BG Reads | News You Need to Know (November 30, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin to host candidate forums Nov. 30 for mayor, council finalists ahead of runoff election (Community impact)
With four of six Austin City Council races to be decided in a December runoff election, the city is sponsoring a night of public forums Nov. 30 allowing Austinites to hear from remaining candidates before heading to the polls.
Face-offs in the runoff election include Celia Israel and Kirk Watson in the mayor's race; José Velásquez and Daniela Silva in District 3; Ryan Alter and Stephanie Bazan in District 5; and Zohaib "Zo" Qadri and Linda Guerrero in District 9. The November general election saw incumbent Council Members Natasha Harper-Madison and Paige Ellis earn their second terms in District 1 and District 8, respectively.On Nov. 30, District 3 candidates will start their forum at 6 p.m. followed by District 5 candidates at 6:45 p.m., District 9 candidates at 7:30 p.m. and mayoral candidates at 8:15 p.m.
The forums will be held at City Hall, located at 301 W. Second St., Austin, and will also be available to stream live on ATXN… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Travis County to provide Austin bars with Narcan to prevent overdose deaths (KUT)
In response to a recent surge in fentanyl overdoses, Travis County plans to start providing bars in Austin with Narcan, a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of opioids.
In the first six months of 2022 alone, there were 118 overdoses in Travis County related to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, according to county data. That’s the same number the county saw in all of last year.
Travis County Judge Andy Brown says a state law prohibits the county from directly giving bars funding to buy Narcan, so the county found a loophole. The county will give a nonprofit, such as Integral Care, the drug, and that organization will then partner with businesses to distribute it… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin firm ICON wins NASA contract for lunar construction (AXIOS AUstin)
A cutting-edge Austin construction firm is partnering with NASA to figure out ways to build on the moon.
Why it matters: Astronauts aiming to live on the moon or, one day, Mars, will need to call some place home.
Driving the news: ICON, known for its 3D-printed homes and military barracks, is announcing today that it has landed a $57.2 million contract for Project Olympus, the company's effort to develop spaced-based construction to support exploration of the moon and beyond.
What they're saying: "We feel real weight and responsibility — we're not just doing this for ourselves, we're giving humanity the capability to build on other worlds," ICON CEO Jason Ballard told Axios.
"The final deliverable of this contract will be humanity's first construction on another world, and that is going to be a pretty special achievement."
Ballard said NASA could use ICON's technology on the moon as soon as 2026…. (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Downtown Austin continues to bounce back from COVID downturn, report finds (Austin American-Statesman)
Some other findings from the report:
More than 85% of downtown’s storefront businesses are operating, representing the largest percentage since the start of the pandemic two years ago.
71 new businesses have opened downtown since February 2020.
The total number of retail goods and services businesses dropped by 18% since February 2020. Downtown has 45 fewer retail businesses available for local shopping.
125 businesses have permanently closed downtown since February 2020.
Visitors have historically represented the largest audience of pedestrian activity downtown, and that segment has returned to 95% of pre-pandemic levels.
Downtown employment-related visits have reached 62% of pre-pandemic levels. Compared to this time last year, downtown saw, on average, 40,000 more employment-based visits every week… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Houston officials say state made the call on water boil notice (Texas Tribune)
Houston officials weren’t convinced that a brief power outage at a water treatment plant created the kind of risk that warranted a day-and-a-half-long boil-water notice but were overruled by state regulators, city officials said Tuesday.
Nearly all of the city’s 2.2 million water customers were under a boil-water notice for more than 36 hours after two transformers at Houston’s East Water Purification Plant went offline at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ultimately required the boil-water notice for the nation’s fourth-largest city, after the state and city went back and forth for around four hours on Sunday afternoon. The decision was ultimately announced shortly after 6:40 p.m… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas grid still vulnerable to extreme winter weather, ERCOT estimate shows (TEXAS TRIBUNE)
Texans could experience calls to reduce electricity usage — or even power outages — this winter if the grid experiences very high demand for power, estimates from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas show.
Ahead of each season, ERCOT, which operates the state power grid, estimates how much power supply will be available to meet projected needs — serving as an early indicator of risk. The winter report published Tuesday shows that very high demand during winter weather could force ERCOT to ask Texans to cut back on electricity usage to avoid an emergency… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas has over 1 million job openings, the most ever (Dallas Morning News)
Homebuyers may have missed their chance to lock in super-low interest rates, but the window of opportunity for job-seekers remains wide open. Texas has more people working than ever before, and Dallas-Fort Worth added 255,000 jobs in the last 12 months — roughly two-and-a-half times the usual pace. Yet employers are still clamoring for more help. In September, Texas had nearly 1.03 million job openings, the most ever and nearly twice the number before the pandemic, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That translates into almost 1.8 openings for every unemployed Texan. For those already working, a million job openings offer a great shot at trading up. “It’s still a really good time to apply and be active — if you’re looking for something new,” said Thomas Vick, Dallas-Fort Worth regional director of Robert Half, a major staffing firm. “A lot of candidates are still very comfortable looking for another job. And they’re quickly realizing how many opportunities are out there because they’re getting phone calls from people like us on a daily basis.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Jeffries poised to make history as first Black person to lead congressional party (NPR)
House Democrats are turning to a new generation of leaders to take the helm in the next Congress, and are poised to make history as they elect a new slate on Wednesday.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., 52, is running unopposed to serve as House Minority Leader starting in January. He is 30 years younger than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and will become the first Black person to lead a major political party in Congress. Pelosi announced earlier this month she would remain in Congress, but not run for the leadership post she has held atop the Democratic caucus for nearly two decades after Republicans gained a razor thin majority in the 2022 midterms.
Talking to reporters the night before the caucus vote, Jeffries said he hasn't had time to reflect on the historical marker. Focusing on "the outside narratives or the magnitude of the moment" would take away from his work planning how to shift the caucus from the majority to its new minority posture in January, he said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Inside Biden’s decision to halt a rail strike (Politico)
President Joe Biden knew he would be risking a backlash from his labor allies if he stepped in to head off a holiday-season rail strike.
But the dangers a strike would pose to the U.S. economy and Americans’ health and safety proved too great as months of talks barreled toward a Dec. 9 deadline with no resolution in sight, White House aides said Tuesday after Biden asked Congress to impose a settlement that left many union supporters angered… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Bingham Group Week in Review (11.23.2022)
Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia and CEO A.J. recap the week (and the week ahead) in City of Austin Politics. (Episode 172)
Happy Thanksgiving!
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