AUSTIN, Texas — Texas reported an increase of nearly 700 additional deaths from the Covid-19 virus due to a change in how the state collects fatality data, representing a grim surge in the state’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The new figures released Monday show the state now with 5,713 Covid-19-identified fatalities in Texas, compared with 5,038
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AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that the grade promotion requirement linked to the STAAR test for students in grades 5 and 8 has been waived for the upcoming school year. Abbott said he was doing this to help students cope with and succeed during the pandemic, which has caused major disruptions to
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HOUSTON, Texas — The Trump administration has agreed not to expel children it detained in a Texas hotel and will instead allow them to remain in the U.S. and pursue their immigration cases. The move comes days after The Associated Press first reported on the U.S. government’s secretive practice of detaining unaccompanied children in hotels
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AUSTIN, Texas — A man was fatally shot at a protest in Texas when he approached a vehicle and the driver inside opened fire, police said. The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. Saturday during a protest in downtown Austin, police spokesperson Katrina Ratliff told reporters early Sunday. The man was taken to a hospital
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The United States consulate in the Chinese city of Chengdu officially closed on Monday morning, amid worsening relations between Beijing and Washington. The American flag over the building was lowered at dawn, according to Chinese state-run broadcaster CCTV, and onlookers were moved back as a heavy police presence surrounded the consulate, which Beijing ordered to
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LONGVIEW, Texas — A statewide Amber Alert has been issued for a 3-year-old in east Texas who is believed to be in grave danger. ABC affiliate KTRK reports that police in Longview are looking for Neveah Chaseberry, a Black female believed to be 2-feet 6-inches tall, weighs approximately 30 pounds and has black hair and
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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Hanna weakened to a tropical storm as it continued to move inland Sunday though it was still bringing tropical storm force winds, rain and storm surge to southern Texas. The center of Hanna passed into Mexico Sunday morning, however, Texans would still be contending with the wind and rain into the afternoon. Rain was expected to
Continue Reading There’s nothing quite like a summer baseball game — except a baseball game in the summer of 2020. In the age of a pandemic, ballparks are opening to players on the field but not to spectators. Gone are the thousands of sweaty fans, the hot dogs, the beer, the crowd-pleasing bits between innings. Instead, cardboard
Continue Reading DALLAS, Texas — A Texas couple is feeling extra blessed after beating the coronavirus, cancer and finishing chemo. Robert and Janice Beecham have been married for 46 years, and this year they are happy to be recovering after a spring full of turmoil. “It’s a blessing to be here because a lot of people didn’t
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FORT WORTH, Texas — Hundreds of Texas bar owners say they’ll defy Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandate that ordered them closed after a surge in coronavirus cases. Approximately 800 bar owners have promised to participate in an event organized by Fort Worth bar owner Chris Polone called the “Freedom Fest” where bar owners have pledged to open
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FORT HOOD, Texas — Fort Hood in Texas is no stranger to tragedy. In 2009 a U.S. Army psychiatrist killed 13 people, an unborn child and injured 32 others in a shooting rampage. Five years later the US Army post was struck again when a veteran killed three people and injured 16 others before killing
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RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas — Doctors at a Texas hospital along the U.S.-Mexico border may decide to send coronavirus patients “home to die by their loved ones” due to limited resources, officials say. Government and health officials in Starr County announced this week they are creating committees to review patients’ cases at the Starr County
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DALLAS, Texas — The woman who invited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to her mother’s burial “to witness first-hand the tragedy” of mourning the respiratory therapist who died of Covid-19 criticized the state’s response to the pandemic. “My mom could still be alive had there been a mask mandate much earlier on and had Texas stayed
Continue Reading AUSTIN, TEXAS — Texas reported a new daily high number of deaths Wednesday from the illness caused by the new coronavirus, even as the state reported a slight decrease in the number of people who have tested positive. The Department of State Health Services reported a Wednesday Covid-19 death toll hit a record 197, beating the previous
Continue Reading HOUSTON, Texas — The Trump administration is detaining immigrant children as young as 1 in hotels before deporting them to their home countries. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show a private contractor hired by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is taking children to three Hampton Inns in Arizona and Texas under restrictive border policies
