Headlines / Quote of the Week

Participants gather at City Hall for "The People's Tribunal" demonstration on Sat., Aug. 8, organized by Grassroots Leadership, Austin Democratic Socialists of America, and Austin Youth Libera­tion Movement. The demon­stration aimed to put City Council "on trial" to hold Council members and Mayor Steve Adler accountable for what organizers say is complicity in "police violence, community displacement, anti-immigrant practices and chronically underfunding the Austin Public Health department." (Photo by John Anderson)

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Austin Independent School District officially hired Stephanie Elizalde as the district's new superintendent Tuesday night. See "AISD Hires Stephanie Elizalde as Next Superintendent."

Hook 'Em, Hartzell: UT-Austin Interim President Jay Hartzell is the sole finalist for the permanent post, acccording to an Aug. 12 announcment from the University of Texas System Board of Regents.

Test 'Em Young: Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott told Travis County Court commissioners on Tuesday that the 10-19 age group testing for COVID-19 has experienced the highest or second-highest positivity rates in Austin within the last two weeks. Escott partly attributed the higher percentages to a decrease in testing and encouraged children and teenagers with known exposure to get tested.

Health or Wealth? In an effort to provide a "more data-driven policy guide" for state and local leaders facing reopening decisions, a new study from UT-Austin's McCombs School of Business and MIT's Sloan School of Management measured businesses by their economic importance and risk of spreading or catching COVID-19. Vital forms of commerce that are relatively uncrowded, such as banks, fared the best in the study, while less essential types of businesses prone to crowding, like gyms, scored low in economic benefits and high in risk.

Biden-Harris 2020 ... Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced Senator Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate earlier this week. Incidentally, Harris will close out Austin's newest nonprofit newsroom The 19th*'s first-ever virtual summit on Fri., Aug. 14, 3:45pm. Register for free at summit.19thnews.org.

Detention Center Contracts: CoreCivic, which operates the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, signed a 10-year contract renewal with Immigration Customs and Enforcement, according to advocacy org Grassroots Leadership. More on this next week.

COVID in Confinement: Travis County Sheriff's Office reported four new cases of COVID-19 among inmates at the county jail on Monday, bringing the total confirmed cases of inmates in quarantine up to eight. Currently, 295 inmates are either in quarantine or isolation.

Relief for Creatives, Musicians: Applications for the Austin Creative Worker Relief Grant open Mon., Aug. 17, for local creatives facing economic hardships because of the pandemic. Visit www.atxrecovers.com for info (applications close Aug. 28)... The Austin Music Disaster Relief Fund reopened earlier this week to help musicians in need. That application will stay open until funding runs out and is available at www.austintexas.gov/department/austin-music-disaster-relief-fund.

Quote of the Week

"No confidence, no confidence, no confidence in you/ The Austin City Council said to the chief with the eyes of blue."

– Austin Justice Coalition and Just Liberty’s newly released jingle, “No Confidence in You,” calling for APD Chief Brian Manley’s removal.