March 31, 2020

Immediate shelter-in-place order issued at apartment complex in The Woodlands after 12 residents

Immediate shelter-in-place order issued at apartment complex in The Woodlands after 12 residents test positive for COVID-19


THE WOODLANDS, Texas — An immediate shelter-in-place order was issued for an apartment complex in The Woodlands after a dozen residents tested positive for COVID-19.

No one will be allowed to enter or leave The Conservatory at Alden Bridge, which is an apartment complex for people who are 55 and older, until April 13.

Until 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, residents will be allowed to leave the facility if they want to stay at another place while in self-isolation. If they leave, the residents can not return until the order expires, whether it be on April 13 or a later date.

Here are the details of the order:

1. No one shall enter or exit the address or individual living units at this address: 6203 Alden Bridge Dr. The Woodlands, TX 77382. The only exemptions to this order are personnel required to maintain the facility, food services, medical professionals, caregivers, or law enforcement.

2. Until 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, residents may leave the facility in order to stay in another household provided they continue to self-isolate. All individuals located in the household where the resident has relocated must also self-isolate for the duration of this order.

3. Residents who choose to leave the facility shall not return until this order expires on April 13, 2020, unless revised and/or extended by County Judge.

Read more: https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/immediate-shelter-in-place-order-issued-at-apartment-complex-in-the-woodlands-after-12-residents-test-positive-for-covid-19/285-8c1bd9f2-a59e-4b2c-a4c7-91db001a520b

March 31, 2020

Neiman Marcus to furlough most of its 14,000 employees

Neiman Marcus says it will furlough most of its 14,000 employees from April 5 through April 30 while it continues health care benefits.

The Dallas-based luxury retailer, which also operates Bergdorf Goodman and Horchow, said it will reassess the decision late next month.

The people staying on staff are taking pay cuts, including CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck, who is waiving 100% of his salary in April. Others who report to him are also waiving a “significant amount” of their salaries, the company said.

Neiman Marcus stores have been closed since March 18, and the company had said it would pay wages and salaries through April 4. The furlough begins after that and is considered a temporary, unpaid separation.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2020/03/30/neiman-marcus-to-furlough-most-of-its-14000-employees/

March 31, 2020

Coronavirus fallout slams Texas manufacturers

Output by Texas factories has slumped an unprecedented amount in recent weeks — contracting to its lowest point in nearly a dozen years — as economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic slams the manufacturing sector, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

“We are looking at the possibility of heavy losses for the coming months until the national health emergency stabilizes,” one executive of a metals manufacturer told the Dallas Fed in its March anonymous survey.

“The business disruption due to (the virus) is causing cancellations and holds from a majority of large customers,” the executive said.

The state production index, a barometer of Texas manufacturing conditions devised by the Dallas Fed through its monthly surveys, registered negative 35.3 for March — a 52-point plunge from 16.4 last month and its lowest level since the most recent recession, from late 2007 to mid 2009. Positive readings in the index indicate expansion, while negative readings indicate contraction.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/business/20200330/coronavirus-fallout-slams-texas-manufacturers

March 31, 2020

Jimmy Kimmel's Quarantine Minilogue - Formal Friday with Will Arnett & Guillermo

March 30, 2020

Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas' ban on abortions during coronavirus pandemic

Source: Texas Tribune

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked Texas' ban on abortions, a prohibition state officials said was necessary to preserve medical resources during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ruling came less than a week after Texas abortion providers announced a lawsuit against top state officials, challenging Attorney General Ken Paxton's assertion that Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning all procedures deemed to be not medically necessary should be interpreted to include abortions.

The court granted the abortion providers’ motion to temporarily block the state from enforcing the order, which was set to expire April 21, as it relates to abortions. The temporary restraining order will expire April 13.

“Regarding a woman's right to a pre-fetal-viability abortion, the Supreme Court has spoken clearly,” wrote U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel. “There can be no outright ban on such a procedure.”

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/03/30/texas-attempt-ban-abortions-during-coronavirus-blocked-judge/

March 30, 2020

Florida officials seek arrest for megachurch pastor who violated distancing orders

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff on Monday sought an arrest warrant for the pastor of a megachurch after officials said he held two services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a news conference Monday that he was negotiating with the attorney of Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne to turn himself in to authorities in Hernando County, where he lives. Chronister added that the pastor has “an arsenal of weaponry” and “a vast security force."

