BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 5, 2023)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council votes to get rid of parking requirementS (Austin monitor)
City Council on Thursday directed city staff to eliminate parking requirements from the city’s land use regulations for new residential and retail developments outside the central business district.
The city eliminated downtown parking requirements, except for spaces for those with disabilities, in 2013. Thursday’s resolution would not change Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
District 9 Council Member Zo Qadri was the lead sponsor of the resolution. His co-sponsors included Council members Vanessa Fuentes, Ryan Alter, Leslie Pool and Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison added her name to the list of co-sponsors on Thursday.
“While we’re trying to get more people out of their cars, while we’re trying to reduce our carbon footprint and while we’re trying” to increase the city’s housing supply, Qadri said, the city’s Land Development Code “is standing in our way. I think our priorities should be space for people rather than mandating space for cars.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Transit Partnership has an open board position (Austin Business Journal)
Austin’s local government has launched the search process to appoint a new board member to the Austin Transit Partnership, the independent entity tasked with bringing the city’s $7 billion public transit infrastructure improvement program to fruition.
The open position previously held by Tony Elkins, who resigned from the post on April 30, is one of three posts intended to be filled by community experts on the board.
Before leaving, Elkins criticized the search process for ATP’s new executive after only one headhunting firm put in a bid to carry out the task, and the city moved forward with the contract instead of seeking more offers for the work. KUT News reported Elkins also remains critical of the organization's communication of how it will use federal funding for the project, which has been scaled back due to notable cost increases… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Community groups call for an end to APD, DPS partnershiP (Austin monitor)
Multiple community representatives and activists called for an end to the partnership between the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety during public comment at City Council’s regular meeting May 4. The concerns echo questions raised by Council members at Tuesday’s work session.
“Subjecting these communities to constant surveillance and fear of humiliating traffic stops and searches, arrests, fines, fees, license suspension, and even violence and deportation that can result from them is an injustice,” said Susana Almanza, founding member and director of PODER… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin receives nearly 6K comments on light rail design optionS (KXAN)
The Austin Transit Partnership received nearly 6,000 community feedback comments on five light rail design options up for consideration since debuting them in late March.
The five initial investment proposals were first presented at a community open house March 21. ATP collected feedback on the design considerations through Tuesday, with the entity expected to release its final design recommendation in the coming weeks… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New incentives bolster burgeoning Bee Cave entertainment district (Austin Business Journal)
The Bee Cave City Council on April 25 approved $3.25 million in incentives that will help build a road to service a growing entertainment corridor in the city that includes the revamped Backyard in Bee Cave project — on track to open next year.
During the last month, City Council has worked to clear the way for developers of a 28-acre site north of State Highway 71 and immediately west of Bee Cave Central Park to start work on what they say will be a mixed-use project that includes housing and dining options. That includes the extension of a road, Willie Way, that will also service a 35-acre site at 13801 Bee Cave Pkwy. that will house the long-anticipated revamp of the music-venue-centered mixed-use Backyard in Bee Cave… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
New economic incentive plan clears hurdle in Texas House (Texas tribune)
The Texas House on Thursday voted 118-22 to create new economic incentives to attract large companies to come to the state or expand current projects in Texas after lawmakers allowed a similar 20-year-old program to expire in December.
House Bill 5 replaces the former tax-discount program known as “Chapter 313” with a plan that still allows the companies to enter into agreements with school districts — but restricts renewable energy projects from being able to easily access the incentives.
For Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, one of the most contentious aspects of the old program was how much it was benefiting renewable energy projects. But opponents on both sides of the aisle said it was rife with abuse and derided the program as “corporate welfare” that conferred benefits on some school districts while others were left out… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Contenders emerging to replace Dallas Democrat Colin Allred in Congress (Dallas Morning news)
Contenders are emerging to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who announced Wednesday that he’s running for Senate against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz. Allred, a former NFL player, is in his third term representing the 32nd Congressional District, which includes northern Dallas and parts of the northeast suburbs. Off and running to pick up the seat is Brian Williams, a Dallas trauma surgeon who has advocated for gun control on Capitol Hill. He also served as chairman of what was then the Citizens Police Review Board. “The country is in crisis,” Williams, a Democrat, told The Dallas Morning News. “As an Air Force veteran, and as a trauma surgeon, I’ve always answered the call when there’s a crisis.” State Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, also is expected to join the race after the Texas legislative session ends in May. A campaign team, including potential donors, is beginning to take shape for Johnson, though she has not made an official decision… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Clarence Thomas had a child in private school. Harlan Crow paid the tuition. (PROPUBLICA)
In 2008, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas decided to send his teenage grandnephew to Hidden Lake Academy, a private boarding school in the foothills of northern Georgia. The boy, Mark Martin, was far from home. For the previous decade, he had lived with the justice and his wife in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Thomas had taken legal custody of Martin when he was 6 years old and had recently told an interviewer he was “raising him as a son.” Tuition at the boarding school ran more than $6,000 a month. But Thomas did not cover the bill. A bank statement for the school from July 2009, buried in unrelated court filings, shows the source of Martin’s tuition payment for that month: the company of billionaire real estate magnate Harlan Crow. The payments extended beyond that month, according to Christopher Grimwood, a former administrator at the school. Crow paid Martin’s tuition the entire time he was a student there, which was about a year, Grimwood told ProPublica… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Four Proud Boys Are Found Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy (Wall Street Journal)
A jury found four leading figures of the Proud Boys, including its former chairman Enrique Tarrio, guilty of seditious conspiracy, the gravest charge brought in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.The verdict Thursday came more than a week after the jury started deliberating in a trial that dragged out for more than three months over legal objections and other courtroom wrangling between federal prosecutors and defense lawyers.
Proud Boys leaders Mr. Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were convicted of seditious conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and other charges. The defendants have been in custody since their arrests and will be sentenced at a later date… (LINK TO FULL STORY)