BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 1, 2022)

News
Written By AJ Bingham

[BINGHAM GROUP]

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Travis County: 2022 Primary Elections Voter Guide (KUT)

It's primary season in Texas. Republicans and Democrats across the state will decide who their party's nominee will be in the November general election. Election Day is Tuesday, March 1, and early voting for the primaries runs from Monday, Feb. 14, through Friday, Feb. 25. Runoff elections can take place between the top candidates if no one reaches a 50% majority of the vote… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Kirk Watson has charm, experience. But does Austin want him back as mayor? (Austin American-Statesman)

The field is set with the big three of Watson, Israel and Tovo, plus a lesser-known candidate in Jennifer Virden, a real estate agent who ran for the Austin City Council in 2020 and was narrowly defeated in a runoff by District 10 incumbent Alison Alter. Despite facing tall odds as a conservative running citywide in Democrat-dominated Austin, Virden is not to be taken lightly after she said she would spend $300,000 or more of her own money to campaign… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin ISD calls special meeting to discuss mask guidelines (Community Impact)

Austin ISD will hold a special-called meeting March 2 to discuss the possibility of lifting the district mask mandate.

The announcement follows new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that lessens mask guidance for many U.S. residents. It also follows a local decision from Austin Public Health to move from Stage 5 restrictions to Stage 4.

According to a press release, district leaders are working with Austin Public Health to evaluate how to communicate the move to mask-optional protocol with the public when it is implemented.

Survey results show that 50% of respondents as of 11:30 a.m. Feb. 28 feel the mask mandate should be lifted, while 45% want to see it remain in place; the remaining respondents said they were unsure. Almost 25,000 responses were submitted as part of the survey with 76% of individuals identifying themselves as teachers… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Samsung leak could be wake-up call for Austin on industrial pollution risks (Austin American-Statesman)

Don’t let the lack of billowing smokestacks in the Austin area fool you.

High-tech manufacturers that increasingly call the region home produce plenty of potential pollutants that are toxic if not disposed of correctly, despite the perception of their facilities as more environmentally friendly than traditional industrial plants.

Samsung’s semiconductor factory in Northeast Austin recently provided a stark example. A leak at the factory — which went on for up to 106 days before the company detected it and stopped it in January — resulted in the discharge of thousands of gallons of highly acidic waste mixed with stormwater into a small stream nearby.

Temporarily at least, the discharge proved devastating to the aquatic ecosystem along a 1.5-mile stretch of the stream, according to city documents, although it isn't believed to have had any direct human health impact... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas Competes, SXSW speak out against Gov. Abbott's order to treat transgender care as child abuse (Austin Business Journal)

Members of the Texas business community — including an organization that represents Microsoft, American Airlines, Dell, IBM and Intel — are speaking out against Gov. Greg Abbott's recent order that compares gender-affirming care to child abuse.

Abbott issued an order on Feb. 22 that requires the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate care for transgender children, following Attorney General Ken Paxton's Feb. 21 opinion that likened sex-change procedures to child abuse. The governor called on doctors, nurses and teachers to report instances of gender-affirming care — health care that gives transgender people a body that aligns with their gender identity — with children.

Many business leaders are concerned that orders such as this may negatively impact the state's quality of life and business environment, including the steady migration of companies and people to Texas. 

Texas Competes, a coalition of more than 1,400 Texas employers advocating for LGBTQ rights, issued a statement condemning the governor's order on Feb. 24, calling it a "dangerous message."

The group includes partners such as Round Rock-based Dell Technologies Inc. and Austin-based Whole Foods Market Inc., according to its website… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

The trial of a Texas man charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot could set the tone for hundreds of cases (Houston Chronicle)

The Justice Department launched one of the largest and most complex criminal investigations in its history after a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol over a year ago. Now it's time for a jury to hear some of the government's evidence about the unparalleled attack on American democracy.

The first trial for one of the hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions began this week, with jury selection starting Monday for the case against Guy Wesley Reffitt. The Texas man is charged with bringing a gun onto Capitol grounds, interfering with police officers guarding the building, and threatening his teenage children if they reported him to authorities.

Reffitt's trial could be a bellwether for many other Capitol riot cases. A conviction would give prosecutors more leverage in plea talks with rioters facing the most serious charges. An acquittal may lead others to wait for their own day in court… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Fort Worth’s BNSF earns praise as one of Berkshire Hathaway’s ‘Four Giants’ (Dallas Morning News)

Famed investor Warren Buffett knows how to spread the love among the companies that make up one of America’s most closely watched portfolios of companies and stock. In this year’s shareholder letter, Buffett heaped praise on what he called the “Four Giants” of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings. “Operations of our ‘Big Four’ companies account for a very large chunk of Berkshire’s value,” he told investors. Not surprisingly, one of the four companies he cited was Fort Worth-based railroad BNSF. It regularly earns plaudits from the Oracle of Omaha. The railroad’s revenue chugged its way to double-digit growth last year, finishing at $22.5 billion.

BNSF “continues to be the number one artery of American commerce, which makes it an indispensable asset for America as well as for Berkshire,” he wrote. “Your railroad had record earnings of $6 billion in 2021. ... We are talking about the old-fashioned sort of earnings that we favor: a figure calculated after interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and all forms of compensation.” In typical Buffett fashion, he also pulled out a pun to describe corporate financial engineering that can make earnings look more appealing through what he called “deceptive ‘adjustments.’” “Speaking less politely, I would say that bull markets breed bloviated bull,” said the 91-year-old. BNSF trains traveled 143 million miles last year and carried 535 million tons of cargo — accomplishments that exceed its competitors, Buffett said. “If the many essential products BNSF carries were instead hauled by truck, America’s carbon emissions would soar,” he said… (LINK TO STORY)

[NATIONAL NEWS]

President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address on March 1, 2022 at 9 PM EST (Associated Press)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the president a formal invitation to speak to Congress and the American public one year into his term.

It will mark the latest any president has delivered a State of the Union address. The speech is normally timed for January, and occasionally for February. The delay is driven in part by a busy legislative calendar, a winter spike in COVID-19 cases from the more transmissible omicron variant and the upcoming Winter Olympics, which ties up broadcast network time.

The last State of the Union address was delivered by then-President Donald Trump on the eve of his acquittal by the Senate in his first impeachment trial… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

AJ Bingham
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