MRT: TX COVID Deaths Hit Triple Digits for 2nd Day in a Row; Morgue Trucks Brought into S. TX; Abbott: ‘No Shutdown Coming’; TX GOP Convention Delayed
Here's What You Need to Know in Texas Today.
MustReadTexas.com – @MustReadTexas
BY: @MattMackowiak
FRIDAY – 07/17/20
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TOP NEWS
"Texas coronavirus deaths hit triple digits for second day in a row,"The Austin American-Statesman's Nicole Cobler -- "The death toll from the coronavirus continued to rise Thursday as Texas health officials reported a record 129 new fatalities.
It was a daily high for the second consecutive day, after Texas recorded 110 deaths Wednesday, and marked the third time the daily death count has reached triple digits. The statewide death toll from the virus rose to 3,561 as Thursday’s record total brought the rolling seven-day average to 92 deaths per day.
The Texas Department of State Health Services also reported 10,291 new coronavirus infections Thursday, a slight dip from the previous day’s record high for new cases.
Texas is likely to reach 300,000 total COVID-19 cases Friday, just 10 days after the state crossed the 200,000 threshold. It took the state nearly four months from the start of the pandemic to record its first 100,000 cases.
And while the Department of State Health Services reported nearly 156,000 COVID-19 recoveries, the number is an estimate based on assumptions about recovery times and hospitalization rates, according to the agency." Austin American-Statesman
"Texas Readies Morgue Trucks in Preparation for Virus Surge," Bloomberg's Susan Warren, Rachel Adams-Heard, and Daniel Flatley — "Along the Texas coast outside Corpus Christi, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales surveyed the sandy Gulf of Mexico beaches packed with swimmers and sunbathers, just the way they are every summer.
Then she went back to her office to order another morgue truck.
Officials across Texas are rushing to mobilize overflow mortuary space as communities brace for a surge in coronavirus deaths following Fourth of July festivities. Already, July has had a succession of record-setting days in terms of new cases, deaths and the number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 as the pandemic takes hold in the state.
“Why won’t people see what’s happening?” Canales said of vacationers thronging the beaches. “It’s nothing but summer fun. They can’t see the stress and strain that our community is under. The danger isn’t real to them.”
July’s heat and sun aren’t providing the respite many had hoped for when the pandemic arrived in the U.S. in the cooler, cloudier days of early spring. Then, it created pile-ups of bodies in New York City that required ranks of mortuary trailers. Now, while Northeastern states that were hit hard early are curbing the virus, the South and Southwest are contending with explosive outbreaks after relaxing controls. Renewed efforts such as mask mandates haven’t yet made a dent." Bloomberg
"Investigators: Texas couple defrauded Army out of millions,"AP's Jake Bleiberg -- "Federal agents have seized more than 20 vehicles and the money from 10 bank accounts belonging to married U.S. Army veterans in Texas, saying the pair used personal information stolen from soldiers to defraud the military out of as much as $11 million.
Army investigators obtained warrants last month to confiscate the funds and property and to collect evidence of the alleged fraud during their search of the home of the retired sergeants, according to recently unsealed federal court records.
In an affidavit seeking to search Kevin Pelayo and Cristine Fredericks’ home in Killeen, a city near Fort Hood about 150 miles southwest of Dallas, investigators described how the couple allegedly used a transportation reimbursement program for federal employees to swindle the Army out of $2.3 million to $11.3 million.
Investigators told the court there was probable cause to believe the couple committed crimes including wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. But there is no record that either of them has been criminally charged.
Pelayo declined to comment during a brief phone call Wednesday and did not respond to a subsequent message asking for his attorneys’ names.
“I think it’s still an ongoing investigation,” he told The Associated Press. “I can’t really say anything about it. I have to talk to my lawyers.”
After arriving at Fort Hood in 2010, Pelayo set up a van company to give employees rides to and from the base under a federal program that subsidizes government workers using mass transit in an effort to reduce traffic and pollution. He told The Fort Hood Sentinel that he was first drawn to the initiative by the chance to save on gas.
The Sentinel, an official publication overseen by Army commanders, touted the van pool’s growth in stories and quoted staff who said it saved them time and money. In 2013, one rider said, “It works perfectly, like a well-greased wheel.”
Military investigators allege that it turned into a highly lucrative fraud.
As a platoon sergeant, Pelayo had access to the personnel records of soldiers under his command, and Fredericks had worked for Army human resources, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Pelayo used this access to sign soldiers up for the mass transportation subsidy without their knowledge and then routed the payments to his business’ bank accounts.
