BG READS - August 21, 2026
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 Paige Ellis seeks a third term on Austin City Council. It's rare, but not unprecedented (KUT)
🟪 Studies say Austin-San Antonio passenger rail requires $13 billion or a route Union Pacific resists (KUT)
🟪 Austin Transit Partnership office search continues as officials press for lower costs, risks (Community Impact)
🟪 After audit scorches TEA, Greg Abbott instead singles out Austin, El Paso ISDs in call for audits into 'administrative bloat' (Houston Chronicle)
🟪 Cornered by Big Bend backlash, Texas Republicans tread carefully around Trump (Texas Tribune)
🟪 Residents and industry leaders at odds over transmission lines at legislative hearing (Texas Tribune)
🟪 Elon Musk is expected to point his money machine at Texas politics (Wired)
🟪 California draws more startup investment than all other 49 states combined (Wall Street Journal)