State Senate Candidate, District 1, Audrey Spanko, in Marshall

State Senate Candidate, District 1, Audrey Spanko, kicks off 16-County District 1 Road Trip at Harrison County Democratic headquarters in Marshall on October 1

State Senate Candidate, District 1, Audrey Spanko, kicks off 16-County District 1 Road Trip at Harrison County Democratic headquarters in Marshall on October 1 Audrey Spanko, Democratic State Senate Candidate, District 1, will kick off her “Texas Senate District 1 Road Trip” at the Harrison County Democratic Headquarters, located at 213 West Austin Street in downtown Marshall, on Thursday, October 1 at 1:00pm—3:00pm.

Ms. Spanko is the Democratic Senate candidate running against Republican incumbent State Senator Bryan Hughes and the event in Marshall is the kick-off event in a road trip will be making to the 16 counties in District 1, in the next 12 days to encourage people to register to vote before the October 5 deadline and to encourage voters to vote early when the polls open in Texas on October 13.

The event in Marshall is designed to provide members of our local community to have an opportunity to meet the candidate and for Ms. Spanko to answer any questions that community members might have about the issues facing East Texas.

Audrey Spanko is a licensed social worker and advocate. She is from Mineola and has two degrees in social work from the University of Texas. For roughly a decade, she has worked for nonprofits helping families seeking medical care and basic needs support, and from 2016-2019 she worked in child abuse prevention for the Department of Family and Protective Services. While finishing classes for her masters degree, she served as an advocacy intern during the 2019 Texas legislative session. It was this experience and all that she witnessed while working as a social worker in Texas that inspired her to run for Texas State Senate.

The event is also designed to provide a continued opportunity for citizens of Harrison County who are not yet registered to vote to register before the voter registration deadline.

“We’ve had a very successful voter registration campaign in Harrison County and we’re continuing to encourage community members who are not yet registered to get registered to vote before the registration deadline on Monday, October 5,” shared Maxine Golightly, chairman of the Harrison County Democratic Party. “It’s important that people make sure they are registered so they can vote in this critical election.”

The event will be held in the backyard of the Democratic headquarters at 213 West Austin so that people can enjoy the gorgeous fall weather and to provide for social distancing. The Harrison County Democratic Headquarters is open every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11am—2:00pm.

Volunteers staff the headquarters for those wishing to register to vote, as well as those wishing to obtain campaign signs, along with information about the early voting schedule in Harrison County, the Democratic candidates, and the issues facing East Texans and Americans. If these times are not convenient, persons are encouraged to call Maxine Golightly at (903) 908- 0521 or Christina Anderson at (903) 938-8373 to make an appointment and they or another volunteer will arrange to meet the person at the headquarters at an appointed time.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Democratic Party wishing to take all measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Democratic headquarters follows all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for social-distancing and wearing masks. If a person does not have a mask and wishes to visit the headquarters, a mask will gladly be provided.

Early voting begins on Tuesday, October 13 at seven locations in Harrison County and runs through Friday, October 30, 2020. Information about specific times and locations for early voting are available at the Democratic headquarters or at the Harrison County Elections Office at 415 East Burleson Street.

The Harrison County Democratic Party will host another “Meet the Candidate and Voter Registration” event on Saturday, October 3 at 2:00pm-4:00pm in the backyard of the Harrison County Democratic headquarters, featuring Judge Staci Williams, who grew up in Marshall and is a candidate for the Texas Supreme Court. More information about that event will be provided in a separate news release.

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CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 9/29/2020

September 29, 2020

Harrison County reports 1 new case Monday while
Gregg had 16 and Smith 46. (J. Harris: Are we creeping upward again?)

FROM A HOUSTON INTERNIST: “Imagine being the December dead chump with no mask when your friends are getting their vaccine in January..”

