BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 20, 2022)
Downtown Austin
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
EMS contract talks center on salary and staffing needs (Austin Monitor)
With the city’s rejection of the Austin EMS Association’s proposed wage increase, the two sides now move to the interest-based bargaining phase of negotiations in an effort to achieve common ground on quality-of-life issues such as work-life balance and mandatory overtime. Eventually, both sides will come to an agreement on wages.
The association had asked for a substantial jump in starting pay for paramedics – to $27 an hour – not only to recruit and retain employees but to provide workers a shot at being able to afford to live in Austin, which is currently out of reach for many employees of Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
It’s not unusual for medics to drive to their shifts in Austin from homes in towns like College Station and Killeen, where housing costs are cheaper, association President Selena Xie told city labor negotiators last month.
“One of the concerns that we have in the department is that we are getting fewer and fewer applicants and fewer and fewer cadets,” Xie said. She said the current cadet class has only 15 people, about half the desired number needed to adequately staff the department. An increasing number of people are also opting for retirement or leaving the department for other reasons, Xie said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin aims to diversify Sixth Street activities, create entertainment permit to bolster public safety (Community Impact)
Following a July resolution from Austin City Council, city staff plans to recommend a series of actions to improve public safety on Sixth Street. That resolution followed a deadly shooting, which killed one and injured dozens.
In a Jan. 19 presentation to the city’s downtown commission, Brian Block from the development services department said the effort to improve the situation will require collaboration across multiple stakeholders.
“This was a multi-departmental team, and we worked collaboratively, both with all of our interdepartmental folks but [also] with Sixth Street stakeholders, including property owners, business operators and downtown organizations,” Block said.
His presentation largely focused on two aspects of a Dec. 27 memo from Austin Police Department Chief Joseph Chacon: requiring an annual entertainment permit and allowing businesses greater flexibility to use street space for certain activities.
The new permit will require businesses with operating hours after noon to develop a safety plan. According to the Dec. 27 memo, that plan would require details on security personnel, door policies, crowd control and underage drinking… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Prescribed burn gone wrong likely sparked wildfire in Bastrop County, officials say (Texas Tribune)
Bastrop County residents were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday, a day after a prescribed burn set by Texas Parks and Wildlife in Bastrop State Park escaped from fire managers, officials said, growing to about 780 acres — more than five times its intended size.
About 150 households were forced to evacuate Tuesday, officials said. No injuries or property damage has been reported, and the 783-acre fire was 30% contained as of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters are expected to continue fighting hot spots in the area for several days, but officials said they are confident further evacuations will not be necessary.
The wildfire was likely caused by embers from the controlled burn, said Carter Smith, TPWD’s executive director, during a Tuesday press conference.
“We don’t know the particular cause [at this time]” Smith said. “Once we have completed putting out this fire … we will begin the review of the cause and origin.”
Some local residents used words like “incompetence” and “irresponsible” to characterize the situation. Bastrop County is just a decade removed from a massive 2011 Bastrop County Complex Fire that burned 32,000 acres of the iconic Lost Pines, destroyed more than 1,600 homes and killed two people.
“Why would they do a burn when everything is so dry and it’s windy?” said Danny Wheeler, a resident who was forced to evacuate. “That’s a terrible call in the first place.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
With winter weather approaching, pipeline company threatens to cut off gas supply to Texas’ biggest power generator (Texas Tribune)
With freezing weather sweeping into Texas late this week, subsidiaries for a major pipeline company are threatening to cut off natural gas to the state’s largest power generator — which could impact the electricity supply for hundreds of thousands of customers — over a financial dispute stemming from last February’s deadly winter storm.
Vistra Corp. subsidiary Luminant on Wednesday asked the Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, to prevent Energy Transfer LP from cutting off fuel to five Vistra power plants, which produce enough electricity to power 400,000 Texas homes, businesses and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and schools.
