- Texas, phase 2 reopening, more businesses can reopen, Gov. Abbott announces
- Governor Abbott Announces Phase Two To Open Texas
- Gyms, manufacturing facilities and offices open Today
- Analysis: Texas tiptoes down the road to normal
- AG Paxton Commends Texas Supreme Court for Staying Mail-In Ballot Ruling and Allowing Continued Prosecution of Election Fraud, See the order
- Texas Supreme Court Halts Democrat Mail Ballot Expansion Plans For Now
- Texas Justices Block Plan to Allow Mail Vote for Virus Fears
- Ruling on expanded mail-in voting amid coronavirus fears is blocked
- Coronavirus-related mail voting is off again in Texas, as state Supreme Court weighs in
- Gov. Greg Abbott says let voters decide on property taxes
- Grassroots Coalition to Abbott: Cut Taxes Now
- Less spending, not freezing home values, better for property tax relief, policy group says
- TxDOT Hacked in 2nd Texas Government Attack
- Texas and West Virginia Lead 18-State Coalition Urging the Ninth Circuit to Block Order Delaying Oil and Gas Pipeline Projects Nationwide
- Congressional Democrats Ask Governor and Legislature to Suspend All Property Tax “Raises, Interest, and Penalties” – really? First the state of Texas does not levy property taxes, local governments do. And two, why don’t these Federal officials do the same with federal taxes on Texans?
- Texas inmates bounce between jail and mental health help
- Private Citizens Face More Scrutiny Than Lobbyists – or, How upside down is campaign finance law in Texas.
- Commentary: A Budding Red Rebound
- Questions Arise Over Special Development Deal for Democrat Senate Candidate’s [Royce West] Son
- TX17 Runoff Review: Sessions Faces Swann in Comeback Bid
- TX23: Runoff Review: Gonzales and Reyes Fight to Defend Democrat Target District
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- Coronavirus related
- Let’s Not Pretend This Is Constitutional
- Map of Texas COVID-19 Test Collection Sites
- Flatten the bell curve? We don’t even know if the plotted curve was accurate.
- Texas COVID-19 situation report for 5/18/2020 (pdf) – 1336 deaths in Q1 plus half of Q2. Official Texas 2018/19 flu season P&I deaths were 9249 by end of July last year, over 10,000 for the year.
- Eschenback: The #COVID19 Emergency Is Over!
- Can we trust COVID modeling? The evidence from Sweden suggests not.
- There Is No Evidence Lockdowns Saved Lives. It Is Indisputable They Caused Great Harm
- Large majority of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic
- Dr. John Lee: Ten reasons to end the lockdown now, Lock down failure
- Epidemiologist slams coronavirus lockdowns: ‘We could open up again and forget the whole thing’
- From Pennsylvania: more proof the lock downs were insane
- CDC ‘really let the country down’ on COVID-19 testing, says White House adviser Peter Navarro
- Antibody studies of Spain and France show just five percent of population has been infected – “Given how dangerous COVID-19 appears to be, there’s a benefit to it not being as easily transmitted as modelers expected.”
- Sweden has pioneered an alternative to lockdown — and it works
- Podcast: Pratt on Texas Interview with Dr. Stephen Balch AUDIO
- Health officials wasted time on the speculative, didn’t harden the known
- This is not a natural disaster, but a manmade one – beware the contextual numbers, those numbers will trigger those cowering under their beds.
- Do real men not wear masks? – no but educated men do not. See this.
