Tag Archives: Greg Abbott

The Austin Statesman reports: Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order Thursday requiring counties to close multiple locations where voters can drop off completed mail-in ballots. As an election security measure, counties will be limited to one dropoff site where poll watchers — designated by political parties and candidates — must be allowed to observe ballot deliveries by voters, Abbott said. …

The Texas Tribune reports: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is facing a lawsuit over his extension of early voting for the November election from prominent members of his own party — including state party Chair Allen West, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and members of the Texas Legislature. In July, Abbott added six days to the early voting period, moving the start …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott and top Texas leaders announced Tuesday that they will push for legislation next year that would freeze property tax revenues for cities that cut police budgets, just days after the Austin City Council approved a budget that will cut police funding by one-third and reinvest money in social services. The proposal sets up …

The Texas Tribune reports: During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott expressed his sympathy for Texans who are now unemployed following his order closing bars, but stressed that those areas are one of the most “prolific spreading events.” On Thursday, he said bars could potentially reopen once coronavirus metrics improve more significantly. He said he would need …

The Texas Tribune reports: The number of Texans being tested for the coronavirus has fallen sharply in recent weeks, a trend that has worried public health experts as officials consider sending children back to school while thousands more Texans are infected each day. In the week ending Aug. 8, an average 36,255 coronavirus tests were administered in Texas each day …

The Texas Tribune reports: Five of the Texas Legislature’s most conservative members are suing Gov. Greg Abbott and state health officials, claiming Texas leaders overstepped their bounds when they awarded a major contract for tracking Texas’ coronavirus outbreak to a little-known technology firm. In a lawsuit filed Monday, Republican state Reps. Mike Lang, Kyle Biedermann, Bill Zedler, Steve Toth and …

The Washington Post reports: Much of David W. Nagy’s obituary, which ran in his local paper in Jefferson, Tex., on July 30, recounted his painful death from the novel coronavirus at age 79 and named his surviving family members. But midway down, the tone shifted to offer a pointed message for President Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). “Family …

The Houston Chronicle reports: The government’s official data on the coronavirus outbreak is startling: More than 4.6 million cases in the U.S. More than 440,000 in Texas. More than 70,000 in Harris County. But those numbers don’t include all positive COVID-19 patients. Texas, unlike 27 other states, excludes the results of increasingly popular, rapid COVID-19 tests from the numbers it …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott will skip the Republican National Convention later this month in North Carolina as he continues to respond to the coronavirus pandemic in Texas, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will instead chair the state’s delegation to the scaled-down gathering. Abbott announced the plan in a letter dated Friday to the national GOP chairwoman, Ronna …

Axios reports: The governors in four of the states hit hardest by the coronavirus have taken a massive hit in public approval over their handling of the pandemic, according to SurveyMonkey poll data shared exclusively with Axios. Why it matters: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp — all Republicans …

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: Starr County is at a dangerous “tipping point,” reporting an alarming number of new cases each day, data show. Starr County Memorial Hospital — the county’s only hospital — is overflowing with COVID-19 patients. The county health board — which governs Starr Memorial — has been forced to create what’s being compared to a so-called …

The Austin Statesman reports: State health officials reported a record 10,848 patients in Texas hospitals Tuesday as the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths continued to surge. Tuesday’s hospitalization figure increased by 279 patients. The statewide number has exceeded 10,000 for 12 days in a row, a level that health officials say is straining the health care system.  In …

UPI reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday announced the U.S. Navy has been deployed to assist in combatting COVID-19 as the state has reported more than 10,000 cases for five consecutive days. Abbott said the U.S. Department of Defense has sent five U.S. Navy teams, consisting of medical and support professionals, to support hospitals in Harlingen, Del Rio, Eagle …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas today reports 10,745 new cases of coronavirus, a record high, as number of people hospitalized surpasses 10,500. Under Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to revive the economy, businesses started reopening in May. But he paused further reopening plans and scaled back others in June. Recently, he told one TV station he regretted reopening bars too quickly. …

The Austin Statesman reports: Texas health officials on Tuesday reported a record-breaking number of new lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in a single day with 10,745 cases. The previous record for the most number of newly confirmed cases in the state had been set Saturday with 10,351 cases. The reported number of new cases had dropped significantly from 8,196 on Sunday to …

The Texas Tribune reports: With Texas continuing to break records for new coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations this week, Gov. Greg Abbott reiterated Friday afternoon that things will continue to get worse. And if people keep flouting his new statewide mask mandate, he said, the next step could be another economic lockdown. “Things will get worse, and let me explain why,” …

CBS News reports: A growing number of sheriffs in Texas say they are refusing to follow a recent executive order requiring masks in public. Governor Greg Abbott’s mandate aims to slow the spread of coronavirus, as cases in the state soared past 200,000 on Tuesday. Police officials in at least nine counties — including Denton, Houston, Montgomery, Gillespie, Upshur, Kerr, …

San Antonio’s NBC News affiliate reports: Governor Greg Abbott’s two new executive orders about face coverings in public and gatherings of 10 people or more have begun. The new orders took affect at noon on Friday. The first order requires all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott issued a nearly statewide mask mandate Thursday as Texas scrambles to get its coronavirus surge under control. The order requires Texans living in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth while inside a business or other building open to the public, as …

The Associated Press reports: A group of Texas bar owners filed lawsuits Monday seeking to overturn Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that closed their businesses to help contain the spread of the coronavirus in Texas. Abbott has pinpointed the re-opening of bars last month as one of the sources behind a dramatic spike in new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and …