“We're allowing him to turn himself in. If he doesn't, then we're going to be forced to be police officers and go get him, and law enforcement is highly trained to handle it appropriately," the sheriff said.

Chronister said his command staff met with The River at Tampa Bay Church leaders about the danger they are putting themselves — and their congregation — in by not maintaining appropriate social distancing, but Howard-Browne held the services. The Sheriff's Office also placed a digital sign on the road near the church driveway that said “practice social distancing.”

Read more: https://www.journalnow.com/news/trending/florida-officials-seek-arrest-for-megachurch-pastor-who-violated-distancing/article_b2146eab-144c-583f-9484-1b4bb30e9c9a.html
(Winston-Salem Journal)

March 30, 2020

Deadline for REAL ID extended by a year because of coronavirus outbreak

The deadline to get a REAL ID has been extended by a year, federal officials said.

Fort Bragg officials had encouraged residents who go on post to get the new identification. READ ID was expected to be required for visitors, who have to get a pass to go on Fort Bragg.

A law regarding the new form of identification had been expected to go into effect Oct. 1. The requirement is not going to apply to those with a military or federal ID.

Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement posted on the department’s website Thursday that because of the coronavirus outbreak, the enforcement deadline for REAL ID was being extended. The extension is for a year, to Oct. 1, 2021, he said.

Read more: https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20200328/deadline-for-real-id-extended-by-year-because-of-coronavirus-outbreak
(Fayettesville Observer)

March 30, 2020

'Parks were packed.' Charlotte crowds collide with stay-at-home order, health director warns

Mecklenburg County Health Director Gibbie Harris slammed the lack of social distancing in Charlotte’s parks this weekend, as county officials announced the first local death from COVID-19 likely arose from “community spread” of the disease.

Greater restrictions may be needed to enforce distance rules in outdoor spaces, Harris said Sunday during a news conference. Few details were released about the person who died. Harris said the number of cases and deaths can be reduced if residents follow stay-at-home orders and stay six feet or more away from other people.

“Yesterday, our parks were packed with people. Social distancing was not even an option,” Harris said at Sunday’s press conference. “These are presenting situations where we will see individuals exposed in ways that are against our stay-at-home order.”

Under Mecklenburg’s stay-at-home order, residents are “allowed to go out and exercise, but we have emphasized that people need to be six feet apart. Social-distancing is critical in this situation, and the parks — there were way more people than — you couldn’t social-distance even if you wanted to,” Harris said.

Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article241602261.html

March 30, 2020

Shall we gather at the drive-in? NC church holds Sunday service in theater parking lot.

Standing on an outdoor stage and the promise that a church is not its building, Pastor Will Breedlove invited the people of Henderson’s Harriett Baptist for services Sunday morning in the parking lot of a drive-in movie theater in town.

And whenever the words of his sermon moved their spirits, the people honked their vehicle horns and said, “Amen.”

“I just wanted to be able to gather and keep people safe,” Breedlove said before the 11 a.m service at the Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre. His earlier service, at 9:30 a.m., drew a full house under the current rule: no more than 50 people total, with church volunteers in orange vests directing traffic to park only in every other spot.

For good measure, congregants were instructed to keep their car windows closed and listen to the service through their car radios, via the tiny FM station the theater uses to provide audio for movies.

Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article241604316.html

March 30, 2020

Pandemic puts extra financial strain on rural North Carolina hospitals

Preparing for coronavirus patients is increasing the financial strain on rural hospitals, some already struggling to stay open.

Many smaller rural hospitals in North Carolina mirror their larger, metro-area counterparts in preparing for coronavirus patients: making plans to add ICU beds, examining staffing requirements, and preserving gloves, masks and gowns.

But the official government request to restrict elective surgeries during the pandemic could add to rural hospitals’ financial pain, said Dr. Roxie Wells, president of Hoke Healthcare.

“Immediate funding is needed given the request from [the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services] to suspend elective surgeries,” she said in an email Tuesday. “In many instances, a rural hospital’s bottom line is inextricably tied to the ability to perform elective surgeries.”

Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article241462756.html
(Raleigh News & Observer)