MRT: Abbott Orders Texans in Most Counties to Wear Masks; Criminal Complaint Claims Guillen Killed at Fort Hood; TX GOP to Host In-Person Convention
Here's What You Need to Know in Texas Today.
MustReadTexas.com – @MustReadTexas
BY: @MattMackowiak
FRIDAY – 07/03/20
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There was too much news to take today off. This will be an abbreviated morning email.
Have a wonderful July 4th holiday.
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Early voting in the Republican and Democratic primary runoffs is underway and runs through July 10. The runoff is Tuesday, July 14.
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TOP NEWS
"Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texans in most counties to wear masks in public,"The Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek -- "Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide mask mandate Thursday as Texas scrambles to get its coronavirus surge under control.
The order requires Texans living in counties more than 20 coronavirus cases to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth while in a business or other building open to the public, as well as outdoor public spaces, whenever social distancing is not possible. But it provides several exceptions, including for children who are younger than 10 years old, people who have a medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask, people who are eating or drinking, and people who are exercising outdoors.
The mask order goes into effect at 12:01 p.m. Friday. It immediately applies to all Texas counties, but counties with 20 or fewer active cases can be exempted — if they opt out. County judges must submit an application to be exempted to the Texas Division of Emergency Management. TDEM will list the counties that have opted out on its website.
Later Thursday, in an interview with Univision in Dallas, Abbott also signaled he might be rethinking plans to open the state's public schools for in-person classes this fall, after state officials said last month that it would be safe.
“If COVID is so serious, it may mean that students are having to learn from home through a distance learning program, something like the use of Zoom or FaceTime or other strategies where a teacher in real time will have the means to speak with a student, a student will be able to speak with other students, and it will replicate the class setting as much as possible,” he said.
State officials have delayed the release of public health guidelines for in-person instruction as cases have continued to rise. But a draft version last month showed they were planning to leave safety regulations up to individual school districts instead of issuing mandates.
The mask order represents a remarkable turnaround for Abbott, who has long resisted a statewide requirement, even as the coronavirus situation has gotten worse than ever over the past couple of weeks in Texas. When he began allowing Texas businesses to reopen this spring, Abbott prohibited local governments from punishing people who do not wear masks. As cases began to rise earlier this month, heclarified that cities and counties could order businesses to mandate that customers wear masks.
In recent days, Abbott had held firm against going further than that, saying he did not want to impose a statewide requirement that may burden parts of the state that are not as badly affected by the outbreak.
Along with the mask order, Abbott on Thursday also banned certain outdoor gatherings of over 10 people unless local officials approve. He had previously set the threshold at over 100 people. The new prohibition also goes into effect Friday afternoon.
Abbott's latest moves come ahead of Fourth of July weekend, which has raised concerns about larger-than-usual crowds gathering while the state grapples with the virus spike.
Abbott alsoreleased a video message Thursday, saying the latest coronavirus numbers in the state "reveal a very stark reality."
"COVID-19 is not going away," he said. "In fact, it’s getting worse. Now, more than ever, action by everyone is needed until treatments are available for COVID-19."
In the video, Abbott reiterated his resistance to returning the state to the roughly monthlong stay-at-home order he issued in April. He said Texans "must do more to slow the spread without locking Texas back down." He also said his latest announcement is "not a stay-at-home order" but "just recognizes reality: If you don't go out, you are less likely to encounter someone who has COVID-19."
"We are now at a point where the virus is spreading so fast there is little margin for error," Abbott said.
Abbott's announcement came a day after the number of new daily cases in Texas, as well as hospitalizations, reached new highs again. There were 8,076 new cases Wednesday, over 1,000 cases more than the record set the previous day.
Hospitalizations hit 6,904, setting a new record for the third straight day. The state says 12,894 beds are still available, as well as 1,322 ICU beds.
Abbott has been particularly worried about the positivity rate, or the share of tests that come back positive. That rate, presented by the state as a seven-day average, has jumped above its previous high of about 14% in recent days, ticking down to 13.58% on Tuesday. That is still above the 10% threshold that Abbott has long said would be cause for alarm amid the reopening process.
