COVID19 Numbers highest since February 2021 per Dallas County Health and Human Services with almost 1000 new cases report including several deaths. One of those deaths was a fifteen year old girl.
This time last year, Dallas was considered a medical hot zone for its COVID19 case load. Last week, UTSouthwestern pandemic modeling predicted six hundred new daily cases by August 9. Yesterday’s numbers top that by 60%.
Judge Jenkins released data about the new virus infections.
Locally, it is reported that Collin County and Tarrant both had hundreds of new infections reported also and that Denton County is down to ten ICU beds – the same issue driving restrictions earlier in the pandemic.
COVID19 Numbers Highest Since February – But Back To Normal?
Earlier in the week, Governor Abbott stated local governments and schools could not require a mask or vaccine mandate and it was a personal choice.
Dallas ISD has already said school will open under normal conditions with almost no option for virtual students.
The recent K-12 CDC Mask recommendation is being ignored by Governor Greg Abbott per statements reinforcing his May Executive Order.
The CDC has recommended everyone in the K-12 setting wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Children under 12 are not yet eligible for FDA authorized vaccinations.
When asked by a KXAN reporter about whether Texas would be allowed to enforce mask wearing his press secretary responded: “the time for government mandating of masks is over…”
The spokesperson goes on, “vaccines are the most effective defense against contracting COVID and becoming seriously ill, and we continue to urge all eligible Texans to get the vaccine. The COVID vaccine will always remain voluntary and never forced in Texas.”
K-12 CDC Mask Recommendation or Donald Trump?
It is not clear if the current course of action is due to the election calendar.
Governor Abbott is in a fierce primary contest for the Republican nomination for Governor. One of his opponents, Don Huffines, has already hit out at Abbott over the rolling blackouts and freezeout earlier in the year.
Abbott has soought the support of former President Donald Trump – despite a clear move away from Trump in many suburbs, including Dallas – over the infiltration of the Republican Party by QAnon.
Former Richardson Mayor Laura Jordan, and her developer husband Mark Jordan, were found guilty Friday, July 23 of bribery and tax evasion.
Prosecutors said the former mayor accepted cash, vacations, and home renovations from Jordan and had sex with him in exchange for her votes to change the city’s zoning on land fronting Central Expressway. She also voted to approve hundreds of apartments that Jordan wanted to build there.
Early in the trial, prosecutors told jurors that the Jordans “corruptly convinced the city of Richardson to approve a multi-million dollar real estate deal.” Prosecutors also said that they “used their adulterous affair and subsequent marriage to cover up corruption and get away with this.”
But the Jordans’ attorneys told the jury that the former mayor voted for the project because it was in the best interest of the city, and that a majority of council members approved the project too.
The conviction comes just weeks after the conviction of Ruel Hamilton on similar charges.
Laura Jordan
Laura Jordan was the Mayor of Richardson, Texas from 2013 to 2015. She had previously become the first woman elected to the post of Mayor Pro Tem in the City’s 57-year history as a home rule city.
Laura Jordan, then Laura Maczka, was initially elected to the Richardson City Council, Place 4 in May 2011, defeating Karl Voigtsberger by 74.97% to 25.03%. She is believed to be only the 6th woman elected to the city council in the last forty years.
In 2013, Maczka was elected mayor in the first direct election of the mayor since the city became a home rule city in 1956.
Candida Auris (C. auris) is in Dallas per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today. They have evidence that the untreatable fungus is spreading at two Dallas-area hospitals and a Washington, D.C, nursing home.
Several patients have been diagnozed with the invasive fungal infections. The infection is impervious to all three major classes of medications, according to the CDC.
“This is really the first time we’ve started seeing clustering of resistance” in which patients seemed to be getting the infections from each other, said the CDC’s Dr. Meghan Lyman.
The new infections come as Dallas is still responding to the COVID19 pandemic and the recent diagnosis of monkeypox in Dallas.
The fungus, Candida auris, is a harmful form of yeast. It is dangerous to hospital and nursing home patients with serious medical problems.
It is most deadly when it enters the bloodstream, heart, or brain.
Health officials have sounded alarms for years about superbugs like Candida auris. In particular, they have found commonly used drugs having little to no effect.
In those cases, there was no evidence the infections had spread from patient to patient – scientists concluded the resistance to the drugs formed during treatment.