Lessons learnt from easing COVID-19 restrictions: an analysis of countries and regions in Asia Pacific and Europe
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis. Many countries have implemented restrictions on population movement to slow the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and prevent health systems from becoming overwhelmed; some have instituted full or partial lockdowns. However, lockdowns and other extreme restrictions cannot be sustained for the long term in the hope that there will be an effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19. Governments worldwide now face the common challenge of easing lockdowns and restrictions while balancing various health, social, and economic concerns. To facilitate cross-country learning, this Health Policy paper uses an adapted framework to examine the approaches taken by nine high-income countries and regions that have started to ease COVID-19 restrictions: five in the Asia Pacific region (ie, Hong Kong [Special Administrative Region], Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea) and four in Europe (ie, Germany, Norway, Spain, and the UK). This comparative analysis presents important lessons to be learnt from the experiences of these countries and regions. Although the future of the virus is unknown at present, countries should continue to share their experiences, shield populations who are at risk, and suppress transmission to save lives.
COVID-SNIFFING DOGS SARS-CoV-2 testing would likely be less scary or uncomfortable if it was conducted by puppies. Perhaps that is part of the motivation behind Finland’s new plan to deploy “coronavirus-sniffing dogs” at the Helsinki Airport. The airport is conducting a pilot project that uses specially-trained dogs to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in passengers based on their scent. Dogs have been used in a similar manner to detect other infections or diseases that cause a distinct odor in patients, including cancer and Clostridium difficile, sometimes before the onset of symptoms. Samples are taken by swabbing passengers’ necks and then delivered to the dogs in a separate room. One researcher from the University of Helsinki indicated that the dogs can approach 100% sensitivity and can detect infection up to 5 days before the onset of symptoms. A similar program was also recently implemented in the Dubai International Airport. The use of dogs to detect SARS-CoV-2 has not been sufficiently assessed in scientific studies, so passengers identified by the dogs will be administered a more traditional test to confirm infection. Further research is needed to demonstrate the accuracy of this surveillance method, but it could provide rapid assessment capability, particularly for high-traffic areas like airports.

Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Children and Adolescents Compared With Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (JAMA Pediatrics) In this systematic review and meta-analysis including 32 studies, children and adolescents younger than 20 years had 44% lower odds of secondary infection with SARS-CoV-2 compared with adults 20 years and older; this finding was most marked in those younger than 10 to 14 years. Data were insufficient to conclude whether transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by children is lower than by adults. Preliminary evidence suggests that children have a lower susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with adults, but the role that children and adolescents play in transmission of this virus remains unclear.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a large nationwide sample of patients on dialysis in the USA: a cross-sectional study
” …fewer than 10% of the US population has seroconverted as of July, 2020, and herd immunity remains out of reach, as has been the conclusion from large international surveys from the UK44 and Spain,1 where intense outbreaks of COVID-19 occurred during the spring and summer of 2020…..However recurring monthly testing of remainder plasma of randomly selected sets of people—as is practically feasible in patients receiving dialysis—can serve as a representative surveillance system in the USA…(J. Harris: This Lancet article has a readable and comprehensive “Conclusion” portion that is worth the read.)

New document reveals scope and structure of Operation Warp Speed and underscores vast military involvement
(J. Harris: Please let me know if you are able to follow their flow sheet.)

My friend’s bakery burned down last night. Now his business is toast.

If toast always lands butter-side down and cats always land on
their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat?
~ Steven Wright

Anxiety, Stress, Depression

By George Smith

Anxiety.

Stress.

Low-grade depression, even.

In my professional and personal lives, I have experienced all three emotions or physical manifestations at some point. But I have never had these feelings at once and never with the intensity I am experiencing at this pivotal moment in my life.

My country, your country, is being ripped to shreds, its culturural, political and emotional fabric cut, slashed, torn into divisive slices that prohibit uninhibited, astute and perceptive information exchange.

Pure and simple: The United States
is as divided over the direction this country should take as during the Vietnam war or getting to point of the division experienced during the Civil War.

Do you see the ideological differences common in every county under every form of government widening into an unbridgeable abyss as I do? Or is it just me and my eternal optimistic outlook on life hitting a dark spot in my universe and feeling trapped in a wormhole of uncertain and disbelief?

For most of my life I have been a disciple of the Pollyanna principle. It is the tendency for people to remember pleasant items more accurately than unpleasant ones.

Research indicates that at the subconscious level, the mind tends to focus on the optimistic; while at the conscious level, it tends to focus on the negative. To my way of thinking, and with an exaggerated way of always feeling like “The Little Engine That Could,” I look forward to each day simply KNOWING the sun will come up tomorrow.

Little Orphan Annie. That has been me.

Now, not so much. With insomnia a regular visitor, I wake up to a smoky fog of dread. What fresh hell has been fostered upon us during the night? How many more fellow countrymen have died because of an error in judgment, ignorance and/or abject stupidity in managing the pandemic? What new social media tweet will further divide the country? What self-serving statement by which elected official will get applause from one clique and raised blood pressure from those in opposition?

To quote the late Rep. Elijah Cummings: “We are better than this.”

Are we? The question begs an answer.

Are we really?

Come on, Pollyanna! We’re better than this.

Aren’t we?

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Tweetsanity

By George Smith

When Trump was elected, I wrote: “He is our president, my president, and I want him to be the best president. Our country needs leadership, needs healing and an end to division…in politics, in suspicion, in hatred, and in irresponsible use of social media and vitriolic tweeting.”

But Trump kept tweeting his irrepressible anger and juvenile judgmental harrangues and I wonder why.

He has Fox News and NewsMax and the Washington Examiner; he has his parroting communications team, his all-in cabinet officials, his Hell-Yeah kids and in-laws and in-GFs and aides and staffers to do his shouting.

