TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalJack Page, longtime legislator representing Gadsden, dies at 70
Former Alabama House of Representatives member John “Jack” Page III, who represented the Gadsden area for 17 years, died Monday in a local hospital, Alabama House Public Information Officer Clay Redden said Tuesday.
Page was 70 and had been in poor health since surgery in June. He recently contracted the COVID-19 virus, said his former wife, Rebecca Gray Page.
Page was a member of the Gadsden City Council when he was elected to the House in a special election in 1993 to succeed the late June Bugg. He was a Democrat and was reelected four times, but he lost the 2010 general election to Republican Becky Nordgren of Gadsden.
“Jack, as long as I knew him, was a public servant, and he did his best for his community,” Becky Page said. She said she and her former husband remained friends after a divorce.
Read more: https://www.gadsdentimes.com/story/news/2020/12/15/former-legislator-jack-page-dies/3915113001/
Down to 17 ICU beds, Dallas County posts record 2,512 coronavirus cases and -- yet again -- 30 deaths
Dallas County on Wednesday reported a record 2,512 coronavirus cases, all of them considered new. And, just like the day before, 30 new COVID-19 deaths also were announced.
It’s the sixth time this year, the fourth time this month and the third time in the last four days that the county has posted a single-day death tally of 30 from the virus.
Meanwhile, Texas also reported a record one-day case total — 22,590 — and nearly 300 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins warned in a prepared statement that as of Wednesday the county had only 17 ICU beds remaining — “the worst we’ve seen so far,” he wrote.
“If we reach the predicted worst-case scenarios, we will surpass our capacity,” Jenkins said, noting projections from UT Southwestern Medical Center that the county could post as many as 2,700 cases and 1,500 hospitalizations a day by Jan. 5.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2020/12/23/tarrant-county-reports-1702-new-covid-19-cases-11-deaths/
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto does not close the door on a 2024 candidacy
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto said Tuesday that she does not rule out returning to the political arena in Puerto Rico by 2024.
“I do not rule out returning to elective politics in 2024 in Puerto Rico, but I can say now that if I do so, it would be for one of two, for representative at-large or for resident commissioner, seeking alliances from the Popular Democratic Party with the Citizen Victory Movement party and the Puerto Rican Independence Party, and I say it without fear,” Cruz Soto said at a press conference.
For now, the mayor only mentioned that she accepted a job offer at a university in Massachusetts, without revealing which one.
“I already accepted an offer at a prestigious university in the United States,” she said. “I can not say the name yet. It is in Massachusetts. They are going to make, when they determine, the announcement. That offer is for two main things. One is to write a book.”
Read more: https://www.sanjuandailystar.com/post/cruz-soto-does-not-close-the-door-on-a-2024-candidacy
U.S. Customs And Border Protection Breaks Up Human Trafficking Ring Near Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says crews from its Caribbean Air and Marine Branch (CAMB) have collaborated with federal and local law enforcement partners in disrupting a human smuggling attempt in the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Rico, resulting in the capture and repatriation of 15 individuals.
The CBP said a Caribbean-based DHC-8 aircrew on recent patrol detected a suspicious single-engine yola-type vessel operating without navigational lights off the coast of Puerto Rico.
It said the crew “maintained surveillance and vectored in two Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) Marine Unit (FURA) crews to interdict.”
According to the CBP, local marine authorities apprehended 15 individuals, seized the vessel and then contacted the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to assist.
Read more: https://vifreepress.com/2020/12/u-s-customs-and-border-protection-breaks-up-human-trafficking-ring-near-puerto-rico/
U.S. Virgin Islands Named Destination of the Year by Leading Caribbean Travel Online Magazine
The U.S. Virgin Islands has received the “Destination of the Year” award from Caribbean Journal, a digital Caribbean travel news publication.
The USVI captured the top spot in the 7th edition of the “Caribbean Travel Awards”, while The Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas was named “Caribbean Hotel of the Year”.
The luxury resort, which reopened in November 2019 following a period of extensive enhancements after the 2017 hurricanes, was recognized for its continued high level of service despite the challenges presented by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It was also lauded by Caribbean Journal's editors for “setting a new standard for health, safety and Caribbean hospitality in the process.”
"These accolades from Caribbean Journal validate the passionate efforts of our entire team as we continue to work around the clock to promote safe travel and to welcome visitors to our islands," said Joseph Boschulte, Dept. of Tourism commissioner. "As we continue to carefully navigate the pandemic, we are very hopeful to see a full rebound of our bread-and-butter tourism industry in 2021 and beyond.”
Read more: https://viconsortium.com/vi-experience_the_usvi/virgin-islands-u-s-virgin-islands-named-destination-of-the-year-by-leading-virgin_islands-travel-online-magazine-
Peter Hotez On Texas' Vaccine Rollout, Junk Science And The Risk Of A New Virus 'Type'
Texans are starting to receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and it can’t come soon enough as a new, and potentially more infectious version of the coronavirus, was recently detected in Britain.
