Texas

The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that "lack of immunity" to the coronavirus is not a disability under state law that would qualify someone for a mail-in ballot. In the same ruling, the court acknowledged that county election clerks have no duty to question or investigate the disability of voters who claim it.

But if you’re curious about how you would even go about voting by mail (or if you’re eligible), here’s how it works.

From Texas Standard:

Carbon emissions have been down in recent weeks because of the pandemic because far fewer people are driving or flying. But that has also meant less demand for fuel, and less revenue for oil and gas companies. As a result, some European-based companies are investing more of their resources into renewable energy production. But American oil and gas outfits are not.

Today is the last day to register to vote before the July 14 primary runoff elections in Texas. Here’s what you need to know to register.

High school senior Rey Garza knows a lot about adapting to “new normals.” He was 9 when he lost vision in his right eye, and when he entered his freshman year, he started losing it in his left eye, too. 

Texas will soon test all residents and staff for the new coronavirus in state-run homes for people with disabilities, according to an email sent to employees from the state official who oversees the facilities.

An expansion of Texas’ vote-by-mail program during the pandemic is on hold, again.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday temporarily blocked a lower court ruling from a day earlier that opened up mail-in voting to people under 65.

The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is staggering: More than 90,000 Americans have died of the disease and more than 38 million people have filed for unemployment since March. While the pain is widespread, it hasn’t been equal.

From Texas Standard:

According to recent reports by the Urban Institute and the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 1 million Texans are projected to lose their health insurance because of the economic recession in the U.S. caused by the coronavirus. That's in addition to the approximately 5 million people – equivalent to about 18% of the state's population– who are already uninsured.

In Texas, as more businesses get the green light to reopen, those plans have been delayed in some areas where the governor says jump in positive COVID-19 cases follow ramped-up testing capacity.

A federal judge on Tuesday opened a path for a massive expansion in absentee voting in Texas by ordering that all state voters regardless of age qualify for a mail-in ballot during the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s been a while since anyone’s been into a bar in Texas, so things are bound to feel weird when they’re allowed to reopen this Friday. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday they'd be allowed to open as long as they follow a set of minimum safety guidelines aimed at preventing further spread of the coronavirus.

So, if you’re going to go – and we're not encouraging you to – you should be aware of how things will work.

Read this story in English.

Hace tiempo que nadie entra en un bar en Texas, así que las cosas se sentirán raras cuando se les permita reabrir este viernes. El gobernador Greg Abbott anunció este lunes que se les permitirá abrir siempre y cuando sigan una serie de pautas mínimas de seguridad para prevenir una mayor propagación del coronavirus.

Así que si vas a ir, y no te estamos animando a ello, deberías ser consciente de cómo funcionarán las cosas.

Two weeks have passed since Gov. Greg Abbott allowed Texas retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, malls, museums and libraries to open at 25% capacity.

In that time, Texas has seen a modest but steady increase in the growth of new coronavirus cases, and the state is not meeting all benchmarks for reopening set by White House officials or even Abbott himself. The state set new daily records this week for both new cases and deaths.

Mary Lou Ketchum, a substitute teacher in San Antonio, has been calling the Texas Workforce Commission for six weeks and still hasn’t been able to talk to a representative.

Texas has seen a noticeable increase in the number of coronavirus tests being reported by the Department of State Health Services over the past week. The state saw its largest one-day total for reported tests to date Wednesday – at more than 49,000 tests, about four times as many tests reported the day before.

Read this story in English.

Mientras más negocios en Texas empiezan a reabrir, el gobernador Greg Abbott dijo que el cuidado de niños es esencial y anunció que se permitirá a las guarderías reabrir inmediatamente.

As more businesses begin to reopen, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said child care is essential and announced that providers would be allowed to reopen immediately.

The governor also said at a news conference Monday that bars would be allowed to reopen at 25% capacity starting Friday. Restaurants will be allowed to expand to 50% then, too, he said. These limits will not apply to outdoor patios where customers can maintain safe distances.

Read this story in English.

La Corte Suprema de Texas ha dado luz verde para que la prohibición de procedimientos de desalojo expire el lunes 18 de mayo, lo que significa que a partir del martes ya no existe un impedimento estatal para que un propietario pueda desalojar a un inquilino.

The Texas Supreme Court is letting its ban on eviction proceedings expire today, meaning that starting tomorrow there is no longer a state ban on a landlord’s ability to evict a tenant.

Updated 5/17

The State of Texas has nearly exhausted its $1.9 billion Unemployment Trust Fund. The Texas Workforce Commission expects it to run out of money in the next three weeks. 

The Fund has been hammered by soaring unemployment, with 2.5 million Texans filing claims since March 14.

“By 2019 numbers, that's over three years of claims in just two months time,” said Francisco Gamez, TWC spokesman, in a recent Twitter video.

Desirae Pierce and her teachers at Breath and Body Yoga have been doing classes over Zoom for the past two months. Today, they'll start holding small, in-person classes at the Tarrytown studio.

While online classes were popular, Pierce says, she's excited to bring back an in-person practice.

Voters who don't want to risk exposure to the coronavirus can use mail-in ballots during upcoming elections as a legal battle moves through the courts, a Texas appeals court ruled Thursday.

Click here to read this blog in English.

Texas Public Radio le brinda información actualizada sobre el COVID-19 en el área de San Antonio en inglés, y le informa qué medidas están tomando los negocios locales, cómo puede usted ayudar a quienes lo necesitan y qué puede hacer para entretenerse en casa. Además, TPR ofrece actualizaciones en vivo sobre el Valle del Río Grande.

For anyone with a weak immune system, the stakes of the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t changed.

As state leaders relax stay-at-home orders, a vaccine is likely still more than a year away. That means it’s still too dangerous for people with compromised immune systems to come into contact with others.

Read this story in English.

Para cualquiera con un sistema inmunológico débil, los riesgos de la pandemia del COVID-19 no han cambiado.

Mientras los líderes estatales flexibilizan las órdenes de quedarse en casa, es probable que todavía falte más de un año para que llegue una vacuna. Eso significa que sigue siendo demasiado peligroso para las personas con sistemas inmunológicos comprometidos poder entrar en contacto con otros.

Read this story in English. 

Los pacientes latinos en los sitios de pruebas de Central Health están dando positivo en COVID-19 tres veces más que los pacientes que no son latinos, dijo este jueves la agencia de salud respaldada por el condado.

La agencia añadió que 1 de cada 5 pacientes en general ha dado positivo en las últimas dos semanas en los sitios administrados por su proveedor de servicios de salud, CommUnityCare.

Texas is spending $45 million on 300,000 new coronavirus tests to largely be used in the infected state prison system, according to a Texas Department of Emergency Management purchase order.

Los tejanos que reciben asistencia alimentaria ya pueden usar sus beneficios para comprar comestibles en Internet. 

La Comisión de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Texas informó que los beneficiarios del Programa de Asistencia Nutricional Suplementaria (SNAP, en inglés) pueden visitar el sitio web de los comercios participantes y usar su tarjeta Lone Star para comprar comestibles e ir a recogerlos en la acera o que se los entreguen en su domicilio. La nueva disposición entró en vigencia el miércoles 13 de mayo. 

From Texas Standard:

State and local officials have issued a variety of orders related to how individuals and businesses can conduct themselves during the coronavirus pandemic. In many cases, these orders conflict, cover different periods of time or provide different penalties if someone doesn't comply.