BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 21, 2019)
Your 2019 Austin Under 40 Awards Winners (BG BLOG)
This past Saturday, Austin’s best and brightest young professionals were honored at the 21st Austin Under 40 Awards Presented by the Loewy Law Firm (AU40).
Bingham Group was proud to support as the sponsor for the Civics, Government & Public Affairs category… (LINK TO STORY)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Austin FC stadium gets key zoning green light (Austin Business Journal)
Austin FC is continuing its slow march toward kicking off in March 2021.
Austin's Planning Commission on May 14 recommended approval of a rezoning for the planned Major League Soccer stadium at McKalla Place, a 24-acre city-owned tract near The Domain in North Austin. Precourt Sports Ventures is trying to secure the zoning, site plan and permits to build a 20,500-seat soccer stadium at McKalla Place for Austin FC, the league's 27th franchise and the first major league sports team for the city… (LINK TO STORY)
Mayor Adler Says More Lanes On I-35 Won't Solve Austin's Traffic Woes – But It's A Start. (KUT)
Austin Mayor Steve Adler wants you to know something.
“I do not believe that adding lanes to I-35 … is the answer to congestion,” Adler said in an interview with KUT, adding that, he believes, merely adding lanes will make traffic worse on the notoriously congested highway.
Adler was responding to criticism of his vote in support of the Capital Express Project. The plan would expand about 30 miles of Interstate 35 between Round Rock and Buda and add up to four non-tolled “managed lanes” of traffic on the highway through Austin. It was approved by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Board earlier this month… (LINK TO STORY)
B-cycle prepares for shift in leadership (Austin Monitor)
the wake of steady ridership losses and multiplying competitors, Elliott McFadden, executive director of the public bike-share system Austin B-cycle, has decided to step away from the bike rental program.
McFadden notified B-cycle’s board of directors in mid-April that he would be leaving his position at the end of May. McFadden has served as B-cycle executive director since 2013.
In a brief interview, McFadden told the Austin Monitor that an “orderly transition” of management is underway at B-cycle, rejecting the notion that his departure will slow the organization down. Rather, he said, the board will continue pushing innovative projects like the new bike-share program launched at the Domain early this year… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin ISD board adopts principles to guide school closures (Austin American-Statesman)
At midnight Tuesday, Austin district trustees adopted principles that will guide how to tackle school closures.
The board discussed the adopted goals for more than two hours, with debates growing contentious at times. District leaders have said the goals are aimed at taking a districtwide approach toward closures and to ensure schools aren’t consolidated primarily because they have low enrollment. The principles also ensure students have equitable access to academic programs and families continue to have the ability to choose other school programs across the district.
“The purpose of this document is to ensure that the school change process is implemented with thought and care around issues of equity, customer services, student success and the academic vision that all students in Austin ISD deserve the highest quality schools, teachers and coursework,” said Trustee Amber Elenz. “This document is not a check list or a priority list, but instead presents a gut check, if you wiill, that will be used to overlay a very data-driven process. The administration will use it when they reach a cross-roads inn their decision-making process.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Amid opioid crisis, Texas becomes first state where life-saving drug is sold online (Dallas Morning News)
With opioid-related deaths on the rise each year in the U.S., Texas has become the first state to offer a life-saving overdose drug online, freeing users of the stigma associated with drug use.
Last week, Texas began offering naloxone, an opioid antagonist, for purchase online. Experts say the drug reverses opioid overdoses and is not addictive. The website, naloxoneexchange.com, is the brainchild of James Lott, 33, a Chicago pharmacist who hoped removing the stigma from the purchase and increasing accessibility online would allow anyone to prepare for the worst. Texas is a sort of pilot state for Fiduscript's Naloxone Exchange, which intends to launch in other states in a few months, though there is no hard timeline yet, Lott said… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas prosecutors want to keep low-level criminals out of overcrowded jails. Top Republicans and police aren't happy. (Texas Tribune)
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot announced policy reforms last month that he said would be “a step forward” in ending mass incarceration in Dallas. His plans include decreasing the use of excessively high bail amounts and no longer prosecuting most first-time marijuana offenses.
But part of his plan included a decision not to prosecute thefts of personal items under $750 that are stolen out of necessity. Immediately, Creuzot came under fire from state officials and police leaders who said the policy was irresponsible and would encourage criminal activity.
Creuzot said he didn’t arbitrarily pick that $750 threshold — that’s the value of stolen items that state law dictates will result in people being charged with no more than a Class B misdemeanor… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
The little-noticed surge across the U.S.-Mexico border: It’s Americans heading south (Washington Post)
President Trump regularly assails the flow of migrants crossing the Mexican border into the United States. Less noticed has been the surge of people heading in the opposite direction.
Mexico’s statistics institute estimated this month that the U.S.-born population in this country has reached 799,000 — a roughly fourfold increase since 1990. And that is probably an undercount. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City estimates the real number at 1.5 million or more. They’re a mixed group. They’re digital natives who can work just as easily from Puerto Vallarta as Palo Alto. They’re U.S.-born kids — nearly 600,000 of them — who’ve returned with their Mexican-born parents. And they’re retirees like Guzmán, who settled in this city five years ago and is now basically the pickleball king of San Miguel… (LINK TO STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 46: Austin FC Updates from Club President Andy Loughnane
On today's episode Austin FC President Andy Loughnane sits down for club updates with the Bingham Group Senior Consultant Paul Saldaña and CEO A.J. Bingham.
Andy was named president of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club on January 3, 2019. Most recently he was president of business operations for MLS’ Columbus Crew SC.
Check out Episode 46 here!