Starting around 2014, according to the affidavit, Pelayo registered soldiers around the country for subsidies of $255 or $265 a month. Several enrolled soldiers said they had never ridden in the van pool and investigators found that many were not even at Fort Hood.
This scheme allegedly continued for years, even while Pelayo was stationed in South Korea before his retirement last August. In some months, the affidavit states, the subsidies gave the couple an income of more than $200,000.
Pelayo and Fredericks moved the money into an array of bank accounts, investigators wrote in the court filing, saying they own more than 20 properties in Texas, New York, Washington and Hawaii. Pelayo also allegedly transferred money to an unidentified person in the Philippines.
Pelayo spent more than two decades with the Army and Army Reserve, including deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to an Army spokesperson. Fredericks served for about a decade and also deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigations Division and one for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Texas said they do not confirm nor comment on investigations unless charges are brought publicly. A Fort Hood spokesman declined to answer questions, saying he’d defer to those agencies’ statements." AP
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says 'there is no shutdown coming' as coronavirus cases surge,"The Texas Tribune's Rage Justin -- "As the number of new coronavirus cases in Texas continues to rise and hospitals grow more crowded, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday there is no statewide shutdown looming.
Abbott said last week that if the spread of the virus didn't slow, "the next step would have to be a lockdown." But in a television interview Thursday, he said that there have been rumors of such a move and stressed that they were not true.
“Let me tell you, there is no shutdown coming,” he told KRIV-TV in Houston.
Abbott pointed to measures he’s taken in recent weeks, including a statewide mask mandate and an order shutting down bars, to slow the spread of the virus. It will take a few weeks to see a reversal in coronavirus case surges, he said.
He has repeatedly stressed this week that, if people wear masks, he'll be able to avoid shutting down the state. On Wednesday, he told KPRC-TV in Houston that it seems like people ask him about a shutdown "like a thousand times a day."
"People are panicking, thinking I'm about to shut down Texas again," he said. "The answer is no. That is not the goal. I've been abundantly clear."
As of Thursday, there were 10,457 people in Texas hospitals with the coronavirus. That was down slightly from a peak of 10,569 on Tuesday, but still an 8% increase from a week ago and more than four times the number a month ago. Abbott described seeing a "flattening" of hospitalizations. The state has reported 3,561 deaths from the virus.
“We are certainly not out of the woods yet, but this could be a glimmer of hope,” Abbott said of the recent hospitalization numbers. “But the only way we can avoid a shutdown is if we do get everybody buying into this process of wearing a face mask.”
Earlier Thursday, Abbott defended his coronavirus response at the Texas GOP convention after acknowledging widespread discontent among party members. Several Republican officials have voiced their criticism of Abbott’s statewide mask order.
"The last thing that any of us want is to lock Texas back down again," he said during the virtual convention." Texas Tribune
2020
"With high-stakes election season looming, Texas GOP Chair James Dickey faces formidable opposition,"The Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek and Cassandra Pollock -- "With Texas Republicans months away from perhaps their most challenging election in years, the state party could see an abrupt change in leadership this week as it gathers online for its biennial convention.
James Dickey, who is running for his second full term as party chair, faces a high-profile, well-funded challenge from Allen West, the former congressman from Florida who moved to Texas several years ago. Activist Amy Hedtke has also announced a bid for the post, which includes overseeing the party’s financial and organizational efforts.
Before thousands of party delegates vote Friday on whether to keep Dickey, candidates in the race are expected to address the crowd virtually, making their final pitches for why they think they are best suited for the job. And while delegates will cast their ballots among the 31 Senate District caucuses, Dickey said earlier this week that a request for a second vote before the entire delegation could happen after that, as it did during the 2018 party chair race.
Looming over this year’s race is the coronavirus pandemic, which upended the party’s plans to host an in-person convention in Houston and prompted party officials earlier this week to move it online after exhausting legal avenues to still proceed with the event as planned." Texas Tribune
"Texas GOP starts glitchy online convention with jab at Mayor Turner,"The Houston Chronicle's Jeremy Wallace -- "The Republican Party of Texas kicked off its suddenly all-virtual statewide convention on Wednesday with many technical glitches and a jab at Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for blocking its plans for an in-person event at the last minute.
Party chairman James Dickey apologized to convention-goers for glitches in the audio and video feed, and for delays in getting credentials to Republicans trying to attend party events online.
