Yahoo News: Florida, Missouri and Texas now account for 40% of new coronavirus cases in U.S.. “Just three states are now driving the pandemic in the United States, as the divide between vaccinated and unvaccinated regions of the country becomes ever more stark, as the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus spreads.”
Texas Tribune: Texas has seen nearly 9,000 COVID-19 deaths since February. All but 43 were unvaccinated people.. “Of the 8,787 people who have died in Texas due to COVID-19 since early February, at least 43 were fully vaccinated, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. That means 99.5% of people who died due to COVID-19 in Texas from Feb. 8 to July 14 were unvaccinated, while 0.5% were the result of ‘breakthrough infections,’ which DSHS defines as people who contracted the virus two weeks after being fully vaccinated.”
Dallas Observer: ‘Find Those Bodies’: Behind One Man’s Push to Restore a North Texas Freedman’s Cemetery. “Willie Hudspeth drove past the burial site the first time he went looking for the bodies. The longtime activist was trekking down a country road in search of a freedman’s cemetery in Pilot Point, a small town north of Denton. But over time, nature had run its course. Grass and weeds blanketed some 400 graves of St. John’s Cemetery, the final resting place for a community composed of freed slaves. Before a fence was installed, cattle would occasionally roam through the wooded grounds.”
Texas Film Commission: Texas Film Commission, Texas Archive of the Moving Image Launch Online Exhibit ‘Parks Under the Lone Star’. “The Texas Film Commission and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) today announced the launch of Parks Under the Lone Star, the newest online exhibit from TAMI. Parks Under the Lone Star features more than 60 videos collected as a part of the Texas Film Round-Up and takes users on a visual journey through the state and national parks of Texas.”
Techdirt: Texas Consumers Lose Control Of Their Thermostats, Get Another Crash Course In Value Of Competent Regulators. “During the recent heat wave, some Texans were shocked to wake up to find that their local energy company had turned up their thermostats in the night to save energy. Houston locals weren’t exactly thrilled to wake up sweating in the night to the sound of dehydrated, crying infants. Customers had apparently signed up for a ‘sweepstakes’ where the fine print in a massive, overlong end user agreement gave control of their own AC thermostats over to the local utility”
Daily Dot: Exclusive: Hacker reveals smart meters are spilling secrets about the Texas snowstorm. “Power companies across Texas have refused to disclose which areas of the state were exempt from controlled blackouts after a devastating snowstorm crippled the power grid in February—but one hacker has found that smart meters, the electrical devices on the sides of homes and businesses that monitor energy consumption, are quietly broadcasting data that could be used to determine what infrastructure may have been protected.”
Dallas News: New North Texas Database Connects Nonprofit Talent with Opportunities for Board Service. “Communities Foundation of Texas has introduced a new database that connects individuals willing to commit their time and talents to the organizations that need them. The nonprofit board service directory offers members of the public an easy way to search for openings that align with their passions. The directory currently offers 150 open board positions from 40 nonprofits throughout North Texas, and is updated weekly.”
San Antonio Express-News: Black history preserved in collection donated to San Antonio African American Community Archive. “The largest known San Antonio African American history collection now resides with the San Antonio African American Community Archive Museum. Laura Thompson, CEO and creator of The African American Network, has donated her collection of biographies to the museum, located in La Villita. The collection, called 300 Voices in 300 Days, was part of the city’s tricentennial celebration.”
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: New Online: Recent Updates to Finding Aids and Digital Images Available Online. “As our archives staff work on an ongoing basis to arrange, preserve, describe, and make available to the public the materials under our care, we spotlight new additions to the website in a regular feature from Out of the Stacks. The quarterly column lists new and revised finding aids recently made available online. We close out the piece highlighting fresh uploads to the Texas Digital Archive, our repository of electronic items.”
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission announced a new collection on Facebook. From the post: “The State Archives is pleased to present a new collection available online! The Broadsides and printed ephemera collection consists of approximately 700 documents related to Texas and United States history.”
University of Texas at Austin: UT Austin Launches the Texas Podcast Network. “Over half of Americans listen to podcasts, and there are a lot out there for them to choose from. The Texas Podcast Network is a great way to discover the podcasts being made across campus. Currently, there are 16 shows on the network, and the number is growing. These shows bring you into conversations about research and campus culture, covering topics from policy to science to student life.” I looked at the list and there was very little here that would be of interest solely to a UT Austin student. Looks like a good list.
KWTX: New website makes it easier for Central Texans to find volunteer opportunities. “A recent study found that around 66 percent of volunteers decreased their time volunteering or stopped completely during the pandemic. As life is getting back to normal, there’s a new website that’s making it easier for Texans to find ways to get involved in the community again. OneStar Foundation just launched VolunterTX [sic]. It’s a website that gathers places where people can volunteer from across the state, and puts them all in one place.”
Reuters: Texas federal judge hears arguments for date of Google trial. “A lawyer for 14 states led by Texas that have accused Alphabet’s Google of breaking antitrust law asked a federal judge to schedule a trial for the spring of 2022, while the search and advertising giant has asked for a trial in the fall of 2023.”
KERA News: ‘Increasing Visibility Is A Must’: New Digital Archive Shows Dallas’ History Of Environmental Racism. “Story by story, Dallas residents can now scroll through the county’s long list of environmental injustice fights that dateback to the 1920s. The new digital tool, ‘Dallas Environmental Injustice Archive’ was developed by Paul Quinn College and the advocacy group Downwinders At Risk. It’s the first part of a year-long partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative University, a program designed to develop leaders around the word. The groups will record and share oral histories from Dallas residents who have been impacted by environmental injustices.”
