Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., July 22, 2022
Didn't She Almost Have It All? After more than 11 years on City Council, Kathie Tovo made her retirement from the dais – for now – official this week, opting out of the upcoming mayoral slugfest. Tovo, the last serving member of the old at-large Council, had already endorsed Linda Guerrero to succeed her in the central-city District 9. But if she has a change of heart, she won't have to wait long, as the next mayor will have to run again in 2024.
If You Wannabe My Legislator (You Gotta Get Arrested): U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, was one of 17 members of Congress arrested Tuesday for blocking streets outside the U.S. Capitol while protesting the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, The Texas Tribune reported. Heavy-hitting Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., were also arrested.
I Actually Don't Want It That Way: Tesla is planning to expand Giga Texas with a "production support area" on 68-acre plot near its existing Southeast Travis County location. Beyond that the expansion will involve "industrial use facilities," the nature of the project is unclear from the application, Austonia reported.
No Scrubs (in Downtown Austin): The Community Development Commission asked City Council this week to require that the 1,300-unit development planned on the former Statesman HQ site is at least 20% affordably priced units, the Austin Monitor reported. Developer Endeavor Real Estate Group asked to make fee-in-lieu payments to build housing elsewhere, but its proposed fees are equivalent to 4% of the units being affordable.
Smells Like Incompetence: Uvalde parents were angered by the Texas House report on the mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers May 24. After learning that the shooter walked onto the campus at Robb Elementary through doors that should have been locked, parents demanded the resignations of school officials and threatened to keep kids home until campus security is improved.
Hit Me Baby 20 More Times: Texas Fertility Center in Austin presents a frightening conundrum in post-Roe Texas, KUT reported this week. In vitro fertilization combines sperm and eggs to create embryos (frozen in a lab), only one healthy one of which will be implanted. Some legal experts say Texas's abortion "trigger law" could mean any unused embryos can't be destroyed. As one patient put it, "Being told you have to have 20 kids because you got 20 embryos – that's ridiculous."
MMMBat: According to a study published this week, Austin's beloved Mexican free-tailed bats can contract COVID-19 but do not appear to experience symptoms or spread the virus to humans.
Quote of the Week
"There's something about living in a red state that makes you scrappy, because Texas Democrats know how to fight. ... It's what this moment demands, and national Democrats don't have it."
– Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, at the Texas Democratic Party convention in Dallas
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