BG Reads | News You Need to Know (February 7, 2023)

News
Written By AJ Bingham



[AUSTIN METRO]

Austin Energy expects to restore power to ‘nearly all’ customers by Feb. 12 (KXAN)

Nearly 32,000 Austin Energy customers are still without power. The energy provider said that based on current information, it expects to restore power to nearly all remaining customers by Sunday, Feb. 12. “This estimation is based on the following factors: rate of restoration since the start of the storm, number of workers involved in the restoration process, a more complete damage assessment, and weather,” Austin Energy wrote in a news release. At a press conference, Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent described this winter storm as “hurricane-level devastation.”

Sargent said they are worried upcoming weather conditions could complicate things even further. “As early as Tuesday forecast calls for rain, thunderstorms and wind gusts,” Sargent said. “The trees are compromised, and high winds could pose new issues.” Still, they said they won’t stop until all their customers have power. “We are now focusing on the most complicated restoration efforts. The smaller outages with unique damage,” she said. People like Sarah Rainwater and her husband Gordon said power couldn’t come soon enough after being in the dark for five days. “It’s just overwhelming and kind of just a letdown and disappointing and frustrating,” Sarah said. She said this storm has cost her and her husband a lot of money. “We had to throw all of our food out in the fridge, because that’s five days of no power to keep it stored properly,” Sarah said. Until power is restored, the Rainwaters said it’s hard to make plans and they feel their life is on hold. “We don’t know how much food we need to buy, should we leave, should we get a hotel,” Sarah said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin City Council will consider firing City Manager Spencer Cronk after storm response (KUT)

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson says the City Council will evaluate the employment of City Manager Spencer Cronk at its meeting Thursday. Watson said the city's performance responding to the winter storm and widespread power outages was "unacceptable."

“I added the emergency item to the agenda this morning because the management of this situation and the lack of clear, timely and accurate communication has left our community in the dark," Watson wrote in a message shared on social media Monday morning.

As city manager, Cronk oversees staff and serves as Austin's highest executive.

Watson promised accountability for the city's failures. Austin Energy has changed the time frame for when power will be restored several times in the past week, and more than 20,000 customers remain without power. The utility now says it may be another week before all outages are resolved… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

With tax breaks locked in, will Samsung really build 11 more Austin-area semiconductor plants? (Austin American-statesman)

It took less than an hour during separate meetings in December for the Taylor and Manor school boards to grant final approval to Samsung for potentially billions of dollars in tax breaks over multiple decades if the chipmaker builds up to 11 new factories in Central Texas.

The wait for Samsung to commit to any of those construction plans is going to be much longer, however — probably 10 years or more.

That's because Samsung is among the companies that successfully locked in tax breaks for tentative, long-term projects just before the state's controversial Chapter 313 corporate incentive program — named after a section of the tax code — expired at the end of 2022.

Samsung spokesperson Michele Glaze said the company's willingness to move forward with the Central Texas factories will hinge on variables that won't be known anytime soon, such as market conditions and demand for its semiconductors years from now… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Developer unveils conceptual designs for HealthSouth redevelopment (Austin Monitor)


The Economic Development Department and developer Aspen Heights Partners kicked off the stakeholder engagement process by unveiling the conceptual plans for the redevelopment of the former HealthSouth site at 12th and Red River streets at the Design Commission on Jan. 23.

Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend the proposal to City Council as complying with the city’s Urban Design Guidelines.

Council authorized city staff to begin negotiation with Aspen Heights last fall. The development group plans to go back to Council for final approval of the project this spring or early summer. Before then, it will seek feedback and recommendation from several city commissions.

The conceptual plan represents Aspen Heights’ final offer. It includes two mixed-use, for-rent residential towers connected by a public plaza. The plan also includes space for a future hotel next to the south tower… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Downtown Commission votes to form graffiti working group (austin monitor)

At the most recent Downtown Commission meeting on Jan. 18, members agreed to form a working group to address what Chair August Harris deemed a “rapid increase in graffiti around our community.” 

During a sprawling discussion of the topic, commissioners debated the negative effects of graffiti, the actors and reasons behind why it exists, and how a working group would approach its removal.

Commissioner Mike Lavigne commented that, as a small-business owner, the current process the city uses to remove graffiti is tedious and expensive. 

“What happens is somebody reports it to the city, the city comes and they cite the business, and then the business has to get rid of it under a certain amount of time, otherwise you get some sort of fine,” Lavigne said. 

