccine access at the Delco Activity Center on April 22 and 23, offering the Moderna vaccine to adults age 18 and up. UT Health Austin, which administers the Pfizer vaccine, likewise has begun accepting walk-ins from 9-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-3 p.m. on weekdays. Both APH and UT still recommend signing up for appointments ahead of time, however… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin City Council OKs more changes to police budget (Austin American-Statesman)
In continuing to restructure the Austin Police Department, the City Council on Thursday voted to move 911 communications and several other services out of police control and into other city departments.
The total funding to be transferred out of the Police Department's budget will be about $33.3 million — much of it due to 284.5 full-time positions moving to other city departments.
The decision builds on the council's work during last year's budget process when it cut or reallocated $150 million from the Police Department's budget — one-third of the entire budget. The money removed Thursday came from funds that were set aside to explore shifting roles assigned to police to other city departments… (LINK TO STORY)
City rushes to complete Red River improvements before concert crowds return (Austin Monitor)
The city is working quickly to complete streetscape improvements to Red River Street, home to some of the city’s most renowned music venues, before flocks of concertgoers return as more and more people get vaccinated against Covid-19.
“I don’t want to miss the opportunity to do this work while we don’t have a lot of traffic in those areas,” Mayor Steve Adler said.
Crews are set to start work this summer beautifying the dilapidated section of Red River between Sixth and 10th streets after City Council authorized a $1.15 million construction contract with ASD Consultants on Thursday.
By the end of the year, the segment will receive new ADA-compliant sidewalks, street trees, lighting, art and trash cans. The project will be funded by the Great Streets Program.
Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison urged city staffers to start the project without delay and to make sure construction doesn’t hurt businesses that have already taken a beating from the pandemic. These businesses, she said, are “a vital part of Austin’s identity” and “they don’t need any extra disruption from construction work that goes on longer than expected.”
The segment of Red River has been identified for improvements since at least 2013 – the year it was christened the Red River Cultural District in acknowledgement of its contribution to Austin’s cultural identity. Multiple resolutions since have pledged improvements, but due to lack of available funds, the work is only now getting underway.
“It’s taken a while,” Council Member Kathie Tovo said, recounting the years of work by the city and stakeholders to advance the project. “Business owners have long complained about the state of the streetscape.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin's Detroit-style pizza restaurant Via 313 expanding to new state after outside investment (Austin Business Journal)
The thick rectangular slabs of Detroit-style pizza that have made Via 313 Pizzeria one of Austin's hottest pizza joints will soon be served in some new cities, including San Antonio and Salt Lake City.
The company, which last year raised an undisclosed sum from Savory Fund, an offshoot of venture capital firm Mercato Partners, said the national expansion represents a doubling of its current footprint in Austin.
Via 313 didn't specify the exact locations of their new restaurants, noting instead that they will be in three Utah cities — Orem and Lehi, which are north of Provo, and Murray, which is just south of Salt Lake City. That's in addition a new location in San Antonio and restaurants in the fast-growing Austin suburbs of Round Rock and Cedar Park.
They expect all six new locations to open by the end of 2021.
Via 313 was founded by Detroit natives Brandon Hunt and Zane Hunt in 2011 with two trailer-style restaurants. The company previously reported raising $480,000 in 2017. Prior to that, the founders reported a $350,000 equity round in 2016.
The company currently has locations near the University of Texas campus, on West Sixth Street, East Sixth Street, Rainey Street and in Oak Hill in Southwest Austin. It has been eyeing a national expansion since last fall when it announced the undisclosed investment from Savory's $100 million fund.
The new restaurants appear to be part of a larger expansion that the company has hinted at by noting it plans to become a major player across the nation.
"Over the past decade, there has been a lot of disruption with fast-casual pizza concepts and low-cost pizza options. None have been more interesting, nostalgic, and quality-driven as Via 313," Andrew K. Smith, managing director of Savory Fund, said in a statement. "Detroit-style pizza is one of the best-kept secrets, and we can't wait to bring it to more communities in Texas, Utah, and additional states that will be announced soon!"… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin leads Texas for influx of out-of-state renters, says study (CultureMap Austin)
Austin already is the capital of Texas. But how about another title — the state’s capital for out-of-state renters?
A study released April 16 by self-storage platform StorageCafé finds that Austin reigns as the biggest magnet in Texas for renters who’ve moved here from another state. About 40 percent of renters who relocated to Austin last year came from a different state, the study shows. That compares with 33 percent for San Antonio, 30 percent for Houston, 24 percent for Fort Worth, 21 percent for Dallas, and 15 percent for Arlington.
New York City ranks as the No. 1 source of out-of-state renters in Austin, followed by Columbus, Ohio, StorageCafé says. About 1.7 percent of Austin renters came from New York City in 2020.
