BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 22, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin is about to experience subfreezing temperatures. Here's where to stay warm. (KUT)
Austin is opening shelters Thursday for people in need of shelter during an arctic front that's expected to last through the weekend.
Austin Public Health said Wednesday it will open overnight shelters for people experiencing homelessness at up to three locations. Those shelters will be available through the weekend, along with four warming centers that will operate during the day… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Trail of Lights canceled Thursday due to extreme weather (KXAN)
Organizers announced the Austin Trail of Lights would be canceled Thursday due to forecasted high winds and extreme wind chill.
Tickets will be refunded to anyone who purchased Dec. 22 passes, organizers said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Harper-Madison looks to spark D1 civic involvement in 2023 (Austin monitor)
After completing her fourth year in office, City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison wishes she’d known from her first day roughly as much as she knows now about the workings of city government. Her thinking: There should be an apparatus that teaches basic process and procedures to residents who want to know more about their city, as well as a more robust orientation and education track for newly elected Council members.
To that end, Harper-Madison sees 2023 as a transformative year for her office with the creation of a sort of incubator pilot program that will bring hopeful public servants in for limited full-time stints to try to remedy a problem or need in their neighborhood… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Fuentes put her focus on working families in 2022 (Austin Monitor)
Elected to represent Southeast Austin’s District 2 in 2020, City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes has quickly become one of the more accessible and well-known members of the dais within the community.
That was intentional, Fuentes told the Austin Monitor. It’s notoriously difficult for residents of Southeast Austin to regularly visit City Hall… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Samsung secures Manor ISD tax breaks for possible future chip fabs (Austin business journal)
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. last week quietly gained approval for tax breaks for the potential expansion of its longtime factory in Northeast Austin.
Manor Independent School District trustees voted Dec. 12 to approve Chapter 313 incentives for Samsung.
That came just days after additional Chapter 313 incentives were approved in Taylor, where Samsung is already building a $17 billion semiconductor factory.
Samsung said it was seeking the incentives in both locations as part of its long-term planning and has not confirmed whether it will move forward with either of these far-off projects. But it needed to secure the incentives by the end of the year, as the controversial 313 program comes to an end.
At its 640-acre site off East Parmer Lane in Northeast Austin — inside the boundaries of Manor ISD — Samsung could eventually build two additional fabrication plants, or fabs, investing $24.5 billion and creating 1,800 jobs, the company said in incentives applications… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texans should prepare for “life-threatening” wind chills, but officials remain confident in power grid (Texas tribune)
State officials warned residents Wednesday to prepare their homes and vehicles for the coming freeze while trying to reassure on-edge Texans that the electric grid will stay online.
Temperatures are expected to plummet Thursday into single digits — with even lower wind chills. Leaders urged residents to check their car tires and batteries to be sure no one gets stranded on the road, to burn wood or gas inside only if there’s proper ventilation, and to insulate pipes.
“This is a dangerous storm coming our way,” said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. “The temperatures will be extremely cold and the winds will be high, which will generate some very dangerous wind chills.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas drops fight to prevent 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying handguns in public (texas tribune)
Texas will no longer fight to ban 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying handguns in public. A judge ruled earlier this year that a state law banning the practice was unconstitutional, and Texas initially filed a notice that it would appeal. But Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw withdrew the appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Top FTX, Alameda execs plead guilty in connection to Bankman-Fried case (Politico)
Former FTX and Alameda Research executives Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection to a multibillion-dollar fraud allegedly orchestrated by Sam Bankman-Fried through his crypto exchange personal hedge fund, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced Wednesday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Wyoming bullishly courts crypto, even after collapse of FTX (Associated Press)
While the collapse of the massive FTX exchange and recent arrest of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, have compounded concerns about crypto, Wyoming remains full-steam ahead in wooing the industry. It has enacted a suite of new laws — with possibly more to come — seeking to make the industry more regulated and reputable to attract businesses like Yang’s.
“FTX would not have happened if it was a Wyoming company,” said Steven Lupien, director of the 2-year-old Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation at the University of Wyoming. “Wyoming got it right. We knew five years ago when we started down this path that appropriate regulation was the way to go.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[MEETINGS THIS WEEK]
[BG PODCAST]
Bingham Group Week in Review (12.21.2022)
Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia and CEO A.J. catch-up on the short holiday week including:
Council staff picks; Official runoff election results (LINK TO FINAL RESULTS: bit.ly/3FMlZEv); and this week’s winter storm advisory
Episode 178
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