MRT: More than 4,400 New Cases Reported in TX on Saturday; TX Economy Created Nearly 300k Jobs in May; Recording Surfaces of ET Staffers Insulting Abbott
Here's what you need to know in Texas today.
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MONDAY – 06/22/20
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TOP NEWS
"More than 4,400 new coronavirus cases reported in Texas," viaAP— "Texas health officials on Saturday reported a record of more than 4,400 new coronavirus cases in the state and 25 additional deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
A total of 107,735 confirmed cases, an increase of 4,430 from Friday, and 2,165 deaths, up from 2,140, were reported Saturday.
Officials had reported 3,454 new cases on Friday after a previous record of 3,516 were reported on Thursday.
The actual number of people who have contracted the virus that causes COVID-19 is likely higher because many people have not been tested and studies suggest that people can be infected and not feel sick.
Officials also reported 3,247 people hospitalized with the virus and that an estimated 67,096 people have recovered.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe illness, including pneumonia, and be fatal." AP
"Nearly 300,000 New Jobs in May Indicate Texas Unemployment in Recovery," The Texan's Brad Johnson — "The Texas Workforce Commission announced Friday that Texas’ private sector added 291,000 jobs in the month of May.
Texas is currently in Phase III of reopening and many businesses who were previously prohibited from operating have reopened their doors, if at lower than normal capacities.
In April, that rate jumped nearly eight percent to 12.8 as 232,000 people were added to the unemployment rolls. Later, the April unemployment rate was adjusted to 13.1 percent. The unemployment rate for the month of May dropped slightly to 12.7 percent.
Some of the biggest beneficiaries of the hiring boon were Hospitality and Leisure businesses, which previously lost over 500,000 jobs from March to April, but regained over 175,000 of those last month. That’s an over 20 percent increase from last month to this month." The Texan
"Profane recording surfaces of 2 Empower Texans operatives joking about Gov. Greg Abbott being in wheelchair," The Dallas Morning News' Robert Garrett -- "Two operatives of the staunchly conservative activist group Empower Texans chortled over how Gov. Greg Abbott uses a wheelchair in expletive-laced remarks in which they condemned his coronavirus policies that allow fines if businesses don’t require masks.
The remarks, apparently distributed by mistake with the latest Texas Scorecard Radio podcast, were disclosed Friday by online political news outlet Quorum Report.
It posted a recording of about three minutes of “out-takes” in which Cary Cheshire, vice president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, a project of Empower Texans, and Empower Texans general counsel Tony McDonald discuss their disillusionment with Abbott. The two had just finished taping a final segment of the podcast.
“I said Abbott ‘wheeled himself out there,’” Cheshire recounted.
“I’m OK with it,” McDonald replied.
“And then within seconds, you demanded that he ‘stand firm,’” Cheshire continued. McDonald chuckled." Dallas Morning News
"Empower Texans opponents rush to exact revenge over anti-Abbott tirade,"The Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek -- "For Republicans who have spent years in the trenches battling Empower Texans, it was hard to imagine a bigger gift.
Two staffers for the hardline conservative group were caught on tape profanely disparaging the state's most popular Republican leader, Gov. Greg Abbott, as well as joking about his disability.
With the July runoffs less than a month away, the anti-Empower Texans forces are gearing up to make the group's allied candidates pay dearly — and sink its intraparty reputation for good.
Within hours of the tape's release Friday, candidates and incumbents in some of the most closely watched state House runoffs rushed to link their opponents to the comments, and underscoring the political gravity of the situation, they distanced themselves promptly after being singled out.
Calling the anti-Abbott comments "hateful and disturbing," Glenn Rogers, who is in the runoff to replace retiring state Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury, called on opponent Jon Francis to "publicly disavow Empower Texans and their endorsement and return any donations from the group and/or their employees." The group has endorsed Francis, the son-in-law of one of its top benefactors, Farris Wilks, who has also bankrolled Francis' campaign." Texas Tribune
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
"Amusement parks, carnivals reopen in Texas as COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases rise,"The Houston Chronicle's Jeremy Wallace -- "All amusement parks and carnivals around Texas are allowed to reopen today as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s phased reopening of the state economy, while hospitalizations for COVID-19 increase and the number of deaths climbs.
