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- BG Reads // October 15, 2025
BG Reads // October 15, 2025
A.J. Bingham
October 15, 2025
faustin a
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www.binghamgp.com
October 15, 2025
✅ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 Austin, Travis County homeless services grow, fewer first-time clients reported in 2024 (Community Impact)
🟪 Austin ISD families are demanding a stronger voice in a proposed consolidation plan (CBS Austin)
🟪 F1, COTA appear close to extending Grand Prix until 2034 (Austin Business Journal)
🟪 Austin to begin first phase of Congress Avenue redesign initiative next year (CBS Austin)
🟪 Federal judge halts enforcement of new state law amid free speech lawsuit brought by students (KUT)
🟪 Houston elected officials float legal action as Gov. Abbott fights rainbow crosswalk repainting (Houston Chronicle
🟪 Multiple Texas airports are refusing to play video from DHS’ Noem blaming Democrats for government shutdown (Texas Tribune)
🟪 News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before deadline for signing (Washington Post)
READ ON!
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart
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[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
✅ Austin, Travis County homeless services grow, fewer first-time clients reported in 2024 (Community Impact)
The Austin and Travis County homelessness response system is growing more efficient and seeing fewer people needing services than in the past few years, according to new reporting from the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO.
ECHO, which coordinates the regional response to homelessness between local governments and other organizations, released its 2025 State of the System report in early October. The analysis covers data from 2019-24, and points to a growing system that is more effectively matching clients to the services and housing they need.
"We're not where we want to be yet, although we are celebrating progress today. But the clear evidence is that what we’re doing and the investments we're making are having a positive impact," Mayor Kirk Watson said at the report's presentation Oct. 8… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ A decade of Vision Zero shows progress on crashes and injuries, not on deaths (Austin Monitor)
On Monday afternoon, city leaders and transportation policymakers gathered to celebrate the unveiling of Vision Zero’s 10 Year Report on Austin’s progress toward making traffic deaths a thing of the past.
“Traffic crashes aren’t accidents. They are preventable,” said Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes during the press conference Monday. “They are a public health crisis, and like any health crisis, they require direct, holistic response.”
That response has yielded results. Out of the six largest Texas cities (Austin, Dallas, Houston, Ft. Worth, El Paso and San Antonio), Austin continues to have the lowest per capita serious injury and fatality rate. However, there is more work to be done. Though 2024 saw the fewest serious injuries recorded since the beginning of Vision Zero in 2015, crash fatalities have remained flat… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ F1, COTA appear close to extending Grand Prix until 2034 (Austin Business Journal)
One of Austin’s premier international sporting events appears to be extending its stay in Central Texas.
Public documents from Travis County indicate that Formula One has struck a deal to keep the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas from 2027 to 2034.
If F1 extends its stay in Austin, it would be a massive win for the city and Travis County, as the annual race brings in tens of thousands of visitors and a great amount of international attention for a weekend that helps burnish Austin’s reputation as a growing international city.
“In September 2025 Travis County again secured the winning bid to host the event at the Circuit of The Americas racetrack facilities,” said a letter submitted to Travis County by the Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee.
CELOC is a Texas nonprofit corporation "with the purpose to help facilitate and support motor racing and other events," according to the city of Austin’s website.
"There is still some work to be done, but we're optimistic the event is ours to win," Bobby Epstein, the chairman of COTA, said in a statement to the ABJ after this article was published… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Federal judge halts enforcement of new state law amid free speech lawsuit brought by students (KUT)
A federal judge is preventing the University of Texas System from enforcing a new state law that restricts when students can engage in “expressive activities” on campus.
Several student groups at UT Austin and UT Dallas filed a lawsuit against the schools' respective presidents, the UT Board of Regents and UT System Chancellor Dr. John Zerwas, over the law in September.
The law bars students from engaging in “expressive activities” between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. and from using devices that amplify sound during the last two weeks of a given semester — reversing a state law passed in 2019 that expanded free speech protections on public university campuses.
Judge David Alan Ezra of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas said the lawsuit is likely to succeed on First Amendment grounds.
"The First Amendment does not have a bedtime of 10:00 p.m. The burden is on the government to prove that its actions are narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling governmental interest," the court said in the injunction order. "It has not done so."… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Austin to begin first phase of Congress Avenue redesign initiative next year (CBS Austin)
The City of Austin is advancing with the first phase of the Congress Avenue Urban Design Initiative (CAUDI), aiming to transform Congress into a "complete street" with a distinct and appealing identity.
This initial phase will focus on the stretch from Cesar Chavez to Seventh Street, featuring expanded sidewalks, improved pedestrian zones, enhanced tree health, upgraded bike barriers, and additional key turn lanes.
Laura Dierenfield, division manager at the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department, said, "We're also hearing from residents who live on the avenue that are excited about just having a place where they can pop outside and go grab a coffee or also the idea of having just healthier trees and just really getting that tree canopy to last and be there for all of us in our comfort and safety for beauty of the avenue."