First-time offenders of Abbott's order will receive a written or oral warning. Those who violate the order a second time will receive a fine of up to $250. Every subsequent violation is also punishable by a fine of up to $250. The order specifies that no one can get jail time for a violation.
After listing several exceptions to the mask requirement, Abbott’s order specifies that at least one group of people is not exempted from the order: “any person attending a protest or demonstration” with over 10 people who cannot socially distance. Like other states, Texas has seen massive protests since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody." Texas Tribune
"Complaint: Missing Texas soldier was killed at Fort Hood,"AP's Acacia Coronado -- "Federal and military investigators said Thursday a soldier missing since April was killed by a fellow soldier stationed at the same Texas base. The revelation followed demands for the Army to release details about its investigation of the disappearance.
A criminal complaint released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas charges a civilian with helping hide the body of 20-year-old solider Vanessa Guillen. The document, prepared in conjunction with the Army Criminal Investigative Command and the FBI, says the civilian helped the other soldier get rid of evidence after he bludgeoned Guillen with a hammer at Fort Hood in Central Texas and later dismembered and dumped the body.
Human remains were found Tuesday near the Leon River in Bell County, about 20 miles east of Fort Hood, in the search for Guillen. Her family said through attorney Natalie Khawam that they believe evidence shows the remains are Guillen, but authorities said they are still awaiting positive identification.
“The whole thing is devastating, gruesome, barbaric,” Khawam said.
The Army said Wednesday that the soldier suspected in Guillen’s disappearance had killed himself.
In a press conference Thursday, the Army identified the soldier suspected in Guillen’s disappearance as Aaron David Robinson. Army investigators declined to comment further on the details of Guillen’s case, saying they did not want to compromise the ongoing investigation.
The criminal complaint released later Thursday said the civilian arrested in connection to the Guillen case is Cecily Aguilar, 22, of Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood. Aguilar faces one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence.
Robinson enlisted Aguilar to help him dispose of Guillen’s body, according to the complaint. Aguilar later recognized Guillen, the complaint says, and helped Robinson mutilate and hide her body.
Aguilar was arrested Wednesday and was being held Thursday in the Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas, according to booking records. It was unclear whether she had an attorney to speak on her behalf.
Khawam said the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division told her Robinson cleaned up the area where Guillen was killed, placed her body in a container and wheeled her out to his car. After driving to pick up Aguilar, Khawam said, the pair drove to a nearby river and tried to burn Guillen’s body, but later chopped it up with a machete. Then, they put cement on the body and buried the remains.
Tim Miller, of Texas Equusearch, who was assisting in the search for Guillen, told KHOU that investigators found a lid last week that belonged to a container consistent with one a witness saw loaded into a car at 8:30 the night Guillen disappeared.
Investigators were called back to the scene this week when a man working in the area reported a foul odor. Miller said it appeared the suspect “buried her, put lime on her, mixed up concrete, put that over her, put dirt over her, rocks and stuff.”
The family had said they believe Guillen was sexually harassed by the military suspect and is calling for a congressional investigation, Khawam said Wednesday.
Guillen’s older sister, Mayra Guillen, told The Associated Press on Thursday that her family was distraught after learning details about her sister’s disappearance. The family had previously said they believe the Army was covering up details of Vanessa Guillen’s disappearance.
“There are a lot of horrifying things that happened that day,” said Mayra Guillen, 22. “There are just no words.””
Mayra Guillen said her sister had spoken with their mother about experiencing sexual harassment, but that her mother has been to devastated to talk about it. From their text conversations, Mayra Guillen said she believed her sister was afraid during her time at Fort Hood.
Army investigators said Thursday that they had no credible evidence that Vanessa Guillen had been sexually harassed or assaulted.
“We are still investigating their interactions but at this time there is no credible information for reports that specialist Robinson sexually harassed specialist Guillen,” said Fort Hood CID Special Agent Damon Phelps.
Guillen was last seen April 22 in a parking lot at Fort Hood. She was set to be promoted to specialist this month. Her car keys, barracks room key, ID card and wallet were found in the room where she was working the day she disappeared.
Authorities said Wednesday that Robinson, 20, of Calumet City, Illinois, a Chicago suburb on the Indiana border, pulled a gun and shot himself as police were trying to make contact with him.
