Clay Jenkins Takes Mask Fight With Greg Abbott to Court. Judge Jenkins, Dallas County’s highest elected executive, late yesterday asked a court to block Gov. Abbott’s ban on mask mandates and give Jenkins the authority to manage a local response to the pandemic. The request is made in a counterclaim in a suit between Jenkins and County Commissioner J.J. Koch, who got into it a week ago over masking during a Commissioners Court meeting. On Friday, the most recent data available, there were 796 new COVID cases in the county, and right now there are just 14 ICU beds available.
Former Balch Springs Councilman Killed by COVID. Rev. Sammy Moon was 53. He died Saturday after contracting the virus a second time. He was scheduled to get his first vaccine shot Monday.
A Glimmer of Good News on Crime. At a Public Safety Committee yesterday, Chief Eddie García said his department’s crime reduction plan is working. During May, June, and July of this year, the city had 48 homicides, compared to 69 over the same period last year. Not great: aggravated assaults have ticked up.
Luka Is Rich. This morning at 8, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Luka Dončić will sign a five-year, $207 million contract personally delivered to him by Mark Cuban on a pillow stuffed with the feathers of the last dodo bird. You can follow along at home with a livestream of the signing on Mavs.com. The love locks bridge in Ljubljana is called the Butcher’s Bridge and is decorated by bronze sculptures of mythological beasts created by Jakov Brdar. Hopefully Mavs.com will livestream that ceremony, too, as Cuban affixes to the bridge a padlock inscribed with his and Luka’s names, then throws the key into the Ljubljanica River, symbolizing that their bond will last forever.
Hard Knocks Drops Tonight. The new season, featuring the Cowboys, airs at 9 on HBO.
