Katharine Jose
Katharine Jose is an editor, writer and reporter with 15 years of experience in both traditional print and digital media as well as a masters degree in urban planning from the University of Texas-Austin. She started her career in New York, working for a young Huffington Post before moving to several positions at the Peter Kaplan-era New York Observer. Katharine has written about politics, infrastructure, environment, development, natural disasters, and a variety of other mostly nerdy topics for Planetizen, SOMA, Popmatters, Community Impact Newspaper, The New York Observer, Capital New York, and The New York Times, among other publications. Twitter: @kpjose
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The total count of deaths from COVID-19 in Texas jumped 12% after the state revised its numbers, The Texas Tribune reports:
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The Texas Department of State Health Services is now counting deaths marked on death certificates as caused by COVID-19. Previously, the state relied on local and regional public health departments to verify and report deaths."</p><p>Experts have long said that COVID deaths in Texas <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/20/coronavirus-deaths-texas/" target="_blank">are undercounted</a>, according to The Tribune.</p>
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Early voting for the Nov. 3 election will begin Oct. 13, according to a Monday order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and run through Oct. 30. Early voting was previously set to begin Oct. 19.
<p>In a statement, Abbott cited the ongoing pandemic and the need for social distancing:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"As we respond to COVID-19, the State of Texas is focused on strategies that preserve Texans' ability to vote in a way that also mitigates the spread of the virus," said Governor Abbott. "By extending the early voting period and expanding the period in which mail-in ballots can be hand-delivered, Texans will have greater flexibility to cast their ballots, while at the same time protecting themselves and others from COVID-19."</p>
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The F1 United States Grand Prix, scheduled to take place in October at Austin's Circuit of the Americas, has been canceled, the chairman announced in a statement on Twitter.
<p>"The cancellation is prudent, but painful," COTA chair Bobby Epstein wrote. "After a sold out 2019, advance ticket sales deposits were up nearly 250 percent over the prior year, and our staff was preparing our biggest event ever."</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="411ddef88b2a93b3622f9d7f0bc40bb1" id="1d85e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1286664223649599488"><div style="margin:1em 0">A statement regarding the 2020 F1 United States Grand Prix: https://t.co/QnSXk6wLll</div> — Circuit of The Americas (@Circuit of The Americas)<a href="https://twitter.com/COTA/statuses/1286664223649599488">1595599630.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The organization <a href="https://austonia.com/Coronavirus/cota-cancels-red-bull-grand-prix-of-the-americas" target="_blank">recently canceled </a>the 2020 Red Bull Grand Prix.</p><p>Epstein <a href="https://www.statesman.com/sports/20200724/f1-united-states-grand-prix-canceled-cota-chairman-calls-2020-lsquoa-complete-lossrsquo?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Austin%20American-Statesman%20austin-breaking-news%202020-07-2414:12:55&utm_content=GCOX_AUS&utm_term=072420" target="_blank">told the Austin American-Statesman</a> that the Grand Prix is estimated to have had a direct impact of $392 million last year, with a total impact of more than $800 million.</p>
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(Charlie L. Harper III/Austonia)
A marathon hearing on the next Austin budget, held virtually on Thursday, included testimony from hundreds of residents voicing concern that only $11 million was cut from the Austin Police Department's $400 million allocation, KUT reports.
<p>The number was far short of the<a href="https://austonia.com/austin-police-council" target="_blank"> $100 million in cuts requested</a> in the wake of <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-police-city-council-protest" target="_blank">protests against police violence</a>.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d636cd9d3e8d7dabd8ac6c5d729ee292" id="79116"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1286523392955424768"><div style="margin:1em 0">200 out of the 286 speakers that we managed to note asked for the minimum $100 million APD budget cut proposed by… https://t.co/zRThGY5tjL</div> — ATXJusticeCoalition (@ATXJusticeCoalition)<a href="https://twitter.com/AtxJustice/statuses/1286523392955424768">1595566053.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The Austin Police Association and others are pushing back, saying that the department needs funding in order to continue to enforce the law.</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bca24451f7d20704318775fac8f15220" id="8e79b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1286350868565164037"><div style="margin:1em 0">As #atxcouncil discusses what @Austin_Police services to pass to other agencies or whether or how the budget should… https://t.co/dqtHMEkEcX</div> — Austin Police Association (@Austin Police Association)<a href="https://twitter.com/ATXPOA/statuses/1286350868565164037">1595524920.0</a></blockquote></div><p><br/></p>
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The U.S. ordered China to close its Houston consulate—the only one in the state—The Texas Tribune reports:
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The State Department did not elaborate on the alleged infractions, but [State Department spokeswoman Morgan] Ortagus suggested that China had violated the Vienna Convention, which governs diplomatic relations between states. Under the convention, diplomats must 'respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State' and 'have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.'"</p><p>The Houston consulate processes visas for travelers going to China from states between Florida and Texas, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/world/asia/us-china-houston-consulate.html" target="_blank">according to The New York Times</a>, which also reports that the short-term consequences of the closure will be limited because travel between the two countries is already restricted due to the pandemic.</p><p>But the long-term consequences may be wider, according to the Tribune:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Analysts on both sides say that bilateral relations are at their worst since before 1979, when the United States formally recognized the People's Republic of China."</p>
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Ditka made the announcement about joining the X League in a video.