The Army CID and the League of United Latin American Citizens offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Guillen’s whereabouts." AP
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
"Audit criticizes Houston police unit tied to fatal drug raid,"AP's Juan A. Lozano -- "An audit of a Houston Police Department narcotics unit that’s been under scrutiny following a deadly 2019 drug raid found that officers made hundreds of errors in cases, often weren’t thorough in their investigations, lacked supervision and overpaid informants for the seizure of minuscule amounts of drugs.
A group of state lawmakers who had been fighting for months for the audit’s release criticized the report, calling it a “scam” for not detailing the systematic problems within the unit and the police department that ultimately led to the January 2019 drug raid in which Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, 58, were killed.
“This was not a single rogue officer. This was not even a single rogue unit. This was an entire rogue division. This is an entire branch of the Houston police department that just did whatever it felt like doing,” state Rep. Gene Wu said Friday.
A Houston police spokesman said Chief Art Acevedo and the department were not expected to comment on the audit.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Thursday the audit looked at the narcotics unit with a “very critical eye” and Houston police have since “stepped up and already made a number of revisions.”
The 66-page audit reviewed the work of two former members of the narcotics unit — Gerald Goines and Steven Bryant —along with the work of squads within the unit. Goines and Bryant have previously been charged in state and federal court in the case, including two counts of felony murder filed in state court against Goines for the deaths of the couple.
The audit found more than 400 errors in cases from the three years leading up to the raid that were handled by Goines and Bryant.
Some of the errors the audit tied to Goines included not getting approval for informant payments, missing documentation regarding the payment of informants and overpaying informants.
Goines’ use of informants has been one of the key issues that’s been investigated in the deadly raid.
Prosecutors had previously accused Goines, 55, of lying to obtain the warrant to search the home of Tuttle and his wife by claiming that a confidential informant had bought heroin there. Goines later said there was no informant and that he had bought the drugs himself, they allege. Five officers, including Goines, were injured in the raid.
Nicole DeBorde, Goines’ attorney, said Friday she couldn’t immediately comment as she was still reviewing the audit.
The audit also reviewed the work of officers in four squads within the narcotics unit and found they had made over 700 errors in cases from the two years leading up to the raid.
One squad was cited for not being thorough in their investigations as officers “failed to document pertinent details in the offense report, such as who was present, location of the evidence, and other information that would aid the prosecution.”
Some officers took up to a year to turn in completed reports. Officers and supervisors normally have 15 days to complete case paperwork and turn it in, according to the audit.
Acevedo had declined to release the audit, arguing it would harm an ongoing investigation by prosecutors.
But after Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg on Wednesday announced new charges against Goines, Bryant and four other former officers, Houston released the audit on its Twitter page later that evening." AP
"Defying mayor, VIA board launches pursuit of San Antonio sales tax vote in November,"The San Antonio Express-News' Scott Huddleston -- "After months of back-and-forth negotiations, arguments over budget projections and occasional frustration, the VIA Metropolitan Transit board decided Thursday to ask San Antonio voters in November for an additional 1/8-cent-per-dollar sales tax to support public transportation.
It was an explicit rejection of the advice and wishes of Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who said he would keep trying to talk the board out of it.
In a brief meeting and with little discussion, the board unanimously supported a resolution, ahead of Monday’s required deadline, to give notice to the city of San Antonio and Bexar County of its intent to place the item on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Their action requires another board vote no later than Aug. 17.
Board Chairwoman Hope Andrade said board members tried in recent days to secure a better commitment from the city to financially support public transit. She said the timing was critical, with the community reeling from COVID-19 and its economic effects, to address a funding inequity that dates to 1977, when VIA was created to operate with a half-cent sales tax, not the full 1 cent authorized by the Legislature.
“If we do not act now, we may not have the opportunity again. Not in May (2021), not in a generation,” Andrade said. “The choice should belong to the voters.”
Nirenberg said he supports public transit, but the coronavirus has generated competing concerns. He said he will join other city officials in efforts to persuade the VIA board not to act before the August deadline.
