COVID-19 update
Given the recent trajectory of Austin’s COVID-19 numbers, it’s very likely we could reach a welcome milestone this week. That would be dropping under 500 people hospitalized with the virus. This morning, Austin Public Health says 514 people are in the hospital. That is 50 fewer than this time Friday morning. Active cases have also fallen by more than 200 down to 5,094. And of the 68,731 total confirmed cases, nearly 63,000 have now recovered.
In Williamson County, 716 hospital beds are now open and available to patients in need. That has slightly increased through the weekend. As of this morning, 1,794 cases of COVID are active and that is slightly down as well. Overall, 31,271 cases confirmed, with 29,163 recoveries.
Businesses at 75%
In another sign things are improving, local businesses are now cleared under Governor Greg Abbott order to resume operations at 75%. And that’s because the number of COVID hospitalizations in the area has remained under 15% now for more than a week. Mayor Steve Adler says this kind of thing needs to continue.
“Kids that are coming back to school in greater numbers now, we need to be able to sustain that,” says Adler.
Even though restaurants can increase capacity, many say that they don’t have the seating space to expand beyond 50%. Up in Williamson County, bars are now allowed to open at 50%.
Vaccine registration portals
Once again, Hays County has seen its online registration portal for vaccines fill up in a matter of minutes. County Judge Ruben Becerra is not too happy about it. That’s because a lot of people have come from outside of the county to get their dose, which is allowed by the state law at state hubs. Becerra says there’s not much he can do about it. The county got just under 2,000 doses last week.
UT men’s basketball
Fans will be back in the stands tomorrow with the Frank Erwin Center for the UT men’s basketball game against Baylor. For the last four games, fans haven’t been allowed inside due to the coronavirus numbers. As many as 2,500 fans could be in attendance there at the drum.
Homeless hotel protests
Dozens of people turned up to protest the City of Austin’s plan to purchase the Candlewood Suites Hotel on Pecan Park Boulevard and turn it into homeless housing. It’s right next door to Freda’s Seafood Grille. Owner Freda Chen tells CBS Austin after 18 years in operation, she may be considering a move.
“A lot of my customers already told me they’re not coming because of the homeless. They’re scared because I have a lot of older guests coming to my restaurant,” says Chen.
The town hall is planned for Wednesday to talk about the $9.5 million purchase of that hotel, which is valued by Williamson County at less than $2.7 million.
Austin City Manager warns of strong mayor system
Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk says he won’t stand in the way of a push by an activist group to give the position of mayor more power. But he tells The Statesman there could be consequences for shifting to what’s known as a strong mayor system because the mayor would have veto power. Cronk warns that neighborhood voices could be stifled if the city makes the shift to that new system. Cronk would also be out of a job.
Forensics lab
The Austin City Council meets again this week and on the agenda is a vote to create an independent forensics lab. Approval would effectively remove the lab from the purview of the Austin Police Department altogether. It would cost nearly $12 million and would reportedly be funded by re allocated police dollars that were approved last summer.
Conservatives pushback against County Attorney
An Austin based conservative think tank is not too happy with the new Travis County Attorney. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Rob Henneke says County Attorney Delia Garza is dismissing so-called lesser cases stemming from the George Floyd riots and protest sends a bad message.
“Because it’s going to embolden people to commit more crimes, knowing that there’s possibly not going to be any consequence for it and really is in complete contradiction to legitimate issues that are involved in criminal justice reform,” says Henneke.
Henneke says freedom of speech doesn’t protect assaulting police or property damage. The county attorney’s office says it is continuing to review cases involving weapons damage and public safety concerns.
Casino gambling in Texas unlikely
58% of Texans do favor the state legislature legalizing casino gambling but it’s already likely facing a very high hurdle. Strike one, the budget situation wasn’t nearly as dire as expected. According to Comptroller Glenn Hegar, it was just under one billion dollars, far better than early estimates of $6.4 billion.
“Fortunately, sales tax collections, though down significantly over the last nine months, had performed better than we expected,” says Hegar.
Strike Two, according to Rice University’s Mark Jones, has to do with the death of a casino mogul and legendary GOP donor.
“The principal proponent and the one person who might have been able to pull off casino gambling in Texas, Sheldon Adelson, passes away” says Jones.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-2-1-21
