Spike in violent crime
Once again, Austin Police data shows a spike in violent crime. Particularly concerning in this latest reports, that 54% increase in murder for the year and the 400% increase for the month of October. APD Chief Data Officer Jonathan Kringin says the massive jump for October really is tied to one single weekend of violence.
“We had a weekend where there were a number of murders that occurred on that weekend, and it has very much spiked measure,” says Kringin
For the year, aggravated assault up 19%. Kidnapping up 3%. And when you look at property crime, arson is up by 34% for the year. Burglary up 9% and robbery up 6%.
Reality police TV legislation
Reality TV shows with Texas police agencies will be a thing of the past if legislation filed at the state capitol becomes law. Javier Ambler was killed in 2019 while in the custody of Williamson County sheriff’s deputies who were in a ride along with the AE show Live PD.
““The ultimate final straw was the death of Mr. Ambler. They started chasing the police action over not blinking his lights which led to a horrible tragedy.”
State Senator John Whitmire chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and will be working with the bill’s author, State Rep James Talarico, to pass it. It would ban state and local police contracts with reality TV shows.
Affordable Care Act
The open enrollment deadline for the Affordable Care Act is December 15. Joshua Peck is co-founder of Get America Covered and says many people will qualify for tax credits and will not need to pay any premiums or at least reduced premiums.
“8 out of 10 healthcare customers qualify for financial help to make their monthly premiums more affordable. To find out if you qualify, you need to actually go to healthcare.gov and complete an application. To give you an example: a family of four with a household income of $100,000 is eligible for financial assistance,” says Peck.
Peck says that every plan under the ACA will cover COVID testing and any new vaccines.
COVID vaccine update
When those COVID-19 vaccines become widely available, how will people find out more about them? Most people will just ask their regular doctor.
“As people go for their annual physicals, their annual exams, people want to go and turn to those trusted sources of authority to give him a thumbs up or thumbs down as to whether or not this is right,” he says.
But for those who rarely see a doctor, marketing expert Adam Rizzieri says social media information campaigns will be key to answering questions. He says the government, vaccine makers and health care providers will need social media to help convince people it’s safe to get vaccinated.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-12-8-20
