Temporary win for Texas school districts, county on masks

By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Several South Texas school districts along with the state’s most populous county have won temporary legal victories as they seek to override Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates, which they argued is making the COVID-19 pandemic worse.  After a two-hour hearing in Travis County on Friday, a judge granted temporary restraining orders to Harris County and the South Texas school districts, including Brownsville, La Joya and Edinburg, allowing them to keep mask mandates they have put in place in defiance of Abbott’s executive order. Lawyers with the Texas Attorney General’s Office argued Abbott is in charge of the state’s response to the pandemic and counties and school districts can’t ignore his executive order.