#NEWS // BG Reads | June 14, 2023
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[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
APD training academy continues to resist outside recommendations for reform (Austin monitor)
Despite several interventions and some progress, the Austin Police Department training academy continues to struggle with long-standing issues, including?sworn staff resistance ?to civilian staff and outside instructors, the?curriculum review process , a high cadet attrition rate and a lack of transparency.
These are among the preliminary findings from an?ongoing audit ?by Kroll Associates of the 148th cadet class, due to graduate in early September. The outside consulting firm, which has conducted several reviews of the Austin Police Department in recent years as part of a broader push to “reimagine” public safety, briefed the city’s Public Safety Committee?on Monday .?
Kroll also is working with the department to establish internal processes that sustain reforms established in the wake of the training academy’s temporary closure in 2020. That closure followed mass protests against police violence and racial injustice, at which police officers injured dozens of protesters…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Chamber of Commerce and Opportunity Austin to move forward with separate leadership (Community Impact)
Two powerhouse business organizations?The Austin Chamber of Commerce ?and?Opportunity Austin ?announced June 13 they will be moving forward with separate leaders.
Representatives from the organizations said the split will help each group hone in on their areas of expertise. Opportunity Austin, the?economic development ?initiative of the Austin Chamber, focuses on education, recruitment, workforce development and mobility strategies, while the Austin Chamber will continue focusing on advocacy, philanthropy, programming and strengthening relationships with City Council.
The move comes from a May vote from Opportunity Austin’s board of directors to choose their own leadership; however, they will still maintain a shared services agreement.
“The primary intent is for those organizations to focus on what they do best,” said Jeremy Martin, the Austin Chamber’s soon-to-be CEO. “It's time to recognize how the region has grown; both organizations have grown, and [now is a good time to put] dedicated leadership for each organization [in place].”…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Fire chief says more firefighters and bigger budget needed (Austin Monitor)
In a?memo dated June 12 , Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker gave Mayor Kirk Watson and City Council his proposed road map for reducing overtime expenditures in the department, and it involves a bigger budget and more firefighters.
Baker was responding to an audit of the department’s overtime expenditures released in April.?As the Austin Monitor reported , the Austin Fire Department spent $21.1 million in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2022. That was the highest overtime figure ever for the department.
In the memo’s first request, Baker asked for a $2 million increase to the operations overtime budget that will reflect the department’s growing workforce…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
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[TEXAS NEWS]
Gov. Abbott signs school book-rating bill and doubles down on vouchers (San Antonio Express-News)
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law on Monday that will create a statewide rating and censorship system for school libraries and another promoting more centralized school curricula. The rating bill, House Bill 900, is designed to ban certain books with sexual content from school libraries, and Abbott praised it as getting "that trash out of our schools." Opponents have warned it will target books aimed at an LGBTQ audience, and bookstores, particularly smaller, independent ones, have said the bill is poorly written and could be damaging to their businesses. The curriculum bill, House Bill 1605, would offer extra funds to school districts that adopt state-approved lesson plans.
It also includes measures requiring parents to be able to view the plans, and it overhauls the process by which textbooks and instructional materials are vetted by the State Board of Education. It's designed to lessen the workload of teachers, but some are concerned it will be used to more tightly control how or what they teach in classrooms. Joining Abbott on Monday were smiling lawmakers and staff, conservative advocates and Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. But despite the triumphant atmosphere, the governor was quick to discuss other education bills that are not yet law. "The House and Senate have done a great job this session already to provide transformative changes in education in the state of Texas — changes that improve the education process and as far as curriculum, changes that improve it for parents, for students, as well as for teachers," the governor said. "They've done a lot of good, to be clear, but we're not done yet. We all know that in addition to the changes I'm about to send into law, we need to deliver on the promise to parents that parents will have the ability to choose education pathways best for their child." Abbott was referring to the proposals to establish education savings accounts, often called vouchers, that would put state dollars toward subsidizing private school tuition. The governor has made vouchers a top priority this year, despite repeated opposition from the GOP-led Texas House…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
GOP presidential hopefuls visit Texas with dollars in mind (Dallas Morning News)
Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis visited North Texas last week, headlining events with small crowds waving big money. It was by design. Texas has long been an ATM for Republican and Democratic candidates looking for campaign dollars to spend elsewhere. The state is chock-full of donors willing to give and raise money for national causes — as well as for selfish reasons like a raised political status and prime political appointments. Chances are, U.S. ambassadors in various locales were once political donors or bundlers who got rewarded for bringing in the campaign cash. Republican presidential hopefuls are understandably concerned about fundraising, but they could be missing opportunities to engage with Texas voters who could be important in next year’s fight for the GOP presidential nomination.
