State News

On Tuesday, two Texas lawmakers filed legislation backed by Las Vegas Sands’ gaming empire that would legalize casino gambling in Texas. Rep. John Kuempel R-Seguin, in the House, and Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, in the Senate filed the legislation. The proposals would create special casino licenses for four “destination resorts” …

At the end of the statewide mask mandate and most occupancy restrictions in the state, Johns Hopkins University reports the number of cases of the virus in Texas is again climbing. The Johns Hopkins data show the two-week rolling average of new COVID in the state is up by 500.3 …

Texas reported 5,409 new COVID-19 cases and 184 deaths.

Texas public schools will be held harmless for the rest of the 2020-2021-school year, bringing some additional relief to what has been a stressful year. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced a conference call with superintendents late last week. The decision means schools will not lose funding based on decreased …

Texas reported 4,000 new Covid-19 cases and 124 Covid deaths on Monday.

Senate Bill 12 by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, would prohibit social media companies from blocking, banning, or demonetizing Texans for what they post on social media and provide an avenue for users to sue these companies in court. Hughes calls it “censorship” of conservative viewpoints by social media companies. …

The number of coronavirus cases and deaths due to the illness caused by the virus is rising in Texas. Data from Johns Hopkins University on Saturday shows the seven-day rolling average of new cases in the state during the past two weeks has increased from 5,040.8 per day to 7,022.7 …

Small-business owners and managers across Texas face another 2021 headache: deal with losing business from customers who don’t want to wear face masks during the pandemic or patrons who will only frequent places that require them. The dilemma was abruptly thrust upon them after Gov. Greg Abbott announced that the …

Workers in the service industry across Texas plan to rally at the capitol on Monday to protest the mask mandate the Governor lifted, saying their lives are being put at risk to work without vaccinations. The Texas Service Industry Coalition is a group aimed at uniting restaurant workers across the …

NO new deaths or cases of COVID were reported in Hopkins County Monday and the number of fatalities remains at 99. The number of active cases is listed at 184. There have been 2,597 recoveries from the virus