BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 23, 2021)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
City to expand federal aid for musicians, venues impacted by Covid-19 (Austin Monitor)
The city will provide more assistance for music venues and anyone involved in the music industry, using $4 million in federal money designated for Covid-19 relief.
On Friday the Music Commission approved a recommendation for guidelines for city staff to move forward with another round of direct cash payments to musicians in Austin as well as those living in the five-county metro area. The total $2.3 million for that program will be used to provide $2,000 or $1,000 grants to eligible musicians, whose applications will be scored and weighted to prioritize equity and help those from traditionally marginalized communities.
The commission also supported adding $1.5 million to an existing program to provide grants and business planning assistance to music venues that had their business severely reduced during forced closures at the onset of the pandemic.
The $4 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan is a staff-recommended reduction from the $10 million Council originally directed staff to allocate from the city’s total amount of federal assistance.
The decision to expand the assistance for musicians and music industry professionals to those living outside of Austin was arrived at because of the city’s growing affordability crisis, which is forcing longtime artists and others to move to Bastrop, Hayes, Caldwell and other counties even though they may still perform, record and conduct much of their business in Austin.
The residency requirement was one of the more criticized components of the city’s previous assistance programs for artists and musicians.
Commissioner Oren Rosenthal said the city should make note of how many grants are given to musicians living outside of the city, and provide that data to leaders in other counties as a way to encourage them to support the creatives moving into their communities.
“I realize there has been displacement, but we are subsidizing people who are not in the city of Austin with Austin-designated money,” he said. “There may not be a program there, but there is nothing stopping the Music Commission from saying that Austin and Travis County is giving this and we expect a proportionate amount to be coming from (Williamson) County, Hayes and all these others, to support these artists.
“Calling them out for not supporting their artists as Austin is doing could be a good poke in the ribs and it could get those musicians organized in their local jurisdictions to start getting some support from their local governments.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Landmark commission weighs options in Tarrytown demolition case (Austin Monitor)
At last month’s meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission, committee members confronted both the evolving definition of what constitutes “cultural significance” and the bounds of their responsibility to those personally affected by their decisions. Representative of this dilemma was the committee’s review of an application for the demolition of an 81-year-old home located at 3400 Hillview Road in Tarrytown. Situated in a neighborhood distinguished by high property values, the building is under review for its potential qualification as a historic landmark.
Despite what the commission acknowledged to be severe damage, all members supported the motion to postpone, stating that the significance of the property’s connection to historically significant figures needs to be further investigated.
Applicant and homeowner Molly Powers began her address to the committee acknowledging that this was a “very sad moment for (her) and her family” yet considering the state of the home, she “believed demolition to be the next step.” She explained that the building’s antiquated construction had led to the deterioration of basic structures, making the house increasingly uninhabitable.
Compounding the effects of the outdated foundation is the lot’s underlying composition of Del Rio clay, which is prone to swelling and shrinking depending on fluctuations in water content. Citing the conclusions of engineering reports spanning the course of several decades, Powers said that the damage will worsen over time and that the renovations to resolve the issues would be prohibitively expensive, if even possible.
Making the case for preservation, Historic Preservation Officer Steve Sadowsky emphasized the property’s connection with several prominent figures in Austin history. The home’s original inhabitants were Wayland C. Rivers and his wife LaRuth, who designed and built the house for their family in 1940. At the time, Rivers worked a high-ranking position at the Elgin Standard Brick company and played a role in the manufacturing of bricks for many residential and commercial construction projects throughout the rapidly expanding city. Rivers’ connection to this industry is reflected in the constitution of the house itself, which is built from textured brick rather than the wooden framing that is a more common feature of the Monterey Revival style… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin-based Kerbey Lane Cafe opening first San Antonio location (Austin Business Journal)
Austin mainstay Kerbey Lane Cafe is opening its first San Antonio location, CEO Mason Ayer confirmed Aug. 18.
Project details emerged in an Aug. 16 filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
The restaurant will occupy 4,488 square feet near the intersection of I-10 and Loop 1604 in northwest San Antonio. Ayer said renovations will begin as soon as possible. The TDLR filing listed a start date of Oct. 25 and an estimated project cost of $1.35 million for interior finish out, which is being handled by Austin-based design firm Weiss Architecture.
The hope is to have the restaurant ready by the second quarter of 2022.
"My experience when it comes to construction is that budget and timeline are never what you hope they will be," Ayer said.
The iconic Austin restaurant, founded in 1980 by David Ayer and Patricia Atkinson, is known for serving comfort food well into the night at reasonable prices. The restaurant, which has seven locations in Austin, one in Round Rock and one slated for San Marcos, remains family owned now in its fifth decade in operation. Mason Ayer, son of the founders, has served as president and CEO since 2009… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin demographer explains main takeaways from latest Census: 'We're not growing as fast as we thought we were' (Austin Business Journal)
Austin’s remarkable population growth for the past decade is no surprise to those who live here — traffic is more congested, housing stock is slim and prices are rising. But what may be surprising is that the city’s growth hasn’t been quite as fast as anticipated, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.
