COVID Update. Dallas County reported 908 new cases yesterday and 34 deaths. Collin County added 301 deaths and two deaths. Meanwhile Gov. Greg Abbott said he’s working with FEMA to create vaccination “super sites,” because the “mega sites” aren’t getting the job done. While you’re waiting for the evolution of vaccination sites to reach the “hyper” level, remember to mask up, wash your hands, and keep your distance.
Cops to Create New Pot Policy. At his first Public Safety Committee meeting, Dallas’ newest police chief, Eddie García, said he’ll take 30 days to create new policy for low-level marijuana possession. The move is in response to data that show that Black and Latinx people are arrested at rates disproportionate to their populations. Blacks for example, represent 24 percent of the city’s population but have accounted for 57 percent of the arrests for marijuana over the past three years.
Dallas Jobs Numbers Look Solid. The Dallas-Plano-Irving metro area has regained nearly all the jobs lost in the past year, if — and it’s a big if — you ignore jobs lost in the leisure and and hospitality sector. That means your restaurants, hotels, and arts and entertainment organizations. They shed 49,000 jobs last year in the area.
Mavs Beat Wolves. The tortured lede from the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Groundhog Day was earlier this month, but the Timberwolves were stuck in their own version of the Bill Murray classic Monday. They woke up Saturday and allowed 43 points to the Thunder in the first quarter. They woke up 48 hours later and allowed 43 points to the Mavericks in the first. They stormed back from a 20-plus halftime deficit to make things interesting in Oklahoma City before losing, and in a frustrating similarity akin to waking up in the same rural Pennsylvania town, the Wolves couldn’t quite make it all the way back in a 127-122 loss to the Mavericks at American Airlines Arena.”
