Q: Our city council cut down on the public comment period in its meetings by restricting the subject matter of comments to items on the meeting agenda. Also, no matter how many people are signed up to speak, the council is limiting the total amount of time allotted for any agenda item to 10 minutes. Are these changes in compliance with the Texas open meetings law and are they somehow tied to the governor’s COVID-19 order?
As I write this, TPA is preparing to say goodbye to Ed Sterling after 28 faithful years of service to the Texas Press Association.
No one who has been involved in TPA any length of time doesn’t know Ed.
From his weekly legislative update column to putting the Messenger together, there isn’t much within TPA’s walls that Ed hasn’t had a hand in.
Ed is probably one of the few people in the state who reads the Texas Register, the weekly notice from the Secretary of State that includes many changes to the Texas Administrative Code, cover to cover.
Capital Highlights, Week of Aug.10-14
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Ed Sterling wrote this column for almost three decades, so let’s open by celebrating his contributions to the Texas Press Association and its members. Ed was the calm, steady voice keeping us informed and interested.
Department of Defense sends teams to assist hospitals in COVID crisis
AUSTIN — COVID-19 turned aggressive to the point last week that the Department of Defense activated U.S. Army and U.S. Navy medical task force teams and assigned them to Texas at Gov. Greg Abbott's request.
Since fall 2018, 300 more U.S. newspapers have disappeared, bringing the number over the last 15 years to 2,100. That’s almost 25% of the 9,000 newspapers that were published in 2005.
That’s one upshot of “News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?,” a report published June 25 by Penelope Muse Abernathy of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Rural and small-city community newspapers, once the healthiest segment of the industry, are now caught up in its decline. One-third of the closed newspapers were outside metropolitan areas, the report says.
Governor: Hospitals must expand capacity as COVID-19 cases escalate
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott has again suspended elective surgeries in hospitals in 104 counties located within 11 of the state’s 22 trauma service areas.
Each of the trauma service areas has a regional advisory council and a trauma system plan to respond to health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor’s order mandates wearing of face masks in public
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on July 2 issued an executive order to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus while keeping Texas as open as possible for business.
With few exceptions, the order requires all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases.
Governor’s order restricts alcohol-serving establishments
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state to slow down the reopening process for bars and other venues as coronavirus-related infections, hospitalizations and deaths continued to increase in Texas last week.
“As I said from the start, if the positivity rate rose above 10%, the State of Texas would take further action to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Abbott said. “At this time, it is clear that the rise in cases is largely driven by certain types of activities, including Texans congregating in bars."