From 2010 to 2020, the city of Austin’s population shot up 171,465 to 961,855, according to the Census data, which was released Aug. 12. Nationally that trailed only New York City, Houston and Fort Worth for raw growth over that period. Additionally, Austin’s rate of growth of nearly 22% was No. 2 among Texas’ big cities, behind Fort Worth, which grew almost 24%
Austin’s population grew 21.7% over the decade but fell just short of projections it would reach 1 million residents for the first time in this latest Census. That would have likely elevated Austin to the top 10 largest cities in the country, rather than maintaining its place at No. 11, said Austin city demographer Lila Valencia.
“We’re not growing as fast as we thought we were growing, and so we need to make sure to account for that when we’re doing our planning,” Valencia said.
Still, to be sure, Central Texas is growing at a rapid pace. The five-county Austin metro had an estimated population of nearly 2.3 million in mid-2020, up 34% from 2010, according to Census data released in May.
Valencia pointed to enormous population growth between Austin and San Antonio, which has partly been fueled by minority residents looking outside the urban core for more affordable housing.
Affordability and housing supply concerns are at an all-time high in the city and have been exacerbated over the course of the pandemic. Developers are scrambling to add units to the market while battling shortages for construction materials and lengthy permitting processes. Meanwhile, Austin officials are preparing to turn their focus back to the city's outdated land development code. Some of the code's elements include exclusionary zoning policies, such as minimum lot sizes, parking requirements and limits on multifamily housing, which are known to create barriers to developing affordable housing… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas Democrats return home to a new battle: Redistricting (KUT)
Some Texas Democrats who broke quorum last month have started to return to the state, which means lawmakers are starting to get back to work. In the coming weeks, that work will have to include the giant task of drawing new voting district lines for the state. Texas has grown more than any other over the last decade and has gained two additional seats in Congress. Redistricting is historically a messy, contentious and partisan process no matter the state. This year in Texas, though, tension is already at an all-time high before lawmakers meet to draw new maps. "It's just basically opened up chaos," says Stephanie Swanson with the League of Women Voters of Texas. Swanson says things have been rocky in Texas since that first quorum break, which will likely make redistricting even more combative this time around, "It has basically opened up Pandora's box in Texas. The parties are at odds with one another and it's going to be a bloodbath, to be quite frank." Civil rights attorney Jose Garza has sued Texas lawmakers over redistricting since the 1980s, largely in an effort to safeguard the voting power of racial minorities.
One of the big things that makes this year so different from past decades, Garza says, is how behind lawmakers are in the process. "By now we would have plans that we would be analyzing," he says. "We would have plans that people would have developed to compare against whatever came out of the legislative process. And we have none of that." One major factor that has slowed state lawmakers is that data from the U.S. Census Bureau was released months later than usual during a redistricting year, due to delays from the pandemic and interference from the Trump administration. That data shows that Texas lawmakers have a lot of work cut out for them in a short period of time. Population growth was bigger in the state than in any other over the last decade – 4 million new people, according to the 2020 census results. Lloyd Potter, Texas' state demographer, says most of that growth happened in the state's big cities. At the same time, he says, more than 100 rural counties lost significant amounts of their population. "That highlights even more what's happening in these urbanized and suburban ring counties that it's really intense in terms of the population growth," he says. New census data also shows Texas is becoming more diverse, with a vast majority of the state's growth coming from people of color. And groups are ready to sue if new maps don't shift more political power to the state's racially diverse communities and big cities and away from the state's rural areas… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Battle over local mask mandates plays out across Texas courtrooms as state Supreme Court delays final ruling (Houston Chronicle)
Texas courtrooms have become a busy place this August, with Attorney General Ken Paxton battling school districts, cities, counties and nonprofits to defend Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on local mask mandates aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. Tracking the status of lawsuits can be dizzying. “The way I like to think about it is there are four big buckets of cases and then there are some little minor cases out there,” said Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, whose county has sued both Paxton and Abbott over the ban on mask orders. Those buckets include Harris County’s lawsuit; one brought by a group of school districts; one from Bexar County and San Antonio; and one from Dallas County. Those cases are the furthest along in the legal process, Menefee said, and he expects a final decision on Abbott’s mask order rules to come from one of those cases.
