- Let’s Not Pretend This Is Constitutional
- Abbott Looks to DC for Guidance on Restarting Texas Economy – the CDC should not be the only authority on this, it deals with disease not economics
- Some Texas business leaders not optimistic about recovery until 2021
- Rep. Dustin Burrows Tells Lubbock Chamber Local Governments Must Start Cutting
- Abbott Temporarily Suspends Certain Statutes To Allow For Appearance Before Notary Public Via Videoconference
- Governor Abbott, HHSC Announce Emergency Rule to Increase Supply of Direct Care Providers in Nursing Facilities
- Governor Abbott Waives Regulations, Expands Telehealth Options
- Study: Texas sees 2,400 percent increase in unemployment claims
- TWC extending call center hours, going to 7 days a week
- As Coronavirus Prompts Economic Downturn, Texas is Facing Fiscal Uncertainty on Two Fronts
- Abortion providers in Texas seek exemptions from governor’s pandemic order
- Abbott sued over order limiting personal bonds for some inmates
- Harris County judges, ACLU sue Greg Abbott over order limiting jail releases during pandemic
- In a first, Texas Supreme Court goes live on YouTube
- Ag. Commissioner Miller issues first industrial hemp license in Texas
- Railroad Commission to conduct hearing April 14 on market demand
- At this critical time, how can Texas keep refusing Medicaid expansion? – Dems never waste a crisis!
- Latest travel data show why induced demand remains just a theory
- Campaigns Paused Due to the Coronavirus Find Ways to Campaign Safely, Volunteer
- TX13: Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller endorses Ronny Jackson for Congress
- Top Ten Takeaways from the Money In the Texas 2020 Elections
- HD142: Houston Black activists ask Harris County DA to investigate claims of phantom candidate in race for Chair Dutton seat
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- Coronavirus related
- Gov. Abbott talks about the state’s efforts against COVID-19 pandemic VIDEO
- New Model Suggests Texas Has Adequate ICU Beds, Ventilators for Coronavirus Peak
- For the purposes of Texas Executive Order GA-14 the following are considered “Essential Services”
- Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, P&I mortality surveillance
- 2019-2020 Texas Influenza Surveillance Activity Report
- Texas COVID-19 situation report for 4/9/2020 (pdf)
- IHME lowers its death prediction for Wuhan virus again
- Coronavirus Forces New Approaches to Fighting Wildfires – really?
- 72-year-old is first Texas prison inmate to die of COVID-19
- French Robertson Unit in Abilene on lockdown after employee tests positive for COVID-19
- Jasper nursing home employee tests positive for coronavirus
- 16 patients, 12 employees test positive for coronavirus at Missouri City nursing home
- US Charges 2 With Terror Crimes Over Threats to Spread Virus
- VP Pence Bans Coronavirus Task Force from CNN Until Network Broadcasts Full Briefings
- ’Reilly: Many Dead Coronavirus Victims ‘Were on Their Last Legs’
- Governor Abbott, HHS Announce Federal Approval Of Emergency SNAP Benefits
- Governor Abbott Announces Emergency Waiver Of Federal Match Requirement For Victims Services Grant Recipients
- Some Permian Basin churches to have Easter service at Big Sky Drive-In
- Crowd Gathers for San Antonio Church’s Revival-Style Services
- Austin Health pleads with churchgoers to avoid Easter services, family gatherings
- Cities and counties in Texas that require people to wear a mask in public
- Midland/Odessa EZ-Rider requiring riders to wear masks
- General surgeon forced to close down own practices; making ends meet at local ER
- Local officials’ “abundance of caution” didn’t apply to your business or household
- Insult To Economic Injury: Small Businesses ‘Angry, Desperate’ Over Emergency Loans In Limbo
- In East Texas, thousands of Easter lilies with no place to go – thanks gov’t!
- US economy unlikely to recover as rapidly as it collapsed – no kidding!
- Wichita County amends order to allow pet grooming, seed sales
- 2 Brownwood nursing home residents test positive for COVID-19
- Capital Metro confirms 5th employee has coronavirus
- Mayor Adler, Please Don’t Close Our Austin Parks
- Central Texas cities, counties closing parks, trails Easter weekend to prevent spread of COVID-19
- Texas National Guard Man Assembly Line to Produce Face Masks
- Salvation Army of Texas lending vehicles to deliver medical gear
- How did Dallas risk losing a critical federal hospital at the convention center? Here’s how – these people still think this is needed even though area hospitals are nowhere near being over tasked.
- Citing social responsibility, many churches and businesses deemed essential are closing anyway – freedom works. Persuasion is better than coercion.
- State-run homes for Texans with developmental disabilities aren’t ready for coronavirus outbreaks, some workers warn – but it spreads the same way as other deadly viruses such as influenza so why are they not prepared? Government.