The new cases did spread, the CDC concluded.
In Washington, D.C., a cluster of 101 C. auris cases at a nursing home dedicated to very sick patients included three that were resistant to all three kinds of antifungal medications. A cluster of 22 in two Dallas-area hospitals included two with that level of resistance. The facilities weren’t identified, but the cases occured between January and April.
Lyman said both are ongoing outbreaks and that additional infections have been identified since April. But those added numbers were not reported.
Investigators reviewed medical records and found no evidence of previous antifungal use among the patients in those clusters. Health officials say that means they spread from person to person.
Candida auris Background
Per the CDC, Candida auris is an emerging fungus that can cause outbreaks of severe infections in healthcare facilities.
In the United States, it has most commonly spread in long-term care facilities caring for people with severe medical conditions.
However, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of C. auris have been reported in COVID-19 units of acute care hospitals. These outbreaks may be related to changes in routine infection control practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, including limited availability of gloves and gowns, or reuse of these items, and changes in cleaning and disinfection practices.
New C. auris cases without links to known cases or healthcare abroad have been identified recently in multiple states, suggesting an increase in undetected transmission. Screening for C. auris colonization, an important part of containment efforts, has been more limited as resources of healthcare facilities and health departments have been diverted to respond to COVID-19.
A Dallas monkeypox case was reported by Dallas County Health and Human Services, but their spokesman says the confirmation of monkeypox infection in the city is “rare,” but “not a reason for alarm.”
DCHHS confirmed the infection in a person who traveled from Nigeria to Dallas and arrived at Love Field on July 9th. Health officials said Friday the person is currently isolated at a Dallas hospital, believed to be the Parkland Hospital Infectious Disease unit, to prevent the spread of the virus and is said to be in stable condition.
The case is the first known case of monkeypox in a Dallas resident. Dallas has been a Hot Zone for COVID19 and other infectious diseases because of its multiple international airports.
Dallas Monkeypox Background
The first human cases of monkeypox were recorded in 1970 in Africa, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At the time there was an intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.
Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name ‘monkeypox.’
In humans, the symptoms of monkeypox are similar to but milder than the symptoms associated with smallpox.
Monkeypox begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, and exhaustion.
The primary difference between in symptoms between smallpox and monkeypox is monkeypox will cause lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy). Smallpox does not have cause lymphadenopathy.
The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7−14 days but can range from 5−21 days. The illness begins with:
The Conservative Political Action Conference – CPAC – had no surprises just one day after a local reporter said QAnon was alive and well in Texas. They lived up to their reputation of bringing out conspiracy theorists, grifters, and the far right.
The Dallas conference comes just a little over one month after Michael Flynn, Trump’s fired National Security Advisor, called for a Myannmar style coup in the United States.
So far this Dallas Convention Center conference has not mentioned another coup attempt on the United States, but there has been plenty of red meat for a conservative base that suffered a loss to Joe Biden and had numerous down ballot problems too in the city CPAC is being held. Trumpian tactics did not work locally in 2021 city council races, but some candidates appear to be ready to try them again.
In one session, Rep. Madison Cawthorn said President Joe Biden was trying to distribute COVID19 vaccines door to door so that he could steal Bibles and guns.
CPAC Doesn’t Surprise – But Perhaps Donald Trump Jr. Does
The CPAC event itself may not have been a surprise, but one shock came whent he former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., came on stage and said Texas was only a “top 25” conservative state.
His attack on the state’s conservative credibility seemed aimed at Austin, but it was not clear if his comments were pointed at their city council or Governor Greg Abbott. Already Abbott has two rivals for the party nomination including former state senator Don Huffines who spoke at the conservative conference also.
In June, Huffines came out attacking Abbott for his lack of executive ability over the power grid – a major issue for suburban voters in Dallas and other cities.
Trump Jr’s appearance also fueled rumors that he was abusing illegal or prescription drugs in what appears to be a drug fueled mania while he took shots at Hunter Biden.
“I totally understand addiction. It’s terrible. We all know people that have suffered from it. It doesn’t absolve you from being a total piece of garbage in every other aspect of your life,” said Donald Trump Jr.
Former President Donald will be in Dallas on Sunday, July 11, 2021 to close out the conservative conference.
Local officers recently chased a male suspect away fron a preteen girl who appears to be a Rangers coach caught with his pants down and masturbating per police insider.
