BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 15, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin FC clinch Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs spot (MLS)
Austin FC’s year-two turnaround has reached a historic high note, becoming the second Western Conference team to book an Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs spot.
The Verde & Black punched their first-ever playoff ticket following Wednesday's 3-0 win over Real Salt Lake, joining LAFC, CF Montréal, the Philadelphia Union and the New York Red Bulls as five of 14 teams that’ll play postseason soccer come mid-October… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
More driverless cars are coming to Austin: What you need to know (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin is about to see more driverless cars on its roadways, as another autonomous vehicle company says it is expanding into Austin by the end of the year.
San Francisco-based Cruise, which is owned by General Motors, says it it has started ramping up its operations in Austin, with plans to offer robo-taxi services in Austin and Phoenix by the end of the year. The company joins other autonomous vehicles that have been testing or operating in Austin, including Ford and Argo AI.
Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt announced the expansion in a tweet and at a Goldman Sachs conference on Monday.
“It will initially be small-scale, but driverless and revenue generating with scaled operations to follow next year,” Vogt said. He said in Phoenix the company is building off an existing partnership it has with Walmart for delivery services. The company already has the permits needed for commercial ride-hall and delivery operations in Phoenix.
The company has been operating a ride-hailing service in San Francisco and received permission to start charging customers for rides this year. In Austin, the company expects to move quickly to get its service operational, Vogt said. The company said it is able to scale up in Austin quickly because of the work it has done in California.
“What I'm really excited about is we're going from zero footprint, no maps, no infrastructure on the ground -- to our first revenue-generating driverless rides in about 90 days. This is something people thought may take years. It doesn't,” Vogt said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD considers existing facilities as affordable housing for teachers, staff (FOX 7)
Austin ISD said it's looking to use existing facilities as affordable housing for its teachers and staff. One of the sites is the Coy Facility in East Austin.
Teachers are crucial to a community, but many Austin ISD teachers and staff can't afford to live in the communities they serve.
"What happens if a teacher can’t live here, they’re going to move to a surrounding county for example and at some point they’re going to say why am I spending so much money on gas, why am I driving all that way in, I’ll just get a job out here where I got my house," HousingWorks Austin Executive Director Nora Linares-Moeller said.
With the median home price in Austin soaring above $650,000, many families are finding themselves priced out.
"We are seeing a big shift and our big issue is trying to keep people here," Linares-Moeller said.
Austin ISD is considering using the Coy site in East Austin to build affordable housing for fixed income workers like bus drivers, custodians, food service workers, teachers, and more. The district presented 5 different options to get the community's input… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dripping Springs to let building moratorium expire on Sept. 18 (Austin Business Journal)
After nearly a year, the development moratorium in Dripping Springs is set to expire Sept. 18. But city officials noted that new residents and businesses will continue to face enhanced scrutiny as the fast-growing Austin suburb seeks to expand its wastewater capacity to account for new growth.
The Dripping Springs City Council on Sept. 13 voted to put an end to the remaining pieces of the temporary ban, which was enacted in Nov. 2021 and had been extended in May as it related to the wastewater provision. The city had lifted its moratorium related to land use in May as it was no longer statutorily allowed… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Hispanic Texans may now be the state’s largest demographic group, new census data shows (Texas Tribune)
A closely watched estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday indicates that Texas may have passed a long-awaited milestone: the point where Hispanic residents make up more of the state’s population than white residents.
The new population figures, derived from the bureau’s American Community Survey, showed Hispanic Texans made up 40.2% of the state’s population in 2021 while non-Hispanic white Texans made up 39.4%. The estimates — based on comprehensive data collected over the 2021 calendar year — are not considered official.
The bureau’s official population estimates as of July 2021 showed the Hispanic and white populations virtually even in size. But in designating Hispanics as the state’s largest population group, the new estimates are the first to reflect the foreseeable culmination of decades of demographic shifts steadily transforming the state… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas comptroller speaks out against EPA’s efforts to regulate Permian Basin (Dallas Morning News)
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is speaking out against a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to classify the Permian Basin as out of compliance with federal air quality standards — a suggestion he called “tone deaf” and “job killing.” The Permian Basin, which spans parts of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, produces 60% of the nation’s oil and almost a quarter of its natural gas. Hegar says regulating it could raise gas prices, undercut allies abroad and add to global supply chain issues; the EPA says not regulating it could have long-term, global consequences for climate change.