“I do not support the decision to put a transit election on this November ballot, so I hope that between now and Aug. 17 we can come to an agreement that addresses the needs of a community that has been rocked by this pandemic,” Nirenberg said in a statement.
Despite having a non-binding assurance that the city would provide $10 million annually through 2025 to help keep the transit company viable, and lacking an endorsement for a referendum from Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, VIA board members said the election should proceed this year.
It was urgent, they said, to ask voters for the only feasible funding option for transportation services crucial to an economic recovery.
Wolff, who has been a strong advocate of transit, disagreed. but said he was hopeful city and VIA officials could reach a workable agreement in the coming weeks.
“The timing is really, really difficult,” Wolff said. “I think they need to keep talking to the mayor and try to reach some kind of compromise. They still have time to reason with him and see what they can work out. But November is a pretty dicey time to try to do it. Who knows where we’re going to be in November?”
Andrade said the transit agency needs more financial resources to serve Bexar County’s working class and address inequities that formed long before the pandemic.
“They are the ones local recovery plans are designed to assist,” she said. “This is not about filling a budget hole created by COVID-19. It is about closing the opportunity gaps created by 40 years of chronic under-funding.”" San Antonio Express-News
2020
"Texas Republicans to host in-person convention despite coronavirus surge,"Reuters' Brad Brooks -- "The Executive Committee of the Texas Republican Party voted on Thursday to push ahead and have their state convention in person this month despite a surge in coronavirus cases in Houston, where it will take place.
The committee voted 40 to 20 to host the meeting that about 6,000 people are expected to attend in Houston’s George R. Brown convention center in just over two weeks.
During a lengthy virtual meeting, those opposed to hosting the convention in person said it would endanger older delegates and would disenfranchise many people who would not go out of fear of the virus. About 50% of state delegates who would normally attend have already said they would not go.
But committee members backing the in-person convention said it was a question of personal liberty and canceling it or moving it online would set a terrible precedent for the Republican National Convention, which President Donald Trump has said will take place in person in Florida next month.
“Texas maintained our in-person convention process through World War Two, we met together after our 9/11 terrorist attacks despite the danger in the air,” said executive committee member David Covey.
Another committee member, Dr. Robin Armstrong, who spoke from a Houston hospital where he was treating COVID-19 patients, said he supported an in-person convention because of the opportunity to pull it off safely.
“We can be a great example of how we can successfully get this done,” Armstrong said.
The Texas Republican Party has been under pressure to cancel their convention or host it virtually.
The Texas Medical Association, a sponsor of the convention, had urged Republicans not to hold it, and after the committee’s vote, it said it was withdrawing its sponsorship.
“An indoor gathering of thousands of people from all around the state in a city with tens of thousands of active COVID-19 cases poses a significant health risk to conventiongoers, convention workers, health care workers, and the residents of Houston,” said the association’s president, Dr. Diana Fite.
Delegates will return to communities across the state, potentially spreading it in areas where there have been few cases, she said.
But several executive committee members said the party should not bow to the pressure.
“In the name of liberty, which right now seems to be in short supply in our state, I say we have our convention in Houston,” said committee member Jill Glover.
Others said the people criticizing them for wanting to host the convention were the same people who supported protests for racial equality that saw thousands gather in cities across the country.
James Dickey, the chairman of the Republican Party in Texas, said before the meeting that measures were being taken to try to host a safe convention, including free masks, hand sanitizer and encouraging people to distance as much as possible." Reuters
"U.S. Supreme Court won't fast-track Texas Democrats' bid to expand mail-in voting during pandemic,"The Texas Tribune's Emma Platoff -- "The U.S. Supreme Court won’t fast-track a bid by Texas Democrats to decide whether all Texas voters can vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, leaving in place the state’s current regulations for the July 14 primary runoff election.
But the case, which now returns to a lower court, could be back before the Supreme Court before the higher-stakes, larger-turnout general election in November. Texas law allows voters to mail in their ballots only if they are 65 or older, confined in jail, will be out of the county during the election period, or cite a disability or illness. But Texas Democrats have argued that voters who are susceptible to contracting the new coronavirus should be able to vote by mail as the pandemic continues to ravage the state.