Yes, it’s the dawn of the campaign season, and the initial goal of candidates is to have money to mount campaigns in early contest states like Iowa and New Hampshire. But it’s also important to look beyond the first few weeks of the GOP primary process when other states will play important roles in determining the Republican presidential nominee. Texas has the second biggest haul of delegates (California has the most) in the GOP race. The March 5 primary here could propel a candidate toward the presidential nomination, or keep them in the hunt. In 2016, Texas helped Sen. Ted Cruz become the last candidate standing against Donald Trump, who managed to win the nomination and beat Hillary Clinton for the White House. Right now Trump is comfortably ahead in Texas, which could give rivals pause to invest time here. Still, if you’re already in the state for multiple days of fundraising, why not squeeze in a public event? The traditional media and social media coverage would make it worth your while…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Magistrate to preside over Trump’s arraignment, not controversial Judge Aileen Cannon (Miami Herald)
A magistrate judge will be presiding over the momentous Miami federal court hearing on Tuesday afternoon when former President Donald Trump makes his first appearance on charges of keeping classified documents at his Palm Beach estate and obstructing government efforts to reclaim them. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman — not U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was randomly assigned Trump’s case — will be handling the former president’s arraignment and bond matters. Cannon, who had been widely reported to be handling those duties, will still remain on the historic case as the lead judge. Goodman is a well-regarded veteran magistrate who once worked as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and later obtained his law degree and practiced civil litigation, including as a partner with the Akerman law firm in Miami. Goodman, who is on duty as the magistrate judge this week, is known not only for his legal wisdom but also for his wry humor in the courtroom.
Cannon is the newest member of the federal bench in South Florida, joining the court system as a judge just days after Trump lost the November 2020 election. Cannon, who was nominated by Trump and previously served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor, drew widespread criticism for her handling of the former president’s civil case challenging the FBI’s seizure of classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate last summer. Miami attorney Joseph DeMaria, who once worked in the Justice Department’s organized crime task force in South Florida, told the Herald last week that there may be no legal reason to disqualify Cannon from staying on the Trump case. But he said that the American public is so divided politically that if she chooses to stick with it, many people might not have faith in the outcome. “Should she recuse herself?” asked DeMaria, a Republican. “As a citizen, I think she should. Donald Trump is entitled to a fair trial, but the people of this country also deserve a fair trial.” If Cannon were to step aside for any reason, the Trump case would be randomly assigned again to one of the other three federal judges in the West Palm Beach division: Robin Rosenberg, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, Donald Middlebrooks, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, or Kenneth Marra, who was nominated by President George W. Bush…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
The Great Grift: How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted (Associated Press)
Numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers. Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana. All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history, with thieves plundering billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall. An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID relief aid.
That number is certain to grow as investigators dig deeper into thousands of potential schemes. How could so much be stolen? Investigators and outside experts say the government, in seeking to quickly spend trillions in relief aid, conducted too little oversight during the pandemic’s early stages and instituted too few restrictions on applicants. In short, they say, the grift was just way too easy. “Here was this sort of endless pot of money that anyone could access,” said Dan Fruchter, chief of the fraud and white-collar crime unit at the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Washington. “Folks kind of fooled themselves into thinking that it was a socially acceptable thing to do, even though it wasn’t legal.” The U.S. government has charged more than 2,230 defendants with pandemic-related fraud crimes and is conducting thousands of investigations. Most of the looted money was swiped from three large pandemic-relief initiatives launched during the Trump administration and inherited by President Joe Biden. Those programs were designed to help small businesses and unemployed workers survive the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
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