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Governor says schools remain closed; state parks reopen

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FULL REPORT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE –
AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott today held a press conference where he issued three new Executive Orders to begin the process of reopening the state of Texas while revising hospital capacity and certain social distancing guidelines. Within the orders, select activities and services that pose minimal to no threat of spreading COVID-19 are allowed to reopen using a “Retail-To-Go” model, certain restrictions on surgeries have been loosened, and schools will remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year.    Within these orders, the Governor has established the Strike Force to Open Texas—a team of nationally recognized medical experts and private and public leaders who will advise the Governor on safely and strategically reopening the state of Texas.   “Texans are battling a colossal challenge—an invisible enemy that has tested our lives and our livelihoods—but overcoming challenges is part of who we are as Texans,” said Governor Abbott. “We have shown that Texas can continue our efforts to contain COVID-19 while also adopting safe standards that will allow us to begin the process of reopening Texas. The Strike Force to Open Texas brings together nationally recognized medical experts with public and private sector leaders to achieve this mission. By coming together, we can get Texans back to work, practice safe standards that will prevent the spread of COVID-19, and we can overcome this pandemic.”     James Huffines will lead the advisory strike force and Mike Toomey will serve as Chief Operating Officer. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Comptroller Glenn Hegar will serve as consulting members.   In addition, Governor Abbott has appointed Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Commissioner John Hellerstedt, MD, as Chief Medical Officer of the strike force. Dr. Hellerstedt will be supported by three Chief Medical Advisors:    John Zerwas, MD, Executive Vice-Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Texas System   Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner and U.S. Medicaid and Medicare Administrator   Parker Hudson, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Dell Medical School and program director for the Internal Medicine Residency   These health experts will develop a medical architecture to comprehensively test and trace COVID-19 that will enable Texans to gradually and safely begin the process of returning to work and other activities.   The medical team will work alongside a Special Advisory Council who will share innovative ideas to help businesses strategically reopen while containing the spread of COVID-19. The council consists of 39 business leaders representing the state’s regions and industries. The advisory council will collaborate with working groups to devise strategies, statewide standards, and appropriate time frames to reopen the Lone Star State while prioritizing the health and safety of all Texans.   The strike force will immediately begin providing input on potential additional openings of activities and services in Texas consistent with guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Governor will announce a revised plan for the state based on these initial recommendations on April 27.     Special Advisory Council members include:   Arcilia Acosta: President and CEO, CARCON Industries & Construction   Paul Andrews, Jr.: Founder and CEO, TTI Inc.   Mark Bivins: Rancher, partner in Corsino Cattle Company   Kathy Britton: CEO and Owner, Perry Homes   Brad Brookshire: Chairman and CEO, Brookshire Grocery Co.   J. Bruce Bugg, Jr.: Chairman, Texas Transportation Commission    Alonzo Cantu: President & CEO of Cantu Construction   Bobby Cox: Owner and operator, Bobby Cox Companies, Inc.   Adriana Cruz: Executive Director, Economic Development & Tourism Division, Office of the Governor   Michael Dell: Chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies   Scott Dueser: Chairman, President & CEO, First Financial Bank   Don Evans: Chairman of the President George W. Bush Foundation, Chairman of Permian Strategic Partnership   Tilman Fertitta: Chairman, CEO, and sole owner, Landry’s, Inc.   Richard Fisher: Senior Advisor, Barclays and Former President & CEO, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas   Rick Francis: Chairman of the Board, WestStar Bank Holding Company, Inc.
Printice Gary
: Founding Partner/Principal and CEO, Carleton Companies   Brad Heffington: Owner of Heffington Farms, Inc. and Triple T Irrigation, Inc.   Jeffery D. Hildebrand: Executive Chairman and Founder, Hilcorp Energy Company   Nancy Kinder: President & CEO, Kinder Foundation   Tom Luce: Founder and Chairman, Texas 2036   Marc McDougal: CEO, McDougal Companies   Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale: Owner, Gallery Furniture   Drayton McLane: Chairman, McLane Group   Elaine Mendoza: Founder, President & CEO of Conceptual MindWorks, Inc   Balous Miller: Owner, Bill Miller Bar-B-Q Restaurants   Carla Moran: Ramar Communications   Dennis Nixon: CEO and Chairman of International Bank of Commerce   David Oliveira: Partner at Roerig, Oliveira & Fisher, L.L.P.   Ross Perot, Jr.: Chairman, The Perot Group   Kevin D. Roberts, Ph.D.: Executive Director, Texas Public Policy Foundation   Robert B. Rowling: Owner and Chairman, TRT Holdings, Inc.   Kendra Scott: Founder and CEO, Kendra Scott   Robert F. Smith: Founder, Chairman & CEO, Vista Equity Partners   Sam L. Susser: Chairman of BancAffiliated, Inc.   Massey Villarreal: CEO and President, Precision Task Group, Inc.   Kirk Watson: Founding Dean of the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs   Marc Watts: President, The Friedkin Group   Graham Weston: Former Chairman of Rackspace Hosting Inc.   Sanjiv Yajnik: President of the Financial Services Division, Capital One   For more information about the Governor’s Strike Force to Open Texas, visit the strike force webpage.    The Governor’s second Executive Order (GA-16) relates to the safe, strategic reopening of select services and activities in Texas. This order establishes a temporary “Retail-To-Go” model that will allow retail outlets in Texas to reopen beginning Friday, April 24. Under this model, reopened establishments are required to deliver items to customer’s cars, homes, or other locations to minimize contact.   Under this Executive Order, schools—including public, private, and higher education institutions—will remain closed for the 2019-2020 school year. Teachers may go into the classroom for video instruction, to perform administrative duties, and to clean out their classrooms.   The Governor’s third Executive Order (GA-15) relates to hospital capacity and personal protective equipment (PPE) needed for the COVID-19 response. The order loosens restrictions on surgeries put in place by Governor Abbott in March. Beginning at 11:59pm on April 21 through 11:59pm on May 8, all licensed health care professionals and all licensed health care facilities must continue to postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not medically necessary to diagnose or correct a serious medical condition of, or to preserve the life of, a patient who without timely performance of the surgery or procedure would be at risk for serious adverse medical consequences or death as determined by a patient’s physician. Exceptions now include: Any procedure that, if performed in accordance with the commonly accepted standard of clinical practice, would not deplete the hospital capacity or the PPE needed to cope with COVID-19, or Any surgery or procedure performed in a licensed health care facility that has certified in writing to Texas HHSC both (1) that it will reserve at least 25% of its hospital capacity for treatment of COVID-19 patients, accounting for the range of clinical severity of COVID-19 patients, and (2) that it will not request any PPE from any public source—whether federal, state, or local—for the duration of the COVID-19 disaster.  The Governor today also directed state parks to reopen on Monday, April 20 with strict guidelines to reduce transmission of COVID-19—including requiring visitors to wear face coverings, maintain a six-foot distance from individuals outside of their party, and prohibiting the gathering of groups larger than five.  
 