Thursday's one-line, unsigned order denying the Democrats' effort to get a quick ruling comes a week after another minor loss for them at the high court. On June 26, the Supreme Court declined to reinstate a federal judge's order that would immediately expand voting by mail to all Texas voters during the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesperson for the Texas Democratic Party, which brought the case, said the party will “continue to fight tooth and nail for everybody’s right to vote.”
“All Texans should have clarity on how they can cast their ballot in the November elections,” said spokesperson Abhi Rahman.
Since the new coronavirus began to disrupt daily life in Texas and across the country, there has been a flurry of litigation in both state and federal courts over who can vote by mail and under what circumstances. Already, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that a lack of immunity to the virus does not qualify a voter to apply for a mail-in-ballot.
That’s left Texas Democrats to pin their hopes on the ongoing federal lawsuit. A federal judge ruled in May that all voters qualified for mail-in ballots during the pandemic, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals quickly put that ruling on hold. The case now heads back to that court, which is known for its politically conservative bent." Texas Tribune
"Donald Trump holds narrow lead over Joe Biden in Texas, UT poll finds,"The Texas Tribune's Ross Ramsey -- "President Donald Trump would beat former Vice President Joe Biden in Texas by 4 percentage points if the election were held today, according to a new poll from the University of Texas and the Texas Politics Project.
The Republican incumbent’s narrow lead four months before the election suggests Texas, a state where no Democratic presidential candidate has prevailed since 1976, is competitive in 2020.
The poll found 48% of Texas registered voters support Trump, while 44% support Biden. Partisans are sticking with their nominees at this point, with 91% of Republicans saying they’d vote for Trump and 93% of Democrats supporting Biden. Among self-identified independent voters, Trump holds a 41-27 edge over his challenger.
Men favor Trump, 53-41, while women favor Biden, 48-43. Among white voters, 59% favor Trump, while 79% of Black voters favor Biden. Among Hispanic voters, Biden holds a 46-39 edge.
Republican candidates haven't lost a presidential race in Texas in four decades. Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 9 percentage points in 2016 in the closest race since Bob Dole beat Bill Clinton here by 4.9 points in 1996. The biggest Texas winners over 40 years were Ronald Reagan (27.5 percentage points in 1984) and George W. Bush, the former Texas governor who won both his 2000 and 2004 contests by margins of more than 21 points.
Voters are split on the job Trump is doing as president, with 46% giving him good marks — a group that includes 85% approval among Republicans. Slightly more, 48%, say they disapprove of the president’s job performance, including 93% of Democrats. In a University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll a year ago, 52% approved of Trump’s performance while 44% did not.
Half of Texas voters approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 42% disapprove. While 44% of voters approve of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, 49% do not. The partisan differences shine brightly: 82% of Republican voters approve of the president's pandemic responses, while just 6% of Democrats and 33% of independents do.
Trump's handling of race relations has the approval of 41% of Texas registered voters, while 50% disapprove. Only 5% of Democrats approve, compared with 32% of independent voters and 78% of Republicans.
The pandemic is the most important problem facing the country today, according to 18% of Texas voters, while 15% say political corruption/leadership is the top problem and another 8% put the economy first.
Only 30% of Texas voters think the country is on the right track, compared with 40% who thought so a year ago. Another 62% say the country is on the wrong track, up from 50% in June 2019.
Most voters — 70% — say the national economy is in worse shape than it was a year ago, while 17% say it’s better and 10% say it’s about the same.
The University of Texas/Texas Politics Project internet survey of 1,200 registered voters was conducted from June 19 to June 29 and has an overall margin of error of +/- 2.83% percentage points." Texas Tribune
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'MACK ON POLITICS' PODCAST
LATEST "MACK ON POLITICS" PODCAST: Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is our guest for the 193rd episode, and he joins us from Tulsa, OK, the scene of the Trump re-election campaign’s first rally in several months.
In this conversation we discuss the protests, the current moment in our country, how rural America is surviving, what he expects from Congress for the rest of the year, what he hopes to see from the forthcoming Durham report on FISA abuse, how he sizes up Trump vs. Biden and what he sees as the stakes for the 2020 election.
Available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and on the web at http://www.MackOnPoliticsPodcast.com.
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