BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 24, 2023)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin Convention Center to undergo 4 years of construction in expansion project (KXAN)
The city of Austin announced this week it started the process of looking for an engineering firm to design the convention center expansion project, with the target to nearly double the amount of rentable space in the building.
The project has been talked about for years, with the city conducting studies and analysis on the expansion of its downtown convention center, to meet the demands of a growing city.
The city says it plans to start building closure, demolition, and construction activities in 2025 and will reopen the new and improved site in 2029, according to a news release… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
On-street light rail route selected as best option for city’s mass transit plan (Austin monitor)
Local transit leaders have selected an entirely on-street light rail line that runs through downtown and stretches mostly north and east with a spur that reaches somewhat into southern Austin as the route that will most likely be approved for construction.
Austin Transit Partnership today announced that the two-train route running from 38th Street south to Oltorf Street, with an eastern extension to Yellow Jacket Lane toward Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, was the option it viewed as the best from the five Project Connect scenarios put forth in March for six weeks of public comment.
The 9.8 miles of rail are expected to cost between $4.5 billion and $4.8 billion, with an estimated travel time of 23 minutes north to south, and 31 minutes from the northern terminus to the station at Yellow Jacket Lane… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Journal Profile: Greg Canally on leading the Austin Transit Partnership (Austin business JOurnal)
Greg Canally grew up in a Philadelphia suburb where he formed a lasting memory of riding a local train into the center of the city, accompanying his father on his daily commute to work. Years later and now a father himself, Canally now stands in a key role in the effort to bring to Austin the service that enabled that memory.
Canally, a longtime financial officer for the city of Austin, is now at the tip of the spear in the city’s plan to introduce light rail, the keystone effort behind the transit expansion called Project Connect. He’s executive director of the Austin Transit Partnership, the independent, local government corporation created to bring to fruition a plan approved by voters in a 2020 referendum.
It is a position he has held since March, taking over the role temporarily headed by then-CapMetro CEO Randy Clarke.
After about two years and an onging major revision to the project due to rising costs, Canally is now the face of the controversial project as the transformative transit endeavor continues to take shape… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
House panel investigating AG Ken Paxton’s office; Paxton calls on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign (Texas Tribune)
A Texas House committee revealed Tuesday it was investigating the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton over his push for $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars to settle a whistleblower lawsuit from former deputies who had accused Paxton of misconduct.
The news came hours after Paxton called on the House speaker, Dade Phelan, to resign over alleged drunkenness while leading the House, a remarkable moment of acrimony between two of Texas’ top Republicans.
Phelan’s office fired back, noting the investigation has been going on since March… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
A Year After a School Shooting, Divisions Run Through UvaldE (New York Times)
At a school board meeting this month in Uvalde, Texas, parents and administrators found themselves locked in what had become a familiar argument: Nearly a year had passed since a gunman breached Robb Elementary School and killed 19 children and two teachers. The community was still waiting for officials to fully disclose how it happened.
“Almost a year now, and honestly nothing has changed,” Jesse Rizo, the uncle of one of the massacre victims, told the board. “These people are pretty much begging you guys to answer questions. You came here and you pretty much oppress people. They ask you questions, you don’t have answers.”
Despite the passage of time, there is still strong disagreement over who should be fired for the slow police response to one of the worst school shootings in American history, and what position the town should take on the repeated calls from families of the victims to restrict guns. Neighbors who have known each other for years now find themselves unable to agree and more distant than ever before… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
DeSantis expected to launch 2024 bid on Wednesday (The Hill)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is poised to announce his 2024 presidential run on Twitter on Wednesday.
According to multiple reports, the Florida governor will make the announcement during a discussion with Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
The discussion will be livestreamed on Twitter Spaces and moderated by tech entrepreneur David Sacks, NBC News reported. In an email to reporters Tuesday, DeSantis’s political team announced “a special Twitter Spaces” at 6 p.m. Wednesday regarding “upcoming plans.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
U.S. and China See Fragile Opportunity to Repair Ties (Wall Street Journal)
After months of recrimination, U.S.-China relations are entering a new phase likely to determine whether the two powers are able to restore high-level exchanges derailed by a Chinese balloon earlier this year.
A first barometer of the chance for success is a dinner planned for Thursday in Washington, where Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will sit down with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao. It will be the first cabinet-level meeting in Washington between the two countries during the Biden administration.
Another test will be whether the top defense officials from both countries hold talks on the sidelines of an annual security forum in Singapore early next month, as has happened in the past. China wants the U.S. to lift sanctions placed years ago on China’s recently appointed defense minister as a precondition for the meeting. President Biden said last weekend that the demand is under discussion, though State Department and other officials later said it isn’t so.
The planned bilateral meetings would represent a “thaw” in contacts as described by Biden—set in motion by an unexpected burst of diplomacy after months of at-times bitter sparring on the global stage… (LINK TO FULL STORY)