Darcy Vogt Williams says districts want flexibility deciding how and when to start the new school year, given the pandemic. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.

Conflicting mandates pingponging between state and local officials are frustrating many parents, students and teachers trying to plan for a fall semester during a raging pandemic.

Most in-person voting Tuesday ran smoothly, but thousands of voters who sought to vote by mail may not be heard. And returns from the secretary of state's office were balky.

Many Texas hospitals are no longer accepting transfer patients in order to maintain space for a surge that’s expected to come. In some parts of the state, it’s already here.

President Donald Trump now claims this privately funded border wall in the Rio Grande Valley — touted as the "Lamborghini" of fences — was built to "make me look bad," even though the project's builder and funders are all Trump supporters.

Many Texas Education Agency employees are working from home, but the agency is requiring schools to open five days a week for in-person instruction this fall. Teachers say that mandate has grave implications for their health.

Chris Bergeron is one of more than 30 bar owners who've filed suit against Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing his latest order that forbids Texans from visiting their establishments in an attempt to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, "picks and chooses winners and losers" and effectively sentences their bars to bankruptcy.

www.texastribune.org

State health officials are providing little detailed information on the spread of coronavirus in Texas child care facilities, and experts aren't sure to what extent children spread the virus.

The Texas Workforce Commission said that incorrect filings and fraud can lead to overpayments, but the money must be paid back even if it was the state's mistake.

As local officials express concerns that their hospitals could be overloaded with coronavirus patients, some are urging Gov. Greg Abbott to empower local governments to issue stay-at-home orders.