Dallas Morning News • 18th August 2020

Caution first: Texas nursing homes should reopen with care

Across Texas, some nursing homes are opening up to visitors after the state’s Health and Human Services Commission announced last week that those facilities that have passed two weeks without active coronavirus cases would be permitted to do so. The move comes five months after nursing homes and other long-term care facilities were shut down to visitors to limit risk of contagion among one of the state’s most vulnerable populations. This is great news for patients and their families who have ...

Dallas Morning News • 14th August 2020

Colleyville has taken the brunt of COVID response criticism. What can we learn from it?

In Texas, Colleyville has taken its fair share of criticism for how it has dealt with the coronavirus. It’s been a topic of debate for city Facebook groups and for Texas as a whole. The city chose to open its businesses at the end of April, while the rest of Texas remained shut down. Then, it made headlines in June when it decided not to enforce the Tarrant County order requiring its residents to wear masks inside businesses and at large outdoor gatherings, saying that it would put its police ...

Dallas Morning News • 8th August 2020

Census 2020 has been hit by many obstacles. Let’s not add another

Around the country, canvassers are going door to door to reach residents who have yet to fill out the census, a form of outreach that only started up again last month following delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, efforts will be short-lived. The Census Bureau has decided to end all counting efforts, including those by phone, online or mail, on Sept. 30, one month earlier than had been previously announced. That’s a problem. The months leading up to the census period brought ...

Dallas Morning News • 5th August 2020

Border security should also include safety for asylum seekers petitioning to enter the United States

Here’s a fact that is little known inside the confines of the United States: Along the border with Mexico, approximately 60,000 people have been put in limbo through the Migrant Protection Protocols. These are people seeking asylum or generally trying to enter the United States, but they face bureaucratic hurdles that are preventing their cases from being considered on the merits. In the era of COVID-19, this is a problem that risks unleashing a catastrophe and therefore needs to be addressed. ...

Dallas Morning News • 5th August 2020

It’s time to fully recognize our history: A Latino museum will highlight foundational contributions

Latino influence in the United States is everywhere. It takes the shape of farmworkers’ rights, civil rights reporting and Supreme Court representation. The toil of Latino labor is in the food that we eat and the names that line our streets. It precedes the foundation of this country, yet the recognition often gets overlooked if not erased entirely. The important legacy of Latino Americans cannot be overlooked, and especially not now as we memorialize the first anniversary of the killings of 23 people ...

Dallas Morning News • 27th July 2020

As coronavirus cases rise, prison population should not be forgotten

Texas has had the highest number of deaths among prison inmates of the 50 states. At 94 deaths and with nearly a quarter of the populations infected with the coronavirus among just four prison units, the prison system must reconsider how it ensures the health and well-being of its inmates. Texas can’t forget its prisoners. It’s no secret that prisons are crowded and that spread among facilities is inevitable, but more can be and needs to be done to limit infection. In Seagoville, more than two ...

Dallas Morning News • 19th July 2020

COVID-19 has raged in Latino communities and neighbors are fighting back

COVID-19 cases among Latinos have continued to skyrocket. In Dallas County alone, more than half of recorded cases are among Latino residents, though the population accounts for about 40% of the community. South Oak Cliff, which has the highest proportion of Latinos in Dallas, has been hit especially hard. But even as fear and worry have risen along with infections, there is also a silver lining. We see in many Hispanic communities a gathering of neighbors and community groups who are helping ...

Dallas Morning News • 17th July 2020

Keep the STAAR; lose the stakes

The academic world is upside down. Districts are grappling with how to deal with the looming school year as they aim to perform a careful balancing act between health and safety and quality education. Amid that struggle comes another test, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, which is used both to evaluate student achievement and institutional quality. Testing was postponed for the 2019-20 school year in March due to the coronavirus pandemic that pushed schools into remote ...

Dallas Morning News • 15th July 2020

Send international students home? A terrible idea at exactly the wrong time

Thousands have been left in limbo after Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced last week that international students whose classes are fully online will not be permitted to stay in the United States. This has left students and administrators scrambling amid recent spikes in coronavirus cases that have pushed some universities to announce a fully online approach to the upcoming academic year. ICE recommends students either cope or transfer, an often impossible ...