The youth coach with the MLB RBI program was not at the West Dallas sports complex, but the insider tells Other Side Dallas he was viewing an underage girl approximately seven or eight years old in the vicinity of local security officers who broke a surveillance operation to warn him away from the area.
Major League Baseball and Texas Rangers officials were notified earlier this week. As of Thursday they had not responded for comment. The coach, alleged to be Edward Taylor, was identified when he was named in a press release and a neighbor called in the tip.
Rangers Coach Caught With Pants Down – Not The First Incident
The Texas Rangers are hosting a regional Major League Baseball RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner cities) tournament this weekend, but the allegation against one of their coaches is not the first problem this year at the complex.
Earlier this year a head coach was ejected after refusing to leave the field and umpires had to leave the field due to violent behavior by coaches at the Mercy Street Complex.
There areat least two other incidents where coaches threatened one another or acted dangerously during the RBI season.
Issues have been ongoing for years according to one softball coach who refused to be named.
She states every year the Rangers program director, Juan Leonel Gárciga, has to bring up the topic of on field violence, but he never handles it until after an incident and he almost always rewards coaches friendly to him.
In a previous year an umpire on the field told a high school student to “shut the fuck up” per a source employed by the Rangers so behavior control goes beyond coaching and staff, but is more widespread.
QAnon in Texas politics says Steven Monacelli during a broadcast today of Texas Standard.
In the interview, Monacelli says “QAnon believers have either won office or aggressively sought it” in several jurisdictions including three Congressional campaigns.
In Dallas, there have been a number of clubs hosting speakers on human trafficking and highlight conspiracies around the idea.
Q is an abbreviation for QAnon and a screen name for the anonymous creator of the cult movement.
The Q movement along with other right wing nationalists have popularized a number of social media hashtags including #thegreatawakening and #wwg1wga – which stands for “where we go one, we go all.” These are found frequently on Facebook and Twitter. They are also highlighted in federal court document surrounding the January 6th insurrection attempt at the US Capitol.
QAnon In Texas Featured Prominently In June
The “For God and Country Patriot Roundup” conference in June featured major Republican speakers including former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who called for a Myannmar style coup in the United States, and Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX01), from Tyler, Texas.
Old school new group action at Dallas ISD‘s Harry Stone Montessori?
Last week we reported on a large percentage of teachers leaving Dallas ISD’s South Dallas Montessori campus. That resulted in dozens of calls and emails that show teachers are leaving due to campus assaults by students of staff members.
A second Zoom was held last night where Trustee Maxie Johnson stated he thinks parents are racist for bringing up assaults against teachers. We have reached out to Mr. Johnson for comment repeatedly without success.
To date, he has not spoken substantively about the campus assaults, teachers leaving, or other relevant issues, but he has now accused a parent of racism for wanting his child to be in a safe school environment.
Old School New Group Cliques Continue
One source says the school continues to be run by the Blackburn family who delete posts out of the Facebook group that brings any negative attention. Lew Blackburn is on the school Site Based Decision Making Committee and Tes Blackburn is the President of the PTA.
The Blackburns were also accused of deleting all posts, but Facebook archived older posts.
We have run through three years of posts and do not find any post about current events or past topics such as misappropriation of bus funds which led to parents creating a Trust so that student fundraising dollars could not be misappropriated.
The Bazaldua ethics meeting discussed last week has started to a rocky start with Adam Bazaldua seeking to delay the Ethics Advisory Commission evidentiary hearing. He is not present for a meeting that he was aware of June 10, 2021.
“I deserve equitability,” said Dr. Pamela Grayson during the public comment hearing.
Ultimately the Ethics Advisory Commission chose to delay the meeting per a motion from Grant Schmidt.
Bazaldua Ethics Meeting Background
Adam Bazadula, City Council Member for District 7, was accused by Pamela Grayson that he violated city ethics code by making personal attacks against Grayson on Facebook. He also removed his co-sponsorship of an Earth Day event she was organizing.
Grayson’s complaint says Bazaldua had park rangers and police waiting on vendors who were arriving at the event. The complaint states Bazaldua was overheard saying that he does not come to South Dallas because “the risk outweighs the reward.”
Grayson argued Bazaldua’s actions are in violation of Dallas code of ethics rules stating council members must act with integrity and treat others with respect and must be responsible with taxpayer resources.
