By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court in New Orleans has upheld a Texas law outlawing a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure. A federal judge had blocked the ban on the procedure known as dilation and extraction. The 2017 law in question has never been enforced. It prohibits the
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WASHINGTON, DC — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott may soon be fighting a war on two fronts — with local officials and the federal government — to stave off mandatory Covid-19 prevention efforts after the Biden administration announced Wednesday it was going after states like Texas that try to ban universal masking at schools. Saying that
Continue Reading PARIS, Texas — A Texas school district is amending its dress code to require masks in hopes of sidestepping Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates. The Paris Independent School District’s board of trustees voted to require masks as part of its dress code when classes begin Thursday. The district, which has about 3,800
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EL PASO, Texas — The El Paso Department of Public Health and the City Attorney’s Office held a media briefing Wednesday afternoon on the local face mask mandate as well as a court-issued restraining order that blocks Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s prohibition of the El Paso order. (You can watch it in the video player
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso hosted a virtual town hall on Wednesday to address vaccine safety, effectiveness and myths. You can watch it in the video player above. As cases of the Delta variant increase, Texas lags behind the national average vaccination rates, especially in rural counties
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — A judge blocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order forbidding mask mandates late Tuesday night, clearing the way for a new mask rule from El Paso’s City/County Health Authority to take effect at midnight. County Court at Law Judge Ruben Morales signed a temporary restraining order after ruling that Abbott exceeded
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UPDATE: EPISD’s board, with only one nay, voted 6-1 Tuesday night to impose a mask mandate for all teachers, staff and students in school facilities, effective Thursday, as well as take legal action against Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott over his ban on local school districts being able to implement such mask-wearing requirements. The vote came
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UPDATE: SISD’s board voted unanimously Tuesday night to follow the El Paso Health Authority’s mask mandate for schools, which was set to take effect on Wednesday. The vote came after Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza made a presentation to the board about the current Covid-19 spread situation in the community. SISD became the second El
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch opponent of mask mandates, is infected with a “breakthrough” case of Covid-19, the governor’s office confirmed Tuesday. Officials said Abbott was isolating in the governor’s mansion following the positive test for Covid-19 earlier Tuesday; a statement indicated he was “currently experiencing no symptoms” and was “receiving
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas House Democrats who refuse to show up to the state Capitol to prevent Republican lawmakers from passing a voting restrictions bill can be arrested and brought to the lower chamber, the Texas Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday. The all-Republican court sided with Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan — and ordered a Travis County district
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UPDATE, Aug. 17: The Wichita Falls Times Record News reported that a Clay County Sheriff’s deputy was shot during a traffic stop involving the Cadillac that was the subject of a Texas “Blue Alert.” Sheriff Jeff Lyde said the deputy was “slightly wounded but will be OK. Lyde said Chitwood was wearing his bulletproof vest when
Continue Reading By Raja Razek and Ray Sanchez, CNN Five mortuary trailers have been requested by the health services department in Texas, which is seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases and, along with Florida, leads the nation in pediatric hospitalizations. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) submitted a request for the trailers following a review
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — One of El Paso’s top infectious disease experts said he does not believe El Paso hospitals will be overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, like other major Texas cities are. Dr. Ogechika Alozie spoke about the statewide Covid trends on Tuesday’s edition of ABC-7’s Good Morning El Paso. “I think it’s important
Continue Reading UPDATE: El Paso City/County Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza told City Council he planned to impose a mask mandate, requiring that face coverings be worn at all indoor establishments, including schools, starting Wednesday morning. The mandate would be in effect for 30 days and the re-evaluated based on local Covid-19 conditions. In defense of Ocaranza’s
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court has blocked mask mandates ordered by two of the nation’s largest counties that defied Republican Gov. Greg Abbott as COVID-19 cases surge. The unsigned order by the state’s highest court Sunday halts mask requirements that county leaders in Dallas and San Antonio put in place as the
Continue Reading By Kay Jones and Alaa Elassar, CNN A Texas man is dead and another person was injured after a double-decker party boat capsized in bad weather Saturday night on a lake north of Houston, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said in a statement. The boat capsized at 8:12 p.m. during a strong thunderstorm on
Continue Reading By Kelly Murray, CNN An argument between two people at a bar in San Antonio, Texas, ended in a mass shooting early Sunday, with three people killed and two others gravely wounded, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said. The suspect is still at large, McManus said at a briefing. Police were called around 3:35
Continue Reading By Hanna Ziady, CNN Business Are the supply and demand fundamentals that have governed oil markets for decades coming unstuck? In normal times, a surge in demand and rising prices would trigger supply increases. But as the past week has shown, these aren’t normal times. The latest: Just two days after the Biden administration urged
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By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Tyrod Taylor went 4 of 4 for 40 yards in his lone series and rookie quarterback Davis Mills led a couple of scoring drives for the Houston Texans in a 26-7 preseason victory over the Packers. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Houston’s Deshaun Watson
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Police in San Antonio say an officer was wounded and a man killed in a shooting that also involved a second officer. Police Chief William McManus says an officer investigating reports of a disturbance and a man with a gun on Friday saw the armed man flee the scene on a
Continue Reading Dallas County official Clay Jenkins issues a warning that there are zero ICU beds left for children in the county, and explains what that means for future hospital patients.
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EL PASO, Texas — A federal judge on Friday extended a temporary restraining order that blocks Texas from having state troopers stop vehicles carrying migrants on the grounds that they may spread Covid-19. The ruling came from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso as part of a Biden administration lawsuit against Republican Gov.
Continue Reading BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The Biden administration is facing a “serious challenge” at the U.S.-Mexico border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday, saying the U.S. has encountered an “unprecedented” number of migrants illegally crossing the border. During a news conference in south Texas, Mayorkas stressed the sharp increase of migrants arriving at the border, many of whom
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UPDATE: AUSTIN, Texas — Texas law enforcement was deputized Thursday to track down Texas House Democrats still missing from the chamber and bring them to the state Capitol in Austin, a process that Speaker Dade Phelan’s office said “will begin in earnest immediately.” The news came as the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for their
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RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas — Six school districts in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley filed a lawsuit Thursday afternoon against Gov. Greg Abbott in the latest push back against his executive order banning mask mandates. The Wall Street Journal reports the suit contends that school districts have the authority to operate and issue regulations over their
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The White House Covid-19 task force, including the president’s chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, held a briefing on Thursday. It came as the CDC predicted that new Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations will go up over the next four weeks, which falls inline
Continue Reading By Dianne Gallagher, CNN The Texas state Senate passed Senate Bill 1, an election overhaul bill that would add new restrictions and criminal penalties to the voting process, Thursday morning on a 18-11 party line vote. The final vote was taken fewer than 20 minutes after a 15-hour filibuster of the bill from state Sen.
Continue Reading By Travis Caldwell, Keith Allen and Carma Hassan, CNN With the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant and lagging vaccination rates, states such as Texas are seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases that quickly halted a summer of reopenings. And as Texas faces another rise in hospitalizations approaching a peak witnessed during the 2020
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AUSTIN, Texas — The GOP voting restrictions push that left the Texas House scrambling to round up absent Democrats also shut down work in the Texas Senate Wednesday evening as state Sen. Carol Alvarado launched into a filibuster against the GOP’s priority voting bill. “I rise today to speak against Senate Bill 1,” Alvarado said, beginning her filibuster just
Continue Reading Redistricting season officially kicks off with the release of detailed population data from the U.S. Census Bureau that will be used to redraw voting districts nationwide — potentially helping determine control of the U.S. House in the 2022 elections and providing an electoral edge for the next decade. The new data being released Thursday will
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