Dr. Peter Hotez is one of Texas’ leaders in the worldwide effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. He told Texas Standard that large-scale vaccinations will help turn the tide of the pandemic, but misinformation, complicated government protocols and confusing communication about the risk of new “lineages” of the virus create roadblocks to public health. Hotez is dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and is co-director of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.
Hotez was vaccinated last week, and supports political figures, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who are receiving the vaccine earlier than most because it sets an example.
“We need Republican leaders that are out there getting vaccinated. I think that’s really important. And this all comes out of this kind of fake health freedom, fake medical freedom movement that really began – it’s a national movement now, but it largely began in Texas around 2015. That’s when you saw the anti-vaccine, anti-science groups like Texans for Vaccine Choice really gain ascendancy. So I’m actually quite supportive of the governor getting vaccinated in a public way,” Hotez said.
Read more: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/in-depth-peter-hotez-on-texas-vaccine-rollout-junk-science-and-the-risk-of-a-new-virus-type/
U.S. judge again blocks new Arkansas abortion restrictions
LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge in Little Rock has temporarily blocked four new abortion restrictions hours after they took effect in Arkansas, including one that bans a procedure commonly used in the second trimester.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker late Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the four laws, which took effect earlier in the day. The order is set to expire on Jan. 5, unless it is extended.
Baker had issued a similar ruling in 2017 blocking the four laws, but the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated that order in August, saying the case needed to be reconsidered in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision involving a Louisiana case.
"Arkansas has repeatedly prevailed when it has appealed similar rulings by Judge Baker and will ultimately do so again," Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement.
Read more: https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2020/dec/24/us-judge-again-blocks-new-arkansas-abortion-restrictions/853790/
Wolf seeks $145M fund shift to help businesses with pandemic
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday proposed spending $145 million in reserves from a worker's compensation fund to help the hardest-hit businesses cope with the raging coronavirus pandemic.
The Democratic governor's plan requires a vote from the Republican-majority Legislature to appropriate the money, and there has been no deal to accomplish that.
Wolf said he wants the money to go out in the form of grants to businesses that have been most harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, among them restaurants, bars and gyms.
During an online news conference, Wolf said people were worn out by the pandemic, even as vaccines are starting to be administered.
Read more: https://theeagle.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/wolf-seeks-145m-fund-shift-to-help-businesses-with-pandemic/article_fff982ce-4d8e-500f-981d-edecdcf1ae49.html
(Bryan-College Station Eagle)
Austin-Travis County moves to Stage 5 of coronavirus threat; tightest restrictions urged
Austin health officials on Wednesday, wary of a growing surge in coronavirus cases ahead of Christmas and New Year’s Day, recommended that the community be placed under the tightest pandemic restrictions so far this year.
The move to Stage 5 of Austin Public Health's risk-based guidelines, which include calls to scale back customer capacity at businesses and for little or no travel, comes as data show a steady increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
Stage 5 guidelines recommend that restaurants close all indoor dining and keep outdoor dining to 50% capacity. Businesses and restaurants are also urged to switch to delivery and takeout only.
Retail stores are urged to limit capacity to 50%.
Officials on Wednesday said they hope to avoid implementing a curfew for the area.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2020/12/23/austin-travis-county-moves-stage-5-coronavirus-restrictions/4024400001/
The Year Newspaper Unions Roared Back to Life in Texas
In mid-February, a coterie of newspaper higher-ups from around the country gathered at the Omni hotel in downtown Fort Worth for an affair ostentatiously called the Key Executives Mega-Conference. During one presentation, a Chicago-based employment attorney, Michael Rybicki, warned of a rising tide of organized labor in the news business.
“I don’t want to sound like Chicken Little, but I can tell you there has never been the level of union drives in the newspaper industry in my over 40 years than there has been today,” Rybicki said, according to a writeup of his talk by the industry group America’s Newspapers. “The confident prediction that unions are going away was wrong. … So be afraid of union organizing.”
Rybicki’s alarm stemmed from a wave of newsroom organizing that kicked off in 2015 and has spread from all-digital outlets like Gawker to ink-stained stalwarts like the Los Angeles Times. Around the country, corporations and private equity firms have slashed journalists’ pay and benefits and drained the industry of veteran expertise—a trend that intensified as the COVID-19 pandemic vaporized advertising dollars. Nationally, more than 11,000 newsroom jobs vanished in just the first half of this year. Meanwhile, the industry continues to be much whiter than the communities it serves. In response, journalists began demanding a seat at the decision-making table.
In February, the union wave had yet to breach newsrooms in the pro-business Lone Star State. In fact, Texas hadn’t seen a union newspaper since the San Antonio Light shuttered in 1993. For bosses, in other words, the sky showed little sign of falling. But by year’s end two of the state’s major papers would be unionized, including the daily in Cowtown, where Rybicki had issued his admonition. A third paper would be on its way. 2020, it turned out, would be the year newspaper unions roared back to life in Texas.
Read more: https://www.texasobserver.org/the-year-newspaper-unions-roared-back-to-life-in-texas/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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