Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that students would be returning to public schools this fall. But as COVID-19 cases surge in Texas, Rena Honea, the president of the teachers union Alliance-ATF, said she has concerns about sending kids back to school. Honea and Joanna Cattanach, Democratic candidate for…
Dallas hair salon owner Shelley Luther has cannonballed her way into the national spotlight. Her brash act of political defiance flung heaps more mud into the already murky debate surrounding safety mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, the University of Houston released a poll indicating that Luther’s peers disapproved…
A federal judge recently ordered children who have been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for more than 20 days to be released by July 17. But demonstrators protesting for immigration reform outside Dallas City Hall on Saturday say that order isn’t enough. “This is a victory, but it…
Unless you fall into one of a handful of categories that would allow you to cast a ballot by mail, you’ll need to show up in person if you want to vote in next month’s runoff election, coronavirus or not. That’s the takeaway from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to…
A day after he hit the pause button on the state’s reopening plan, Gov. Greg Abbott is reinstating some restrictions designed to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Friday morning, Abbott issued an executive order closing bars across the state at noon Friday and placing a 50% occupancy…
Amber Sims lives in what was once a freedmen’s town, built by people who were born into slavery and then emancipated. But very few remnants of the area’s history are left today, she said. Correcting racial inequities in Dallas starts with addressing that history, said Sims, the director of regional…
It was good while it lasted. Dallas County’s eviction moratorium ended June 15, effectively halting certain protections for thousands of North Texas tenants. Tuesday, DeSoto City Council member Candice Quarles delivered a bleak forecast for Dallas evictions during a virtual town hall meeting on Zoom. She said considering the county’s…
As Texas’ coronavirus numbers continue their rapid climb, Gov. Greg Abbott put the state’s reopening plan on hold Thursday morning. In a news release, Abbott said the state will pause all scheduled phases of reopening, meaning any businesses that would have been allowed to reopen in the coming weeks will…
Expect to breathe in some dusty, African air when you step outside this weekend. A Saharan dust plume is traveling more than 7,000 miles to touch down in Dallas. The cloud is a bone dry, dusty mass of air that forms over the Sahara Desert in North Africa, said Juan…
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Dallas County continues to rise, but the city’s two drive-thru test sites are set to lose federal funding at the end of the month. Texas is one of five states — the others are Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and Pennsylvania — to have this funding cut,…
We are, as even Gov. Greg Abbott admitted this week, in the middle of pandemic. Across the state, cities, counties and hospitals are reporting record numbers of COVID-19 infections and patients. Municipal budgets and residents’ wallets are under threat, as the Texas summer gets hotter and anti-police violence demonstrators march…
Kevin Tarver wants justice. Months before the world learned the names George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor, Denton police shot and killed his son Darius. A 23-year-old University of North Texas student, Darius Tarver was a criminal justice major and on the dean’s list. He was part of the…
On Monday, Dallas County’s COVID-19 picture got a little darker again. For the first time, the county’s Health and Human Services unit announced more than 450 new infections, a more than 10% increase from Dallas County’s previous record high. On Friday, Dallas County began requiring businesses to demand that their customers…
Almost as soon as Dallas began taking applications for its COVID-19 rental assistance program, the $13.7 million allocated was already spent. About 10,000 residents made it through an initial screening in early May when the program went live, according to the city. About 1,500 received some help, and more than…
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott really wants you to wear a mask. The governor isn’t ordering Texans to do so, he said at a press conference Tuesday, he just thinks that they should. “COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in Texas and it must be corralled,” Abbott said. “We…
Dallas County’s coronavirus numbers continued their upward trend Monday, as county health officials announced 454 new cases of COVID-19. That total represents a 10% increase over the county’s previous single-day record, which the county set Wednesday. The county also announced three more deaths from the novel coronavirus: a Dallas man…
Despite last week’s record number of new COVID cases statewide, many Texans have ditched wearing a mask out in public. It’s no wonder: Recommendations from health officials are being consistently subverted by some government authorities. Friday, Dallas County Commissioners approved an order that requires businesses to enforce mask wearing for…
Last week, as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Mrs. Butterworth saw their runs as racist caricatures and corporate mascots come to an end, calls began to ring out about a name closer to home. Chicago Tribune columnist and native Texan Steve Chapman started the drumbeat. It’s time, Chapman said, for…
The U.S. Supreme Court has been busy settling landmark cases this week. Monday, it ruled that gay and transgender people are protected from workplace discrimination under the Civil Rights Act. Thursday, it upheld the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields certain undocumented immigrants from deportation. Considering the court’s…
Wednesday, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff solved Gov. Greg Abbott’s riddle and lit the path for his fellow municipal leaders. Thursday, counties around the state, cautious over the spread of the novel coronavirus but wary of Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s wrath, began following Wolff’s lead, crafting orders…
The numbers don’t look good for North Texas’ long-term care facilities, where the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on elderly residents and staff. Monday, 19 members of a Plano memory care facility were hospitalized after exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, according to The Dallas Morning News. Since mid-April, Dallas nursing home…
Wednesday, the Dallas City Council got its latest look at the novel coronavirus-sized hole that’s still being torn in the city’s budget. The damage, so far at least, is significant but seemingly surmountable. Amid all the numbers, however, was a stark warning from Dallas’ chief financial officer. For both the…
