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October 4, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

❄️  Report finds widespread action needed to prepare Austin for future weather emergencies

📉 Texas’ unemployment rate is among the nation’s worst

👾  Conspiracy theories about FEMA’s Oct. 4 emergency alert test spread online

Read on!

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Report finds widespread action needed to prepare city for future weather emergencies (Austin Monitor)

The city has received dozens of steps for staff at all levels to take to reduce the impact of future weather emergencies. The full after-action report for the February 2023 winter storm evaluates problems experienced during the freeze that disrupted power and other city services for over a week in some areas.

A memo released yesterday outlines some of the findings.

The after-action report identifies the improvements needed in six areas related to emergency management: communication, planning and preparedness, operational coordination, resource and asset management, technology and infrastructure, and shelter management.

The memo from interim Assistant City Manager Bruce Mills says the city can begin implementing the many recommendations after the detailed corrective action plan is delivered in December… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

New law could mean fewer parks, less services as Austin continue to grow (KXAN)

Over the next few years, Austin could see fewer and smaller parks as the city continues to grow.

“Up to 97% less park acreage,” Robynne Heymans, with the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, said.

HB 1526 recently passed which requires Austin to make changes to the current parkland dedication ordinance.

City rules used to require 9.4 acres of parkland in a development for every 1,000 residents.

“This new bill reduces that,” Heymanns said.

Now depending on where a development goes, it could be three acres or as low as 0.075 acres for every 1,000 people… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

📺: APD interim chief addresses safety concerns (FOX 7)

In the past year, it has taken Austin police officers hours to show up to some 911 calls. The Interim Austin Police Chief said the department is working to keep people safe while short-staffed… (VIDEO LINK)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas’ unemployment rate is among the nation’s worst — but experts say it signals a growing economy (Texas Tribune)

For nearly two years, Texas has led the country in job growth, most recently adding more than 400,000 new jobs between August 2022 and 2023, according to a Department of Labor Statistics report released Sept. 19.

So why is the state’s unemployment rate tied for fifth-worst in the country? Texas unemployment has stagnated at 4.1% for four consecutive months, falling below the August national average of 3.8%. It hit 4% in February, and still has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Far from a sign of trouble, however, economic experts say the state’s unemployment rate is actually a promising measure of the economy’s growth. The higher unemployment rate is a reflection of an expanding labor force, which has been bolstered by rising domestic migration into the state and more native residents opting to remain in Texas than any other state in the country, experts said... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Houston-area development has become a right-wing lightning rod on immigration (Texas Tribune)

Colony Ridge, a massive residential development north of Houston, has quickly taken center stage in Texas politics.

After weeks of reports in conservative media portraying the development as a “magnet for illegal immigrants,” followed by state Republican leaders expressing alarm, Gov. Greg Abbott has promised that Colony Ridge will be addressed in an upcoming special legislative session, saying “serious concerns have been raised.”

The precise issues are unclear. Abbott suggested he is worried Colony Ridge has become a “no-go zone” where the state’s ban on “sanctuary cities” is not being enforced. But legal experts say there is no law against selling land to people who aren’t citizens and many of the more outlandish claims about the neighborhood have been accompanied with little or no evidence… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Houston mayoral contenders Garcia, Jackson Lee take aim at Whitmire in Chronicle endorsement meeting (Houston Chronicle)

Former Metro chair Gilbert Garcia staked out a more aggressive posture against the mayoral race's frontrunner, state Sen. John Whitmire, as they fielded questions Monday from the Chronicle’s editorial board. The endorsement screening with Whitmire, Garcia and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee offered some of the most direct conflict to date between the candidates, who generally have remained cordial at forums and debates across the city. And it was Whitmire, whose poll results and $10 million campaign war chest have put him ahead of the field, who drew the most flak.

Garcia lobbed criticism at him consistently during the 1.5-hour meeting, dinging him for the duration of his tenure in the Legislature, his campaign finances, and his plan to bring 200 state troopers to Houston to help buttress the police department.

When the editorial board allowed candidates to ask questions of their opponents, Whitmire passed. His opponents, though, quickly seized the chance.

With 50 years in the Legislature, Garcia argued, Whitmire should have tackled some of Houston’s pressing challenges before now. “It’s like you just discovered Houston,” Garcia said during the exchange, prompting a quick head-turn from Whitmire, who replied: “You know better than that.” Garcia cited Whitmire’s bill giving firefighters the right to go to arbitration in contract stalemates as one example, suggesting it should have been passed earlier. It is the city’s responsibility, Whitmire said, to pay firefighters fairly. The legislative fix only became necessary when the stalemate reached an extreme point, according to the senator. The firefighters endorsed Whitmire on Saturday.

Jackson Lee criticized Whitmire’s past support from the National Rifle Association, deriding him as a “darling” of the group. She cited a Dallas Morning News report from 2019 that showed Whitmire had received the ninth-most amount of money from the NRA in the Texas Legislature, $9,600 over nearly 20 years… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Conspiracy theories about FEMA’s Oct. 4 emergency alert test spread online (AP - Associated Press)

CLAIM: An emergency broadcast system test on Oct. 4 will send a signal to cell phones nationwide in order to activate nanoparticles such as graphene oxide that have been introduced into people’s bodies.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Next month’s test of the nationwide Emergency Alert System uses the same familiar audio tone that’s been in use since the 1960s to broadcast warnings across the country. A spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is overseeing the test, also said there are no known adverse health effects from the signal. The claims revive long-debunked conspiracy theories about the contents of the COVID-19 vaccine... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Senate Republicans watch McCarthy ouster with alarm, disbelief (The Hill)

Senate Republicans are watching the rebellion against Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the House with serious alarm and are concerned over what the chaos will mean for the GOP’s brand in the 2024 election.  

GOP senators are worried about the party’s ability to govern over the next 13 months and whether they’ll be able to avoid a government shutdown later this year.

They also feel anxious about the growing radicalization of their party’s base.  

The growing strength of far-right populists in the House raises disconcerting questions about how next year’s primaries will play out for the GOP and whether candidates with more appeal with swing voters can advance to the general election. 

“These insurgents have no plan and now they’ve created even more chaos and it’s not good for the House, it’s not good for Republicans and they have no clear path forward,” fumed Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate GOP leadership team… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

The world’s dollar addiction is hard to kick (Wall Street Journal)

Yes, the dollar share has declined steadily over the past 25 years, but this was in the context of the euro’s creation in 1999 and a long rally in the dollar after the 2008 financial crisis. Central-bank reserve managers tend to cut their dollar allocations whenever the greenback is strong, to avoid getting burned by an overvalued currency.

Their big diversification push in recent years has been primarily driven by the search for higher yields in other Western currencies such as the Canadian and Australian dollars.

Ultimately, only countries that had little choice, such as Argentina and Russia, have taken strong action to sidestep the U.S. Despite Brazil’s stated intentions, 80% of its reserves are still in dollars.

There is little evidence China is really moving away from U.S. assets either. A big reason for its reduced Treasury holdings is the hit to bond prices from higher interest rates. According to Brad Setser, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a simultaneous rise in holdings in Belgium and Luxembourg also suggests that some assets have simply moved offshore… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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