TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalWith abortions restricted in Texas, many leave the state to seek care at crowded Kansas clinic
Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed the most restrictive abortion law in the country into law. The new restrictions ban abortion as soon as cardiac activity is detected in an embryo. This can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before most people even know they are pregnant.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the ban will continue to be enforced while legal challenges proceed.
Pregnant people who are unable to get an abortion in Texas due to the new restrictions are choosing to travel out of state for the procedure. While clinics in neighboring states like Oklahoma and Louisiana fill up with Texas patients, pregnant Texans are finding appointments at the Trust Women health clinic in Wichita, Kansas. Up to half of the patients at Trust Women's Wichita clinic are from out of state, with a large proportion from Texas.
The Texas Tribune visited Trust Women’s Wichita clinic to learn more about the Texans visiting the clinic and the staffers providing care. While Texans scheduled for procedures during the Tribune’s visit did not ultimately show for their appointments, workers at the clinic said that Texas patients have told them about the compounded stress of seeking an abortion outside of their home state.
Video at link: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/12/30/texas-abortion-law-kansas-clinic/
Canadian provinces tighten restrictions, limit testing, curfew in Quebec
TORONTO — Several Canadian provinces Thursday tightened restrictions amid an omicron-fueled increase in coronavirus cases that has overwhelmed testing and tracing systems and pushed the seven-day average of new cases in the country up 141 percent over the previous week.
In Quebec, the hardest-hit province, Premier François Legault announced that a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. will begin Friday. Restaurants will be limited to takeout only, and private gatherings will be barred. Places of worship must close, except for funerals no larger than 25 people.
“Our experts tell us there’s a risk that we won’t be able to treat all those who need it in the coming weeks,” Legault told reporters. “I know we’re all tired, but it’s my responsibility to protect us all from this.”
The province previously implemented a curfew in January and lifted it in May.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/30/covid-omicron-variant-live-updates/#link-5Q62E333VVB7XNQUHAXGGV2SFQ
Illinois obliterates daily COVID-19 case record with more than 30K positive tests
Public health officials on Thursday announced a staggering 30,386 new COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed statewide as the Omicron variant fuels Illinois’ largest-ever spike in positive tests.
The latest count shatters by more than 9,000 the previous state record set on Christmas Eve when more than 21,000 infections were diagnosed — and it nearly doubles the high-water mark of last fall’s surge, which had been the biggest of the pandemic.
Officials have urged residents to get fully vaccinated and boosted as the state’s hospitals face their greatest burden since Dec. 1, 2020, before any vaccines were available. Coronavirus patients were occupying 5,689 hospital beds statewide Wednesday night — nearly all of them unvaccinated, officials say. That marked a net increase of 218 patients in one day.
COVID-19 deaths are mounting as well, with 87 more confirmed Thursday. Illinois has averaged 55 deaths per day over the last week, a rate that has more than tripled in a month.
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2021/12/30/22860227/illinois-coronavirus-record-high-cases-30000-covid-omicron-vaccine-chicago
House committee says Trump privilege claim should be tossed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol said Thursday that the Supreme Court should let stand an appeals court ruling that the National Archives turn over documents from former President Donald Trump that might shed light on the events leading up to and including that day.
In a filing with the court, lawyers for the committee argued that it is within its jurisdiction to seek the information.
“Although the facts are unprecedented, this case is not a difficult one,” the lawyers said in the filing, adding, “This Court’s review is unwarranted, and the petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.”
The lawyers said, however, that if the court “nonetheless believes” a review is warranted, “the Congressional Respondents respectfully request that the case be resolved expeditiously.”
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-donald-trump-congress-b5c7a14d4d613a627bf46ac178283019
Congressman Bobby Rush tests positive for COVID-19
Congressman Bobby Rush has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced late Monday evening.
“After being notified of a recent exposure, I tested positive with a breakthrough case of COVID-19,” Rush said in a statement.
“Fortunately, I am fully vaccinated and recently received my booster shot. I am feeling fine and currently have no symptoms. I will be quarantining and following the latest guidance from the CDC and the Chicago Department of Public Health.”
Rush, 75, encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and get a booster shot as soon as possible.
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2021/12/28/22857074/congressman-bobby-rush-positive-covid-19
Best wishes for the congressman and I hope that he remains asymptomatic.
Illinois driver services facilities to shut down in January due to COVID-19 spike
Illinois driver services facilities will shut down for two weeks in early January due to the state’s record-breaking surge in COVID-19 cases.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White will put the brakes on in-person transactions from Jan. 3 through 17, White’s office announced Wednesday. Online services will be available.
