Month: March 2020

From Texas Standard: As of Monday morning, there is no statewide shelter-in-place order in Texas like the ones in New York and California. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order last week requiring bars and gyms to close and restaurants to limit service to takeout orders. But he said expanding that to shelter in place would be up to local officials. Abbott is also looking to grow the state’s supply of safety equipment for…

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is trying to knock down a series of rumors and falsehoods that have been spreading along with the coronavirus pandemic. It launched a page on its website called Coronavirus Rumor Control to fight the misinformation, as officials work to assure the public there is, in fact, no “national quarantine,” nor has FEMA has deployed “military assets.” “No, FEMA does not have military assets,” the site notes. Acting DHS Secretary Chad…

Businesses shuttered. People trapped in their homes. Normal life grinding to a halt. Neighbors helping neighbors, knowing that help may not be coming.  To Houstonians like me, this is all starting to feel very familiar. In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey dumped 1.2 trillion gallons of water on Harris County over the course of just four days, turning highways into rivers, parks into lakes, and downtown skyscrapers into moated citadels surrounded by fetid brown slurry. Around…

Federal and state governments have important roles when it comes to fighting COVID-19 in the United States, but the rubber really meets the road at the local level. In a 22 county region that includes San Antonio, that work is done by STRAC — the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council — a network of 35 hospitals and first responders. Eric Epley is STRAC’s Executive Director, and right now he’s running the show at the Regional…

This spring was supposed to be an exciting time for Xander Christou. He’s a senior in high school in Austin, Texas, and was looking forward to all the fun: prom, senior skip day and of course, graduation. But all that’s now out the window. “There’s a sense that it’s incomplete,” says Christou. The school district has closed until April 3rd and Christou says he has this feeling that a unique chapter in his life —…