“EPA’s proposed reversal prioritizes Green New Deal politics over the jobs and the Texas economy,” Hegar wrote in a statement. “All Americans are suffering from historic inflation while the Russian invasion in Ukraine and supply chain bottlenecks have created a global energy crisis. … I remain committed to protecting Texans and our economy from job-killing government mandates.” Using infrared cameras, the EPA conducted helicopter flyovers of the basin in recent months to survey oil and gas operations and identify large emitters of methane and other excess emissions of volatile organic compounds. The agency said while those compounds have potential short- and long-term health effects on their own, they also contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, a harmful air pollutant, when they combine with nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight. In the spring, the EPA announced that, based on “current monitoring data and other air quality factors,” the agency was “considering a discretionary redesignation” for portions of the basin. If the area is redesignated to nonattainment, the agency said Texas would be required to submit a plan to bring it into attainment matching the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards and the Clean Air Act… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Baylor says Texas abortion law uncertainty is making doctors lose confidence and needs clarity (Houston Chronicle)
Baylor College of Medicine on Wednesday released a position paper saying Texas abortion laws need further clarity to allow physicians to provide medically necessary terminations — the latest example of the ethical challenges that healthcare providers now face in a post-Roe landscape. Early research, and some firsthand experiences, have already shown how the laws can delay treatment for patients who become sick from pregnancy complications. The paper’s release follows a similar request for clarity from the Texas Medical Association, which noted recent delays in care in an unpublished letter obtained by the Dallas Morning News.
Baylor has published several position papers over the last three years on major public health issues ranging from firearm safety, e-cigarettes and vaping, to trust in the COVID-19 vaccines. But few, if any, Texas medical schools have made public statements about the practical difficulties caused by abortion laws. “Uncertainty about how to apply statutes can and will cause healthcare providers to lose confidence in providing services that are medically necessary and legally permissible,” the paper says. “Guidance is needed for navigating the legal requirements and ethical principles involved in providing necessary care under heightened scrutiny.” The paper, which offers a nonpartisan perspective from a collaborative of 12 doctors and ethicists, points to the widespread chilling effect in the state’s largest medical institutions, where abortions are a fundamental procedure to treat certain conditions that threaten a patient’s life. The lack of clarity surrounds narrow exemptions in the law, which only allows providers to treat miscarriages or terminate a pregnancy when the patient is “in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” As of last month, providers now face up to life in prison and a minimum fine of $100,000… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Key Texas industries could face bottlenecks over railroad labor dispute (Texas Tribune)
Texas industries that transport commodities ranging from agriculture to petroleum products via railroad could face bottlenecks as soon as this weekend as large railroad companies and unions representing railroad workers remain locked in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
Tens of thousands of railroad workers around the country are threatening to stop working Thursday night if a new contract is not reached between the companies and two major unions that represent a majority of the country’s railroad workforce.
The Biden administration is urging the two sides to compromise as the deadline for resolving quickly approaches: At 11:01 p.m. Central time Thursday, a federally mandated 30-day “cooling off” period ends… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
One railroad union rejects contract, two accept deals and three still bargaining (Associated Press)
Members of one union rejected a tentative deal with the largest U.S. freight railroads Wednesday, while two ratified agreements and three others remained at the bargaining table just days ahead of a strike deadline, threatening to intensify snarls in the nation’s supply chain that have contributed to rising prices. About 4,900 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 19 voted to reject the tentative agreement negotiated by IAM leadership with the railroads, the union said Wednesday. But the IAM agreed to delay any strike by its members until Sept. 29 to allow more time for negotiations and to allow other unions to vote. Railroads are trying to reach an agreement with all their other unions to avert a strike before Friday’s deadline. The unions aren’t allowed to strike before Friday under the federal law that governs railroad contract talks.
Government officials and a variety of businesses are bracing for the possibility of a nationwide rail strike that would paralyze shipments of everything from crude and clothing to cars, a potential calamity for businesses that have struggled for more than two years due to COVID-19 related supply chain breakdowns. There are 12 unions — one with two separate divisions — representing 115,000 workers that must agree to the tentative deals and then have members vote on whether to approve them. So far, nine had agreed to tentative deals and three others are still at the bargaining table. Of the nine that agreed to the deals, two — the Transportation Communications Union and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen unions — voted to ratify their contracts Wednesday. But IAM members voted to reject their deal. Votes by the other six unions that approved tentative deals are pending. All the tentative deals are based closely on the recommendations of a Presidential Emergency Board Joe Biden appointed this summer that called for 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses in a five-year deal that’s retroactive to 2020. Those recommendations also includes one additional paid leave day a year and higher health insurance costs… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 165: Discussing water supply and conservation with Taylor O'Neil, CEO, Richard's Rainwater
Today's episode (165) features Taylor O'Neil, CEO of Richard's Rainwater.
Headquartered in Austin, Richard's Rainwater is the U.S. leader in capturing and bottling pure rainwater, and is the nation’s first FDA approved cloud-to-bottle company.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss Richard's history, the rain harvesting process, water supply and conservation, and regulatory hurdles in the industry.
Taylor is also a fellow Wake Forest University alum (Go Deacs!).
-> EPISODE LINK <-
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