Austin’s Top News – July 23, 2020

Austin's Top News from News Radio KLBJ

Project Connect will increase taxes

The cost that you’ll incur if voters approve the massive overhaul of public transit known as Project Connect is becoming a little clearer. Capital Metro has now put forth two options: one to fully fund the $10 billion project and one that funds an initial $7 billion then leaves room to grow more funding if needed. Under option one, the average homeowner pays about $360 more a year. Option two, the tax bill goes up $276 a year. Either way, it does appear that local taxpayers would be on the hook for 55% of the overall bill. 

Tesla coming to Austin

Tesla is bringing a $1.1 billion gigafactory to Austin. Texas Economist Dr. Ray Perryman says Tesla and Austin make a good pairing, given what the two are working with.

“Obviously being a leader in technology one of the challenges you have is to remain the leader in technology because by the spirit of the definition, it’s always changing. Tesla is at the cutting edge of important technologies going forward and very consistent with a lot of research that’s being done at UT,” says Perryman.

The plan promises 5,000 local jobs. Perryman believes more businesses and jobs will pop up around the plant tied to the supply chain. Tesla is getting $60 million worth of tax incentives from the Travis County Court and Del Valle School Board. 

Austin Mayor Steve Adler is pleased to hear Tesla wants to build its $1 billion factory here. He’s very encouraged by the fact that so many jobs will be created at such a crucial time.

“There will be a day when we get past this virus, and when we do, we need to exit this as a stronger, better city. And one of the ways we do that is we have projects like Tesla,” says Adler.

The average annual salaries could be around $35k. These are the kind of jobs we need because many of them pay well, and many of them don’t require a college diploma. 

COVID-19 update

Since Friday, Travis County’s number of hospitalized COVID patients has steadily fallen, albeit at fairly small intervals. But, today is no different. 453 people are hospitalized. That’s down by six from the same time yesterday. 18,696 total cases have been found. Unfortunately, 222 of those resulted in death, but 15,458 have recovered. That was about 450 more than just one day ago. 

Travis County health officials are much more upbeat this week about the latest COVID numbers. Health authority Dr. Mark Escott says they continue going down, even if they are still pretty high right now. About 600 new cases were found yesterday, but that may not be as alarming as it sounds. 

“I think that was probably a lag from labs processing over the weekend,” says Escott.
He says the direction things are headed is “refreshing.” If the trend holds through the week, he thinks that will signal the end of any concern about a spike that would be tied to the July 4th weekend.

Recoveries in Williamson County rose above the 4,000 mark, now standing at 4,073. The county’s confirmed 5,071 cases and 919 are still active. As of this morning, 115 are still hospitalized, and 25% of bed spaces are free. However, the county does say it’s ICU bed space is currently at a premium. Only 5% of those beds are open to new patients who need them. 

Another new recommendation from the CDC 

Now, instead of staying at home for two weeks, if you come into contact with someone who’s infected with coronavirus, the CDC says 10 days should suffice. Dr. John Carlo of Texas COVID-19 task force says that makes sense. 

“The idea here is really focusing more on the symptoms and looking at symptom resolution in time as bigger indicators, rather than the testing,” says Carlo.

Secondly, the CDC says if your fever breaks naturally, only 24 hours of quarantine would be needed instead of the previously recommended 72 hours

Eviction moratorium extended 

The moratorium on evictions in Travis County has been extended once again. Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe’s order prevents all landlords from beginning the formal eviction process until September 30th. The current order would have expired on Saturday.

This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:

https://omny.fm/shows/klbjam-flash-briefing-1/am-newscast-7-23-20

 

 

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