Hail last night in parts of Austin
If you’re up early this morning, it was probably the noise from the hail that swept across parts of Austin earlier this morning. That severe thunderstorm warning for Travis County has been canceled, with some areas of the city saw hail larger than quarter sized. Those storms are moving off to the east and Northeast, now off the metro area moving into Rockdale as we speak.
George Floyd Act
Those who have been harmed by police, their loved ones and community leaders will gather this morning outside the state capital to support the George Floyd Act. The bill gets a hearing today. Noel Pinnock, head of the Texas Cops and Communities Incorporated, says it is important as an important piece of legislation
“At the core of the George Floyd Act, It’s really displaced accountability where the guard rails have been taken off. The ban on chokehold, de escalation, training and providing implicit bias training for police officers. I believe measures are necessary to begin that rebuilding process,” says Pinnock.
A similar federal bill, the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, has passed the US House. Until that’s passed on the federal level, Texas has to do something. George Floyd’s family will testify virtually today.
The Austin City Council is scheduled to vote today on whether the Austin Police Academy can begin training officers again. The next cadet class would begin June 7th. If the council approves reinstating the police academy today, there would be changes in curriculum including the replacement of outdated training videos and having more community leaders teach classes.
Business and labor leaders against Strong Mayor System
It’s not often that business owners and labor leaders see eye to eye on something. But that’s what’s happening when it comes to opposition to Proposition F on the May city election ballot. That’s the proposition that would bring a strong mayor form of government to Austin, giving the mayor veto power over City Council ordinances and most of the hiring and firing power that the city manager has now. Business and labor groups are joined in a news conference by some Austin City Council members and community activists who say the idea could leave Austin in worse shape than it is now. By concentrating power with the mayor, they said, that’s not in the best interests of the city. Supporters say it gives people more say in government because they are the ones who elect the mayor.
Gender issues
Children dealing with gender issues played a significant role at the Texas House on Wednesday. The first bill voted on by the State House this session had to do with spousal support obligations and by the Third Amendment, kids’ gender issues made their first appearance. Republican state Rep. Bryan Slaton authored it.
“But the court will put a stay on these proceedings if there is a dispute between the parties as to the funds being used for child gender modification,” Slaton says.
The amendment was rejected. GOP Rep. Steve Toth then held a press conference on his bill to make it child abuse for medical or mental health professionals to push for or confirm gender perception issues with children.
Austin FC
Several Austin businesses are excited about Austin FC because of an expected boost in foot traffic around the stadium. The team’s first game is in LA in April, but the inaugural home game is in June, so businesses will need to wait to see what that bump will look like. The team’s Andy Loughnane says even then, there’s still weighing their options concerning COVID rules.
“We’re still talking about June of 2021 for our first home date. So it’s a bit distant as we talked today to speculate what crowd capacity could look like,” says Loughnane.
And given how fast things are changing, Loughnane is hesitant to estimate what kind of economic impacts the inaugural home game could bring the city.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-3-25-21