- Neurosurgeon Says Face Masks Pose Serious Risk to Healthy People
- The uncertainties of mask use demand that no one be forced to wear them
- CNN Reporter Who Ripped off Her Mask Has a New Talking Point, Immediately Undermines It
- Texas Democratic Party director, Manny Garcia, says Texas should still be shut down! – the Dem line: In ‘re-opening’ Texas, it’s clear the donors are in charge
- Laredo Medical Center details COVID-19 outbreak
- Person with coronavirus attends Mother’s Day church service, exposes 180 in California – notice there is no report of anyone catching it or having illness
- Mexico’s Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses China’s ‘Official’ Figures
- Fake News About COVID-19 in Texas Goes Viral
- American Pilot Jailed in Singapore for Breaking Quarantine
- Abbott Releases Statement, Provides Details On Increased Cases In Amarillo
- Texas State Parks now reopen for overnight camping–but only with existing reservations
- Lubbock Bar Owner Struggles with Continued Closure as Other Texas Businesses Open
- Lubbock has antibody tests, but they may not be telling us much
- Coronavirus was here before we knew it, Austin officials conclude
- Coronavirus in Texas: ‘We’re all on the same side. This is life and death.’
- SURVEY: 1 in 3 Texans admit they’ll miss some aspects of lockdown when it’s over – yeah. People who like sitting on their asses all day. Isn’t 1/3 about the base of the Democrat Party in Texas?
- Texas GOP leaders call out coronavirus enforcement in big cities while border crackdowns drew scant notice
- How Texas can improve its chances for post-pandemic economic recovery
- As Businesses Reopen, We Need to Restore Consumer Confidence – hard to do when most are still spreading fear with masks, etc.
- Colorado’s health department admits 24% overcount in Coronavirus deaths
- Michigan Sheriff: ‘Don’t expect us’ to write tickets enforcing Whitmer’s order
- Nate Silver Points out the Flaws in Media Reporting of COVID-19 Data
- Bill Maher: Immunity is the Key to Beating the Virus, and Americans Shouldn’t Live in Fear
- Extremists are going to thrive in the post-lockdown world
- Trump says he’s taking hydroxychloroquine, the drug he touted as coronavirus treatment, despite FDA warnings
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- Federal/DC related to Texas
- Texas GOP Congressmen urge sanctions against Chinese officials over coronavirus response
- House Democrats voted to give illegal immigrants $16 billion in stimulus checks
- Bills could pass with just 22 lawmakers present out of 435 under new House proxy voting rule
- VA announces new Director for West Texas VA
- The Artemis Accords: The Trump administration’s effort to bypass the Outer Space Treaty
- Tables turned on Mueller prosecutors: Ten actions ripe for scrutiny
- A Common Feature in the Guilty Plea from Gen. Flynn and a Criminal Case from the Uranium One Scandal
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- Presidential race / national politics
- Why Trump v. Biden will likely be closest Texas presidential race in decades
- State polls suggest Biden has a clear national lead
- Justin Amash Drops Out of Presidential Race
- Why did Justin Amash give up?
- Elon Musk Urges People to ‘Take the Red Pill,’ Ivanka and Donald Trump, Jr Cheer Him
- CNN Anchor Jake Tapper’s Sanctimonious ‘Smear Campaign’ Rant Continues to Backfire Spectacularly
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- Border / immigration
- With anxiety and dread, Dreamers await Supreme Court ruling
- Human Smuggling in Tractor-Trailers Endangers Lives in South Texas, Say Feds
- Two Criminal Alien Sex Offenders Busted After Crossing Border into Texas
- Mexican Cartel Terrorist Busted in Plot to Blow Up Government Building — Cops, City Officials on Payroll
- House Democrats voted to give illegal immigrants $16 billion in stimulus checks
- Illega immigrant are not a drain on Texas economy, new study finds
- Cuellar, Hurd: US & MX need same definition for what is ‘essential business’
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- Business
- JC Penney Plans to Close More Than 240 Stores – terribly sad
- Hospitals, Health Care Sector Reel From COVID-19 Damage
- Perryman: Unemployment continues to rise
- Andrews economy still hurting even with businesses reopening
