Headlines / Quote of the Week
Fri., Nov. 4, 2022
Vote Because Workers Matter: Via 313's North Campus restaurant is set to unionize after workers voted 11-7 in favor of joining Restaurant Workers United. Fifteen challenged ballots are currently outstanding, but RWU officials are "very confident that they will win when the challenges are resolved on Nov. 18."
Vote Because Police Shouldn't Get to Do: This City Council approved a $1.75 million settlement in a suit by Army vet Joe Herrera, who suffered nerve damage and PTSD after Austin police shot him with a lead-pellet round during 2020's racial justice protests.
Vote Because Kids Need Buses: The national shortage in bus drivers has disturbed Texas' beloved high school football games, The Texas Tribune reported this week. In East Texas, the Nacogdoches High Golden Dragons marching band, drill team, and cheerleaders couldn't travel to an away game without a driver. Nationwide, more than 70% of transit agencies reduced service because of worker shortfalls in 2022.
Vote Because There Aren't Enough Homes to Go Around: The Austin Board of Realtors released its 2022 Central Texas International Homebuyers Report Wednesday; $613 million in sales dollar volume in the Austin area came from international buyers from April 2021 to March 2022, or 3% of all residential sales.
Vote Because Newsrooms Matter Texas: Tribune CEO Evan Smith, who announced his planned departure earlier this year, will become a senior advisor to Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective, which provides grants to newsrooms across the nation. Economist and ex-lobbyist Sonal Shah will take over as Tribune CEO.
Vote Because We Love Our Trees: For the first time since 2013, the Austin Tree of the Year Awards are back. Voting was open through the end of October, and the winners will be honored Nov. 5 at Dottie Jordan Park as part of Tree & Pollinator Festival Day.
Vote Because Science Could Save the World: The Daily Texan reported this week that UT-Austin researchers developed a new electrode type that improves the charging speed and longevity of electric car batteries, making the experience more comparable to gas vehicles.
Vote Because Elon Musk Is Too Powerful: After buying Twitter for $44 billion, Elon Musk is supposedly thinking about bringing its HQ to Austin, per Fox Business. (To add to Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and the Boring Co., which are all already based in Texas.)
Just Vote: Because not enough of us have yet. Only 18% of Travis County's registered voters went to the polls in week one of early voting – turnout was 27% during week one of early voting in 2018.
Quote of the Week
"$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I'm gone like Enron."
– Stephen King, tweeting in response to Elon Musk’s plan to make Twitter verification a paid subscription
Got something to say on the subject? Send a letter to the editor.
