ELECTION. Governor Greg Abbott wins big at the Texas Supreme Court, which upheld his order to limit mail-in ballot drop-off locations to one per county. Faulty barcodes have led to the rejection of roughly one-third of mail-in ballots filed in Tarrant County. And Republicans have out-paced Democrats in last-minute fundraising in key state legislature races.
COVID. Five new deaths in Denton County, 596 new cases in Dallas County and no new deaths. The seven-day new case average is up, as is the percentage of patients at local hospitals with COVID symptoms who have tested positive. Dallas hospitals aren’t yet overwhelmed, as they are in El Paso, but Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins urges trick-or-treaters to stay home this year. The virus hasn’t affected home sales, which saw a 4.2 percent year-over-year boost, but evictions continue despite a supposed nationwide halt. Four Dallas bars have temporarily lost their liquor licenses for violating COVID rules, but big name acts are returning to Billy Bobs.
MURDER. Add a few more to the tally of Dallas’ record high year for violent crime. A 33-year-old was stabbed to death Monday night near I-20 in far southwest Dallas, and three people were killed at a nightclub shooting in Northwest Dallas early Sunday morning.
SPORTS. It took a pandemic for the World Series trophy (now known as the “piece of metal”) to be hoisted in Arlington, not by the Rangers, but by former HP Scot Clayton Kershaw, who banished his post-season demons and helped lead the Dodgers (who may all now have COVID) to their first championship since 1988. The real highlight, though, was when Arlington fans relentlessly booed MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who protects cheaters, only seems to care about owners’ pocketbooks, and hopes to ruin the sport with stupid new rules. And speaking of owners and stupidity, Jerry Jones lashed out on local sports talk radio yesterday. Perhaps the realization that he hasn’t put together a winning team in 25 years is finally getting to him.
