BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 13, 2023)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Where DPS is patrolling in Austin and why (KXAN)
“If there’s a perception that there’s more police in the area, you’re going to be less likely to commit that crime,” said Asst. Chief Jeff Greenwalt. “And conversely, if you haven’t seen a cop in a while, and there’s a perception there’s not enough cops on the street – they’re going to feel more emboldened and more powered to commit those crimes.”
The increased DPS patrols began March 30, as a response to staffing challenges faced by APD.
Greenwalt said APD asked DPS to help primarily with the below three efforts:
Traffic stops for things like speeding to prevent deadly accidents
Responding to crashes so drivers can get help more quickly
Patrolling violent crime “hot spot” areas… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
NI agrees to $8.2B buyout by Emerson (Austin business journal)
Emerson Electric Co., the Missouri-based industrial technology and software company, said April 12 it has reached an agreement to acquire Austin-based National Instrument Corp. in a deal that has an equity value of $8.2 billion.
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) will acquire NI, a legacy Austin technology company that makes automated testing equipment, for $60 a share in cash. The board of directors of each company has approved the deal, Emerson said in an announcement.
The deal, which is expected close in the first half of Emerson's 2024 fiscal year, will be subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval by shareholders of NI (Nasdaq: NATI).
The announcement capped off a nearly yearlong process by Emerson to purchase NI in which the company had to increase its offer from $48 and $53 per share before finally landing on the final $60 figure. In doing so, Emerson beat out several other companies in a highly competitive courtship to acquire a firm it believes will enhance its test and measurement and software capabilities, two areas Emerson has targeted for growth… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City Council to consider reducing parking spots for bars (Austin Monitor)
At today’s meeting, City Council will consider directing staff to amend the city’s land use regulations to reduce the parking requirements for bars and cocktail lounges. According to the resolution, Texas has seen an increase in arrests for driving while intoxicated, with a total of 2,554 in Austin last year. And in Travis County there was a 71 percent increase in DWI-related deaths from 2011 to 2021.
The aim of the amendment, sponsored by Council members José Velásquez, Chito Vela and Mackenzie Kelly, as well as Mayor Kirk Watson, is to reduce drunk driving by encouraging bar visitors to take alternative modes of transportation.
According to the resolution, which seems likely to win approval, “studies have shown that reducing parking requirements for bars and restaurants can help promote responsible drinking and decrease the incidence of drunk driving” and “encourage the growth of local businesses.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City Council hears preliminary findings on what went wrong with city response to Winter Storm Mara (Austin Monitor)
As extreme weather in Central Texas becomes more frequent, what is Austin doing to bolster its emergency preparedness? At its work session on Tuesday, City Council heard a preliminary update on the audits examining what broke down in the city’s response to Winter Storm Mara in February.
The audit is looking into how the city should open and manage emergency shelters, how the city can build community preparedness for storms, and the capacity of each city department to help in that effort.
The after-action report currently in progress consists of five phases, according to Ken Snipes, who was named to a special assignment overseeing an evaluation of the city’s emergency response in March… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Senate budget panel approves $308 billion spending plan with new money for teachers, mental health, juvenile justicE (TExas tribune)
Texas Senate budget leaders on Wednesday approved a $308 billion spending proposal for the next two years that would include billions of dollars in new money for mental health services, juvenile justice, property tax cuts, community colleges and pay raises for teachers and state employees.
The proposal for the 2024-25 budget cycle includes $142.1 billion in general revenue spending — about $5 billion higher than the proposal approved last week by the Texas House — at a time when lawmakers have a historic $32.7 billion surplus at their disposal this session.
Neither chamber’s proposal spends the entirety of the surplus, nor do they bust constitutional spending limits, budget leaders said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Gulf Coast sea level rising at ‘unprecedented’ rate, recent studies finD (Houston Public media)
Sea level rise along the U.S. Gulf Coast has accelerated in historic fashion during the last decade, and is happening much more quickly than in other parts of the world, according to two peer-reviewed scientific studies published during the last two months. Their findings suggest that heavily populated coastal communities such as the Houston region could be at an even greater risk for storm surges and flooding during the coming years and decades.
A study published Monday in Nature Communications, by a team of researchers led by Tulane University's Sonke Dangendorf, found that average sea levels along the United States' Gulf and Southeastern coasts have increased by about half an inch per year since 2010, which the report says is about three times the global average and "unprecedented in at least 120 years."
The study was based on monthly tide-gauge records, satellite imagery and climate model simulations, among other analyses, and attributes the acceleration to a combination of human-induced climate change and natural variability… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Germany aims to ‘set the record straight’ on China after Macron’s Taiwan comments (Politico)
Berlin traditionally has been much more in sync with the U.S. on foreign and security policy than France has, which is why many politicians and officials in the German capital reacted with horror to French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments. The French president said Europe should not take its "cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction," suggesting the EU stood between the two sides, rather than being aligned with its longtime democratic partners in Washingtion.
Macron gave the impression to some in the U.S. that Europeans see Beijing and Washington as "equidistant" from Brussels in terms of values and as allies, said SPD foreign policy lawmaker Metin Hakverdi, who is currently on a parliamentary visit to the U.S… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as 'state-affiliated media'(NPR)
NPR will no longer post fresh content to its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major news organization to go silent on the social media platform. In explaining its decision, NPR cited Twitter's decision to first label the network "state-affiliated media," the same term it uses for propaganda outlets in Russia, China and other autocratic countries.
The decision by Twitter last week took the public radio network off guard. When queried by NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn, Twitter owner Elon Musk asked how NPR functioned. Musk allowed that he might have gotten it wrong.
Twitter then revised its label on NPR's account to "government-funded media." The news organization says that is inaccurate and misleading, given that NPR is a private, nonprofit company with editorial independence. It receives less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting... (LINK TO FULL STORY)