Harris County’s lawsuit and the school districts’ are proceeding along the same track, Menefee said. Local officials cheered a ruling late Thursday by the state Supreme Court, on a procedural question, that allowed the county’s mask mandate to stay in place for now. The all-Republican high court could have ruled on the merits of the question, but chose not to, instead punting it to a lower court. This signals that the court isn’t yet prepared to offer a final decision on whether or not mask mandates across the state will be allowed to remain in place, he said. “They could rule whenever. The fact that they haven’t issued a ruling I think is encouraging because I think that means they’re thinking about it,” Menefee said. “If they do that, that’s going to be the law of the land for Texas,” applying to all cases. Abbott last spring used his emergency powers to issue an executive order banning cities, counties or school districts from instituting mask mandates. His spokeswoman has repeatedly said the “time for mask mandates is over” and the focus should instead now solely be on “personal responsibility.” Abbott himself is now recovering from COVID-19… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas nursing homes fear Biden’s vaccine mandate could worsen staffing shortages (Dallas Morning News)
As a surge in COVID-19 cases powered by the delta variant sweeps across Texas, many nursing homes and long-term care facilities have cautiously reintroduced some protocols from the height of the pandemic, like regular testing and dedicated units for COVID patients. But providers fear a new rule may make the crisis they’re already facing even more severe. “Everyone should get vaccinated,” said George Linial, president and CEO of LeadingAge Texas, a trade association that represents nonprofit retirement and nursing homes. “But from our members’ perspective, the fear is losing staff.” President Biden announced this week that all nursing home staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order for facilities to continue to receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. The mandate, which will be issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, could be put in place as soon as next month.
While nursing home operators say vaccines are critical to keeping residents and staff safe, they also fear the mandate could worsen existing staff shortages. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, 57% of Texas nursing home staffers were fully vaccinated as of Aug. 8, compared to 60% nationwide. While staffing shortages have affected the entire health care industry as workers struggle with burnout and the lure of higher-paying, short-term travel jobs, Linial said the crisis is just as acute or even worse for long-term care facilities. In a recent survey of LeadingAge Texas members, 20% reported they had been forced to limit admissions during the pandemic because of staff shortages. Sixty percent reported using staffing agencies to help fill open positions, which can increase costs. LeadingAge Texas’ 220 members serve over 30,000 residents and families, and about 100 members are nursing homes or assisted living facilities. LivingAge members also include affordable housing, home care and hospice providers. Linial said the pandemic’s resurgence just adds to the stress… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Pelosi, centrist Democrats in standoff with key vote ahead (Wall Street Journal)
Centrist House Democrats were locked in a weekend standoff with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) over when to vote on a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, imperiling the chamber’s ability to advance a sweeping segment of President Biden’s agenda in votes expected early next week. A group of nine centrist Democrats has been at an impasse with Mrs. Pelosi and liberal Democrats for more than a week over a strategy to tie together the infrastructure bill, already passed with bipartisan support in the Senate, and Mr. Biden’s $3.5 trillion package of healthcare, education and climate provisions currently being crafted. That bill is expected to rely on just Democratic support under a process tied to the budget. To unlock that process, Mrs. Pelosi needs nearly all of her caucus on board for a procedural step planned for this week in the House. The infrastructure and broader antipoverty bills are central to Mr. Biden’s domestic agenda, which he wants to keep on track after a chaotic week focused on the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Democratic leaders months ago established a plan to move the two bills in tandem through both chambers of Congress. Their strategy gives both centrists—whose top priority is the infrastructure bill—and the liberal wing of the party—which is adamant about passing the broader package—some leverage in ensuring both bills get passed as Democrats hold each chamber by the narrowest of margins. But earlier this month, the group of centrist Democrats balked at the plan and demanded that Mrs. Pelosi first bring the infrastructure bill to the House floor to swiftly pass it. Unless that happens, they threatened to oppose a budget framework, which is the first step in advancing the broader $3.5 trillion budget package and is expected to get a vote on the House floor Tuesday.
“It is time to get it done right now,” Rep. Kurt Schrader (D., Ore.), part of the group of nine centrists, said of the infrastructure bill. “Let’s get a big win, restore America’s faith that despite our differences, we can actually get stuff done.” The speaker has repeatedly said she would not bring up the infrastructure bill for a vote in the House until the Senate has passed the full $3.5 trillion package in an effort to keep the party’s centrist and liberal wings invested in passing both bills… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Shots fired during Proud Boys, Antifa clash in Portland (Reuters)
Protests by rival far-right and left-wing groups in Portland descended into violence on Sunday, as the opposing sides engaged in clashes and at least one man was arrested for firing a gun at demonstrators.
Nobody was hurt in an exchange of gunfire - and by Sunday evening there was no word on any injuries in numerous other skirmishes that saw opposing sides brawling, dousing each other in what appeared to be bear spray and breaking car windows of rivals.
Police Chief Chuck Lovell said during a briefing on Friday that officers would not necessarily intervene to break up fights between the groups.
But he added that "just because arrests are not made at the scene when tensions are high, does not mean that people won't be charged with crimes."
Portland has become a magnet for clashes between political extremists since last year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)