Quick hit coronavirus updates
- Carthage shuts down library, large events at city facilities
- Marshall closes library, several city services through April 15
- Gilmer City Council cancels meetings; City Hall closes
- White Oak closes playgrounds, ball fields in response to virus threat
- UT Tyler moves to online-only classes for rest of semester
The Junior League of Longview has adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic this year by planning its annual School Supply Train earlier, using Buckner Children and Family Services to preregister children and adding supplies to protect students from getting the novel coronavirus.
No opening day parade. No midway. No fried butter. No Big Tex. Not this year.
While Smith County recorded its fifth COVID-19 death and 77 new cases Monday, Gregg County saw a jump of 21 for a new cumulative total of 486.
TYLER — After an employee tested positive for COVID-19, the Discovery Science Place in downtown Tyler has closed its doors until Friday.
The lobby to the water utilities office inside Longview City Hall is temporarily closed after two employees there tested positive for COVID-19.
More than 46,000 Texans who lost their jobs in recent months, mostly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, initially were overpaid by the Texas Workforce Commission, which now wants $32 million in unemployment benefits back.
Gregg County’s jump in COVID-19 cases continued Sunday as 12 more cases were reported, bringing the total to 465.
The calls and messages through email and social media have been commonplace in recent months — to local health officials and even to local newspaper offices.
As Gregg County continued a streak of double-digit increases in COVID-19 cases Saturday, Texas reported its highest daily jump.
PITTSBURG — Peach lovers and curious others packed the Efurd Orchards store Friday in Pittsburg, showing no signs of the COVID-19 pandemic keeping people away.
The lobby of Kilgore’s city hall will be closed to walk-in traffic effective Monday morning, July 6.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has long played the straight man to Donald Trump, translating the president’s bombast into more measured, calming language.
Though many Fourth of July fireworks displays have been canceled this year because of COVID-19, Longview, Kilgore and Uncertain still have shows planned for Saturday.
Gregg County’s recent spike in new COVID-19 cases continued Friday as 23 more cases were reported.
MARSHALL — Wiley College students will not return to the campus in Marshall for the fall semester this August because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, President Herman Felton Jr. announced in a statement Thursday.
Gregg County’s recent increase in new cases of COVID-19 continued Friday with 23 new confirmed cases.
Upshur County Sheriff Larry Webb says his office will not enforce Gov. Greg Abbott’s order requiring residents to wear a face covering in public places. He also will not require deputies to wear masks while on duty.
Though many Fourth of July fireworks displays have been canceled this year because of COVID-19, Longview, Kilgore and Uncertain still have shows planned for Saturday.
Despite a new mask mandate and restrictions on outdoor gatherings, East Texas still plans to celebrate freedom this July the Fourth.
As Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide mask mandate Thursday, Gregg County COVID-19 cases jumped by 20 for a current active count of 258.
Free COVID-19 testing will be offered several times in the next few days in Longview.
CARTHAGE — The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame Show has canceled its upcoming John Ritter Showcase Auditions and Hall of Fame Show, planned July 11 and Aug. 6-7, respectively, because of the recent spike in coronavirus cases and Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to add new restrictions.
The order requires "all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases, with few exceptions," according to Abbott's office.
Free COVID-19 testing will be offered several times in the next few days in Longview.
The Longview Public Library has canceled its annual Haunted Library event originally slated for October.
Former Lone Star Mayor Karl Stoemer headed south Wednesday afternoon toward Longview to shop for the makings of his own pyrotechnics show, and stopped at a Fantastic Fireworks trailer off U.S. 259 and Bar K Ranch Road.
Gregg County COVID-19 cases jumped by 16 on Wednesday as neighboring Smith County saw a rise of 36 new cases.
Texas’ COVID-19 case levels continued skyrocketing Wednesday as the state soared past 8,000 new infections in a single day for the first time. It was also the second deadliest day of the outbreak with 57 new deaths reported, bringing the total confirmed number to at least 2,481.
Gregg County added more than two dozen new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but Smith County still nearly doubled that number as it faces a resurgence. Meanwhile, Nacogdoches County is asking residents to cover up.
A group of 19 business and education organizations in Texas — including the Texas Association of School Boards — have come together to urge state leaders to take more action with a task force before reopening public schools in the fall.
Two East Texas bar owners attended a rally Tuesday outside the state Capitol in Austin that followed their lawsuit challenging Gov. Greg Abbott's decision on Friday ordering bars in the state to again close because of a rise in coronavirus cases.
Though state officials say schools can reopen in the fall, some Longview-area parents are skeptical amid rising COVID-19 cases.
As the Texas GOP presses ahead with plans for a July convention amid a surge in coronavirus cases, the state’s largest medical group Tuesday urged the party to reconsider before Republican activists flock to Houston, which has become one of the nation’s most troubling hot spots.
After four days of single-digit increases, Gregg County on Tuesday had nearly its highest single-day increase of confirmed cases of COVID-19 with nearly twice as many new cases in neighboring Smith County.
Bar owners in Longview and Kilgore are among 30 who have filed a lawsuit challenging Gov. Greg Abbott’s Friday decision ordering bars in the state to again close due to a rise in coronavirus cases.
Gregg County health authorities on Monday reported just two new cases of COVID-19, while neighboring Smith and Harrison counties reported 67 and 17 new cases, respectively.
KILGORE — A crowd gathered Sunday afternoon at The Machine Shed Bar & Grill on Texas 31 in Kilgore to support that bar and one in Longview that lost its liquor license Friday when the owner refused to obey Gov. Greg Abbott's orders for all bars in the state to close to stem to resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
Gladewater officials are temporarily closing city offices after three city employees tested positive for COVID-19 during the weekend.
Gregg County health authorities today reported just two new cases of COVID-19, while neighboring Smith and Harrison counties reported 67 and 17 new cases, respectively.
Vice President Mike Pence, during a trip to Dallas on Sunday, promised Texas would bounce back from a recent surge in cases of the coronavirus while urging Americans to turn to their faith during a tumultuous period for the nation.
Community Healthcore has begun a free program to help East Texans and their families recover from the impact of COVID-19.
It became clear that Gov. Greg Abbott was in retreat when he closed the bars.
As the coronavirus pandemic engulfs Texas’ metropolitan areas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has left the door open for massive indoor gatherings. And organizers are moving forward with some big ones, including the Texas Republican party’s upcoming convention in Houston.
KILGORE — Two East Texas bar owners say they have complied with every order from the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they both expect to have suspended liquor licenses Monday morning.
As escalating coronavirus cases spurred Gov. Greg Abbott to once again close Texas bars and scale back other businesses on Friday, East Texas counties continued to see their numbers creep upward — except for Smith County.
The local COVID-19 picture is different from the statewide situation that led Gov. Greg Abbott to reinstate some restrictions, says Gregg County Health Authority Dr. Lewis Browne.
This year’s Texas Rose Festival has been postponed until 2021 because of COVID-19 concerns.