“One of Austin’s strongest points in attracting new residents is the growing job market, particularly the tech field, which features some of the industry’s biggest players, including Apple, Dell, Oracle, Amazon, Facebook, and Google,” the study notes.
In the study, Houston ranks fifth among the country’s top attractors of all renters in 2020. Almost 70 percent of Houston renters came from other places in Texas, with Katy topping the list (8.8 percent).
Two notches down, at No. 7, is Dallas, where Garland accounted for the most incoming renters last year (6.4 percent). Austin lands at No. 11, with Round Rock sending the most renters (6.1 percent). San Antonio sits in the No. 12 spot; the city of Converse led the way for Alamo City’s incoming renters (3.8 percent)… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
House votes to ban school vouchers, cap attorney general spending as part of its proposed $246 billion state budget (Texas Tribune)
The Texas House on Thursday night unanimously passed its proposed two-year, $246 billion state budget after members spent hours deliberating which tweaks to make to the massive spending plan.
The House’s proposed budget includes measures that would ban school vouchers, empty the governor's economic development fund and cap some attorney general spending. But such amendments are not guaranteed to remain in the final spending plan. The proposal now heads back to the Senate, where the legislation will all but certainly then head to a conference committee for the two chambers to hash out their differences before it can be sent to the governor’s desk.
In a statement after Thursday's vote, House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, said the chamber passed "a balanced budget that keeps spending in check while addressing the multitude of challenges that our state experiences, especially those experienced over the past year."
One of the more notable votes happened Thursday afternoon when state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, introduced an amendment that aimed to expand state and federal health care coverage for uninsured Texans. After a brief debate though, the amendment failed 68-80, with one Republican — state Rep. Lyle Larson of San Antonio — voting for it… (LINK TO STORY)
Houston Methodist says it will fire hospital workers who refuse to take COVID vaccine (Houston Chronicle)
Four out of five Houston Methodist employees are vaccinated against COVID-19. The sliver who are not could be suspended or fired if they don’t get the shot, according to company policy. Some of the workers who have not, which include both managers and clinicians, told the Houston Press they want the hospital to cut them slack until federal regulators fully approve the vaccines. The hospital required managers to be vaccinated by April 15 and all other employees — about 26,000 workers in total — by June 7, said Stefanie Asin, a Houston Methodist spokesperson. With 84 percent of the staff vaccinated, the hospital is close to herd immunity, CEO Marc Boom wrote in a letter to employees this month. “As health care workers we’ve taken a sacred oath to do everything possible to keep our patients safe and healthy - this includes getting vaccinated,” Boom wrote. It’s also a matter of leading by example, he said.
Since 2009, a hospital policy has mandated its workers receive the flu vaccine each year, unless they have a medical or religious objection qualifying them for exemption. Some workers told the Houston Press they will be let go because they won't sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment yet. Bob Nevens, Houston Methodist's Director of Corporate Risk and Insurance, told the Houston Press he was suspended for two weeks without pay and expects to be let go by the end of April. Jennifer Bridges, a nurse, told the Houston Press she circulated a petition addressed to Boom, who did not respond. “If you want the vaccine that is great but it should be your choice. It should not be forced into your body if you are not comfortable with it,” reads the Change.org petition, which has drawn more than 2,400 signatures. “Many people feel it is too new and not enough time or research yet to be deemed perfectly safe.”
The three vaccines available to the public as of April are authorized for emergency use, meaning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has evaluated the available clinical trial data for potential benefits and risks and OK’d the treatment because there is no approved alternative. Drug manufacturers must submit safety data as part of the EUA request. There is no timeline for how long it will take the FDA to issue a full approval. Texas law mandates that health care facilities must have a policy in place regarding vaccinations, but does not require a specific vaccination of health care personnel… (LINK TO STORY)
Invisible Man: A hard look at Mayor Eric Johnson (D Magazine)
It was more than four hours into the June 5, 2020, special meeting of the Dallas City Council called to discuss the George Floyd demonstrations, and Mayor Eric Johnson had no more patience for bullshit. Johnson had sat quietly listening to one resident after another lecture him about Dallas’ endemic racism and struggles with over-policing. When it was finally his turn to speak, he wanted answers about what had happened on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge the previous Sunday. Dallas police officers had fired so-called nonlethal rounds of ammunition and tear gas canisters at a peaceful crowd that included many children. Who was ultimately responsible? As the mayor began his cross-examination of Police Chief U. Reneé Hall, her boss, City Manager T.C. Broadnax, interrupted and objected to Johnson’s questions. That set Johnson off.
The meeting devolved into a shouting match. Johnson reprimanded Broadnax for interrupting him. Councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold piled on, equating Johnson’s questioning of the police chief to a public “lynching.” Councilman Adam Bazaldua demanded that Broadnax have the floor. The mayor ordered everyone’s mics muted. “You don’t have the authority anywhere to censor my questions,” Johnson yelled at the city manager through his mask and into his computer. “You may run this city, but I run this meeting!”
