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Gov. Greg Abbott
The plaintiffs in one of the nation's first court cases over employer-required COVID vaccinations are among the heroes of the pandemic—nurses fighting to remain unvaccinated. Houston Methodist Hospital suspended unvaccinated employees on June 6.
JD Supra
Gov. Gavin Newsom has foreseen the end of the pandemic that has killed over 61,000 Californians and has taken a page from his Republican counterpart in the second most populous state by setting a date when all restrictions will be lifted.
San Francisco Chronicle
It's pandemic déjà vu in the Lone Star State, with local governments wanting to protect their constituents from an increase in viral transmission, a power preempted by Gov. Abbott's executive order. Attorney General Ken Paxton lost the first round.
Austin American-Statesman
Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he is reopening Texas 100% and lifting the state mask mandate, as is Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of a variant-induced fourth surge.
Austin American-Statesman
The plunge in daily new coronavirus cases has ceased and may be climbing again, but the news is brighter when looking at the summer. Most of the public health experts interviewed by The New York Times believe a surge is likely but not inevitable.
The New York Times
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the nonprofit, independent power grid operator for 90 percent of the nation's second-largest state, has become the convenient fall guy for the epic power failure caused by an extreme weather event.
Austin American-Statesman
After releasing "public scoping" details for a massive widening project in Downtown Austin, a writing slams the Texas Department of Transportation for its car-centric approach to transportation planning.
Austin Towers
The battle to control the coronavirus in the U.S is being led by 50 governors and the D.C. mayor, but ultimately it is at the local level where decisions are often the most consequential. Among large counties, the crisis is most severe in El Paso.
The Texas Tribune
During March and April, most states shut down all but essential services in order to "flatten the curve," and it largely worked. What happened afterward didn't. U.S. PIRG has organized a campaign to start the process over and do it right.
CNN
A second county in the Rio Grande Valley has issued an unenforceable stay-at-home order to reduce transmission of the coronavirus. Its one overwhelmed hospital will implement a triage system to determine which patients to treat and whom to reject.
CBS News
The first shelter-at-home order issued in the pandemic's resurgence in the U.S. took effect Wednesday morning in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, an overwhelmingly Latino region that has been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.
The Monitor
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) and the Atlanta City Council over the city's mask mandate, which is stricter than mask provisions defined in the governor's July 15 executive order.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The nation's most significant rollback to date of a state reopening plan occurred Monday when California Gov. Gavin Newsom closed seven categories of indoor businesses statewide and an additional six categories of indoor operations in 31 counties.
San Francisco Chronicle
Younger people are making up more of the new cases of COVID-19 as the coronavirus explodes in the Sunbelt states, particularly Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas, bringing with it new attention on bars as settings for high viral transmission.
The New York Times
Coronavirus cases are surging throughout the South and West. With growing hospitalizations threatening the capacity of the health care systems in major cities in Texas, Gov. Gregg Abbott pressed 'pause' on the state's reopening plan.
The Washington Post
Coronavirus cases are surging in the Lone Star State's urban areas, so mayors of nine of its largest cities asked Greg Abbott for the power to mandate the wearing of masks or facial coverings, prohibited by executive order, to slow viral spread.
The Texas Tribune
Public health experts were pleased that Trump extended his coronavirus guidelines, but they remain advisory, left to state and local governments to implement. Nine states have yet to issue stay-at-home orders, leaving the nation vulnerable to COVID.
The Hill
Four miles of the 10-mile North Tarrant Express project opened to motorists on April 5. The $1.6 billion project, built by a public-private partnership working with TxDOT, includes rebuilding general purpose and frontage road lanes.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
In a landmark, unanimous vote, the Texas Transportation Commission eliminated all 15 express lane projects from their 10-year capital plan despite pleas from Austin area officials to retain the $8 billion, I-35 project that includes four toll lanes.
Austin American-Statesman
Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic of The New York Times, looks beyond sprawl and development issues that challenge Houston in its rebuilding efforts. An anti-urban, anti-regulation bias from the statehouse isn't helping matters.
The New York Times