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Governor activates state emergency response resources for critical fire danger

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AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott today announced that he directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to activate additional state emergency response resources in anticipation of extremely critical wildfire danger expected across West Texas and ongoing elevated-to-critical fire weather conditions across most of the state into the weekend.

“The State of Texas continues to monitor the heightened wildfire threats that are impacting large portions of the state,” said Governor Abbott. “Due to the unpredictable nature of wildfires, I directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to ready additional emergency response resources to assist local communities with any wildfire outbreaks. With dry conditions, wind gusts, and low humidity increasing wildfire danger, Texans are encouraged to make an emergency plan, limit any activities that can cause a spark, and heed the guidance of local officials to keep yourself and your family safe.”

According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, dry surface fuels, very strong wind gusts, and low humidity will continue to support increased wildfire danger across nearly all of the state, with extremely critical wildfire danger expected in areas including the High Plains, South Plains, Permian Basin, Big Country, Texoma, Metroplex, and Hill Country. High winds could promote large wind-driven fires with high resistance to control.

The Texas A&M Forest Service is monitoring conditions for the potential of a Southern Plains Wildfire Outbreak tomorrow, a dangerous fire weather pattern that could develop under the current forecast. According to the National Weather Service, increased wildfire danger is expected to continue over the next several days.

The Wildland Fire Preparedness Level remains at Preparedness Level 3, indicating that wildfire activity is impacting several regions of the state as the result of drought, dry vegetation, or frequent fire weather events.

The Texas State Emergency Operations Center (SOC) remains activated at Level II (Escalated Response) as the state stands ready to support local officials’ response to wildfire danger. At the Governor’s direction, more than 750 state emergency responders and over 300 pieces of equipment have mobilized from more than 16 state agencies to support the state’s wildfire response across Texas.

