News

Jocelyn Timmons returned to the Hemphill County Hospital Board on July 21 during the district’s regular Zoom meeting. Timmons said she and her family continue to have issues with the new Mesa View Senior Living construction, which is taking place east of their back property line.

Nearly half of the nation’s rural counties saw an uptick in new cases last week. About a third of rural counties are now deemed red zones, or counties where the rate of new infection surpasses a threshold set by White House advisors. Among three hundred rural counties designated for the first time as red zones this week is Hemphill County, where the number of COVID-19 positive cases has grown in only seven days from 31 last Wednesday, to 40 yesterday, according to a report from the Hemphill County Hospital. According to a report in The Daily Yonder, red zone counties are those where the rate of new COVID-19 cases exceeds 100 per 100,000 residents during a one-week period. The definition was coined in a leaked White House report listing regions that should consider reinstating restrictions because of high infection rates. Based on data from Sunday to Sunday. Of the 40 positive cases in Hemphill County, 19 are still considered active. Five tests were pending according to the latest report, and there have been no COVID-related deaths locally. A map showing the illustrating the surge in rural COVID-19 cases is available online at https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/UIQT7/2/.

Budget discussions didn’t last long at Monday evening’s City Council meeting. The city had received its certified appraisal values for 2020, reflecting a drop in total taxable values from $130 million last year to $126.4 million now. Sharp declines in sales tax collections—which were down 21 percent in June, and are expected to worsen as the effect of COVID-19 shutdowns becomes clearer—will also have an impact on the city revenues.

About the time CISD board members called last Tuesday’s meeting to order, news reports broke that—under growing pressure from teachers, parents, and health officials—Texas education officials had extended the time that schools will be allowed to conduct online-only classes from three weeks to at least four, with provisions for additional waivers in areas hard-hit by the coronavirus.

Summer training for Canadian’s Lady Wildcat basketball team came to an abrupt end when a player tested positive for the coronavirus at the close of the first week of workouts. Since then, at least two other players have been confirmed COVID-positive, and they and the other 16 attendees are now quarantined for two weeks.

This past Saturday, members of the Canadian Church of Christ and First Christian Church banded together to serve the city of Canadian during the 5th Annual Go! Weekend. The initiative is designed to take church outside the building—simply to get out and help the city of Canadian, the school system, and people in need.

The coronavirus recession has led to layoffs and closed businesses everywhere, but rural America has fared better than the nation’s largest cities. The farther away a county is from a central city, the fewer jobs it lost as the effects of Covid-19 shuttered businesses and kept people out of stores, gyms, restaurants and airports.