A city spokesperson told the Austin Monitor that, while city ordinance does require property owners to get rid of graffiti within 30 days, the city does not levy fines for unremoved graffiti. But the problem remains a costly one, not only to private businesses, but to city departments as well… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

The ice storm damaged some kinds of trees more than others (KUT)

The ice storm did not affect all of Austin equally. While damaged trees and power outages occurred across town, they seemed to concentrate in certain parts of the city, especially on the West Side.

There are many reasons for this. Ice may have accumulated more in certain places thanks to the weather or local geography. Power lines in some areas may have been more recently cleared or cleared to a higher standard.

But the kinds of trees that predominate in certain neighborhoods also played a role, as some tree species suffered more ice damage than others.

Live oaks and Ashe junipers appear to have been especially hard hit. The reason? These are trees with a lot of limbs that keep their leaves through the winter, providing more surface area for ice to accumulate…(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS]

Texas senators seem open to major change in state’s public education funding formula (texas tribune)

During the Senate Finance Committee’s first public education hearing Monday, senators seemed open to reconsidering the core metric used to determine how much money the state gives schools per student, a switch that many school districts say would result in millions in additional funding.

Several senators questioned Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath on whether it would be wise for the state to change the basis of the state’s public education formula from average daily attendance to enrollment, as many Texas superintendents have requested.

“This is a key policymaking question,” Morath said. “An enrollment-based financial system is much more discernible; it's predictable. You have a little bit more budget stability from an enrollment perspective than you do on an average daily attendance basis.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Sports-betting advocates return to Capitol with narrower bill, new Republican author (Texas tribune)

Advocates for legalizing online sports betting in Texas debuted new bills Monday that take a narrower approach than they did in 2021 — and feature a new author in the state Senate who is a Republican.

The involvement of Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, who is carrying the legislation, is notable because she is an ally of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is seen as the biggest hurdle to expanding gambling in Texas. The previous sports-betting bill filed in the last legislative session was carried by Democrat and got virtually no traction in the GOP-led Senate.

Like it was in 2021, this year’s legislation is backed by the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, a coalition of pro sports teams in the state, racetracks and betting platforms. Members include heavy hitters such as the Dallas Cowboys, the Dallas Mavericks, the Houston Astros, the San Antonio Spurs, the PGA Tour and DraftKings. Former Gov. Rick Perry is also working with the alliance on the issue this year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Houston Grand Opera receives $22M donation from Austin couple who are longtime patrons (Houston Chronicle)

Houston Grand Opera gave a name to the five-year period of unprecedented challenges the organization faced: COVEY. The name refers to the hurricane that flooded HGO’s home at the Wortham Theater Center in 2017 and COVID-19, which forced it to halt its programming and go digital. On Friday, though, Houston Grand Opera and Khori Dastoor, its general director and CEO, were in a celebratory mood with “a little skip in our step,” she said. HGO announced a gift of $22 million, the largest in the organization’s 68-year history. The benefactors: Sarah and Ernest Butler, two Austin-based opera fans who have been subscribers for 35 years and attendees for even longer. The announcement was timed after HGO's presentation of its annual Concert of Arias. The 35th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers is always a big night for HGO, during which it celebrates the future of opera by presenting some of its rising talents.

At the conclusion of the program, the good news was made public. “The Butlers challenged us,” Dastoor said. “They asked us what we could do if we couldn’t use money as an excuse. What would we do with such an amazing gift?” Dastoor likened the couple to Norm from TV’s “Cheers,” patrons known by everyone inside the Wortham Theater Center. And she cited them as model subscribers, intrigued as much by opera’s future as its past. “They’re as excited about mariachi operas as Mozart operas,” Dastoor said. “They’re invested in a pleasurable experience as much for others as themselves. What they’ve done is expand access and inspiration for future generations. They don’t see this gift as being about them. It’s about others.” The Butlers are native Texans and Baylor University alumni. Sarah is a retired educator; Ernest a retired otolaryngologist. The couple was not on hand for the announcement Friday — they remain world travelers and were on a birding expedition out of the country. But as of this week, the Houston Grand Opera Studio -- an annual program that places young opera professionals within the company to study and perform -- has become the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio. Ernest Butler said in a statement that he and his wife “want to help this great company expand its mission and its reach throughout our region and beyond.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[NATION]

Biden aims to deliver reassurance in State of Union address (Associated Press)

President Joe Biden is ready to offer a reassuring assessment of the nation’s condition rather than roll out flashy policy proposals as he delivers his second State of the Union address seeking to overcome pessimism in the country and concerns about his own leadership.

His speech before a politically divided Congress comes Tuesday night as the nation struggles to make sense of confounding cross-currents at home and abroad — economic uncertainty, a wearying war in Ukraine, growing tensions with China among them — and warily sizes up Biden’s fitness for a likely reelection bid… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

AJ Bingham
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