The following state emergency response resources continue to remain ready to support local wildfire response operations, including:

  • Texas A&M Forest Service (Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System): Local, state, and out of state firefighters and support personnel, fire engines, bulldozers, and motor graders; federally contracted firefighting aircraft, including large air tankers, single-engine air tankers for retardant drops, air attack platforms for surveillance and spotting, super scoopers for water drops, helicopters with firefighting capability, fire bosses and an aerial supervision module for aerial guidance
  • Texas Division of Emergency Management: The State of Texas Incident Management Team to support deployed emergency response resources across the state
  • Texas National Guard: Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters with firefighting capability
  • Texas Department of State Health Services (Texas Emergency Medical Task Force): Wildland Fire Support Packages consisting of medics, ambulances, and all-terrain vehicles
  • Texas Department of Public Safety: Texas Highway Patrol Troopers to patrol roadways and assist stranded motorists
  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Game Wardens, State Park Police
  • Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (Texas A&M Task Force 1 and Texas Task Force 2): Type 3 Urban Search and Rescue Teams
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service: Disaster Assessment and Recovery Agents as well as AgriLife Extension Agents to support agricultural and livestock needs
  • Texas Animal Health Commission: Coordinating animal resource needs
  • Texas Department of Agriculture: Coordinating agricultural resource needs
  • Texas Department of Transportation: Personnel monitoring road conditions
  • Public Utility Commission of Texas: Power outage monitoring and coordination with utility providers
  • Railroad Commission of Texas: Monitoring of the state’s natural gas supply and communication with the oil and gas industry
  • Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Air/water/wastewater monitoring
  • Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Personnel to provide information on available services through the 2-1-1 Texas Information Referral Network
  • Texas Department of Information Resources: Monitoring technology infrastructure

Texans are urged to implement wildfire prevention measures, including avoiding activities that may cause sparks or flames, making an emergency plan, follow instructions from local officials, and keeping emergency supplies easily available.

Texans can visit TexasReady.gov for wildfire prevention information, locate all-hazards preparedness information at tdem.texas.gov/prepare and find the latest wildfire information at tfsweb.tamu.edu.

Governor Abbott continues to take action to provide all available resources to help support local communities and protect Texans from wildfire impacts, including:  

  • Encouraging Texans impacted by wildfire to report damage by using TDEM’s online damage reporting tool.
  • Increasing the Readiness Level of the State Emergency Operations Center and adding counties to the state’s wildfire disaster declaration.
  • Deploying additional state emergency response resources ahead of extremely critical wildfire danger.
  • Activating state wildfire response resources ahead of wildfire danger.
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Bowie Council approves new water rates

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By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Bowie City Councilors approved the first reading of an ordinance for new water rates Tuesday night, following months of debate over first rate change for water since 2018.
The residential customer in the city limits uses on average 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of water per month, and under the new rates will see an increase from $5 to $7.50 a month. This water rate proposal was different from the previous offerings as it adjusted usage, not the base rate or adding any new fees.
This approval came on the heels of a workshop on March 4 where the council members learned more about pending infrastructure needs at the water plant including a new raw water pump and upgrades to the plant as it nears 85% capacity.
Public Works Director Stony Lowrance and Plant Director Jerry Sutton last week told the council the pump is already a mandate from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and has to be done; however, the plant is operating at about 80% capacity. When it hits 85% the city will have to undertaken plans to expand to meet the larger capacity.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

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House fire victim dies from injuries

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Barbara Cundiff succumbed to critical injuries she received when her home near Bonita exploded and burned on Feb. 22.
Montague County Sheriff Marshall Thomas said he was informed of the 75-year-old’s passing on Feb. 28. Barbara and Donald Cundiff lived in a beautiful home located at 4200 Farm-to-Market Road 1815 east of Nocona.
It was believed a possible propane explosion was the cause of the fire on Feb. 21. Donald was in the living room when he heard an explosion that blew out the back of the house. He found his wife laying in the kitchen and he was able to drag her out of the house.
A helicopter was called to the scene to transport Barbara to Parkland Hospital where she was treated for her injuries. Donald was transported to Nocona General Hospital where he was treated and released for burns on his face, hands and arms.
Bowie Fire Chief Doug Page has been investigating the fire examining the scene and interviewing witnesses at the scene. Officials from the Texas Railroad Commission also were called in to investigate possible propane leaks, and they await that report.
Page said no final determination of the cause has been made, although it appears to have been an accident. SO Investigator Ryan Blackburn stated the same indicating he still has some work to do on the case.

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