APD vs Austin City Council
The back and forth continues between the former head of the Austin Police Department and some city councilman here in Austin. Art Acevedo said this week that Democrat wins in Texas were blunted by the socialists and the defund-the-police crowd at Austin City Hall. Luke Twombly with the Texas Republican Party agrees.
“Well, I think he diagnosed the problem quite well. You know, Texans want to feel safe. They want actually a strong police force that’s gonna be able to enforce rule in law,” says Twombly.
In addition to that, he believes people who are fleeing left wing states don’t want to see Texas ending up the same way.
New Wilco sheriff
The family of Javier Rambler says it’s hopeful that Williamson County will head in a different direction with the election of Mike Gleason as the new sheriff. Ambler’s sister Kimberly Jones tells KVUE her brother’s death following a high speed chase last year should have been handled much differently by current Sheriff Robert Chody.
“It didn’t matter if he was a Republican. It didn’t matter that Mike Gleason was a Democrat. It matters at this point who’s going to do the job the way that it should be done,” says Jones.
Chody was later indicted for tampering with evidence, which he denies. Gleason will take over as sheriff in January.
Polling station incident
Travis County polling stations for the most part, were peaceful on Election Day. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir says there was one incident with a poll watcher, though.
“We did have one sad incident that we weren’t really involved in with one poll watcher here of the counting station. But the other poll watchers were objecting to one poll watcher’s behavior. So they handled that part of it. We weren’t really involved,” says DeBeauvoir.
Officials say the poll watcher in question was caught illegally recording in the vote counting room and asked to leave. When she refused, the woman was arrested for trespassing.
Boarded up businesses in Austin
With the expectation of violent reactions by protesters to the results of the election, many downtown businesses are now boarded up in Austin. That’s actually been good news for Austin based Snyder Commercial Glass Service. It’s owner, Buford Snyder, tells FOX 7 calls for their services have skyrocketed
“About 45% as we got closer to the election process,” says Snyder.
He says the company provides services across the state, but it’s here in Austin where the majority of the work has come from. Snyder says he’s helped board up the windows of more than 120 Austin businesses so far.
Mail-in ballots to be counted
Following a federal judge’s order for sweeps to be conducted in various US Postal Service facilities. Numerous mail-in ballots have been discovered among those facilities here in Texas. According to the Texas Tribune, at least 815 million ballots have been recovered. Texas law allows any ballot postmarked by 7 p.m. On Election Day to be counted.
Project Connect
Austin Mayor Steve Adler is still over the moon following voter approval of the unprecedentedly expensive Project Connect. The 8.75% tax rate approved via Proposition A has now got the ball rolling on that $7.1 billion transit overhaul. Adler says voters were not swayed by the high price tag.
“Really proud to be part of a community that is embracing looking forward, a community that is rejecting the status quo. We know that we have to do better than we have done in the past,” says Adler.
The next step is to form a new government corporation that will oversee the entirety of Project Connect.
Texas Speaker of the House
The race to see who will be the next Speaker of the Texas House, has become a bit muddled. State representative Dade Phelan on Wednesday announced he had the support of a super majority of the House GOP caucus. He even tweeted 84 names of lawmakers who would put him over the top.
“The race is over, and the work of 150 members coming together with Texas begins today,” says Phelan.
Now, fellow caucus members state representatives Dan Huberty and Trent Ashby say it’s far from over.
“What Ashby and Huberty both signaled is-that’s not necessarily the case. In particular, the Republican caucus has yet to meet to discuss the issue,” says Rice University political scientist Mark Jones.
COVID-19 update
Travis County has 134 coronavirus patients in the hospital this morning. That’s up from earlier in the week, when the number looked to be heading back down. Since March, 32,605 cases have been found. Right now, 1,034 of those are active. 31,115 of the total cases have resulted in a recovery.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-11-5-20