- Coronavirus likely came to New York from European travel, not Asia, report
- Sen. Kennedy: The coronavirus can kill you, but so can poverty. And we have waterboarded the American economy…
- Fort Worth congressman calls out black community after large gatherings amid coronavirus
- Texas oil field workers now helping protect medical professionals in COVID-19 fight VIDEO
- CDC: Implementing Safety Practices for Critical Infrastructure Workers Who May Have Had Exposure to a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19
- With spring in full bloom, small Texas towns ‘devastated’ by coronavirus impact on tourism
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- Federal/DC related to Texas
- AG Barr: ‘Draconian’ Coronavirus Restrictions Represent ‘Continuing Encroachment on Personal Liberty’
- Barr: “No basis” for Crossfire Hurricane, “one of the greatest travesties in American history” VIDEO
- Russia case footnotes to be declassified, exposing FBI concerns about Steele disinformation
- Democrats stop McConnell’s attempt to pass $250 billion for small businesses
- Fed Unleashes $2.3 Trillion of Aid to U.S. Economy – printed money, it just inflates the value of what you already own away
- Coronavirus: The $50 billion US airline bailout, unpacked, more
- Sens. Cruz, Cramer Urge the Treasury, Federal Reserve to Keep CARES Act Financial Assistance Industry Neutral, Free of Bias
- Sen. Cruz Vows to Hold Chinese Officials Involved in Coronavirus Coverup Accountable
- Midland Mayor Payton: Pelosi, Schumer ‘doing everything they can to destroy West Texas’
- TX11 GOP Nominee Pfluger: Saudis must return to their seat at the table as a trusted ally
- Truck drivers find signs they’re not welcome while delivering the goods we need
- Three more H-E-B employees in San Antonio test positive for COVID-19
- U.S. intelligence official disputes news report about military warning about coronavirus in November
- CEOs of Texas energy companies attend White House meeting on price, demand
- FCC squashes ‘brazen attempt’ to muzzle Trump over use of hydroxychloroquine
- Trump administration rejects holiday on oil and gas royalty payments in response to coronavirus
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- Presidential race / national politics
- Bye-Bye, Bernie – good piece but Kevin misses the biggest point on Bernie and it was made especially by Rush: Bernie is not a fighter. He’s more of the faculty lounge Leftist revolutionary who can bloviate well but would not do anything to seriously jeopardize his tenure and retirement money.
- Biden Claims He’s Known as a ‘Foreign Policy Expert,’ but Obama Defense Sec Has Already Busted That Narrative
- Can COVID-19 Have Long-Term Effects on the Climate? – more silliness and it comes from a Texas Tech professor (in political science) not hard science.
- Linda Tripp, ‘whistleblower’ in Clinton-Lewinsky scandal dies at 70
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sitcom Antagonist
- Manipulation Through Racial Hoaxes
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- Border / immigration
- Trump Quietly Shuts Down Asylum at US Borders to Fight Virus
- U.S. Southwestern Border Apprehensions Drop Slightly amid Coronavirus
- Advocacy group calls for inmate release at T. Don Hutto Residential Center amid coronavirus concerns
- Chihuahua:: Narcos 237 pandemic – Coronavirus 0
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- Business
- More Texans filed for unemployment in the last 4 weeks than all of 2019
- SpaceX moves forward on Starlink launch April 16
- Book American Airlines Flagship First Class to Japan for just 55,000 miles
- Records: Pipeline company spilled 36,000 gallons of drilling fluid in Hill Country
- Staggering loss of demand raises pressure on OPEC+ to cut output
- Occidental seeking federal lifeline for U.S. oil industry
- TXOGA’s Staples responds to Pioneer CEO
- Shale cutbacks to fall on weakest drillers as glut drowns market
- AAA: Statewide Gas Price 86 Cents Cheaper Than One Year Ago
- Covercraft brings Wichita Falls plant back on line to produce PPE amid pandemic
- Howmet Aerospace plant in Wichita Falls slashing 115 positions
- In East Texas, thousands of Easter lilies with no place to go
- From Chocolates to Face Shields, East Texas Manufacturer Steps Up to Help
- TCEQ issues permit for construction of LNG terminal in Brownsville
- Texas Instruments Sued by NTT Over Patents Covering Wi-Fi
- How Gov. Abbott’s waivers have kept Austin [some] restaurants afloat
- At Home CEO Lee Bird forgoes salary while nearly 5,000 employees have pay cut, laid off or furloughed
- Financial managers, software developers can easily work from home. Dentists and building cleaners, not so much. – I saw this and began with my HQ office in my home in 1996. However, some things will always require working from an office as I have done with clients and partners from time to time since 1996. Many cannot successfully work from home as there are too many easy distractions much worse than even all the useless visiting that goes on in an office. If you have the discipline, you can do in 6 hours (like home schooling) what it takes others 10 or more hours to do.
- AT&T, Dr Pepper and Alcon reach for cash cushions amid ongoing coronavirus pandemic – always have cash reserves
- American Airlines couldn’t find face masks for its DFW Airport workers so they started making their own – not possible if the Walmart stores had not been open.
- Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly got a $1 million pay bump in 2019, but it could be his last raise for a while
- Unions: 41 American Airlines pilots and 33 at Southwest have tested COVID-19 positive
- Amazon’s Jeff Bezos makes surprise visit to Dallas-area fulfillment center
- Pairing the unemployed with nonprofits proves an instant success
- Real estate agents are seeing fewer home buyers and sellers
- Redfin furloughs 41 percent of real estate agents
- Houston leads Texas in rent nonpayments amid coronavirus pandemic
- Acclaimed San Antonio bakery forced to close downtown, third location still on track
- ‘Toilet Paper Cakes’ Saves Fort Worth Bakery
- Star Cinema Grill owner suing insurance company after told ‘pandemic insurance’ doesn’t cover COVID-19 crisis
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- Crime & general news of Texas
- Ex-Ranger Hamilton Indicted, Accused of Beating Daughter
- Suspects caught on camera shooting at Odessa home
- Woman charged with impersonating peace officer to buy liquor after hours
- Two arrested for assaulting woman who allegedly threw dog
- Man struck girlfriend with bookshelf in domestic dispute
- Abilene police looking for men possibly connected to thefts from several businesses
- Abilene man charged with sexual assault of child, promoting child pornography
- 1 arrested, charged after foot pursuit ends with injury to Plainview police officer
- Lubbock police investigate after body found near Texas Tech campus
- Brownfield man arrested for shooting into home, police still searching for suspect who stole lottery tickets
- Anti-Wimp: Clerk uses robber’s gun to put robber in hospital
- Georgetown police seeking armed home invasion suspect last seen wearing ‘coronavirus style’ mask VIDEO
- San Antonio girl named in Amber Alert found safe
- Man arrested in Harker Heights H-E-B parking lot after deadly shooting charged
- Fort Worth middle-school teacher shared child porn on messaging app, officials say
- 2 murdered in Gregg County
- Fatal shooting in Henderson under investigation
- Beaumont sees 3rd homicide in 3 weeks
- Beaumont police search for aggravated robbery suspect
- Police officer, suspect injured in shootout on I-10 in Boerne
- Boy trapped beneath large piece of metal in Central Texas dies
- Three Arrested in Relation to Lubbock Murders
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- Local government
- Governor Abbott Issues Proclamation To Allow City of Sundown To Order Its Special Election To Occur July 14, 2020
- Abilene City Council votes to postpone May 2 municipal election because of coronavirus
- Abilene City Council approves $2.5 million DCOA project that might create 70 jobs
- Former Abilene ISD principal cleared of criminal suspicion in October incident
- Midland County introduces new technology in fight against COVID-19
- Ector Co. Health Dept. EOC says communication will improve
- Knox County Health District claims Aetna owes $12M
- Lake Amon Carter reopened by Bowie’s mayor
- Monahans-Wickett-Pyote ISD closes for the rest of the school year, other districts could follow suit VIDEO
- Dallas County approves close to $1 million for consultants managing convention center hospital for COVID-19 patients
- Dallas City Council approves $4.3 million in protective equipment, RVs and hotel rooms for quarantine – see how gov’t runs behind everything? They’ll spend money on things which no longer appear to be needed, even speculatively.
- After lengthy search, Chris Caso is officially Dallas’ new city attorney
- Harris County judges, ACLU sue Greg Abbott over order limiting jail releases during pandemic
- Central Texas cities, counties closing parks, trails Easter weekend to prevent spread of COVID-19
- Austin region road projects embrace green initiatives
- Construction timeline, size of DFW Airport’s Terminal F to be ‘revisited’
- Corpus Christi ISD still trying to reach some students
- Dallas ISD to Serve Half-million Meals in One Day VIDEO
- Longview ISD sets virtual town hall on charter schools
- El Paso: City prepares for a years-long impact on its budget
- Are Tarrant County Commissioners Defying Abbott, Banning In-Person Worship?
- “What is the Exit Strategy?” Open Letter to Tarrant County Commissioners
- San Antonio City Council moves Pre-K 4 SA sales tax election to November due to coronavirus
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- Colleges & universities
- Angelo State University offers dorm to help healthcare workers during pandemic
- TTU Schovanec announces changes to Spring 2020 grading policy
- Tech Horticulture Gardens face impact of campus closures
- Lubbock Christian University says standard grading will remain in place
- Rio Grande Valley university students fighting on virulent coronavirus front line
- Rio Bank welcomes UTRGV to new building
- McCombs Dean Jay Hartzell named interim UT-Austin president after announcement of Fenves departure
- UT-Austin moves summer orientation sessions online
- UT Student Emergency Fund receives over $800,000 for students facing financial challenges
- TWU offers $1M in grants to small, women-owned businesses suffering amid coronavirus
- UT Health Science Center at Tyler researchers focus on COVID-19
- SFA to pay back $9M to students
- A&M Chancellor Sharp provides update on online success, financial situation
- Baylor interior design professor brings architecture through video
- Lamar University will not require SAT/ACT for admission
- UTEP researchers are working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine with the help of a supercomputer
Pratt’s post for 4/9/2020
April 9, 2020 by Leave a Comment
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