BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 26, 2021)
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (6,685)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,834)
Covid-19 rates in Austin fall below 5% across all races for the first time, health officials say (KUT)
The COVID-19 positivity rate in Austin and Travis County continues to fall as more people in the area are inoculated against the virus.
Dr. Jason Pickett, deputy medical director for the city, said Tuesday positivity rates for people of all races in the area are down below 5% for the first time in the pandemic, with an overall community positivity rate of 2.5%. The positivity rate is the percentage of tests administered that come back positive.
About 56% of the area's population is partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including more than 60% of people age 12 years and older.
Adrienne Stirrup, interim director of Austin Public Health, said more than 13,000 children between the ages of 12 and 15 have received at least one vaccine dose since the FDA approved the administration of the Pfizer vaccine among that age group.
"For our 65 and up population we're at 85% with at least one dose and 73% fully vaccinated," she told a joint session of Austin City Council and Travis County Commissioners… (LINK TO STORY)
Council members worry water conservation efforts could make development more expensive (Austin Monitor)
City Council advanced several initiatives at last Thursday’s meeting to make the city’s water supply more sustainable and resistant to drought. Some Council members, however, worried that new policies could increase development costs, thereby exacerbating the city’s affordability crisis.
“I’m proud that as a city we led the way when it comes to environmental sustainability and green development,” Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison said. “I do often think about those trade-offs, though. Sometimes the additional measures come with additional cost.”
Despite some reservations, Council members unanimously adopted two resolutions outlining the proposed policies – but not before strengthening the language in one of the resolutions related to affordability impacts. The initiatives are part of Water Forward, the city’s 2018 water resource management plan, and mostly pertain to new development.
One resolution initiates Land Development Code revisions, which must go through one last round of engagement with stakeholders before Council officially puts the changes into ordinance. Revisions include:
mandatory on-site water reuse systems for new buildings greater than 250,000 square feet
additional regulations related to reclaimed water connections, water benchmarking and water balance calculations for new development
The other resolution prods the city’s bureaucracy to speed up the implementation of other Water Forward initiatives, including:
dual plumbing ordinance for new larger commercial and multifamily development
more requirements that developments connect to reclaimed water systems
landscape transformation ordinances and incentive programs
irrigation efficiency and incentive program
The changes in this resolution still have to go through multiple rounds of stakeholder input before being put into ordinance. Many of the initiatives in both resolutions were included in the land code rewrite, which was stymied last year by a judge… (LINK TO STORY)
Homeless campers around City Hall form their own armed ‘security detail’ (KXAN)
One Austin City Council member is raising safety concerns about an encampment around City Hall. For weeks, people experiencing homelessness have surrounded City Hall with their tents in protest of Austin voters reinstating the city’s camping ban. Council Member Mackenzie Kelly tweeted that she was harassed as she walked out of City Hall on Monday. In the tweet, she said that she saw one man with a metal pipe and at least one knife, making her feel unsafe.
Kelly put out a call for people to contact her fellow council members about the situation. Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon responded to her tweet, saying, “Council member Kelly, I encourage you to make a police report if you were threatened so @Austin_Police can follow up. I have officers keeping an eye at City Hall daily.” On Monday, KXAN spoke with a woman experiencing homelessness at City Hall who explained that those camping outside of the building have formed their own “security detail.” “We have a whole security team here,” Trisha English said, adding that she and others work shifts to make sure they’re securing the area 24 hours a day. She says when it’s her turn, she wears a bulletproof vest. “I secure this camp to make sure everybody’s okay and make sure things do not get deescalated [sic] to the point where they have to call APD because APD is completely corrupted,” English said… (LINK TO STORY)
ACL Fest single-day tickets for both weekends sold out in record time (Austin American-Statesman)
After three-day tickets to the Austin City Limits Music Festival sold out in record time last week, music fans scrambled for a second shot at live music in Zilker Park this fall when the festival released single-day tickets on Tuesday.
Highlighting the appetite for live music experiences as COVID-19 vaccinations rise, single-day tickets also sold out swiftly. The tickets went on sale at noon. According to the festival, there was a six-ticket limit in place for customers.
"It should be noted that we reduced that number from the eight total that we typically allow so that as many folks as possible could have access to tickets today," Sandee Fenton, director of communications for C3 Presents (the company behind ACL Fest) said.
At 1:35 p.m., messages posted to the festival's official social media channels announced that ACL Fest was sold out, once again in record time.
By mid-afternoon, plenty of tickets were available on ticket resale websites with the $135 fee marked up to $300 or more.
ACL Fest takes place Oct. 1-3 and 8-10 at Zilker Park… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Donald Trump says he'll endorse in likely primary battle for Texas attorney general between Ken Paxton, George P. Bush (Texas Tribune)
Former President Donald Trump is planning to make an endorsement in the likely primary battle between Attorney General Ken Paxton and Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
"I like them both very much," Trump said in a statement Tuesday. "I'll be making my endorsement and recommendation to the great people of Texas in the not-so-distant future."
Bush has said he is "seriously considering" a primary challenge to Paxton and has scheduled a campaign kickoff for an unspecified office on June 2 in Austin. Bush spoke with Trump about the race Monday.
Bush and Paxton each have unique histories with Trump. Bush endeared himself to Trump by emerging as the only prominent member of his famous political family to support the former president. Paxton has been one of the most pro-Trump attorneys general — especially in the aftermath of the November election, when he launched a lawsuit challenging Trump's reelection loss in four battleground states.
