When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his plans to reopen the state eight days ago, he led his press conference with a powerful anecdote. Texas’ COVID-19 infection rate — the rate at which tests for the disease come back positive — had declined over the last 17 days, he said…
Since the COVID-19 pandemic reached Texas, many shelters that serve Dallas’ homeless population have shut their doors, diverting their clients to hotels or motels as they did when faced with overflow before the pandemic. Those who are sleeping in shelters or motel rooms are subject to stringent social distancing regulations,…
For the fourth time in less than a week, Dallas County Health and Human Services reported a record number of new COVID-19 infections Monday afternoon. After recording 234 new cases Sunday, the agency announced 237 positive tests Wednesday. Dallas County remains at its peak seven-day rolling average as businesses around…
Maybe you know exactly what’s going on and what’s going to happen next. Not me. I don’t know jack. But let’s put down a marker right here at the beginning of the Great Texas Reopening. There will be an answer. It will be math. This isn’t French Impressionism. At a…
The bones of the argument are as familiar as the Cowboys’ underachieving. Texas Democrats want as close to comprehensive voting access as is possible. Texas Republicans, citing the need for election security, want to maintain tight controls over who gets a ballot and who doesn’t, to the chagrin of voting…
For a third time this week, Dallas set a new single-day record for new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Friday. The county reported 187 new cases of the disease Friday. The total tops the county’s previous single-day record of 179 new cases, which it set Thursday. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins…
Sports fans are desperate. As the coronavirus pandemic has meandered through its second month, we’ve forced ourselves to be excited for remote games of HORSE, 10-part documentaries about a Chicago Bulls season that’s already been covered exhaustively and video game versions of our heroes. Previously played games are plentiful, too,…
Texas is going to offer a little grace to those who would’ve otherwise faced an impossible choice whenever their employer called them back to work amid the ongoing pandemic. And when we say a little, we mean very little. Immediately following Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement Monday that he would allow…
Students at colleges and universities across North Texas can expect to head back to campus at the beginning of the fall semester. Officials at several universities across the Dallas-Fort Worth area announced Thursday that they expected to be able to reopen their campuses at the end of the summer. Colleges…
A day before large segments of Texas’ economy are set to reopen, Dallas County health officials announced the county’s largest-ever single-day tally of new cases of COVID-19. The county confirmed 179 additional cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus and five coronavirus-related deaths Thursday. In a statement posted…
Three weeks ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent out a press release that seemed weird, but not too weird. The attorney general, never one to avoid a fight with the federal government or any of Texas’ 49 fellow states, had a problem with an order issued by a Colorado…
In the debate on opening up versus shutting down, a dark picture is emerging, with national ramifications but also with some nasty roots closer to home. A truly terrible political calculus may be afoot. The calculus would be this: that the nation will swallow the cost in human lives of…
Dallas County Health and Human Services reports that 112 more people in the county have tested positive for COVID-19. Wednesday’s count is Dallas County’s fourth-highest one-day total of novel coronavirus infections. Five more people in Dallas County have died from the disease. Since the beginning of the outbreak, 99 people…
Monday, Dallas is set to begin taking applications for its novel coronavirus rent and mortgage assistance program. The city isn’t making the program’s website or phone number available ahead of its launch, but Dallas staff revealed Tuesday afternoon just what you’ll need in order to apply, in case you want…
Now for the really weird part, the reopenings. What does reopening even mean? Who says? Reopen what? How? Then what? Why does this feel like Russian roulette? Wait. Is life Russian roulette? I have been thinking a lot about Colleyville, the affluent suburban community north of Dallas that has defiantly…
Dallas County Health and Human services reported 135 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 10 deaths Tuesday afternoon. The new infections mark the highest one-day reported total for the county during the ongoing pandemic. Wednesday’s death count is tied for the highest total reported by the county during a…
The French M. Robertson Unit, a maximum-security state prison, is located off a dusty farm-to-market road about 20 minutes from Abilene. A couple of tiny hamlets dot the dry West Texas terrain near the prison, but for the most part, its population of about 3,000 inmates is surrounded by nothingness…
We may all be in this together, but our opinions about it are breaking down along predictable lines. Monday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott debuted his plan to reopen Texas’ restaurants, retailers, malls and movie theaters, despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the state and around the world. In North Texas…
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to re-open the state will start with restaurants, movie theaters, malls and retail stores. At a press conference Monday afternoon, Abbott unveiled a three-phase project to get Texas back to business. Phase 1 begins Friday. Thanks to Texas’ continued available hospital capacity, its relatively low…
Every weekday morning, Laura Currey gets up before her kids. She looks through weekly lesson plans from their teachers, then sits down at a whiteboard and writes out their assignments for the day. By 8:30 a.m., class is in session. Currey talks to her daughter, a third grader, about what…
Yes, we need to pay special homage to first responders and medical personnel in this crisis, but there is another group of exposed persons out there risking their own health. I am thinking of clergy, nonprofit workers and volunteers who serve the least of our sisters and brothers. Any number…
For the first time since Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson put much of North Texas in novel coronavirus hibernation in mid-March, the range of activities Dallas residents are allowed to undertake grew significantly last week. Next week, thanks to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the list…
