BG Reads | News - August 3, 2022
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[HEARINGS/MEETINGS]
Today
Thursday
[AUSTIN METRO]
Samsung's Austin-area expansion would need millions of gallons of water. Where would that come from? (Austin American-Statesman)
The massive expansion that Samsung has raised as a possibility in the Austin area over the next 20 years would create thousands of local jobs, spur large amounts of ancillary development and boost the region’s status as a globally prominent technology hub.
It also would require huge quantities of water.
Semiconductor manufacturing is water-intensive, with chip fabrication plants using it to rinse silicon wafers at each stage of the process and to cool equipment. South Korea-based Samsung is among the world's biggest chipmakers.
The upshot is Samsung will have a major thirst to quench in the Austin area if it opts to go through with the local projects it has said it's considering — which include the potential for two new chip plants in the city and nine new plants in Taylor, a small Williamson County town about 25 miles northeast of Austin. If all 11 fabs are built, it would be an investment totaling a staggering $192 billion over the next two decades… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Community College raising pay across board (Austin Business Journal)
Austin Community College’s Board of Trustees on Aug. 1 approved the district’s budget for 2022-23. The budget cycle begins Sept. 1.
ACC said the budget includes a $20.8 million compensation package, which gives all employees a raise. The average increases range from 28% for those making minimum wage, from $15.60 an hour to $20 an hour, to a 5% increase for those earning $100,000 to $199,999 a year.
For more on this story, check out our partners at KXAN News.
The move by ACC comes as the city of Austin also tries to raise pay in its next budget. City Manager Spencer Cronk's proposed budget includes a 4% pay increase for civilian staff, including a boost in minimum wage from $15 an hour to $18 per hour. Austin City Council has voted to raise the minimum wage to $22 per hour for the next fiscal year or "by the most significant amount possible."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD gages community interest ahead of potential teacher housing bond (Community Impact)
Austin ISD staff held a public input session on Aug. 2 about a potential $50 million teacher housing bond that could be added to the November election.
The housing package would be separate from the main bond package the district is considering and would provide Austin ISD funds to construct housing exclusively for teachers.
“We are trying to keep teachers in the city of Austin so they are living in the communities they are serving because that is really reflected in the classroom experience,” Austin ISD Director of Real Estate Jeremy Striffler told Community Impact Newspaper.
Striffler said the $50 million would be leveraged to raise up to $325 million of additional funding, meaning the district would use that $50 million as a sort of downpayment for a project that could be financed. That debt would not be passed on to taxpayers, but instead covered by income from the properties… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds announces closure after 38 years (Austin American-Statesman)
Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds will close at the end of this year, the iconic South Congress Avenue costume shop announced Tuesday.
"We've loved being a source of creativity and inspiration for your parties, plays and productions. It has been a pleasure to fulfill your costuming dreams and fantasies. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts," a post on the business' Instagram page says.
The store will shift to a "purchase only" model on Aug. 31. Rentals will no longer be available after Aug. 30. "At the moment, we still have plenty of stock and are ready to have one last Halloween with all of you," the social post says… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Families could start getting money from city’s guaranteed income pilot program next month (KXAN)
Struggling families or individuals could start receiving payments from the City of Austin’s guaranteed income pilot program as soon as September, according to a Monday city memo.
Austin City Council approved the pilot program in early May with an original plan to give $1,000 a month to 85 families or individuals, but the memo said it can now be expanded to 135 families, thanks to additional funding from St. David’s Foundation.
The memo gave an initial timeline of the rollout process for the pilot, saying UpTogether, the organization the city is working with on the pilot program, expects to wrap up onboarding with partner organizations early this month. Then, participants will be chosen and enrolled in the program during the rest of the month. Currently, the first payment is scheduled to be distributed next month… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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Company that runs Austin airport's South Terminal sues the City (KVUE)
The company that owns and runs the South Terminal at Austin's airport is trying to stop the City from taking control of it.
Lonestar Airport Holdings filed a lawsuit against the City.
In June, City officials approved a plan to use eminent domain to take over the South Terminal, so it can add more gates to the main Barbara Jordan Terminal.
But the South Terminal owners argue they've invested tens of millions of dollars in that property. They had a 40-year contract with the City.
KVUE reached out to the City for a comment, but the City has not responded yet.
The City previously offered to take over operation of the terminal, but the company refused the $1.95 million offer, calling it "offensive."
