COVID-19 update
Travis County has not reported much movement on its hospital numbers since Friday, when 479 were reported. As of today, there are 480. Travis County has reported 203 deaths out of the 17,646 coronavirus cases found since March. The number of recoveries are up to 14,059. That is a jump of about 700 since Friday morning.
The City of Austin’s plan is to have the convention center up and running as an alternate care site by tomorrow. The city says 1,500 COVID patients could be housed there, but none of them would have severe symptoms. However, it’s still not clear if the city would actually need to use the site at all, since the number of patients and local hospitals has leveled off in recent days.
Teacher Heaven closing due to COVID-19
COVID-19 is forcing another longtime Austin company to close. Susan Savoy has owned Teacher Heaven on Spicewood Springs for 24 years. She tells KVUE the digital age had already whittled down the number of stores she had from eight to one. The virus has been the final nail in the coffin.
“We’re going to shoot for the end of August. Just because we’re hoping that everybody gets excited and the product won’t last us much longer than that,” Savoy says.
July and August are typically the biggest months of the year because teachers are gearing up for the new classes.
High school football season up in the air
Today, the University Interscholastic League will decide what to do about the beginning of the high school football season, which typically would be weeks away. With districts delaying classes all over the state until after Labor Day, Greg Tepper, the managing editor of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, expects the UIL to follow suit.
“There are some coaches that think that there’s no way we’re going to put a season in, to begin with, but I would say that the UIL has a lot of cards that they can play,” Tepper says.
He predicts no games until at least the end of September. However, he does say some coaches are preparing for a full cancellation of the season.
Teachers protest TEA rules
Many teachers continue pushing back against a plan to return to classrooms. Barton Hills Elementary, PE Teacher Courtney Perry tells CBS Austin she’s ready to walk away and leave everything behind that she’s worked for.
“The way TEA has written the rules, I will lose 20 years of my TRS pension. I will lose my teaching credentials because I have broken my contract,” says Perry.
Over the weekend, hundreds of angry teachers held a protest outside of the governor’s mansion. The TEA’s revised plan does allow for four weeks of online classes, with the option for an additional four weeks after that.
A Department of Public Safety trooper is recovering after being hit by a car while working traffic duty during the teacher protest downtown. DPS says the trooper was on his motorcycle when a car turned in front of him on 15th Street. His injuries are said to be non-life threatening, and no one else was hurt.
The Republican Party of Texas scores a legal win
The GOP had to go virtual with its convention over the weekend after Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner blocked the in-person event. A lawsuit was filed by attorney Jared Woofill. He says the judges ruled that Turner violated the GOP’s first amendment rights.
“So it’s a very clear message to Mayor Turner that you can’t pick and choose winners and losers. You can’t choose certain forms of speech that you like and encourage that and say the other forms of speech that you disagree with, we’re gonna trample all over your first amendment rights,” says Woodfill.
The virtual convention was marred by technical problems, but this ruling lets the event continue into next weekend.
Austin Police Association vows to do the bare minimum
The Austin Police Association calls on members to stop proactive enforcement. The crux of the messages is if you want it, you got it. The Police Association President Ken Casaday feels the results of the recent election show the community does not support police anymore. He tells FOX 7 when combined with the council’s plan to cut funding and manpower, cops from here on out should do the bare minimum.
“They don’t want us enforcing traffic laws and they don’t want us arresting people, and they don’t want us messing with homeless folks. They’re very clear, and we’re going to take their lead,” says Casaday.
Chief Brian Manley is not on board with this. He says he does expect all officers to take action whenever necessary.
Austin leaders continue to discuss city budget
The Austin City Council will focus solely on the 2021 proposed budget in this next week’s council meeting. It will also be the first chance for public comments. The Greater Austin Crime Commission has a problem with the proposed loss of 100 officer spots, but Chas Moore with the Austin Justice Coalition says he’s fine with smaller, noting a recent study.
“AH Analytics, a company in New Orleans, shows us from June to June this year less than 1%, to be exact 0.6%, of those calls were violent crimes. The most, I believe, 38%-40% is spent doing non-violent, non-criminal calls,” says Moore.
The crime commission says 2019 did market growth and violent crime in Austin.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-7-20-20
