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- BG Reads 3.25.2025
BG Reads 3.25.2025
🟪 BG Reads - March 25, 2025
Bingham Group Reads
Presented by:
March 25, 2025
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 AU40 2025: 90 young Austin professionals, mentors to watch (Austin Business Journal)
🟪 Interim UT-Austin president seeks to walk fine line between faculty and lawmakers’ concerns (Texas Tribune)
🟪 Dan Patrick has a clear warning for state agencies in Texas after THC, lottery issues (Houston Chronicle)
🟪 The inside story of how a journalist was sent White House war plans (NPR)
Read On!
✅ Discover how Bingham Group’s expertise drives results and
[COMMUNITY]
Austin Sunshine Camps’ Keeper Luncheon (March 26, 11:30AM to 1PM)
Since 1928, Austin Sunshine Camps (ASC) has provided the magic of overnight camp without the barrier of cost to more than 56,000 children in Central Texas.
As a past board president and longtime volunteer and fundraiser, I am proud to support this incredible organization.
This gathering is more than just a lunch—it’s an opportunity to hear inspiring stories, connect with fellow supporters, and meet the dedicated team behind Austin Sunshine Camps.
Wednesday, March 26, 11:30AM to 1PM
2225 Andrew Zilker Rd, Austin, TX 78746
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
🏛️ City Hall:
🏛️ City Memos:
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
✅ AU40 2025: 90 young Austin professionals, mentors to watch (Austin Business Journal)
Finalists for the 26th annual Austin Under 40 Awards have been revealed. Sponsored by the Young Men's Business League, this year's awards ceremony will take place May 10 at the JW Marriott downtown, where 90 finalists will be honored and a winner will be named in each of 18 categories.
The categories this year include: Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations; Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Design; Arts, Music and Entertainment; Capital, Financial and Insurance Services; Civics, Government and Public Affairs; Energy, Sustainability and Transportation; Food, Events and Hospitality; Journalism, Media and Content Creation; Legal; Medicine and Healthcare; Mentor of the Year; Nonprofit Service; People and Operations; Real Estate; Retail, Manufacturing and Supply Chain; Sports, Wellness and Fitness; Technology; and Youth and Education… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Journal Profile: The struggles of his hometown led Davon Barbour to a career helping cities thrive (Austin Business Journal)
Davon Barbour had plans to become a sociology professor as a college student in the late 1990s until a class screening of the film “Roger & Me” — about what happens to a company town when the company pulls out — ended up altering the course of his life.
The movie focuses on Flint, Michigan, and General Motors Corp., but Barbour couldn’t help but see parallels in it to the economic struggles of his hometown, Baltimore.
"I'm sitting there (watching the film) and a light bulb goes off, and I think, 'This is Baltimore,'" Barbour said. "Baltimore was a very working class city where everyone was employed by the factories, and we didn't keep up with changes in the economy."
He's spent the ensuing 25 years working in both the public and private sectors in cities coast-to-coast to help downtowns and dense urban areas try to avoid such outcomes and thrive instead, including stints in Hollywood in California, New Orleans, Miami and, yes, Baltimore.
That experience is now being brought to bear in Barbour's capacity as the new president and CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance, where he started Feb. 20 as successor to Dewitt Peart, who retired after serving in the position since 2015.
The DAA is a nonprofit that advocates for and promotes downtown as a business and entertainment district... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Interim UT-Austin president seeks to walk fine line between faculty and lawmakers’ concerns (Texas Tribune)
In his first meeting with faculty leadership since being named interim president of the University of Texas at Austin, Jim Davis said he’d share their concerns and good work with state lawmakers considering legislation to increase oversight on universities’ curricula and hiring — but stopped short of saying he’d challenge efforts to limit faculty’s influence on campuses.
“You will always hear me say on any topic that I do not want to cause harm to this university,” Davis said.
“I always want to help it, protect it, preserve it and grow it. And so where that balance is, I need to figure that out.” Davis was named interim president of the UT System’s flagship last month at a critical time for higher education in Texas and nationwide. At the state level, faculty senates have become the latest target… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ After decades in Downtown Austin, one of the city's popular art and music festivals is moving (KVUE)
After decades in Downtown Austin, one of the city's longest-running festivals has a new home and a muddled future.
The Pecan Street Festival will move to Bee Cave for its upcoming spring festival on May 3-4. The bi-annual festival is traditionally held in Austin on Sixth Street – historically known as Pecan Street.
After decades in Downtown Austin, one of the city's longest-running festivals has a new home and a muddled future.
The Pecan Street Festival will move to Bee Cave for its upcoming spring festival on May 3-4. The bi-annual festival is traditionally held in Austin on Sixth Street – historically known as Pecan Street…
✅ Congress' temporary spending bill killed $60 million in federal funding for Austin area (KUT)
The temporary spending plan the federal government passed earlier this month may have kept lights on in Washington, but it also snuffed out millions in federal dollars for the Austin area.
Congressional Democrats Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar had proposed $60 million in federal money for projects across Central and South Texas.
Republicans' stopgap plan to keep the government open through September cut some social programs and boosted defense funding, but didn't fund any of these community projects… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ San Marcos strategizes for sustainable water supply amid population growth (Community Impact)
San Marcos officials are working to expand water sources and prioritize conservation to accommodate future growth. The city’s population is projected to reach 303,000 by 2075—an increase of 115,000 from the last projections in the 2017 State Water Plan.
