COVID-19 161
Cleanup from Hanna spurs fear amid COVID-19 surge in Texas
By John L. Mone and Juan A. Lozano Associated Press at Fredericksburg News, July 27, 2020 WESLACO, Texas (AP) — As recovery and cleanup efforts got underway Monday in South Texas in the wake of a downgraded Hanna, worried residents confronted the prospect of undertaking the effort amid a surge in coronavirus cases that has
Hanna brings flooding, power outages to southern Texas Gulf Coast
Photo by Courtney Sacco By Alana Rocha, Mitchell Ferman, and Juan Pablo Garnham at Texas Tribune, July 24, 2020 Texans in the Rio Grande Valley and along the Coastal Bend continued to face the impact of now-Tropical Storm Hanna on Sunday. The storm, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Saturday evening at Padre Island, packed sustained
Mask mandate appears to be helping in Texas, but experts ask Gov. Greg Abbott not to rule out a shutdown
A plateauing of new virus cases would hardly represent a victory over the pandemic, but it would help keep hospitals from being overrun with sick patients.
As school reopenings falter, some Texas parents hire private teachers. Others can only afford to cross their fingers.
With the safe reopening of schools this fall in doubt, parents with the resources are setting up "learning pods" or seeking other options. But the do-it-yourself approach to education threatens to leave behind students of color and poorer families.
These “last responders” deal with the bodies as coronavirus deaths surge in the Rio Grande Valley
Funeral homes have set up temporary morgues. Crematoriums are running overtime. Families must wait more than a week to bury their loved ones. For body couriers and funeral workers, there’s no letup in sight.
Texas faces a looming $4.6 billion deficit, comptroller projects
Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr. By Cassandra Pollock at Texas Tribune, July 20, 2020 Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar delivered bleak but unsurprising news Monday: Because of the economic fallout triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the amount of general revenue available for the state’s current two-year budget is projected to be roughly $11.5 billion less than
Kerrville Mayor asks public for help combatting COVID-19 case increase
Photo from screen-grab at City of Kerrville By Amanda Henderson at NEWS4SA, July 17, 2020 KERRVILLE, TX — The Kerrville Mayor is asking people to use social distancing guidelines in order to help avoid COVID-19 cases spiking locally. In a video on the City of Kerrville’s official page Mayor Bill Blackburn said there is a lot
Former Florida congressman Allen West unseats James Dickey to become Texas GOP chairman
West defeated Dickey, who was running for a second full term, early Monday morning at a tumultuous virtual state convention.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says “there is no shutdown coming” as coronavirus cases surge
As the number of new coronavirus cases in Texas continues to rise and hospitals grow more crowded, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday there is no statewide shutdown looming.
Distilleries, wineries shuttered by Gov. Greg Abbott’s bar shutdown say they should be exempted
The owners and patrons of Ironroot Republic Distillery in Denison hardly consider the business to be a bar in the traditional sense.
Texas classrooms can stay closed this fall without losing state funding if local health officials order it
Photo by Michael Stravato By Aliyya Swaby at Texas Tribune, July 15, 2020 Last week, the state’s education agency released an order requiring schools to open their buildings to in-person instruction five days a week for all students who want it. The order gives districts a transition period of just three weeks at the start
Texas will extend time that schools will be allowed to stay online-only, Gov. Greg Abbott says
Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr. By Aliyaa Swaby and Patrick Svitek at Texas Tribune , July 14, 2020 Texas will give school districts more flexibility to keep their school buildings closed to in-person instruction this fall as coronavirus cases continue to rise, Gov. Greg Abbott told a Houston television station Tuesday. Public health guidance released