"Closure of the South Terminal will kill ultra-low-cost carrier service from Austin, challenged by higher operating fees and inadequate capacity at the main terminal. Options for price sensitive travelers will disappear in our market," said Jeff Pearse, CEO of LoneStar Airport Holdings. "The airport’s pursuit of eminent domain ignores the 40-year lease obligation to LoneStar and will result in years of expensive, time-consuming litigation, delaying expansion plans even further and sending a signal to every business in Austin that making major investments alongside the city is a dangerous bet. This isn’t eminent domain. It is the taking of a business."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Coalition of news organizations sues Texas Department of Public Safety over withheld records on Uvalde shooting (Texas Tribune)
More than a dozen news organizations filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday, accusing the agency of unlawfully withholding public records related to the May school shooting in Uvalde.
The organizations — which include The Texas Tribune and its partner ProPublica and other local, state and national newsrooms — have each filed requests under the Texas Public Information Act for information detailing the response by various authorities, including law enforcement, to the massacre.
DPS has refused to release records in response to these requests, even as the agency has selectively disclosed some information through public testimony, third-party analyses and news conferences… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Biden’s move to close privately run prisons in South Texas blamed for overcrowding, lost jobs (Houston Chronicle)
President Joe Biden’s move to close private prisons is uniting the Texas delegation like little else has during his time in office. A group of Texas lawmakers that includes both Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, is urging Biden to leave private detention centers in South Texas open as his administration works to end federal contracts with private prisons across the country. The lawmakers, who also include U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and South Texas Democratic U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente González, say the closures threaten to wreak havoc on both the legal system and on local economies, with the rights of inmates and hundreds of jobs on the line.
The March closure of a facility in Willacy County has already forced inmates to travel 160 to 240 miles round trip for court appearances, preventing some from accessing pretrial legal counsel and making it difficult for family visits, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Susan Rice, the director of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council. “This has caused long periods of confinement in crowded spaces, while being shackled for the entire day, for hundreds of pretrial detainees,” they wrote The administration plans to close another detention center in Laredo in October, which the lawmakers say will put another 1,600 detainees in a similar situation. “Placing pretrial detainees in overcrowded facilities, housing cooperating witnesses with sentenced defendants, or relying on small overcrowded local jails is not a solution,” they wrote… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
UT Arlington graduate makes history as Marines’ first Black four-star general (Dallas Morning News)
[NATION]
Semiconductor stocks under pressure as Taiwan tensions mount (Reuters)
Semiconductor stocks fell globally on Tuesday as an expected visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, fueled a fresh escalation in tensions between Washington and Beijing. China views the visit by Pelosi, second in the line of succession to the U.S. presidency and a long-time critic of China, as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp in Taiwan and has repeatedly warned against it.
Taiwan is home to the world's biggest manufacturer of semiconductors on contract, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd. Shares of the company closed down 2.4%, while peer United Microelectronics Corp fell 3%. Taiwanese stocks dropped 1.6%, marking their biggest percentage decline in three weeks, while stocks in China posted their biggest fall in more than two months as mounting tensions unsettled Asian financial markets. "The outlook for trade in Asia is likely to weigh on semiconductors, given how much of the world's global production comes from Taiwan," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets UK. Semiconductor stocks globally felt the heat. Germany's Infineon declined 2.3%, while Dutch firms ASML, ASMI \ and BESI fell between 3% and 4%. U.S. chip stocks such as Nvidia Corp, Intel Corp, Qualcomm and Micron Technology Inc dipped more than 1% each in trading before the bell… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Cornyn under fire over bill to rescind requirement for anti-DWI tech in cars and trucks (Houston Chronicle)
A proposal to scale back standards set last year to mandate built-in drunk driving prevention technology in new cars and trucks has drawn scorn from safety advocates while its sponsors, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, stay mum. The bill was introduced Wednesday in the Senate by Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota. Text of the bill was not filed, but its title describes it as repealing “a provision relating to an advanced impaired driving technology motor vehicle safety standard, and for other purposes.” Cornyn and Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, are cosponsors of the bill. If passed, Rounds’ bill would remove the authority of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to craft rules requiring installation of driving prevention technology in new cars and trucks.
Cornyn, who announced Monday he tested positive for COVID, did not respond to a request for comment. Rounds’ office also has not commented on the proposal. Road safety advocates skewered the bill as a dangerous backslide in drunk driving prevention. “We have the technology now to prevent drunk driving, and every day we fail to implement it, more lives are lost to preventable tragedy,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan, said in a statement sent by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “It is beyond time we made sure it is implemented in vehicles. Reversing this critical provision will endanger American lives, our communities, and make our roads less safe.” The technology would inhibit someone who is drunk from starting the vehicle, though supporters say it is more advanced and less intrusive than the breathlyzers attached to vehicles following a drunk driving conviction. “It’s impossible to understand why a law that could virtually end impaired driving and had bipartisan support is being challenged, when we know that drunk driving deaths have increased to more than 12,000 for the first time since 2007,” said MADD president Alex Otte, in the statement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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Kristin and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss her path into PR and her career leading to the C-suite and ownership of the firm.-> EPISODE LINK
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