Abbott is allowing those parks to reopen at 50 percent of maximum occupancy, even in hard-hit areas of the state. Six Flags of Texas in Arlington and Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio are among those that opened their gates today, but only to members and pass holders. On Monday, both of those parks open to everyone.
“We've implemented new safety measures and hygiene protocols, including new technology systems to protect our guests and employees,” Six Flags Over Texas says on its website.
All guests over the age of two and all employees are also required to wear masks.
The Six Flags parks and Schlitterbahn water parks in New Braunfels and Galveston, which are also open, are also requiring people to make reservations beforehand to control park crowds.
Abbott said earlier this week that there is no need to scale back reopening plans as cases of the coronavirus increase. On Thursday, Texas reported 2,947 lab-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations. Hospitalizations have nearly doubled since Memorial Day when Texas reported 1,511 hospitalizations.
The state also has reported a surge in deaths. Over the last 7 days, Texas is averaging 26 deaths per day. During the previous 7 days, Texas averaged 22 deaths per day.
Abbott has consistently pointed out that Texas has had far fewer deaths from COVID-19 than other big states such as New York and California. While Texas now has 2,126 deaths from the virus, New York has had 24,661 die from it.
"The increased occupancy of hospital beds, it does raise concerns but as shown today there's no reason to be alarmed,” Abbott said on Tuesday.
Texas still has plenty of hospital bed capacity Abbott said. He said the state has made tremendous gains since March and is better able to handle increased caseloads. He points to the state having more testing and more equipment for doctors and nurses on the front lines." Houston Chronicle
TEXANS IN DC
"Cornyn, Cruz reject Democrats’ push to gut qualified immunity for police,"The Houston Chronicle's Jasper Scherer -- "U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz on Friday rejected the idea of loosening or abolishing qualified immunity protections for police, though Cruz said he is drafting legislation that would make it easier for people to sue cities if officers violate their constitutional rights.
The topic is emerging as, perhaps, the most serious sticking point between congressional Democrats and Republicans as they take up police reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last month. House Democrats are taking direct aim at qualified immunity — the legal doctrine that shields government officials, including police, from civil lawsuits — in their police reform bill, proposing to end it altogether for police by making officers liable for constitutional violations.
Senate Republicans have rejected that idea while saying they are open to reforms that do not go as far. Cornyn, a Republican who is up for re-election in November, said qualified immunity police reforms could spill into other areas of government where the doctrine also applies.
“You start dealing with qualified immunity in this context, and you could well end up with unintended consequences. So, I don't think this is the right time for it,” Cornyn said after a roundtable discussion on police reform at Houston City Hall. “What I do support is additional follow-on hearings in the Judiciary Committee, and then, once we understand what the lay of the land is, we'll be in a better position to do the right thing.”" Houston Chronicle
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
"In Zapata County, local government is fighting the federal government to stop one piece of the border wall,"The Texas Tribune's Julian Aguliar -- "The Trump administration’s ambitious, election-year goal to build hundreds of miles of barriers on the southern border could face a roadblock in one South Texas county.
The commissioners court in Zapata County, a rural community that sits between Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley, is digging in and challenging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in federal court over the government’s attempt to gain access to a small tract of county-owned land. The access would allow federal officials the right to survey property for possible future construction projects and is considered a procedural first step.
But that’s not how the county sees it, said attorney Carlos Flores, who is representing the county.
“For the [Trump administration] it’s just a routine matter. But the county has taken the position that they are not going to approach it that way,” he said. “Zapata County is not looking to reach an agreement, but rather challenge the authority of the federal government to do this."" Texas Tribune
REMAINDERS
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL: "Texas Tech adding grad transfer from Alabama in backfield"AP
NASACAR: "NASCAR Cup race will run at Texas with fans in the stands" AP
'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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