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October 24, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

✅ Austin Vision Zero analysis reveals drugs or alcohol involved in higher percentage of traffic fatalities than state data shows

✅ Alpha private school in Austin lets AI teach core subjects

✅ News outlets backtrack on Gaza blast after relying on Hamas as key source  

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

Council to consider city manager search firm this week 🎙️ BG Podcast Ep. 222:

• On this episode the Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham and Associate Hannah Garcia wrap up the week of October 9th in Austin politics.

• The BG Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

🔎 Jobs List

• Austin Convention Enterprises, Inc.: Project Administrator

• Austin Economic Development Corporation: General Counsel

• Cruise: Senior Government Affairs Manager, Southern California ($135,700/yr - $199,500/yr)

• Lime: Regional General Manager ($122,000/yr - $163,000/yr)

• Opportunity Austin: Vice President of Policy & Advocacy ($110,000/yr - $125,000/yr)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Vision Zero analysis reveals drugs or alcohol involved in higher percentage of traffic fatalities than state data shows (Austin Monitor)

An analysis by Austin’s Vision Zero initiative found that the presence of drugs or alcohol among Travis County traffic fatalities is higher than previously thought.

Vision Zero Analytics is a series of white papers by the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department as part of the overall effort to significantly reduce fatalities and serious injuries within the city.

The Vision Zero team released “Drugs & Alcohol Among Fatal Crash Victims: A Comparative Analysis of Toxicology Results and Crash Reports” in October. The report found that compared to Travis County medical records, Texas state crash reports for traffic fatalities “significantly” undercount the percentage of fatal crash victims who tested positive for drug use or who had a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

A school with no teachers, Alpha private school in Austin lets AI teach core subjects (KVUE)

Alpha private school leaders believe AI learning paired with life skill courses will be the standard for modern schools in the future. The school doesn't have teachers but instead uses what it calls "guides."

"We don't have teachers," said Alpha private school cofounder MacKenzie Price. "Now, what we do have is a lot of adults who are in the room engaging with these kids, working as coaches. So they're helping the kids get clear on what are some goals that they're working on, what are they doing academically? What are they interested in? How can we really turn on that spark for learning?"… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Ryman plans $40M renovations to ACL Live at the Moody Theater, W Austin hotel (Austin Business Journal)

Opry Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (NYSE: RHP), will begin work this week on a $40 million renovation of downtown Austin’s Block 21, the Second Street mixed-use development home to Austin’s ACL Live at the Moody Theater and the W Austin hotel.

The renovation will include the construction of a new 2,060-square-foot terrace enclosure over the existing PNC Plaza, which will serve as a private event space designed to serve both ACL Live and the W Austin and is planned to be completed by the summer of 2024. Other improvements include a facelift to the W Austin entrance and other public spaces on site including its coffee shop, restaurant and bars. Renovations of the hotel’s more than 200 guest rooms are planned to be completed in fall 2024. Both the W Austin and ACL Live will remain open during the upgrades, company representatives said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

The Texas Legislature keeps trying to ban vaccine mandates for private businesses. This time it might actually be successful. (Texas Monthly)

It’s 2021, and lawmakers are called back to Austin for a third special legislative session after months of bickering and gridlock, primarily over redistricting and bills targeting transgender student athletes. The Legislature has finally passed a bill making it tougher to vote, but Republican governor Greg Abbott is ticked off that bills addressing several of his other pet issues haven’t yet reached his desk for his signature. He adds to the special call a seeming slam dunk for the overwhelmingly Republican-dominated chambers: pass a measure that would ban certain entities—including private businesses—from mandating COVID-19 vaccines. It’s 2023, and lawmakers are called back to Austin for a third special legislative session after months of bickering and gridlock, primarily over the issue of private school vouchers.

The Legislature has finally passed a bill alleviating property taxes, but Abbott is ticked off that bills addressing several of his other pet issues haven’t yet reached his desk for his signature. He adds to the special call—stop us if you’ve heard this before—a seeming slam dunk for the overwhelmingly Republican-dominated chambers: pass a measure that would ban private businesses from mandating COVID-19 vaccines.

