BG Reads | News You Need to Know (August 15, 2023)

[Bingham Group]


[BG PODCAST]

EPISODE 211 // Welcome to Episode 211! Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia CEO A.J. Bingham review the week (of 8.7..2023) in Austin politics and more.

>>> SHOW LINK <<<

Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.



[city of austin]

[AUSTIN METRO]

UT unveils plans for two hospitals on Austin campus, including MD Anderson Cancer Center (KUT)

The University of Texas will partner with MD Anderson Cancer Center to bring a new medical center to the Dell Medical School campus in Austin, UT system officials announced Monday. University of Texas at Austin Medical Center will include a hospital staffed and operated by MD Anderson, along with a second medical tower that will serve as a specialty university hospital.

Gov. Greg Abbott joined UT officials to unveil plans for the new hospitals, which will include Central Texas’ first comprehensive cancer center in The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

“Rather than having [Central] Texans travel to Houston, we will now be bringing the world's best cancer care to them, right here in Central Texas,” Abbott said.

Peter Pisters, president of MD Anderson Cancer Center, said 5,000 Austin residents traveled to Houston last year to receive cancer care from MD Anderson… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

As AISD student enrollment declines, suburbs see growth. (Austin american-statesman)

While school districts around Austin are racing to keep pace with the students pouring through their doors, the Austin district's enrollment continues to decline as affordability and competition with other public schools drives students away.

Many districts saw their growth trajectories disrupted during the pandemic, Round Rock district Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez said.

Now the numbers are starting to inch back up, but Round Rock is seeing steady increases in students, rather than exponential growth, he said.

The district, with about 47,000 students, has grown only slightly in the past decade, compared with 30% growth between 2003 and 2013, according to Texas Education Agency data.

Austin district officials understand that all too well. Between 2011 and 2022, Austin’s enrollment went down almost 14%, from 86,528 to 74,602 students, according to TEA data.

Most of the losses have happened in the city’s eastern swath and among Hispanic and Black children, said Katie Casstevens, executive director of student enrollment and attendance.

“Housing prices have tripled,” Casstevens said. “The dynamics of the city are changing rapidly.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

City loans up to $38M could shield Hilton downtown during convention center closure (Austin monitor)

An expected agreement between Hilton Worldwide Holdings, the board that manages the city-owned downtown Hilton Austin, and bondholders who financed the hotel will clear the way for the next steps in the expansion of the Austin Convention Center.

Last week, the board for the Austin Convention Enterprises public facilities corporation approved amendments to its agreements with the bondholders and the Hilton parent company that set up financial stopgaps to keep the hotel solvent during the four-year teardown and reconstruction of the Austin Convention Center… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS]

Latinos are the biggest ethnic group in Texas, but their political power lags behind (NPR)

Latinos in Texas have officially eclipsed non-Hispanic whites as the dominant ethnic group in the state, but the group's political power has yet to catch up.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos made up 40.2% of Texas' population last summer, while the non-Hispanic white share was 39.8%. The development was first reported by The Texas Tribune.

Experts say Latinos have been the biggest ethnic population in the state for a while now, but undercounting in the census delayed anything official… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for role in killing of U.S. soldier Vanessa Guillén (CBS News)

A Texas woman was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday for helping to dispose of the body of U.S. soldier Vanessa Guillén, who was killed in 2020.

Cecily Aguilar, 25, pleaded guilty last year to one count of accessory to murder and three counts of false representation or making a false statement. Aguilar was given the maximum allowable sentence.

"Our hope is that today's sentence brings a sense of relief and justice to the Guillén family, who have endured such pain throughout these past few years," U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said. "Ms. Aguilar's actions were indefensible, and she will now face the maximum penalty for the choices she made."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

State Rep. Matt Schaefer will not seek reelection (Texas tribune)

State Rep. Matt Schaefer, the Tyler Republican who chairs the staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus, announced Monday he will not run for reelection.

“It’s time for the next conservative leader to be the voice of House District 6 in Austin,” Schaefer said in a Facebook post, adding that he looks “forward to spending more time with my wonderful wife, young children, church, and business.”

He added that his political future “remains in God’s hands” and that he would consider running for state Senate if his local seat became open… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[NATION]

Trump and 18 allies charged in Georgia election meddling as former president faces 4th criminal case (Associated Press)

Donald Trump and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia on Monday over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, with prosecutors using a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a “criminal enterprise” to keep him in power.

The nearly 100-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump or his allies to undo his defeat, including beseeching Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win the battleground state; harassing a state election worker who faced false claims of fraud; and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favorable to Trump.

In one particularly brazen episode, it also outlines a plot involving one of his lawyers to tamper with voting machines in a rural Georgia county and steal data from a voting machine company… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

A call to drop out, an offer of legal assistance: Primary opponents react to new Trump indictment (politico)

Former President Donald Trump’s fourth indictment late Monday drew condemnation and consolation from his opponents in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

Conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy weighed in even before the Georgia events unfolded, describing the anticipated charges against the frontrunner in the GOP race as “another disastrous Trump indictment” after the Fulton County court where Trump was later charged appeared to post and then remove a document detailing the impending indictment… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Air Taxi Rivals End Legal Fight and Agree to Collaborate (New York Times)

Two rivals in the race to mass-produce an all-electric aircraft said on Thursday that they had agreed to collaborate and settled a trade-secrets lawsuit that one rival, Wisk Aero, had filed against the other, Archer Aviation.

Boeing, which owns Wisk, invested an undisclosed amount in Archer. Archer said it, in turn, would exclusively use Wisk’s self-flying technology in future aircraft.

Both Wisk and Archer are developing small electric aircraft that can take off vertically, like helicopters, but fly like airplanes. Each is being designed to carry four passengers short distances, but Archer’s will initially have a pilot while Wisk is working toward autonomous flight.

Boeing said in a statement that its investment in Archer would “support the potential integration of Wisk’s autonomous technology in future variants of Archer’s aircraft, pursuant to Wisk’s exclusive right to be their autonomy provider.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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