The companies under Energy Transfer, the pipeline company, have told Vistra that gas will stop flowing to five Vistra power plants on Monday unless Vistra pays Energy Transfer $21.6 million, according to the filing… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Houston philanthropies invest $20M to launch nonprofit news outlet (Houston Chronicle)
Five foundations, including three local philanthropies, are investing more than $20 million to launch an independent nonprofit news outlet in Houston, entering the city’s competitive media landscape. The Houston Endowment, the Kinder Foundation and Arnold Ventures on Wednesday said the yet-to-be-named news operation will be one of the largest of its kind nationally when it launches late this year or early next year on multiple platforms. The philanthropies, joined by journalism foundations The American Journalism Project and the Knight Foundation, said they seek to “elevate the voices of Houstonians” and “answer the community’s calls for additional news coverage.” “All Houstonians deserve to be informed about the issues that impact their lives,” said Ann Stern, CEO of the Houston Endowment. “We are thrilled to support the expansion of local reporting in Greater Houston - combining the highest standards of journalism with an innovative community-focused reporting model.”
News organizations are increasingly expanding their footprint in Houston, ramping up competition for advertising dollars and journalism consumers in one of the nation’s largest media markets long served by the Houston Chronicle. Founded in 1901, the Chronicle is one of the nation’s largest regional media companies with the largest newsroom staff in Texas and more than 1 million print readers weekly and over 30 million monthly visits to its digital platforms, including its premium news website HoustonChronicle.com and its advertising-supported news website Chron.com. “The Houston Chronicle and its talented journalists have provided distinguished coverage of our community for more than 120 years,” said Maria Reeve, the Chronicle’s executive editor. “We plan to continue being a leader in newsgathering as we evolve to meet the needs of our readers in this constantly changing media landscape.” Community Impact, an Austin-based hyperlocal newspaper, last month announced plans to break ground on its Houston regional headquarters this quarter. When completed later this year, more than 55 journalists and media employees are expected to work out of the new 16,000-square-foot office in Jersey Village. Over the past 15 years, several news outlets, including CultureMap and Houstonia, also have started operating in the city… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has fought vaccine mandates, tests positive for COVID-19 (Texas Tribune)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said Wednesday.
The communications staff at the attorney general's office told The Texas Tribune in an unsigned statement that Paxton had tested positive.
"He remains working diligently for the people of Texas from home," the statement said.
The attorney general's office did not immediately say whether Paxton was vaccinated. It did not release further information on when Paxton tested positive or how he may have contracted it. Paxton is married to state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney. The attorney general's office gave no information on her condition.
Paxton, a second-term Republican, has challenged attempts by President Joe Biden to mandate vaccines for health care employees at facilities that receive funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and troops serving in the Texas National Guard. He has also fought attempts by the Biden administration to require staff and volunteers at Head Start programs to be vaccinated and for all parents, staff, volunteers and children over the age of 2 to wear a mask while at schools.
Paxton is the latest state official to be diagnosed with COVID-19 as the omicron variant spreads through Texas. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tested positive for COVID-19 the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Gov. Greg Abbott tested positive in August…(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Fired Miami police chief Art Acevedo sues city, commissioners, alleges he was 'purposefully humiliated' (Associated Press)
The embattled former police chief of Miami is suing his former employer and city commissioners, saying his public firing three months ago was in retaliation for him speaking out against corruption. Art Acevedo had a six-month tenure and was suspended and then fired after three raucous meetings, in which he says he was “purposefully humiliated” and fired for reporting abuses of power by elected officials.
The complaint was filed Wednesday in federal court against the city of Miami, its city manager Art Noriega and three city commissioners. The lawsuit says a memo sent to the mayor and city manager accusing several commissioners of hampering his reform and meddling in the police department should have been protected by the First Amendment, but instead cost him his job. It says his firing was in violation of Florida Whistle-blower’s Act, which protects employees against retaliatory actions for reporting abuses of power. The complaint says that Acevedo was concerned two commissioners were trying to send police for code enforcement to specific bars and restaurants owned by a man who had supported a political opponent. He attempted “to push back on attempts by certain City of Miami Commissioners to use the men, women, and resources of the MPD to carry out their personal agendas and use the (Miami Police Department) as their puppet,” the complaint states… (LINK TO FULL STORY)