- Oil near $33 with chinese demand near pre-virus levels
- Happy State Bank to acquire Centennial BANK
- In the Brazos Valley and elsewhere, meat industry hit hard by pandemic
- Environmental Concerns Grow Around Proposed Deepwater Oil Port
- Texas bullet train inches another step closer to reality
- South Texas Oil Company Files for Bankruptcy, Citing COVID-19, Land Dispute
- Lawyers to argue for dismissal of consolidated lawsuit against Astros
- Relaunched Pearl Beer Taps Into Its Storied San Antonio Past
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- Crime & general news of Texas
- Cameras capture gunman who shot man in the head, Houston police say
- Police Shoot Man After Woman Stabbed Outside Houston Store
- Laredo teens arrested for allegedly sharing explicit video
- 2 injured in shooting, more than 120 unrelated arrests during Jeep weekend at Crystal Beach
- Lubbock: One taken to hospital after stabbing Saturday night
- Police investigating skeletal remains found east of Lubbock
- Plane went off runway near Lubbock Executive Airpark
- 2 arrests made as Odessa Police investigates murder of 17 year old
- Two charged in armed robbery in Odessa
- Odessa men charged with stealing Mercedes-Benz at gunpoint
- Odessa woman struck, killed on Loop 338
- DPS: Midland teen dies in pickup-pedestrian crash
- Affidavit: Man charged with attempted capital murder impersonated peace officer
- Massive fire erupts on South Padre Island, engulfing condominiums
- WF police arrest man for stealing car, assaulting owners
- DPS investigates Friday head-on fatality that killed Iowa Park woman
- 2 arrested in connection with missing Poteet boy
- Authorities Arrest Man in Snyder for Possession of Child Porn
- Shallowater man admits to sex crime involving minor
- Lubbock Police Investigate Alleged Shooting on Loop 289
- Man missing after falling in bayou in south Houston, police say
- Man and woman found dead at north Houston motel
- Employee in critical condition after shooting at Spring Pizza Hut
- Wichita Co. agriculture extension office investigating unexplained horse deaths
- I-35 crash left tour bus driver dead
- Autopsy will help ID body found in rubble after Central Texas fire
- Police investigate after discovery of man’s body along Harker Heights road
- Teen arrested in theft of 30 guns from shooting academy in Temple
- Police: Arrested man found with gun in crotch of pants
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- Local government
- Gov. Greg Abbott says let voters decide on property taxes
- Less spending, not freezing home values, better for property tax relief, policy group says
- Conroe mayor files lawsuit against Montgomery County officials over property tax relief amid coronavirus pandemic
- Laredo water park architect selection on City Council agenda – being broke sure has an odd meaning to local governments. When I’m broke I don’t proceed with the new pool in the backyard project.
- Midland ISD chief wants authority to seek waivers without board action
- Nocona City Council accepts audit, hires city attorney
- City of Bowie: Power cost/rate study recommends changes
- Former Bowie City Councilor Pct. 1 speaks out on resignation
- Wichita County leaders aim to keep your tax bills about the same in 2021 amid uncertainty of pandemic
- Lubbock’s Citibus launching microtransit service
- Georgetown Revamps Homeowner Solar Electric Program
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- Colleges & universities
- St. Edward’s Announces Budget Cuts; A&M, UT Still Silent
- Xavier Louisiana, Baylor Med Sign Medical School Agreement
- MSU Dillard College Young Alumni Award
- TTU Honors College Students Offered Online Tutoring To Continue Helping Others
- TTU: Gift To Create World-Class Customer Experience And Innovative Student Learning Opportunities At Skyviews Restaurant
- TTU: Safety Of Campus, Students Takes Precedence In Unprecedented Times
- Texas Tech’s College of Education Receives $1.5M grant to train special educators
- SPC, Wayland receive Texas Emergency Aid Grant for students
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- Military
- Thousands Defer Plans to Leave the Military During Crisis
- San Antonio VFW Post Hopes New Esports Suite Will Draw Younger Vets
Pratt’s post for 5/18/2020
May 18, 2020 by Leave a Comment
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