Tag Archives: Amarillo

The Panhandle wildfires

Scary stuff. A blanket of snow and rain that descended over the Texas Panhandle on Thursday helped firefighters to quell the spread of the largest wildfire in the state’s history, which has engulfed more than 1 million acres of land … Continue reading

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Lubbock County passes “abortion travel ban”

It’s time to take this to court. Three county commissioners approved an ordinance Monday that would bar pregnant Texas women from traveling through Lubbock County for an abortion in another state. The commissioners – Jason Corley, Terence Kovar and Jordan … Continue reading

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The fight over abortion access in New Mexico

Great story from the AP. The sanctuary in Grace Covenant Reformed Church was packed. People stood shoulder to shoulder wherever they could — near the stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Bible, behind the neatly lined rows of chairs … Continue reading

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Multiple cities sue streaming services over franchise fees

This has been coming for awhile, it seems. A lawsuit filed Thursday by 25 Texas cities claims that Disney, Hulu and Netflix have for years stiffed the cities out of dollars the streaming giants are required to pay under state … Continue reading

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Counties of interest, part seven: West Texas

Part 1 – Counties around Harris Part 2 – Counties around Dallas/Tarrant Part 3 – Counties around Travis Part 4 – Counties around Bexar Part 5 – East Texas Part 6 – Central Texas Last entry in this series, and … Continue reading

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Prevention > treatment

I mean, more treatments for COVID is a good thing, but you know what’s better? Not getting COVID in the first place. Maybe we can try doing better on that? Gov. Greg Abbott traveled to Lubbock on Thursday to tout … Continue reading

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Threat level orange

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

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More reopening

Onward we go, whether wise or not. Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced his next wave of reopenings designed to restart the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic, saying child care facilities can reopen immediately, bars can open Friday with … Continue reading

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More reopening

It’s going great so far, right? Gov. Greg Abbott will allow hair salons in Texas to reopen Friday and gyms on May 18, moving more quickly than expected to further restart the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic. The businesses … Continue reading

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Federal response to coronavirus spike in Panhandle

Variations on the theme. A federal strike force is headed to Amarillo in response to a surge of coronavirus cases tied to meatpacking plants in the area. Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson announced on Saturday that a team of federal officials … Continue reading

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Our all-important metro areas

Another look at the trouble Republicans face in Texas now. The key to Texas’ political future is whether it finally follows the geographic realignment that has transformed the politics of many other states over the past quarter century. Across the … Continue reading

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Mayors to Abbott: Don’t mess with our cities

Good luck getting through. Less than 24 hours after Gov. Greg Abbott blasted local government restrictions like tree ordinances as a threat to the “Texas brand,” city government leaders statewide are seeking a meeting with the Republican leader. “We would … Continue reading

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The bigger debtors’ prison problem

It’s not just Harris County. Last week, an Amarillo attorney released documents that he said showed the city jailed disabled people simply because they were unable to pay municipal fines. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, the victims of this apparent debtors’ prison system … Continue reading

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How many crimes does your police department solve?

Fewer than you think, unfortunately. Violent crime in America has been falling for two decades. That’s the good news. The bad news is, when crimes occur, they mostly go unpunished. In fact, for most major crimes, police don’t even make … Continue reading

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