It was an ugly end to an emotional week, and it revealed a problem that had been smoldering at City Hall for months. When Johnson became mayor, in 2019, he was presented to voters as a reincarnation of Ron Kirk—a magnanimous, back-slapping unifier who would restore cooperation and decorum to a Dallas City Council that had become defined by discord. But now, two years into his first term, the city’s government has never been more divided. His supporters loved the Eric Johnson who, as a state legislator, had earned a reputation as a progressive dynamo.
They now say they don’t recognize the Eric Johnson who is mayor—a petty, thin-skinned man who turns his back on friends, butts heads with the city manager, picks fights with Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, flirts with Gov. Greg Abbott on social media, and poses for chummy pictures with Sen. Ted Cruz. Trying to understand Johnson’s political and interpersonal calculations is difficult. He doesn’t give in-depth interviews; he denied D Magazine’s request to speak for this article. Instead, he has opted for a media strategy that focuses on television appearances, scripted press conferences, weekly email newsletters, and press releases. Even Johnson’s colleagues on the Council say they have trouble getting the mayor on the phone.
In fact, save for a few two-dimensional profiles of Johnson that ran during the campaign, nothing written has ever thoroughly explored his rather remarkable life. Voters were simply introduced to Johnson as the “West Dallas whiz kid,” as a Dallas Morning News story dubbed him, who escaped poverty to attend a string of Ivy League schools before returning to devote himself to public service. That story is not untrue; it also isn’t close to complete. Now, as Johnson works behind the scenes to unseat three of his rivals on the Council in this month’s municipal election, the question of who Eric Johnson really is has never been so tightly bound to the fate of the city… (LINK TO STORY)
College athletes could be paid for their name and likeness under bill approved by Texas Senate (Texas Tribune)
The Texas Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would allow college athletes in the state to be paid for the use of their name, image and likeness, as dozens of states across the country consider similar legislation.
Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who authored the bill, said allowing athletes to enter into these contracts would maintain recruiting competition for universities in the state as they wait for the NCAA or the federal government to approve national rules governing the issue.
“It is time for Texas to decide if we are or are not OK with sitting on the sidelines as other states around the country show that they value and respect college athletes from the state of Texas,” Creighton said on the Senate floor.
Some other lawmakers begrudgingly supported the bill, claiming the change would negatively impact college athletics which should be played “for the love of the game” rather than compensation which some feared would have negative consequences on collegiate athletics.
The proposal would not allow student athletes to be compensated for playing a university sport, it would only lift a ban on allowing student athletes to be paid by outside parties. Currently, students who accept money for their stature as college athletes could lose eligibility to play in the NCAA.
College athletes, under the legislation, would also be allowed to also hire an agent to represent them. It also requires athletes to take a financial literacy workshop during their first and third years. Student athletes would still be barred from entering into contracts with particular industries, including alcohol, tobacco products, casino gambling, a firearm the student athlete can’t legally purchase or a "sexually oriented" business.
Creighton called on the federal government to adopt a nationwide system regarding the issue, which the NCAA has also supported over individual legislation by states. At least seven states have passed similar legislation since California first passed a law in 2019. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard opening arguments in the case NCAA vs Alston over the issue… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Minnesota gasps at the financial damage it faces from the Texas freeze (Washington Post)
When that big freeze hit Texas in February, the Lone Star State couldn’t help but share its pain. With its ill-equipped natural gas systems clocked by the cold, Texas’s exports across the Rio Grande froze up and 4.7 million customers in northern Mexico went without electricity — more than in Texas itself. The spot price of gas jumped 30-fold as far west as Southern California. And all the way up by the Canadian border, gas utilities in Minnesota that turned to the daily spot market to meet demand say they had to pay about $800 million more than planned over the course of just five days as the Texas freeze-up pinched off supplies. “The ineptness and disregard for common-sense utility regulation in Texas makes my blood boil and keeps me up at night,” Katie Sieben, chairwoman of the Minnesota Public Utility Commission, said in an interview. “It is maddening and outrageous and completely inexcusable that Texas’s lack of sound utility regulation is having this impact on the rest of the country.”
