Tag Archives: coronavirus

Our wishy-washy Governor

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about evading responsibility. At least now it’s starting to become clear to people. Counties and cities across Texas swiftly followed Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff’s lead this week after he ordered businesses — without opposition from Gov. Greg … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Back to school, kids

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Yeah, I don’t know about this. Texas students will be returning to public schools in person this fall, Gov. Greg Abbott told state lawmakers Thursday morning. The state’s top education officials confirmed the plans in a statement to The Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hidalgo issues new mask order

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott said we could, so there. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued an order Friday mandating that businesses require customers to wear masks, her latest effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. She and other county leaders … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

From the “Live by the leaked audio, die by the leaked audio” department

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, the irony. Two staffers for the hardline conservative group Empower Texans have been caught on an audio recording disparaging Gov. Greg Abbott with profanity and joking about his wheelchair use. Upon the comments surfacing Friday morning, Abbott’s office and … Continue reading →

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It’s really hard out there on the restaurants

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I feel for them, but none of this is unsurprising. Celebrating her birthday in Galveston, Melinda Prince walked out of Yaga’s Cafe on Thursday full of coconut shrimp. What she didn’t realize was one of the employees at the restaurant … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, glorious food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Masks up

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We solved Greg Abbott’s riddle, so all is well now, right? With Gov. Greg Abbott’s apparent blessing, Bexar and Hidalgo counties have imposed a new mask rule for local businesses, saying they must require employees and customers to wear masks … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Riddle me this, Governor

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Parody is dead. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff issued a new executive order Wednesday that mandates face coverings for the general public and directs businesses to require employees and customers to wear them in situations where social distancing is not … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Hotze versus contact tracing

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We should have expected this. Conservative firebrand Steven Hotze has launched another lawsuit challenging Gov. Greg Abbott’s coronavirus response, joined by current and former lawmakers and several hundred business owners who argue the state’s contact tracing program infringes on their … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

TDP appeals to SCOTUS on vote by mail

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. After a series of losses in state and federal courts, Texas Democrats are looking to the U.S. Supreme Court to expand voting by mail during the coronavirus pandemic. The Texas Democratic Party on Tuesday asked the high … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Whistling past the ICU

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Clap louder! Gov. Greg Abbott and top Texas health officials on Tuesday responded to growing alarm over hospitals now swelling with coronavirus patients, assuring there is still plenty of space available even as some facilities have neared or surpassed capacity. … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The plan for the runoffs

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Early voting for the primary runoffs starts in less than two weeks. Here’s what to expect. Interim Harris County Clerk Christopher Hollins is hoping to avoid the mistakes of his predecessor in the chaotic March primary election for July’s runoff … Continue reading →

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A few bumps in the road for the NBA

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

How’s that season restarting going? A month ago, superstar players got on a Zoom call and reportedly created a united front to support a safe return to play. A lot has changed since. Last week, the 28 NBPA player representatives all voted … Continue reading →

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Meanwhile, the jail is filling up again

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We really need to do something about this. The Harris County Jail population has been steadily rising since late April and is now approaching its pre-pandemic capacity despite early efforts to curb crowding, according to the sheriff’s office. With an … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What kind of college football season will there be?

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

News item: Governor says to expect half-full stadiums for college football. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told athletic directors from the state’s largest schools to expect 50 percent capacity at football games this fall, USA Today reported, but Texas A&M athletic … Continue reading →

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We’re going to get the default MLB season

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. The Major League Baseball Players Association asked MLB to set a schedule for the 2020 season rather than counter the latest return-to-play proposal by the league, setting the stage for MLB to implement a significantly shortened schedule and deepening … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

We’re about to find out what school might look like this fall

Posted on June 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves. Education leaders across Houston say they are working to welcome students like Alexis and Jayden back in the fall, but if guidelines released by the Texas Education Agency for in-person summer school are any indication of what’s to … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Threat level orange

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Not great. A large, ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 places the Houston area on the second-highest of four public threat levels unveiled by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Thursday. If troubling trends continue, including an increase in coronavirus cases and … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics, The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rating summertime risks

