Dallas Police Chief García Will Continue Investigation Into Fired Officer. Dallas Officer Bryan Riser is a free man. He was originally indicted on charges that he ordered the killings of two people. Earlier this week, police modified the warrants to remove some information. And then a judge ruled that detectives did not have enough evidence to bring the case to a grand jury. The judge ordered Riser be freed. Yesterday, in his first public remarks about the case, the chief stood by the work of his detectives and vowed to “continue to thoroughly investigate this case.” Police will need to find new evidence in order to bring the case to the grand jury, which will be difficult—Riser was under investigation for the past four years, and this is what the result that yielded.
More Vaccination Locations Popping Up. This one is at South Oak Cliff High School, where residents can register to receive the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccination. The school will initially have 250 doses to administer. Meanwhile, participants in the Meals on Wheels program are now eligible to receive the J&J vaccine through the city at their homes.
ERCOT’s Communications Plan Was What We Got. As the power outages began, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the electric grid, issued a number of tweets that read like they were in another language. The public wasn’t yet familiar with things like “load shed,” yet there it was, being tweeted by the organization ordering electricity providers to cut power to their customers. The Houston Chronicle found that such communications were part of the organization’s communication strategy, which did more to obfuscate and confuse than inform. Meanwhile, nearly 200 Texans died as a result of the temperatures.
Severe Storms Are Possible Today. The chance picks up as the afternoon goes along. It’s almost guaranteed to be dry around noon, but rain could begin sometime around 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and begin heading east. There is a chance these storms could be severe.
