The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - March 28, 2024

Episode Date: March 28, 2024

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Howdy folks, today is Thursday, March 28th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans Assistant Editor Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. The Austin City Council announced that its search for a new city manager has concluded, as it has selected former Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax. The Austin City Council will vote on April 4th to finalize the selection. While overseeing the city of Dallas, Broadnax managed an annual budget of $3.1 billion and a population of more than 1.2 million people. He stepped down from the Dallas role in February this year. Brodnax's tenure was fraught with difficulties, as acknowledged by Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, who said he and Brodnax did not always see eye-to-eye on issues. In 2022, it appeared that Brodnax's position as Dallas City Manager was uncertain as the Dallas City Council considered

firing him over his handling of 911 call center wait times and hiring practices for the city. After stating he would address concerns with Johnson, Brodnax retained his post as city manager. As the Houston region continues to grapple with public safety concerns, the Harris County Commissioner's Court voted down a move to consolidate constables with the Sheriff's office, but agreed to raise rates for neighborhoods and schools that contract with constables for extra patrols. Used throughout the county, but especially in unincorporated areas that lack city government, the contracting entities pay a total of $105 million per year for 1,201 officers. Commissioners approved the 6.6% increase in a 4-1 vote Tuesday to be implemented on October 1, 2024 at the start of the next fiscal year. Under the current structure,

most contracting entities pay 70% of the total cost of the patrol, including salary and benefits for the officer and costs for vehicles and supplies. In exchange, the contracted deputy must spend 70% of his or her time in the neighborhood or district, but be available elsewhere 30% of the time. Some of the contracts are under an 80-20% split with the county agencies. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that five men were arrested in South Texas as part of a conspiracy to supply the Mexican drug cartels with military-grade firearms obtained in the United States from both licensed dealers and private sellers. Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr. of Laredo, age 23, is accused of leading a group

that obtained over 100 firearms in Texas and smuggled them into Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, for drug trafficking cartels. Both Homeland Security investigators and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the operation that led to the arrests. All five men, along with others who were previously arrested as part of the conspiracy, have been indicted on numerous felony charges and are facing prosecution by the DOJ. New numbers related to opioid deaths and rising homicides in Travis County and the city of Austin have sparked suggestions of new policies to combat the problem.

During an Austin City Council meeting on public safety, Austin-Travis County Emergency and Medical Services spoke about the rising rates of opioid deaths in the county. Travis County now has twice as many opiate overdose deaths than any other county in Texas per capita, said Stephen White, acting assistant chief for Austin-Travis County EMS. White explained how the opioid crisis began in the community in 2016, with a severe increase in 2017. Texas skies are about to play host to a celestial spectacle as the Lone Star State eagerly awaits the arrival of a rare total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8th. The upcoming event will begin in the southern portion of the state, centered on the city of Eagle Pass, with

the path of totality for the shadow running across the state and exiting at Clarksville. Several of the state's largest cities will be within the outer bands of the shadow, including San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Fort Worth. NASA is also advising viewers not to look at the partial eclipse with the naked eye, because it will cause serious injury to vision. Instead, the agency is advising everyone to obtain official eclipse viewing glasses, or use an indirect method of viewing via a pinhole projector. Thanks for listening. The Texan is off for Good Friday tomorrow, so check back for the next daily rundown on Monday. Be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get the full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.