🟪 Austin Cesar Chavez celebration canceled after sexual abuse allegations (KUT)

🟪 Samsung continues to lay groundwork for 2.7M SF building as customer demand solidifies (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Austin commission greenlights rezoning former Rosedale School site for apartment development (Community Impact)

🟪 Notable number of Austinites moving to LA, San Antonio (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Texas cities, state government cancel Cesar Chavez Day in wake of report on activist (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Key deadline in Texas Senate race passes without Trump endorsement (The Hill)

🟪 Gov. Abbott launches Texas Jobs Council to address skilled worker shortage (KVUE)

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📍 Yesterday, Bingham Group attended the 2026 Asia x Austin Summit — an official SXSW event hosted at the Long Center by the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce (pictured with Cedar Park Chief Economic Development Officer Author Jackson and Williamson County Judge Steven Snell).

✅ The Summit brought together international delegates, civic leaders, and investors to explore the growing opportunity between Asia and Central Texas. Sessions focused on the Texas Triangle's emergence as a global destination for investment and industry — and the international interest in our region is one worth watching closely.

✅ Yesterday Bingham Group attended the 2026 Asia x Austin Summit — an official SXSW event hosted at the Long Center by the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce (picutured with Cedar Park Chief Economic Development Officer Author Jackson and Williamson County Judge Steven Snell).

🎙️ Hugh Forrest, former President and Chief Programming Officer of SXSW, joined our friends on the Austin Era's podcast to discuss the festival's impact on Austin's growth and his role in shaping it.

✅ Austin Cesar Chavez celebration canceled after sexual abuse allegations (KUT)

Organizers of the annual Cesar Chavez parade and celebration in Austin have canceled the event after sexual abuse allegations against the labor union organizer have been made public.

The accusations detailed in a New York Times investigation include sexual assault and abuse against women and girls, including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) union with Chavez, who died in 1993.

The Austin event was scheduled for March 28. In an Instagram post, organizers said the decision was made after careful consideration. While Chavez's legacy was part of the celebration, organizers said the march also honored the farmworker movement and promoted civic engagement and they hope to continue a march for justice in the future.

“For years, this march has served as a powerful reminder of the values we all fought for: equality, justice, and dignity for all workers," said Alicia Perez-Hodge, with Hispanic Advocates and Business Leaders of Austin and the League of United Latin American Citizens… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Samsung continues to lay groundwork for 2.7M SF building as customer demand solidifies (Austin Business Journal)

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is continuing to lay the groundwork for another massive building at its 1,200-acre Taylor site. It comes as the South Korean chipmaker has reportedly seen a surge in customer demand ahead of a planned start in production at the massive factory campus this year, and ramp up to full production next year.

That acknowledgement marks a major milestone for Samsung at a project that represents one of the largest foreign investments in American history. Company officials said hundreds of employees are working at the site as they are aiming to reach 1,500 employees at the Taylor plant just south of U.S. Highway 79 by the end of this year. The investment is in the tens of billions of dollars range, and production will begin this year.

Back in 2023, Taylor officials took steps to approve a task order with a local division of Nebraska-based engineering firm HDR Engineering Inc. as part of its planning efforts for Samsung's massive site. The city is required to expedite site development, building construction and review processes as part of its agreements with Samsung, and contracts with HDR to speed up those processes. The semiconductor company is reimbursed for funding for those projects through a tax increment reinvestment zone agreement, for a maximum of $13 million… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Notable number of Austinites moving to LA, San Antonio (Austin Business Journal)

For many potential U.S. homebuyers, the grass is greener — and more affordable — elsewhere than Austin.

That's the perspective real estate giant Redfin can see from its perch. Data watchers there don't see as many people from the West Coast moving here — that other music city, Nashville, is a rising star — and homebuyer searches for the Austin area decreased in the third and fourth quarter of 2025.

For those ex-Austinites searching for greener pastures, Los Angeles was the most popular search, Redfin reports. As remote-work opportunities continue to fade, cities like Austin and Charlotte are losing some movers to Southern California's work hub. It's been forecasted for years that the return-to-office trend would pull many Californians back to the West Coast.

Among the Central Texans searching for homes elsewhere, San Antonio is apparently the place to be.

Of the four biggest Texas cities, Redfin Senior Economist Yingxi Xu said San Antonio is the only one currently boasting a positive inflow. Austin first shifted to a net outflow in 2022's second quarter, making it the first Texas metro to mark negative migration after the influxes of 2021… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin commission greenlights rezoning former Rosedale School site for apartment development (Community Impact)

Austin ISD’s former Rosedale School site in North Central Austin is one step closer to becoming a six-story apartment building.

At a March 17 meeting, the city of Austin's Zoning and Platting Commission voted 9-2 to recommend that the Austin City Council rezone the property for multifamily units instead of single-family housing.

The Rosedale School, which serves students with severe special needs, moved to a new campus in 2022 and has since served as a training facility for law enforcement officers. In October, AISD shared its plans to sell the former campus for $26 million to multifamily housing development OHT Partners as the district works to reduce a mounting budget shortfall.

Dozens of Rosedale neighborhood residents spoke in opposition of the rezoning at the March 17 meeting, citing concerns about the proposed development being too large and negatively impacting traffic and safety. AISD has sued more than 100 Rosedale residents, asking the Travis County District Court to determine whether a 1938 deed restriction would allow the development to continue… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ 'Future of aviation': Air taxi testing coming to Austin under federal pilot program (Community Impact)

Test flights for electric aviation services like air taxis will soon be taking off across the state, including in Austin, following the Texas Department of Transportation's selection for a Federal Aviation Administration pilot program this month.