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HOUSTON, Texas — The United States ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, escalating tensions between the world’s largest economies as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure against China ahead of the November election. Beijing denounced the order Wednesday as “outrageous” and said it would draw a firm response if not reversed. The physical
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Jessica Ortiz said she and her twin brother, Jubal, were inseparable. Even when Jubal lay dead in an open casket with plexiglass over his body — out of fear he could still be contagious with coronavirus — she couldn’t help but lean down and touch him at his viewing earlier this month. Now, weeks later,
Continue Reading FORT HOOD, TEXAS — U.S. Army officials on Tuesday said that the body of a Fort Hood solider was found near the Texas army base, marking the third time in a month that a Fort Hood soldier’s body has been discovered. Pvt. Mejhor Morta, 26, was found unresponsive July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, according
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EL PASO, Texas — In an interview with ABC-7 on Tuesday evening, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declined to directly address a remark by one of his advisers that was critical of President Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Adviser David Carney told the New York Times that “the president got bored with it,” so Abbott
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HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas — While some big cities in Texas are reporting signs that an alarming surge in cases of the coronavirus may be leveling off, officials in south Texas counties along the border with Mexico said Tuesday that the outlook there remains bleak. Dallas County officials said the number of hospitalized virus patients dropped
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FORT WORTH, Texas — Hundreds of incarcerated women in Texas, including NSA leaker Reality Winner, are at the center of one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks at a federal correctional facility in the country. At least 510 detainees and three staff at Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, have tested positive for Covid-19,
Continue Reading In her last sermon in early June, Rev. Vickey Gibbs described what she called a fractured nation, and the impact that the coronavirus was having on her community in Houston, Texas. At her church, she spoke about racial tensions in our country and the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. She also talked about
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AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas says it anticipates hosting football games this season at 50% capacity in the stands. Athletic Director Chris Del Conte emailed season ticket holders Monday telling them the school is working closely with Gov. Greg Abbott’s office and is following state guidelines on social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Texas surpassed 4,000 deaths in the coronavirus pandemic Monday but officials in Houston, one of the hardest-hit cities in the U.S., say they are cautiously optimistic about recent trends following weeks of alarming surges at hospitals. Texas reported more than 7,400 confirmed new cases and at least 62 new deaths. In El
Continue Reading Click here for updates on this story North Texas, TX (KTVT) — In a letter simply addressed to ‘Religious Private Schools in Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton made claims that local public health orders attempting to restrict school reopenings violate the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. Paxton further said that orders restricting the reopening of religious
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MINEOLA, Texas — A 60-year-old chain link fence at a cemetery in Texas has just come down. And while its removal may seem unremarkable, for community members, that fence was a reminder of segregation that once existed in the town. A metal barrier was the separation between burial areas at Cedars Memorial Gardens in Mineola,
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EL PASO, Texas — Joe Biden’s campaign debuted its first general election television ad in El Paso on ABC-7 over the weekend, dipping its toes in a state long considered a Republican stronghold and one that’s seen an uptick in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. The minute-long coronavirus-focused spot, titled “Tough,” is part of a new mid-six figure broadcast and digital
Continue Reading HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A 23-year-old Texas man allegedly shot his grandmother early Sunday and tried to stage her death as a drive-by shooting, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Marcus Hanson has been charged with the murder of his grandmother, 68-year-old Shelia Crosslin, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Deputies responding to
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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Eighty-five infants under age 1 have tested positive for coronavirus in one Texas county. And local officials are imploring residents to help stop its spread as the state becomes one of the newest hotspots. Since January, health authorities have identified more than 3.6 million Covid-19 cases throughout the United States. Nearly
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — The state of Texas set a new daily record for virus deaths, with 174 on Friday, and reported more than 10,000 confirmed new cases for a fourth consecutive day. It also marked the third day in a row with more than 100 deaths. The latest death toll was announced just hours after state
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