Texas Supreme Court temporarily denies governor's attempt to reinstate a ban on mask mandates in schools
CBSN
The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday denied a petition from Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that aimed to reinstate a ban on mask mandates in schools. The decision, which is temporary, comes amid a bitter battle between Abbott and local leaders over control of school masking policy.
In May, Abbott issued an executive order that barred public schools and most other government entities from imposing mask mandates. Abbott has stood by the order, despite it being met with pushback from schools and even from President Biden, who called the ban "bad health policy." Last week, Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer granted a series of temporary restraining orders against Abbott's ban, which allowed several school districts to impose face mask mandates, according to CBS Austin.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.