COVID-19 update
Five more people are hospitalized for coronavirus in Travis County than there were a day ago. Right now, 1,388 cases are active in the county. Of those, 145 people are hospitalized. 33,559 cases have been confirmed overall since March, resulting in 31,710 recoveries.
As Travis County’s issue with COVID-19 appears to be getting worse, officials are warning of increased restrictions likely by the end of this month. Area Health Authority Doctor Mark Escott says if the infections and hospitalizations surge, they genuinely don’t have enough hospital staff to handle as many beds as they used to.
“Because those people are El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo and Dallas. There and other states around the country, who are facing substantial surge already,” says Escott.
With this decreased capability, he may need to lower the requirements for the area to enter stage four restrictions. And as things stand, he fears that will happen in up to two weeks.
The expectation that Travis County will permanently lose a large number of its bars and possibly bar owners has grown this week with the announcement by outgoing County Judge Sam Biscoe that all bars must remain closed. That closure order will remain for his final week of Biscoe’s time at the helm for the commissioner’s court. It’s widely believed incoming Judge Andy Brown will take a similar stance on the issue. Brown will be sworn in on November 17.
Beginning tomorrow two Del Valley schools will revert back to 100% virtual learning. The change will impact both Baty Elementary and Del Valle High School because of newly reported cases of COVID-19. The district’s plan is to resume on-campus classes at both schools after the Thanksgiving break.
Paid sick leave bill
After multiple cities, including Austin, have failed in their efforts to force private employers to offer paid sick leave, a bill will go before the legislature in January that would create a statewide paid sick leave mandate. Houston State Rep. Ron Reynolds is behind that bill.
“We need to address a lot of things that COVID-19 highlighted. Basically it is one of the main things,” Reynolds says.
The pandemic has proven that coming into work is dangerous for a lot of people. So he adds, private employers should not be allowed to choose whether or not they provide sick time.
Texas law enforcement on reality TV
If a Round Rock area state rep gets his way, Texas law enforcement would never be able to work on reality TV shows again. The death of Javier Ambler while in Williamson County custody was caught on tape by the TV show Live PD. Because of that incident, State Representative James Talarico is filing a bill to stop those kinds of partnerships.
“You talk to any law enforcement, professional or expert, and I’ll tell you that policing is not entertainment,” Talarico says.
Cops are low paid public employees doing a difficult job, and he says they’re there to protect communities, not boost ratings.
Current Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody has been out of the public eye since his defeat last week. Now that that bill’s been filed for the upcoming session to ban police from taking part in reality TV, incoming Sheriff Mike Gleason tells CBS Austin he’s fully on board with that.
“It’s human nature to get a little western, you know. I mean, you’re now concentrating on making good TV, and you’re not concentrating on protecting the civil rights of your community and your oath,” says Gleason.
He also says shows like Live PD leave police departments far more vulnerable to lawsuits.
Wilco drops lawsuit against Big Fish Entertainment
Williamson County has opted to drop its lawsuit against Big Fish Entertainment, which is the company behind the Live PD show. The suit was filed after filming continued even though the county voted to drop its contract with Big Fish last year. Commissioner Russ Boles says they don’t expect any other issues to arise.
“As to the county’s case against Sheriff Chody, the temporary injunction preventing him from filming will remain in place until the end of the year,” says Boles.
Following Chody’s defeat at the ballot, Boles says the lawsuit is now a moot point. The vote to drop that suit was unanimous
Round Rock Superintendent to leave position
Round Rock School District Superintendent Steve Flores may be vacating his position soon. The school board will meet on Friday. An item on the agenda is the consideration of the superintendent’s voluntary separation for reasons not known. Flores’ contract is set to run through the end of June of 2022.
East Austin developments
Austin Council member Natasha Harper-Madison is working up a resolution she says would transform East Austin into an equitable, bustling section of the city. She says her long term vision includes developments taylored to public transit lines, job growth and more.
“We can encourage healthy living. We can minimize the impacts of traffic and congestion and limit greenhouse gas emissions. We can provide more housing opportunities at every income level,” says Harper-Madison.
More details are expected to be ironed out and made public in the coming weeks. Harper-Madison has not said how much she thinks her plan may cost the taxpayer.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-11-11-20