The Texas market is so large — second only to California’s — and its natural gas industry is so predominant that when things go wrong there, the impacts can be felt across the country. And in a state that eschews regulation, driving energy producers to cut costs as deeply as they can to remain competitive, things went spectacularly wrong the week of Valentine’s Day. Minnesota’s biggest gas companies are putting forward plans to recoup their expenses by adding a surcharge to customers’ bills, which the state utility commission would first have to approve. Normally, such adjustments to account for winter prices go into effect in September, but Minnesota’s biggest gas utility, Houston-based CenterPoint Energy, says the financial pinch is so great it wants to start billing customers next month — and charging them nearly 9 percent interest until the extraordinary costs are paid off. At the same time, the company’s CEO, David Lesar, has been assuring investors that the company has access to plenty of cash and its weather-related costs nationally are not a concern. In state after state, from the Gulf Coast to the Rockies, from the Ozarks to the shores of Lake Superior, utility regulators have launched investigations into what went wrong, and gas companies have moved to pass on their exceptional costs to customers. Investigators say they are on the lookout for evidence of price-gouging and market manipulation. In Minnesota, where the temperature dropped below minus-20 degrees in February and scarcely a single customer lost gas or electricity, state officials are struggling to come up with an equitable solution to a debacle made in Texas… (LINK TO STORY)
D.C. statehood approved by House as Senate fight looms (Associated Press)
A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation’s capital the 51st state. Voting along party lines with minority Republicans in opposition, the House approved the bill 216-208. That’s likely the easy part, though. The proposal faces a far tougher fight in the Senate, where simple Democratic control of the chamber won’t be enough. The legislation proposes creating a 51st state with one representative and two senators, while a tiny sliver of land including the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall would remain as a federal district. Instead of the District of Columbia, the new state would be known as Washington, Douglass Commonwealth — named after famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who lived in Washington from 1877 until his death in 1895.
An identical statehood bill passed the House in 2020, but it quickly died in the then-Republican-controlled Senate. Now, with the 2020 elections leaving Democrats in control of both chambers and the White House, Republican senators may resort to a filibuster to stymie the statehood bill. For lifelong statehood proponents like Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington’s long-serving and nonvoting delegate in the House, Thursday’s vote was a culmination of a life’s work. “My service in the Congress has been dedicated to achieving equality for the people I represent, which only statehood can provide,” Norton said at a Wednesday news conference. “My life as a third-generation Washingtonian has marched toward this milestone.” The measure has received strong support from President Joe Biden’s White House, which released a statement Tuesday calling Washington’s current status “an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded.” The White House praised Washington as worthy of statehood, with “a robust economy, a rich culture, and a diverse population of Americans from all walks of life who are entitled to full and equal participation in our democracy.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Prosecutors expect at least 100 more arrests for U.S. Capitol riot (Reuters)
The U.S. Justice Department expects to charge at least 100 more people for taking part in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, signaling prosecutors are far from finished investigating an attack that a judge on Thursday called an act of terrorism. "Over 400 individuals have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack," federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Thursday. "The investigation continues and the government expects that at least one hundred additional individuals will be charged." The Justice Department made the disclosure in a set of similar court filings asking judges to postpone deadlines in pending prosecutions. "The investigation and prosecution of the Capitol attack will likely be one of the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence," the court filings stated.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from formally certifying President Joe Biden's election victory. The violence started shortly after Trump rallied his supporters and urged them to fight to stop the certification of Biden's win. The siege left five people dead and more than 130 police officers injured. A magistrate judge in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia described the attack as an act of terrorism during a court hearing for Charles Donohue, a leader of the Proud Boys extremist right-wing group. "The acts alleged in the indictment would meet, in my view, the statutory definition of a federal crime of terrorism," U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey said, adding that the attack "struck at the very heart of our democracy." The FBI has been increasingly focused on suspects with ties to right-wing extremist groups including the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. More than 40 members or associates of the two groups have been arrested and charged so far… (LINK TO STORY)
Biden makes new pledge for U.S. greenhouse gas emissions: A 50% cut (NPR)
President Biden opened a global summit on climate change Thursday morning by announcing that the United States will aim to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half, based on 2005 levels, by the end of the decade. That aggressive 2030 goal, which the White House is framing as a "50-52 percent reduction," will be formalized in a document called a "nationally determined contribution," or NDC. The NDC is a public commitment to address climate change made by each country that signed on to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which the U.S. formally left last year at the behest of then-President Donald Trump and reentered this year after Biden took office.
The Paris Agreement seeks to keep the world from facing the worst-case scenarios that could occur if the Earth warms more than 2 degrees Celsius from the preindustrial era, with a goal of keeping the rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Already, average annual global temperatures are 1 degree Celsius higher than the mid-19th century, or almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit. When the global climate agreement was first crafted during the Obama administration, the U.S. pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 25% below 2005 levels by the year 2025, a goal that the country is not on track to meet. In addition to pulling the U.S. out of its commitment, the Trump administration rolled back many federal efforts to reduce emissions. Before Thursday's announcement, the Biden administration had come under growing pressure to set an aggressive goal of at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gases based on 2005 levels to make up for languishing U.S. emissions cuts. That pressure came from both environmental advocates and a group of 300 corporations that recently signed on to a letter calling on the administration to cut emissions in half by 2030 — double the goal set by Obama… (LINK TO STORY)