The shutdown comes as the Omicron variant takes hold in the state, which has averaged an all-time high of 16,686 new coronavirus cases per day over the past week.
“The health and safety of employees and the public remains paramount, and face-to-face transactions potentially increase the further spread of the virus,” White said in a statement. “Our goal is to safely reopen all offices and driver services facilities on Jan. 18 for face-to-face transactions.”
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2021/12/29/22858871/illinois-dmv-closed-covid-driver-services-facilities-jesse-white-coronavirus
Bradley {IL} police officer killed, another critically wounded while responding to call at motel
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
A Bradley police officer was killed and another critically wounded while responding to a call at a motel Wednesday night.
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a suspect, Darius D. Sullivan, 25, and are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
The two officers were called to the Comfort Inn in the in the 1500 block of North State Highway 50 around 9:40 p.m. because dogs were barking in a car in the parking lot, according to Bradley Police Chief Donald W. Barber.
They went to the motel room where the owner of the car was believed to be and began talking to the people inside, Barber said.
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/12/30/22859734/bradley-police-officer-killed-another-critically-wounded-while-responding-to-call-at-motel
Altered title to identify the state.
Chief Cook County Judge Tim Evans requiring employees to be vaccinated
Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans is requiring all of his employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
If they haven’t already, employees must at least get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within the next three weeks, Evans said. There is no deadline for employees to receive their second dose, nor are employees required to get a booster shot if they’ve been vaccinated.
Last summer, 90% of the office’s 2,600 employees self-reported they had already received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, an Evans’ spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Evans’ employees include court reporters, administrative staff and workers at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.
Judges — elected officials — are not considered employees and therefore, are exempt from the vaccine mandate.
Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/metro-state/2021/12/29/22858449/cook-county-court-employees-required-vaccinated
Conservation groups win Forest Service challenge to elk, grizzly habitat in Helena National Forest
In what two conservation groups are calling a victory for the average hunter wanting hunting access for elk, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council have won a lawsuit against the United States Forest Service to halt commercial logging and road building on public lands near Lincoln.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, the lawsuit in part was a plea to listen to concerns about the elk habitat on public lands and protection for grizzly bears in the Helena National Forest.
The challenge in federal court centered on elk habitat and population numbers, claiming that additional logging and road construction in the forest would only continue to negatively affect both elk and grizzly population and contradicted the Forest Service’s own plan, which includes boosting the number of elk that spend summer and fall on the Lincoln Ranger District.
Mike Garrity, executive director of Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said this particular lawsuit was essential to keep public opportunity for elk hunting. He said that from 1986, when the original Helena Forest Plan was adopted, to 2013, the number of elk spending time on private property has greatly increased, and the population has grown. However, because of the activity in the Blackfoot area near Lincoln, the elk population has not increased, limiting the availability of most Montanans who do not have a guide or access to private land.
Read more: https://dailymontanan.com/2021/12/29/conservation-groups-win-forest-service-challenge-to-elk-grizzly-habitat-in-helena-national-forest/
Jacobsen says new election system 'not ready'
Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen announced Monday that the state will hold off on its transition to a new statewide election management system, indicating in a statement that the system has not met all the criteria required for a previously slated January launch. The decision, made in consultation with a third-party vendor and a group of county election administrators, resolves for now a concern voiced by local election officials about the integrity of the upcoming 2022 elections.
“If the established criteria had been met, the system would have been implemented,” Jacobsen, a Republican, said in her statement. “Montana will not launch an election management system that isn’t ready, and it’s not ready.”
Monday’s announcement came on the heels of a detailed discussion last Thursday, when Jacobsen and her staff updated the Legislature’s State Administration and Veterans’ Affairs (SAVA) Committee on the transition to a new election system, which is called ElectMT. During that meeting, SOS Elections and Voter-Services Manager Stuart Fuller, who is heading the project, explained that in end-to-end testing of ElectMT this month, “some of the system simply didn’t pass.” Fuller added that some individual functions that didn’t pass testing weren’t critical to the decision about whether to launch ElectMT, “but there are several that are critical for go-live.”
The state’s current election system, Montana Votes, was first launched statewide during the 2006 general election after nearly four years of development and testing. County election officials use it for a wide array of voter services, from registering voters and updating voter information to distributing and processing ballots, and will continue to do so as ElectMT development moves forward.
Read more: https://montanafreepress.org/2021/12/20/montana-election-system-transition-delayed/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
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