Dallas Morning News • 1st July 2020

Community before convenience: Colleyville should put its residents’ health first

As cities start to once again implement stay-at-home orders with coronavirus cases rising worryingly, Colleyville has made a public show of refusing to enforce Tarrant County’s order requiring individuals to wear masks inside businesses and at large outdoor gatherings. In a statement, the city said it did not want to put its Police Department in “an awkward position” after learning from the district attorney’s office that violations would be difficult to prosecute. The city added, unhelpfully ...

Dallas Morning News • 25th June 2020

George Floyd murals bring deeper meaning to issues of injustice

In Minneapolis, hues of blue and yellow form the face of a George Floyd mural, with a resolution to his last words scrawled against the purple of his sweatshirt: “I can breathe now.” Radiating from the halo cast by a sunflower standing prominently behind him are the names of those who passed before him, all too soon: Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice — and the list goes on. The country erupted in outrage following the death of Floyd by police on Memorial Day in Minneapolis. Protests ...

Dallas Morning News • 22nd June 2020

When will it be time to reevaluate?

As hospitals break records with regard to the number of new COVID-19 patients admitted, they’ve also grown uncomfortably close to nearing capacity. Last week hospitals in Dallas hit more than two-thirds capacity, and the trend continues to point upward. Yet, despite this, reopening plans have continued. Restaurants are now permitted to function at three-quarters capacity. AMC, the world’s largest movie theater chain, is preparing to open in July in time for the highly anticipated spy film ...

Dallas Morning News • 19th June 2020

Supreme Court DACA decision is a good step forward

Here to stay. These are the words ringing throughout the country right now. Thursday the Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, calling it “arbitrary and capricious.” Nearly 700,000 individuals who came to the United States as children can now breathe a sigh of relief. This includes nearly 35,000 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone, which has the third largest population of DACA recipients behind Los Angeles and New York ...

Dallas Morning News • 17th June 2020

As the coronavirus highlights health disparities, new study is a good step but must not be the last

It’s no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has hit low-income individuals and people of color more severely than wealthy and white populations. Based on sample data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of those who have tested positive are Latino or black, though they make up a third of the U.S. population. In Texas, reports appear to indicate similar disproportions but the data is far from complete, making it difficult to truly understand the extent to which the ...

Dallas Morning News • 14th June 2020

Puzzles, bicycles and flour? America’s isolation memories in the making

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve mourned deaths that have come too soon, had our hearts drop at the sound of wheezing or shaky breath from a loved one. We’ve had our workspaces move from offices to the confines of our homes; we’ve had our hours cut, our work put on hold, our jobs stripped from us. Our faces have twisted at the sight of yet another bill we can’t afford. And yet, despite the confusion, pain and fear we’ve endured these last few months, puzzles have gone flying ...

Dallas Morning News • 12th June 2020

What should restaurants do about coronavirus? The steps are far from clear

Texas is nearing its next stage of reopening, which dictates that restaurants will be permitted to run at three quarters capacity beginning Friday following the decision to open them at half capacity last month. But as the state walks the line forward, there are other issues that come into play. Last week, downtown Dallas restaurant Yolk had an employee test positive for the coronavirus. Other employees were left frustrated, saying that management failed to tell them about the case. Management ...

Dallas Morning News • 9th June 2020

Universities must put students first as they discuss fall semester

Summer is in full swing, which means colleges have now shifted gears fully from managing the turmoil of spring semester to planning for an already rocky fall semester. The University of Dallas and the University of Texas System have already announced plans to hold classes in person, though what that will look like still remains up in the air. A lot must go into readying campus for student life once again and adjusting protocols to welcome the many that will return, but that should not overshadow ...

Dallas Morning News • 8th June 2020

Delay DACA decision while country is in turmoil

Right now, protesters have taken to the streets and the coronavirus pandemic has caused mass unemployment. We are in the middle of a tumultuous time, filled with fear and anxiety. Still, it is important to keep sight of an important event before us. People waited anxiously Monday to see if the Supreme Court would rule on whether President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2017 was legal and will continue to do so each week as the unofficial end ...

Dallas Morning News • 1st June 2020

This summer more than ever, parents need to take advantage of these learning opportunities

When schools went remote in mid-March, a lot was happening. Administrators and faculty along with students and their families were grappling with the rise of the pandemic with no clear understanding of where things were heading. All were pushed to adapt to the rapidly changing situation as the classroom was forced into an unfamiliar online format. It seemed like just as students, families and faculty finally began to adjust to the new reality, the period of structured learning ended. Summer has ...