Local COVID orders
Austin and Travis County are still holding on to the local COVID orders. This is despite the Texas attorney general promising a lawsuit should the city and county not drop the masking and capacity orders. Attorney General Alejandro Garcia says neither the city, county or health authority can make or enforce these orders.
“This decision to require masks or otherwise imposed COVID-19 related operating limits is expressly reserved to private businesses on their own premises,” says Garcia,
Austin’s Mayor Steve Adler says the governor doing away with the mandate creates ambiguity where there should be none.
Austin is actually not the only city in the area expecting people to wear masks despite the statewide order being lifted. Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan says the City Mask Ordinance was readopted unanimously last month, and it remains in effect.
“The goal is simple. Keep our businesses open and keep folks out of our hospitals as vaccines become available to more Round Rock residents,” says Morgan.
But Morgan says if a business can maintain 6 feet of social distancing, that a mask is not required. And even though Williamson County facilities are not requiring masks, the city of Georgetown is requiring masks and all of its government buildings.
The City of Bastrop, meantime, has lifted the mask requirement for its public buildings. City Council voted 4 to 1 in favor of that move to lift the mandate. City employees will still have to wear one. That decision by the city is part of its plan to begin phasing itself out of the state’s COVID-19 response. The lifting of the statewide mask order has really given rise to a host of new legal questions. One of those questions involves whether or not your boss can fire you for refusing to wear one, Texas Workforce Commission attorney Velissa Chapa says in short, yes
“A lot of employers have specific grooming standards or they will say ‘we need you to dress business professional,’ and requiring a mask could be included within that,” says Chapa,
But she says there are exceptions, such as an employee says they can’t wear a mask for religious or health reasons. And in those cases, Chapa says, an employer has to make accommodations.
Alcohol to go law
Governor Greg Abbott’s waiver that allowed alcohol to be purchased for delivery or pick up during the pandemic is moving closer to becoming law. Emily Williams Knight with the Texas Restaurant Association says any lifeline the state can offer at this point will help.
“Of course, we know that alcohol to go alone will not save this industry. But when facing the challenge and the size and scope of the pandemic, we need as many tools as possible to save jobs and our iconic Texas businesses,” says Knight.
The bill filed this session would make alcohol to-go a permanent option and this week a state House committee has unanimously approved it.
Austin police indicted for murder
Austin police officer has been indicted for murder by Travis County grand jury in the shooting of Mike Ramos. Officer Christopher Taylor is being indicted for the shooting that helped spark a wave of anti police protests in the city last year.
Police rush to a false report
Kyle Police rushed to the scene of a reported active shooter, only to find out they’ve been duped. Police Chief Jeff Barnett says they got that all at about 4 p.m.
“Our police officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Brazos Lane where they were told that an individual was harming people inside a home, as well as making threats to responding law enforcement and the nearby community,” says Barnett.
But when officers went inside, nobody was there. Barnett says he believes the fake call was made to lure police into the area for an unspecified reason. An investigation is underway, Barnett says filing a false report is a crime.
Book controversy in Eanes schools
Another book is causing a stir in a local school district. Some parents are outraged that a Forest Trail Elementary teacher read a book about a transgender kid to fourth graders. Eanes Superintendent Tom Leonard tells CBS Austin, The district didn’t actually approve the book.
“We had some parents that came to us and said, ‘why was this shown? Is this in your curriculum? Where is this in your curriculum?’ It wasn’t.”
The book’s author says it was written for kids as young as second grade. Other parents are angry about the controversy and they’ve started a petition to support transgender kids and teens.
Private investments to TXDOT
The Austin stretch of I-35 between 45 north and south is currently set to be improved and rebuilt. A bill by Lockhart state representative John Cyrier would allow TXDOT to get private investments to fund it. The project would wipe out TXDOT’s discretionary funding.
“That meant that all our money was going to one project and not to projects in Lubbock or down the valley. Or quite frankly, some of this money got taken away from even my district right next door here in Bastrop County,” says Cyrier.
Along with the private investment does come the possibility of more toll roads.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-3-11-21