Football legend Mike Ditka announced that he is coming on as owner and chair of "X League," the rebranded women's professional tackle football league that includes local team the Austin Sound.
<p>The Austin Sound was set to start playing in Cedar Park this summer, but <a href="https://cedarparkfun.com/event/extreme-football-league-seattle-thunder-vs-austin-sound/#:~:text=Extreme%20Football%20League%20(X%20League,found%20on%20their%20Facebook%20page." target="_blank">the debut was postponed</a> until next year. </p><p>The X League will start up in April 2021, according to a press release, with eight teams: Seattle Thunder, Los Angeles Black Storm, Austin Sound, Denver Rush, Chicago Blitz, Kansas City Force, Omaha Red Devils and the Atlanta Empire.</p><p>The X League was formerly known as the Legends League, which was formerly known as the Lingerie League. Both <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/av4qxj/we-spoke-to-an-ex-lingerie-football-league-player" target="_blank">were known </a>for <a href="https://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/_/id/13882332/legends-football-league-wrong-packaging-women-game" target="_blank">skimpy uniforms</a>.</p><p>Local team the Austin Acoustics, consistent with the practices of other teams in the league,<a href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2015-10-02/football-and-bikinis/" target="_blank"> wore bikinis to play and did not pay players.</a></p><p>The X League, according to Ditka, aspires to be something different.</p><p>"I want to provide women the high-profile platform to compete against the greatest female athletes in the world while creating a destination league for millions of girls to aspire to play in," Ditka said in his video announcement. "We are seeing the world change all around us and it's changing for the better. The X League will be another indicator that equality has come of age."</p><p><span></span>The press release notes:<br/></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Ultimately, through commercial success in the coming years, the X League is structured to become a professional football league that compensates its athletes as well as making those athletes and coaches with tenured resumes, equity owners of the respective franchises they help build."</p>
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(Travel_with_me/Shutterstock)
The Austin Convention Center, which has been prepared as a field hospital should local facilities need more space, will not open yet.
<p>"We've delayed to some extent the opening of the alternate care site to ensure that the hospitals are getting the staff they need to support their efforts before we staff the ACS," Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott told county commissioners on Tuesday.<br/></p><p>Hospitalization rates in the Austin area have stabilized recently, with overall hospital occupancy falling slightly. ICU occupancy may be a different story—it was <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-icu-capacity-covid" target="_blank">reported at 89%</a> at the end of last week at the same time that social media posts appeared with <a href="https://austonia.com/coronavirus-hospital" target="_blank"> accounts of stretched resources</a>—but the field hospital is<a href="https://austonia.com/austin-convention-center-field-hospital" target="_blank"> not meant for patients</a> that need a high level of care.</p><p>"[Hospital capacity is] not going in an upward direction anymore, but the hospitals are impacted right now," Dr. Escott told commissioners. "Our health care workers, our nurses, our physicians, our allied health professionals in the hospitals <a href="https://austonia.com/coronavirus-hospital" target="_self">are busy, and they're tired</a>."</p><p>Because of more severe outbreaks <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/20/hidalgo-county-coronavirus-emergency-order-gov-greg-abbott/" target="_blank">in southern Texas</a>, Austin will likely need to recruit workers from outside of the state. "I think the funds are available," Dr. Escott said. "The challenge is finding the people."<br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-3x2">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5b3b2b4cd93c477b5c43dd32ed9b130c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="a0c6f" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUwMTY5Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTM1ODQzOH0.GqIJYItRPtMVE8zfTbywM9G3XPqpOV9U7zLI76mBZfM/img.png?width=1200&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C60&height=800"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Austin Public Health)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>Mayor Steve Adler<a href="https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/austin-convention-center-set-to-open-tuesday-as-field-hospital-if-needed" target="_blank"> told CBS Austin </a>that the convention center facility may still be needed in the future, and he tweeted yesterday to encourage nurses and skilled technicians to sign up to help with pandemic response.</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7bc748e39dc5984ac0389465eb64c448" id="fcfc2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1285349598463168515"><div style="margin:1em 0">We need available nurses and skilled technicians to register as volunteers to help with #COVID19 response. Register… https://t.co/lEib4AAxdg</div> — Mayor Adler | 😷wear a mask. (@Mayor Adler | 😷wear a mask.)<a href="https://twitter.com/MayorAdler/statuses/1285349598463168515">1595286199.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>This article has been updated with new information.</em></p>
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