1. WHO’S REELING AFTER QUITTING FEDERAL PROGRAM
Clinics are charging new fees and warning of more unintended pregnancies and STDs in the wake of Planned Parenthood’s decision to opt out in a dispute with the Trump administration over abortion.
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2. PRESIDENT FLIP-FLOPS ON ECONOMY
A day after considering cutting taxes to promote economic growth, Donald Trump abandons the idea because the nation already has “a strong economy.”
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3. YOU’RE SPENDING MORE AND MORE OF YOUR LIFE STUCK IN TRAFFIC
A new study from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute finds that you spend a full week each year sitting in traffic. The study’s author Bill Eisele says this congestion is spreading to the suburbs, and is increasingly difficult to avoid.
“We have a third of the delay that’s in the midday and also overnight, so the times when you think you can get out and escape the congestion, you can’t,” Eisle says.
Among the study’s recommended solutions is one that falls right in line with Austin’s long-term goals: more mass transit.
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4. TRAVIS COUNTY’S TAXPAYER-SUPPORTED HEALTH CARE DISTRICT IS LOOKING TO SPEND EVEN BIGGER IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
Central Health is hoping the board of managers will approve the new $277-million budget, which is an increase of about $30-million from this year. Central Health’s upcoming downtown campus accounts for the biggest increase in spending.
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5. AUSTIN FC IS SET TO BREAK GROUND ON ITS MLS STADIUM AT MCKALLA PLACE IN TWO-WEEKS.
Team President Andy Loughnane gives us the details.
“September 5 will be the groundbreaking date for our stadium at McKalla Place up in the Domain,” Loughnane says. “Stadium construction will be approximately 18 months in length, and it will be substantially completed and ready for MLS play in April of 2021.”
Austin FC officials say they are in talks with area businesses and Capital Metro about transportation and parking in the meantime.
