Controversy over Texas mask mandate ban heats up
CBSN
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a series of steps Monday to battle the alarming surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, reports CBS Houston station KHOU-TV. But the controversy over his ban on localities issuing mask mandates got even hotter.
Abbott asked hospitals to postpone elective procedures to make room for COVID patients, said Texas would bring in out-of-state medical personnel to boost staffing at hospitals, and directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to open five more COVID-19 antibody infusion centers around the state. They treat patients who don't need hospitalization with therapeutic drugs. Abbott also urged people to get vaccinated. "The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, and it is our best defense against this virus," he said.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.