MASS SHOOTING-TEXAS-MENTAL HEALTH

Lawyer: El Paso shooting suspect has ‘mental disabilities’

DALLAS (AP) — Lawyers for a man charged with shooting scores of people in a racist attack at a Texas Walmart last summer say he has diagnosed mental disabilities. Patrick Crusius’ attorneys said in a court filing that he has “severe, lifelong neurological and mental disabilities.” They say the 21-year-old and was treated with anti-psychotic medication following his arrest moments after the massacre in El Paso that killed 23. The lawyers claim this may be a “red flag” against federal prosecutors pursuing the death penalty. A lawyer for Crusius’ family declined to comment. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-TEXAS GOP CONVENTION

Texas GOP votes to move convention online after court losses

HOUSTON (AP) — The Texas Republican Party is changing course and accepting a virtual convention. The decision Monday night came after courts refused to force Houston to allow in-person events the city canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, said last week that he had directed city lawyers to terminate the contract because he believed the event could not be held safely. The convention typically draws thousands of attendees and was scheduled to begin this week.

RACIAL INJUSTICE-TEXAS

Texas keeps ‘The Eyes of Texas’ despite athlete demands

The University of Texas has rejected calls by its athletes to change a school song that they believe has racist undertones. “The Eyes of Texas” has long been criticized for its connection to minstrel shows with characters in blackface in the early 1900s. The school says the song will remain. Texas interim president Jim Hartzell says the Texas community has the power to determine “what the ‘Eyes of Texas’ expect of us, what they demand of us.”

VIRUS OUTBREAK-TEXAS

More than 10,000 virus patients remain in Texas hospitals

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas continues to report more than 10,000 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus as the state tries containing the spread in what has become one of America’s biggest hot zones. As Republican Gov. Greg Abbott warns that the worst is yet to come in Texas, state health officials Monday reported more than 40 new deaths and 5,600 new cases. County leaders in the hard-hit Rio Grande Valley on Monday asked Abbott to give them broader emergency powers as hospitals exceed capacity. Top officials in Houston have also called for stay-at-home orders, while Abbott has said putting Texas back on lockdown is a last resort.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-IMMIGRATION COURTS

Immigration courts reopen despite rising coronavirus cases

BALTIMORE (AP) — U.S. immigration courts are resuming hearings for non-detained immigrants despite a record rise in coronavirus cases in many of the states where they are reopening. Some immigration courts reopened Monday, including in Baltimore. The reopening extended a haphazard but unmistakable march to business as usual that has outraged judges and lawyers who say the pandemic poses unacceptable risk of spreading disease. About a dozen senators have asked the Justice Department agency overseeing the courts to explain the logic behind its decision. The agency says it has reviewed guidance from public health officials and others when making operational decisions.

AP-BKN-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-NBA

Rockets’ Westbrook has virus, as NBA bubble faces first test

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Houston’s Russell Westbrook has tested positive for the coronavirus. Despite that setback involving a high-profile player, there is optimism that the NBA’s strict health protocols for its restart are working so far. It was also announced Monday that two players tested positive for the virus after arriving in Central Florida last week. But neither of those positive players ever made it out of quarantine, so neither entered the so-called bubble and could mingle freely with other players, coaches and staff. At least two players have been disciplined for violating quarantine upon their teams’ respective arrivals last week.

PEDESTRIAN KILLED-TEEN DRIVER

Boy, 13, driving car in Texas strikes pedestrians, killing 1

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AP) — Police in suburban Dallas say a 13-year-old boy was driving a vehicle that struck three adults and two children, killing one of the adults. Grand Prairie police said teen was driving the sedan Sunday night without his parents consent when he hit the people. Police say two women and a man were pushing a 1-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl in strollers when they were all hit on a highway frontage road. Police say the teen did not see the pedestrians walking in the same direction he was traveling. A 52-year-old woman died at the scene.

AP-US-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-TEXAS

Houston leaders call for city lockdown amid virus case surge

HOUSTON (AP) — Top officials in Houston are calling for the city to lock back down as area hospitals strain to accommodate the onslaught of patients sick with the new coronavirus. Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo say a stay-at-home order is needed to cope with the surge of COVID-19 cases. Both are Democrats. Hidalgo said Sunday that a stay-at-home order is needed “until the hospitalization curve comes down.” But the decision over a lockdown rests with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. He has so far resisted this step, saying it should be a last resort.

TRUMP-PRIVATE BORDER WALL

Trump rips private Texas border wall built by his supporters

HOUSTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has criticized a privately built border wall in South Texas that’s showing signs of erosion months after going up, saying in a tweet that he thinks it was “only done to make me look bad,” even though it was built after a months-long campaign by his supporters. The group that raised money online for it promoted itself as supporting Trump during a government shutdown that began in December 2018 because Congress wouldn’t fund a border wall. Trump’s tweet tweeted Sunday came after ProPublica-Texas Tribune report that found the riverbank has started to erode.

GAS PRICES

Average US gas price up 2 cents over 2 weeks to $2.24/gallon

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline increased by 2 cents over the past two weeks, to $2.24 per gallon.  That’s 59 cents below the average pump price from a year ago. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey says the increase comes as crude oil prices rise. The highest average price in the nation for regular-grade gas is $3.20 per gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area. The lowest average is $1.79 in Houston. The average price of diesel is $2.54, down a penny from two weeks ago.