The more things change . . . Vaccine mandate votes have become a well for the Texas GOP to tap repeatedly. In 2021, besieged by his right flank and facing two primary challengers critical of his COVID-related policies, Abbott issued an executive order banning vaccine mandates for private employers (that order expired in June). The Lege took up the issue in 2021, too, but Republican lawmakers couldn’t find common ground on a vaccine bill: a House proposal failed to get a committee vote, while a similar Senate bill lacked the votes to pass the full chamber. This year the Lege is giving it another go. During the regular session, lawmakers passed a bill banning local governments from requiring masks, vaccines, or business shutdowns to mitigate the spread of a pandemic. But private businesses were allowed to keep issuing vaccine mandates if they chose. So last week, the Senate passed a bill sponsored by state senator Mayes Middleton, of Galveston, that would ban private Texas businesses from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employees (medical facilities would be allowed to require unvaccinated employees to mask up to help lower the risks for vulnerable patients). The bill was recently voted out of a key House committee. State representative Jeff Leach, of Plano, is carrying a similar bill in the House as well. In 2023, however, COVID-19 is no longer top of mind for most Texans—a survey from the Texas Politics Project found that less than one quarter of self-identified Texas voters in December 2022 believed COVID-19 was “a significant crisis,” down from 43 percent who said the same in February 2022. Nor are mandates.

This week a representative for the Texas Workforce Commission testified during a House committee hearing that the agency received just fourteen complaints about mandates in the last quarter. (There are an estimated 15.1 million Texans in the civilian labor force.) So why is the GOP going all in on the issue again? The hope of the state’s Republicans, it seems, is to get at least one guaranteed legislative win and have GOP members find common ground after months of intraparty bickering... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas constitutional amendment lets voters decide whether to cut property taxes for homeowners and businesses (Texas Tribune)

Facing some of the highest property taxes in the nation, Texas voters could sign off on a massive tax-cut package in the Nov. 7 constitutional amendment election.

Early voting is under way for the slew of proposed amendments. Proposition 4 would allow the state to spend $18 billion on property tax cuts for homeowners and businesses, cut school districts’ tax rates and enact other tax changes.

Whether Texas can afford those tax cuts in the long term remains unanswered. Lawmakers tapped a record $33 billion surplus this year, fueled by the state’s robust economic growth and federal COVID-19 relief money, to cover an increase in the state’s contribution to public schools, a shared cost between the state and school districts… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Sheila Jackson Lee expresses regret after recording of profanity-laced rant appears on social media (Houston Chronicle)

Days after an anonymous person leaked a recording of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee berating a staffer in an expletive-filled rant, the Houston mayoral candidate released a statement late Monday confirming the recording was real and apologizing for its contents. "To anyone who has listened to this recording with concern, I am regretful and hope you will judge me not by something trotted out by a political opponent," Jackson Lee said in a statement. "I know that I am not perfect," Jackson Lee said. "

I recognize that in my zeal to do everything possible to deliver for my constituents I have in the past fallen short of my own standards and there is no excuse for that."

On Friday, just days before early voting began, an unknown tipster emailed an undated recording of Jackson Lee to the Houston Chronicle and other media. In the recording, Jackson Lee can be heard calling staff members "two goddamn big-ass children" and "idiots," among other offensive names.

The next day, the then-unverified recording was circulated by conservatives across social media. On Saturday night, the Jackson Lee campaign issued a statement that did not confirm the congresswoman's voice on the tape but called the release of the recording a "low handed political tactic" originating from political operatives supporting her chief mayoral opponent, state Sen. John Whitmire. Whitmire's campaign denied any involvement in the tape's release… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

News outlets backtrack on Gaza blast after relying on Hamas as key source  (NPR)

When the fog of war envelopes the pursuit of breaking news, the journalism that follows often suffers.

The stakes cannot be higher. The sources can prove unreliable. Concrete facts are often scant. And yet readers reward publications that push out information instantaneously.

The initial coverage of a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital last week offers a fresh reminder of how hard it can be to get the news right — and what happens when it goes awry. The list of those news organizations that fell short is long and illustrious, including The New York Times, the BBC, Reuters, The Associated Press and more… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Divided GOP bombarded by Speaker candidates (The Hill)

A bitterly divided House GOP conference will meet behind closed doors Tuesday to elect a new Speaker nominee, this time choosing from a menu of eight members ranging from establishment figures to anti-institutional lawmakers who say they want to shake things up.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is widely seen as a favorite, though it is far from clear that he — or anyone in the conference — could secure the votes needed to win the gavel on the House floor after the chaos of the last few weeks… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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