Under an executive order issued last year by President Donald Trump, the FAA is moving to advance aviation systems including unmanned drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft.

The 2025 order called to establish a pilot program to test emerging eVTOL technology and push its "safe and lawful" deployment. After a public solicitation, the FAA on March 9 announced the selection of eight pilot projects across the country expected to kick off this summer.

Expanded eVTOL operations could include local air taxi service, regional passenger and cargo transportation, emergency medical response, and more. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the chosen projects will redefine aspects of travel and logistics, "dramatically" improving how people and products move… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Lakeway approves updated comprehensive plan outlining vision for city (Community Impact)

Lakeway City Council approved updates to the city’s 2025 Comprehensive Plan on March 16, marking the completion of a process started in May 2024 to revise and update documents guiding the city’s future.

Cities use comprehensive plans to steer decisions surrounding land use, transportation, infrastructure, community identity and more. The city’s most recent comprehensive plan update was in 2020.

For the city of Lakeway, this document was created with the help of several community dialogue sessions and input from more than 2,000 community participants, according to the city.

Some changes in the plan include the creation of a “dynamic core” zone on the future land use map, or FLUM, specifically in areas along RM 620 and Hwy. 71… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas cities, state government cancel Cesar Chavez Day in wake of report on activist (Texas Tribune)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the state will not observe Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, a move that he hopes to make permanent by working with the Legislature and removing the holiday from state law in the 2027 session.

The announcement came after a New York Times investigation revealed allegations that the late Mexican-American labor and civil rights leader had sexually assaulted and abused women and girls. The reporting has sparked widespread outrage and sorrow, prompting lawmakers and labor groups across the country — including in Texas, where he supported striking farm workers and led a rally at the state Capitol following a march from Rio Grande City to Austin in 1966 — to reckon with Chavez’s legacy.

“Reports of the horrific and widely acknowledged sexual assault allegations against Cesar Chavez rightfully dismantle the myth of this progressive hero and undermine the narrative that elevated Chavez as a figure worthy of official state celebration,” Abbott said in a post on X.

The Mexican American Legislative Caucus, which called the allegations “deeply disturbing,” said it is ready to lead efforts to remove the Cesar Chavez holiday… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Join us April 14 for a conversation with Don Huffines, GOP nominee for comptroller (Texas Tribune)

Former state Sen. Don Huffines won the Republican nomination for Texas comptroller in a landslide this March.

Join the Texas Tribune on Tuesday, April 14 in Austin or online when Huffines sits down with Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Matthew Watkins for a conversation about the candidate’s goals for the office, his relationships with the state’s top leaders and the upcoming general election… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Key deadline in Texas Senate race passes without Trump endorsement (The Hill)

Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) will officially both be on the ballot for the May 26 GOP runoff, as Tuesday’s deadline came and went without an endorsement in the race by President Trump. 

Trump, who said days after the two advanced to a runoff that he would endorse a candidate and ask the other to drop out, is still yet to back either. He told NBC News on Saturday he would make an endorsement in the “next week or so” but added, “I like both candidates very much.”

Cornyn, a four-term incumbent, beat Paxton by roughly 1.2 points in the March 3 primary but failed to garner majority support — necessitating a runoff between them. The victor will square off against state Rep. James Talarico (D), who is attempting to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the Lone Star State since former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen won his final race in 1988. 

A Texas Public Opinion Research survey conducted March 7-8 found that 49 percent of 781 likely Republican runoff voters backed Paxton, while 41 percent backed Cornyn and 11 percent were undecided. If the president endorsed the incumbent, Paxton’s lead would decrease to a mere 1 point. The poll had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Gov. Abbott launches Texas Jobs Council to address skilled worker shortage (KVUE)

Texas is launching a new effort to strengthen the state's workforce pipeline and prepare workers to fill highly skilled jobs. Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of the Texas Jobs Council at an event at the Governor's mansion on Monday afternoon. Abbott was joined by Plumbers Local Union 68 Business Manager Wayne Lord, Texas Association of Business Interim President Megan Mauro and other business and labor leaders.

“For us to fulfill our destiny, for us to maintain our dominance,” Abbott said. “Business and labor are working together to meet the high demand for high-skilled labor positions like electricians, pipefitters, welders, plumbers, truckers, and a whole lot more.”

Earlier this month, Abbott celebrated Texas winning Site Selection magazine's Governor's Cup as the nation’s top-performing state in attracting jobs, businesses, and expansion projects for the 14th year in a row. According to the Governor’s Office, Texas attracted more than 1,400 business location and expansion projects in 2025, representing more than $75 billion in capital investment and creating more than 42,000 new jobs.

“Texas right now is the hottest state in America for business and labor opportunity, as we're ranked number one for the most new jobs, whether it be over the past year or since COVID or since I was elected Governor,” Abbott said. “We're ranked number one for business expansion and capital investment. The number one business climate, number one for things like exports, technology and semiconductor.” Abbott spoke about the need to fill trade jobs and how meeting the growing need has become a growing challenge statewide. Texas has a shortage of workers in construction, manufacturing and other skilled trades… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump’s Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat (Associated Press)

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his concerns about the justification for military strikes in Iran and saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war.

“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent said in a statement posted on social media, making claims President Donald Trump has denied.

Kent, a former Green Beret and political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed last July on a 52-44 vote. As head of the National Counterterrorism Center, he was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats.

His resignation demonstrates that the unease about the war within Trump’s base extends to at least one senior member of his Republican administration… 🟪 (READ MORE)