Construction is set to begin early next year, with crews working block by block along Congress Avenue, spending about three months on each section… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Austin ISD families are demanding a stronger voice in a proposed consolidation plan (CBS Austin)
Austin ISD families are demanding a stronger voice in a proposed consolidation plan that could affect nearly every school in the district.
The district held the first of four community meetings Tuesday night, most of which will be virtual, prompting concerns from some parents who say the format makes it harder for them to be heard.
District leaders said the meeting was meant to listen, share information, and answer questions about the proposed consolidation plan. Families asked about everything from longer commutes to support for special education students, and what the transfer process might look like.
Laura Garcia, a parent at Becker Elementary, voiced frustration about the timing. “Why are they asking us now when everything's going to be decided in November? November is just a few weeks away,” she said.
Parents also raised logistical questions about the transition. Robert Vanisan, another AISD parent, asked, “I’m wondering what the plan is to get our students over to our new school.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)
[TEXAS/US NEWS]
✅ Multiple Texas airports are refusing to play video from DHS’ Noem blaming Democrats for government shutdown (Texas Tribune)
Multiple airports in Texas are refusing to play a video at their security checkpoints in which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blames Democrats for the ongoing federal government shutdown, citing advertising policies that bar the use of political content.
Airports commonly display videos from the head of homeland security on screens at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, but these messages are usually apolitical. This changed when Department of Homeland Security officials directed TSA to display a video that begins with Noem outlining TSA’s priorities and ends with her expressing hope that “Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government.”
“Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government,” Noem says in the video. “Because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.”
Spokespeople for Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field Airport, Corpus Christi International Airport and San Antonio International Airport told The Texas Tribune that the video is not on display at their TSA checkpoints… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Is Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson considering resigning from office? Speculation is swirling (Dallas Morning News)
Speculation is mounting at Dallas City Hall that Mayor Eric Johnson may soon resign to seek another political office. At least one candidate for mayor says he is ready to run if and when Johnson resigns. Former Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa is one of several people being discussed as a possible successor to Johnson, whose term expires in 2027. Others who are being talked about as potential candidates are developer Peter Brodsky, Dallas workforce czar Lynn McBee and Dallas City Council members Chad West, Gay Donnell Willis and Adam Bazaldua. “It was really quiet for a long time, but in the last 10 days, I’ve heard it from 10 different sources that he’s going to announce something at some point — that he’s not going to finish his term,” Hinojosa said in an interview.
The domain name ericjohnsonfortexas.com was registered Oct. 6, according to the website godaddy.com, though it’s unclear who reserved it. The city also canceled a scheduled City Council briefing this week, fueling more speculation. Johnson has not responded to requests for comment, but he posted Tuesday night on social media, saying he is not running for another office. “Trying to find out whether I am resigning, but the “story” is behind a paywall,“ Johnson posted. ”Hate it when that happens. Anyway, here is the free version: I am NOT running for anything, and I will continue serving our great city as its mayor!" For more than a year, Dallas political insiders have questioned whether the mayor will finish his term or seek higher office. Recent events have intensified speculation, with some of it suggesting he may resign soon to run for state or federal office… 🟪 (READ MORE)
✅ Houston elected officials float legal action as Gov. Abbott fights rainbow crosswalk repainting (Houston Chronicle)
legion of Houston’s elected officials gathered at the Taft and Westheimer rainbow crosswalk Tuesday as a show of force against Gov. Greg Abbott’s call to remove it or risk the loss of state transportation funding, and some even floated the potential for legal action. The crosswalks in Montrose were painted over weeks ago due to repaving work at the intersection, and were quickly restored to their original vibrancy after outcry from the community and elected officials.
But Abbott soon swooped in Wednesday to threaten to remove Texas Department of Transportation funding from cities that painted “political ideologies” on their streets unless they were removed. Abbott’s office called rainbow crosswalks a distraction, but Council Member Abbie Kamin said Tuesday the governor had “apparently entered the portion of the program where the state of Texas is now worried about paint.”
Metro, the city’s transportation arm, has since said it would paint over the rainbow crosswalk. The crosswalk was originally rainbow splashed following the death of Alex Hill in 2016, who was struck and killed by an oncoming car in the intersection. The move to paint the sidewalk rainbow was not only to honor Hill, but make the crosswalk safer and more visible using private dollars, Kamin, who represents the neighborhood where the crosswalk is located, said Tuesday. Montrose, the neighborhood where the crosswalk is located, has long been a heartbeat for the area’s LGBTQ+ community. As the news conference got underway Tuesday, the crosswalk remained as is. But on adjacent sidewalks there were new chalk drawings. One read “gay rights are human rights” and “Mayor Whitmire quit.”
Another drawing depicted a pink, blue and white transgender rights flag and read “IDK BRO I JUST EXIST.” More drawings and even pride flags could pop up around Houston if the crosswalk ends up being painted over – officials on Tuesday called for residents to rally their support through putting up their flags or putting up yard signs. “If we lose the battle, and we have to take this off the street, you put it on your house,” Commissioner Rodney Ellis said Tuesday. “You go and put it on the yard sign. You roll down the street and stick it out your car window, whatever angle they come up with, we have to find another one.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)
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