“This is not the kickoff that I was expecting for the convention that we’ve been working for and planning on for three years and that one Democrat mayor worked to unravel,” Dickey said, referring to Turner.
The convention was supposed to start at 9 a.m., but started closer to 10 a.m. and then was plagued by long stretches of livestream crashes. When it did work, the audio had an echo that made speakers hard to hear." Houston Chronicle
2022
"Spurred by Gov. Greg Abbott's coronavirus handling, Democratic strategists launch PAC to defeat him in 2022,"The Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek -- "Hoping to harness the opposition to Gov. Greg Abbott's handling of the coronavirus, several Texas Democratic strategists are launching a new political group to defeat him in 2022.
Their group, the Beat Abbott PAC, will raise money that will ultimately go to the Democratic nominee against Abbott in 2022, when he is up for a third term. Along the way, the political action committee aims to build a small-dollar donor list that can help Democrats in the next election cycle and "hold Abbott accountable for his failure on COVID," according to an announcement first shared with The Texas Tribune.
The PAC's board includes Tory Gavito, president and co-founder of Way to Win; Ginny Goldman, founder and former executive director of the Texas Organizing Project; Zack Malitz, co-founder of Real Justice PAC and statewide field director for Beto O'Rourke's 2018 U.S. Senate campaign; and Derrick Osobase, a veteran labor and political operative.
“We’re done listening to a Governor willing to let people die in order to maintain his good graces with the likes of Donald Trump and the right-wing of the Republican party,” Malitz, the PAC's treasurer, said in a statement. “People in this state deserve better than a corrupt talking head who looks out only for himself and the one-percent. It’s time to beat him.”" Texas Tribune
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
"Judge delays deadline to free detained migrant children,"AP's Nomaan Merchant -- "A federal judge on Thursday extended the deadline for the release of migrant children from detention, as advocates for detained families feared the government would create what they called a new form of family separation.
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles granted a request for a 10-day extension to release children held in family detention centers longer than 20 days. In her ruling last month setting the Friday deadline, Gee said the family detention centers “are ‘on fire’ and there is no more time for half measures.”
Gee oversees a settlement known as the Flores agreement that governs the treatment of immigrant children in U.S. custody. Her ruling did not extend to parents detained with their children. The Trump administration has already indicated in court that it doesn’t believe parents should be released due to concerns about the coronavirus’ fast spread through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.
Lawyers for many of the roughly 300 detained parents and children have warned parents may be forced to choose between releasing their children to sponsors — and staying in ICE detention themselves — or waiving their children’s rights to release granted by Gee’s order.
In a court filing late Wednesday, government lawyers and attorneys who oversee the Flores agreement said both sides were “diligently engaging in discussions” on a potential waiver and need more time to finalize documents.
Peter Schey, co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, represents the interest of detained children under the Flores agreement. Schey said Thursday that because the Trump administration won’t release all families, “parents might have to make a choice between remaining together in custody or having their child released to close relatives.”
“We have done everything we possibly can ... to argue in favor of releasing the parents, because that would be in the best interests of the children,” he said. “Our primary concern is the best interests of the children.”
Other lawyers for parents and children detained at ICE’s three family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania sharply criticized Schey,saying any waiver process would be akin to a new form of family separation, the practice that drew international condemnation when implemented by the U.S. at the southern border in 2018.
In a letter to Schey on Thursday, they said 97 children have been held in detention longer than 20 days. Some are infants, others have been detained with a parent for nearly a year." AP
REMAINDERS
HOUSTON ROCKETS: "James Harden, cleared to play, makes Disney practice debut"AP
BIG 12 FOOTBALL: "RB Hubbard tabbed Big 12's preseason top offensive player" AP
BOXING: "Undefeated Texas boxer Travell Mazion dead at 24" AP
TEXAS RANGERS: "Rangers reliever Martin on injured reserve list because of COVID-19" AP
'MACK ON POLITICS' PODCAST
LATEST "MACK ON POLITICS" PODCAST: The war in Afghanistan is the subject of our 195th episode.
In this conversation, we talk to Rod Lurie, director of the #1 film in America, “The Outpost”, which profiles the Battle of Kamdesh in 2009.
We explore how he came to direct the film, what techniques he tried to use, why the story was important to him, how, where and when the film was shot, how it was released, and what the response has been.
Available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and on the web at http://www.MackOnPoliticsPodcast.com.
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