BG Reads Weekend Edition (8.3.2025)

Author

A.J. Bingham
August 03, 2025

PRESENTED BY

[TOP CLICKS OF THE WEEK]

[WEEKEND NEWS]

🟪 Consultants suggest Austin pools and parks sell naming rights (AXIOS Austin)

Amid a budget crunch, consultants hired by the city of Austin have floated selling naming rights to local playgrounds, pools and other park properties.

Why it matters: With money scarce, the cutting of city services has become a real possibility and city officials are trying to figure out how to raise revenue instead.

Catch up quick: Less-than-expected sales tax revenue and the cancellation of federal grants has driven a projected $33 million city budget deficit.

  • The city engaged PFM Group Consulting and the Trust for Public Land to examine the needs, challenges and solutions for Austin's parks… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Not just Big Bird: Things to know about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its funding cuts (Associated Press)

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps pay for PBS, NPR, 1,500 local radio and television stations as well as programs like “Sesame Street” and “Finding Your Roots,” said Friday that it would close after the U.S. government withdrew funding.

The organization told employees that most staff positions will end with the fiscal year on Sept. 30. A small transition team will stay until January to finish any remaining work.

The private, nonprofit corporation was founded in 1968 shortly after Congress authorized its formation. It now ends nearly six decades of fueling the production of renowned educational programming, cultural content and emergency alerts about natural disasters.

Here’s what to know… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Trump calls for firing of senior Labor official after job market weakens in July (NPR)

The job market weakened sharply during the late spring and early summer as President Trump's tariffs began to take effect — and Trump responded by calling for the firing of a key labor statistician.

U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs in July, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department, while job gains for May and June were largely erased. The unemployment rate inched up to 4.2%.

Hours after the report, Trump advanced baseless claims about the jobs numbers, writing on social media that he thought they "were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad."

In another post, Trump said he was firing Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which puts out the jobs report. McEntarfer was appointed to the job by former President Joe Biden… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Planning and Zoning denies application regarding Leander Springs lagoon, apartment project (Community Impact)

Leander’s Planning and Zoning Commission halted the proposed Leander Springs project when it denied the developer’s planned unit development amendment application July 24.

City Council will have the chance in September to override the commission’s 4-1 denial of the request. If it does, the development would be allowed to move forward with a 4-acre lagoon and 1,200 apartment units in a mixed-use building.

If council aligns with the commission and votes to deny, developers could still build 35,000 square feet of commercial space to be used for offices and retail, according to agenda documents… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 Uvalde schools set to use AI gun detection system (The Hill)

Officials plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District monitor its campus cameras in an effort to bolster security at schools.

Three years after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary that left 19 students and two teachers dead, an AI gun detection company is giving the district its technology and services for free as part of a grant.

Omnilert scans live indoor and outdoor camera feeds, monitoring for the presence of a gun. If a firearm is detected, a human then verifies what’s on the video before activating a safety response plan that includes notifying first responders.

Omnilert CEO Dave Fraser spoke with Nexstar’s KXAN about the technology and new partnership.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity… ✅ (READ MORE)

🟪 In draft congressional map, Texas Republicans bet big that gains with Latino voters will persist (Texas Tribune)

In the 2024 election, Hispanic voters fled their traditional Democratic Party roots, casting their ballots for Republican Donald Trump at historic rates in areas long seen as Democratic strongholds, like South Texas.

With their plan to flip five blue seats under a new congressional map introduced in the Legislature last week, Texas Republicans are betting Latino voters will stick with them in 2026.

In three of the districts Republicans hope to capture — the 9th Congressional District in east Houston, the 35th District southeast of San Antonio and Rep. Henry Cuellar’s 28th District in South Texas — the GOP map-drawers crafted new boundaries that make each seat more favorable for Republicans while also adding more Hispanic voters to the district.

These three districts would be majority Hispanic, as would the seat held by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, whose South Texas seat Republicans are also gunning for… ✅ (READ MORE)

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