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

You want to get outside and do things this summer? Here’s how to think about various activities in terms of risk, so you can do things that are safer and avoid things that are not. It has been around two … Continue reading →

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Plaintiffs move for dismissal of state lawsuit over mail ballots

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Not a surprise. The fight over expanding voting by mail in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic appears to be coming to an end in state courts, but a lawsuit continues at the federal level. Following a Texas Supreme Court ruling … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tell HISD what you think about their proposed school year calendar

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s different. Students in Houston ISD would return to campus in mid-August, spend up to 10 additional days in the classroom and end their school year in mid-June under a 2020-21 calendar option published by the district Monday. HISD officials … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

We keep hitting the wrong marks

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Up, up, and up. For the second day in a row, Texas has reported a record number of patients hospitalized with the new coronavirus, a metric Gov. Greg Abbott has said he’s watching as businesses continue reopening and limits on … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

DA dismisses charges against most protesters

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday dismissed almost 800 cases filed against protesters arrested during the George Floyd demonstrations last week in Houston. In total, prosecutors dropped 796 charges filed against 654 protesters, District Attorney Kim Ogg … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The local view of COVID hospitalizations

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

More numbers. Three weeks after it stood out as the urban exception to the state’s spiking COVID-19 crisis, the Houston region has begun seeing a significant increase in cases and hospitalizations. The upturn, which began two weeks ago and accelerated … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Here comes high school football

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Surely you didn’t think that Texas’ favorite sport would stay on the sidelines for long? More focus will be on instruction, caution and care than nailing the perfect squat rep when University Interscholastic League athletic programs return to in-person strength … Continue reading →

Posted in Other sports | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

That’s a lot of mail ballots

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The new County Clerk isn’t messing around. Harris County this week sent mail ballot applications for the July primary runoff to every voter 65 and older, interim County Clerk Christopher Hollins announced. The move comes as Harris County is preparing … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Coronavirus and Professional Bull Riding

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s how Professional Bull Riding managed to keep doing what it does during the pandemic. The PBR went on hiatus March 15 at the conclusion of an Unleash The Beast event in Duluth, Ga., that was closed to the public. … Continue reading →

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Anti-vaxxers gonna anti-vaxx

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Every step of the way, they are an obstacle to public health. The Texas group that lobbies against vaccine mandates is now launching a campaign against COVID-19 contact tracing, the public health measure used for decades around the world to … Continue reading →

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So how’s that reopening going?

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Well, there’s more of it. Gov. Greg Abbott announced his third phase Wednesday of reopening Texas businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing virtually all of them to operate at 50% capacity. That is effective immediately, and there are “very limited … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Austin’s sick leave ordinance is officially dead

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Killed by the State Supreme Court, which should come as a surprise to no one. Austin still cannot enforce a mandatory paid sick leave ordinance its city council passed in February 2018 after the Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined to … Continue reading →

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Metro’s long road

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It will be awhile before bus and rail ridership returns to pre-COVID levels. Metro officials predict it will be months, and possibly years, before bus and rail service ridership return to pre-COVID-19 levels in Houston as economic uncertainty, a lack … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nuro expands its service in Houston

Posted on June 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

First groceries, now prescriptions. Nuro’s fleet of autonomous vehicles is expanding its footprint in Houston, partnering with CVS to deliver prescriptions in a delivery service that is expected to begin as early as next month. Mountain View, Calif.-based Nuro’s autonomous … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit extends block on vote by mail expansion

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Not unexpected, unfortunately. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals extended its order Thursday blocking a lower court’s sweeping ruling that would have allowed all Texas voters to qualify to vote by mail during the coronavirus … Continue reading →

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The reopening metric we should be heeding

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Twitter: This graph is amazing. It shows that measuring #SARSCoV2 levels in municipal sewage almost perfectly predicts forthcoming #COVID19 cases with a full week’s notice (R=0.994). It’s one of several discoveries in this new study from @Yale: https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.20105999v1.full.pdf. C-19 … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

MLS agrees on its restart, WNBA still considering options

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

More sports coming. The MLS Players Association voted Wednesday to approve a revised collective bargaining agreement with the league. The new deal will run through 2025 and clears the way for Major League Soccer to resume its 2020 season via … Continue reading →

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