In the 2017 plan, San Marcos was projected to have enough water supply to meet the demand of 57.38 acre-feet, or ac-ft, per day.
However, after updated population projections, San Marcos now anticipates requiring 102.8 ac-ft per day by 2075, according to San Marcos Utilities Director Tyler Hjorth’s update at a City Council work session Jan. 21. With the new projections, the amount of water residents would need could exceed the city’s supply by 2050… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
✅ Dan Patrick has a clear warning for state agencies in Texas after THC, lottery issues (Houston Chronicle)
Lt. Gov Dan Patrick isn’t declaring war on the Texas bureaucracy quite like President Donald Trump has with the federal government. Still, it is clear his frustration is growing on two key fronts: the lottery and THC retailers.
Weeks after blasting the Texas Lottery Commission for overstepping its authority on how it regulates the sale of lottery tickets, the Houston Republican was taking state health officials to task for allowing for a proliferation of THC retailers — something he said the Legislature never intended when they passed a 2019 law legalizing hemp sales.
In both cases, Patrick dusted off his old broadcasting skills from his tenure at KHOU in Houston. He did his own social media investigations to show problems he saw with the lottery sales and THC retailers, for which he partly holds state agencies responsible.
Patrick told me he "absolutely" believes Texas bureaucrats are taking too many liberties and not following the Legislature's intent on important issues. Given that the Legislature typically meets just once every two years, he said there can be 12 to 18 months where “agencies kind of go their own way.”
His message to state agencies is for them to be more proactive and reach out to the Legislature when they see abnormalities, like a shocking surge in lottery sales or a jaw-dropping surge in THC businesses opening up. “Part of those issues are when agencies don’t communicate with the Legislature,” Patrick said. “There was no input to us that ‘we might have a problem here.’”
The agencies are just part of the issue. In the case of the surge in THC products, state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said a lot of the blame has to be on an industry that is exploiting loopholes to get around the intent of the Legislature. At their press conference, Patrick and Perry both said the THC products being sold in Texas are often far more harmful to people than the industry is letting on.
Reporter Isaac Yu has much more on what has happened over the last two years that has lawmakers vowing to shut down THC retailers statewide. “We’re going to ban your stores,” Patrick said… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ San Antonio races to shore up 'social safety net' under Trump (San Antonio Report)
In a Hail-Mary attempt to protect the “social safety net” of one of the poorest large cities in the country, San Antonio’s City Council is punting plans to take a hard look at the way the city funds local nonprofits.
San Antonio saw a proliferation of nonprofits set up shop during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide services like mental health, housing and nutritional assistance to the community.
As pandemic relief dollars started to dry up, this year city leaders envisioned starting to pare down its support to those groups — until the budget-slashing start to President Donald Trump’s administration threatened to freeze federal grants that many local nonprofits rely on.
Against that backdrop, the City Council agreed Wednesday to put off planned changes, and extend the existing competitive nonprofit grants for at least eight months… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
✅ The inside story of how a journalist was sent White House war plans (NPR)
In a major security breach, a prominent journalist says he was unintentionally included in a group text messaging app as the country's top national security officials discussed plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen.
The existence of message chain was revealed Monday in a story in The Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the magazine. The group chat took place on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, and began on March 11.
Although no one else seemed to be aware of Goldberg's presence, 18 individuals participated in the chain, including Vice President JD Vance, national security adviser Michael Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
Goldberg said he received a connection request on Tuesday, March 11 from a user on Signal identified as Waltz and accepted it. Two days later, he was added to a group chat on the platform called "Houthi PC small group."
Over the course of the following days, Goldberg told NPR in an interview that he was exposed to "operational military information," including discussions about planned military strikes on Yemen targeting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
He said he was in disbelief over the security breach, noting that he was not vetted before being added to the group chat.
"I assume that I'm being hoaxed. I assume that either this is a foreign intelligence operation or an organization that tries to, you know, set up journalists or embarrass them or feed them," Goldberg said during an interview on All Things Considered on Monday.
"It was a chilling thing to realize that I've inadvertently discovered a massive security breach in the national security system of the United States."… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
✅ Some US embassies in Europe post warnings to would-be visa seekers: Watch your step (Associated Press)
Some U.S. embassies in European nations are taking to social media with pointed warnings to would-be visitors: Watch your step. Embassies in at least 17 countries have put up posts featuring images of administration figures, including President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, warning those seeking visas that engaging in behavior deemed harmful by the government could get deported. In a post put up by the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, the message reads:
“When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest. Now, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you in if we had known that. You lied to us. You’re out.”
Another post put up by the U.S. Embassy in Budapest has a quote from Rubio, saying, “We don’t want people in our country that are going to be committing crimes and undermining our national security or the public safety.”
The posts come at time when the Trump administration is clamping down on those with visas, like international students or professors, who have taken part in protests on university campuses around the conflict in Gaza in support of Palestinians and against Israel’s military actions. That’s included taking visas away and putting the visa holders in immigration detention, and blocking people from entering the country. Among the cases is that of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University. At a regular briefing Monday, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce called the warnings “reasonable.”
“Follow the law, behave yourselves, be a good visitor and you’ll be fine,” Bruce said. “It’s a visa. It’s not an entitlement. A visa and a green card are not birthrights. These are privileges you’re granted ... because of what you present to the United States.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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