Bush has said the state's top law enforcement official "needs to be above reproach." Paxton has been under indictment on securities fraud charges since 2015, and he more recently came under FBI investigation related to allegations that he abused his office to aid a wealthy donor. He has denied wrongdoing in both instances.
On Monday, Bush tweeted a picture of himself on the phone in the car, saying: "Great to speak with President Trump to discuss the future of Texas and how we are keeping up the fight to put America first. I appreciate the words of encouragement and support. Big things coming soon!"
Afterward, Bush spokesperson Karina Erickson said Bush and Trump "discussed the critical need for putting the best team on the ballot so that the Republican Party can restore conservative principles and freedoms to our country."… (LINK TO STORY)
'Bo's Law,' which clarifies the state’s castle doctrine and pushes police transparency, passes in Texas legislature; heads to Gov. (WFAA)
A Texas law named in honor of Botham Jean is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. "Bo’s Law" would clarify the state’s castle doctrine and eliminate loopholes used for some defenses. It would also make it an offense for police to turn off body cameras during investigations, among other moves for transparency, according to Rep. Carl Sherman, Sr.
In September 2018, Jean, who was 26 years old at the time, was shot and killed by Amber Guyger in his own apartment. Guyger was an off-duty Dallas police officer who said she entered Jean’s apartment believing it was her own. A year later, Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his murder. The Texas Senate passed the bill Monday night. Sponsor Sen. Royce West shared a photo to Facebook with Rep. Carl Sherman, Sr. Monday evening. "The Botham Jean Act (HB 929) just passed the Senate. On the way to the Governor's desk. I was the Senate sponsor of the bill (SB 380). Standing with the House author of the bill, the Honorable Carl Sherman, Sr. We work together to get things done," the post said… (LINK TO STORY)
Will Fort Worth’s next mayor be Mattie Parker or Deborah Peoples? What to know before the runoff (Dallas Morning News)
Fort Worth is on the cusp of having its first new mayor in 10 years. After the dust settled on May 1, following a crowded 10-person race, attorney Mattie Parker and former AT&T executive Deborah Peoples received the highest number of votes, but neither attained the 50% needed to win outright and avoid a runoff. Peoples took 33.6% of the vote, while Parker received 30.8%. On June 5, one of the women will succeed the city’s longest-tenured mayor, Betsy Price. Parker, 37, was Price’s chief of staff and would be the youngest mayor of any major U.S. city. She is the founder of Fort Worth Cradle to Career, an education coalition, and the Tarrant To & Through (T3) Partnership, which provides workforce training for students.
Peoples, 68, is the chairwoman of the Tarrant County Democratic Party. She has made equity and diversity hallmarks of her vision for Fort Worth this year and in 2019, when she lost to Price. Here’s where the candidates stand on some of the significant issues affecting the newly crowned 12th-largest city in the nation, based on forums and televised interviews in which they’ve participated during the campaign. Diversity and inclusion issues will be at the forefront early in the eventual mayor’s tenure during the high-profile trial of former Fort Worth police Officer Aaron Dean, who fatally shot 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson, a Black woman, in her east Fort Worth Morningside home in 2019. Parker on the Jefferson case: “The city has a responsibility to make sure the community understands the steps that are going to move forward and what’s likely to happen in this particular case,” the candidate said on Inside Texas Politics on WFAA-TV (Channel 8). “The second thing I would say is we have to be prepared for folks to be out concerned and protests and all of those things. You don’t do that overnight. That’s going to take ... a month’s time working with different people in Fort Worth.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Half of all U.S. adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (NPR)
The U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program has gone from zero to 50% in less than six months.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Biden administration said, half of the country's adults are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
"This is a major milestone in our country's vaccination efforts," Andy Slavitt, a White House senior adviser on the COVID-19 response, said during a midday briefing. "The number was 1% when we entered office Jan. 20."
Nearly 130 million people age 18 and older have completed their vaccine regimens since the first doses were administered to the public in December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Another 70 million vaccine doses are currently in the distribution pipeline, according to the agency.
Vaccinations have risen sharply in children 12 years and older, weeks after the Food and Drug Administration said that cohort is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech. Nearly 5 million adolescents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the CDC's latest data.
The U.S. is pushing to add millions more people to the ranks of the vaccinated. President Biden said this month that his new goal is to administer at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 70% of U.S. adults by the Fourth of July… (LINK TO STORY)
New York Mayoral race polls show Kathryn Garcia and Eric Adams moving up (Wall Street Journal)
Two polls this week show a shifting lead in the race to be the next mayor of New York City, with former Sanitation Department Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams gaining support.
The polls, released Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, show a shift at the top of the race for the first time, less than a month before the June 22 primary.
A poll of 570 likely Democratic voters conducted by Emerson College and PIX11 News found 21% had selected Ms. Garcia as their top choice. A poll by lobbying firm Fontas Advisors and Core Decision Analytics showed Mr. Adams leading, with 13%.
In the Emerson College poll, Ms. Garcia had the most momentum of any of the top eight candidates, shooting up from 5% in a March 6 poll and 8% in a poll conducted May 15.
The longstanding front-runners, Mr. Adams and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, weren’t far behind. Mr. Adams had support from 20% of voters, and Mr. Yang from 16%, according to the poll.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer received 10%, while the other six candidates had single-digit support. The Emerson College poll, conducted by text message May 23 and 24, also found 9% of voters still undecided.
Ms. Garcia recently received endorsements from the editorial boards of both the New York Times and New York Daily News, who praised her experience and management during crises. Her campaign manager, Monika Hansen, said that the poll shows voters are “coalescing around Kathryn Garcia to lead our city’s recovery.”… (LINK TO STORY)