So, why does he keep tweeting craziness-cubed statements aimed at aggravating some folks that might — MIGHT — consider his point of view if he would take a more gentle approach in his rhetoric?

Trump should rely more on his Mulvaneys, his Cruzes, his McElehenys and his Grahams to carry the dirty word-water…and shhhhhhhh…stop the tweetsanity!

Trump should leave the nastiness to his attack dogs and try and rev up support from those who detest his bully-boy social media tactics.

It is obvious the president has never heard the English proverb: Why buy a dog if you’re going to bark?

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You doing okay?

By George Smith

Before the weekend, maybe as early as Wednesday, 200,000 Americans will have died from COVID 19.

This is the pandemic President Trump called “Democratic hoax” and said numerous times it “would disappear” and was “not as bad” as the flu. This was months AFTER he told an investigative journalist (on tape) writing a book about his presidency that is was “airborne and deadly” five times more deadly than the flu.

Trump has been consistent only in his inconsistency.

National Public Radio reported “Trump has gone from downplaying the risk early on, to overselling the availability of test kits, to encouraging strict social distancing measures, to questioning whether those measures were causing too much economic and emotional pain. He has claimed ‘total’ authority and then insisted it’s really up to the states to manage the response.”

He proudly states he “banned” travel from China early in without mentioning more than 45,000 people from China — American travelers returning home, businessmen and women—were exempt from the ban, which exploded the number of cases on bith coasts.

His mismanagement of this global health crisis, and his constant pronouncements about the “incredible job” the U.S. has done in combatting the virus, caused needless deaths and suffering and was the catalyst for the nation’s economic chaos and turmoil.

Bottomline, his lies — constant and umwavering, which continue today — killed Americans. And the toll continues to rise thanks to his ego-driven need to be re-elected, and his cult-like followers.

Those who support him today, after hearing in his own words how he lied to all Ametican residents about the dangers of the pandemic, are “in for penny, in for a pound” in his vision of a Trump America of death, destruction, divided and with a war raging among the haves and have nots.

History will condemn this religious and fiscal heretic who is devoid of empathy, compassion and love of anything but his name, his money and his need for instant adulation.

And those that support him for whatever reason, are complicit in this slow-motion destruction of America.

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I’m waiting

By George Smith

Just twiddling my thumbs…waiting.

I am waiting, waiting all a-twitter, for a reasonable explanation why the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump would sit down for 18 interviews in nine hours total over six months with a reporter and admit he lied to the American people about the dangers of the COVID 19 virus.

Trump didn’t regurgitate truth pellets to the American people about the dangers of the coronavirus in February —at the same time he was going on Twitter and holding news conferences — he was stating emphatically the virus, which was virulent in its global pandemic specifications — was “no big deal and would “magically disappear”.

He lied. Regularly. Repeatedly. He spat in the face of scientists and experts on infection diseases. He pooh-poohed the use of and effectiveness of face masks to put the damper on the virus’ spread and said he was doing a good job as people died needlessly. He preached about reopening businesses prematurely.

President Trump lied. And people died.

Lying about the dangers and watching residents die while continung to spout the lie over and over was abjectly stupid.

Also abjectly stupid was agreeing to interviews with the reporter, Bob Woodward.

Bob Woodward. You do know the name, right? The “Robert Redford” of “All the President’s Men.” The Watergate Woodward. The dismantling of the Nixon Administration. The disgrace and resignation of Richard Nixon.

THAT Bob Woodward.

In the Watergate saga, Woodward and his investigative partner, Carl Bernstein, had “Deep Throat,”
an anonymous source that helped them focus the investigation along a ligical path.

In Woodward’s newest investigative effort, his new “Deep Throat” is … the president.

One has to assume one of two things about Trump agreeing to lengthy taped — TAPED — interviews with the world’s most famous investigative journalist: 1. That President Trump had never read the book about Watergate by Woodward and Bernstein, or seen the movie, or 2. He is so enamored with enhanced his bloviated image he was flattered by the attention.

Regardless of whether it was stupidity (there is no reason to plead “ignorance” in this case) or vanity, Trump can blame no one but himself.

This is the Supreme Gotcha! But in this case, Trump “got” himself. All Woodward “got” was a money-making best seller and, maybe, another notch in the handle of his presidential pistol.

Waiting, just waiting. Waiting to see how Trumpuppets spin this newest revelation, waiting to watch the president try and explain away his taped words that killed thousands of American residents.

What is there to say?

Trump lied. And people died as a direct result of his lies.

Is he worthy to be president. Not then. Not now. Not in the future.

This newest Trumpisode in ignorance and egomaniacal behavior teminds me of the Dietks Bentley song:

“I know what I was feelin’
But what was I thinkin’”?

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Marshall Burglary Suspect in Custody

[Marshall, Texas, September 2, 2020]

At approximately 9:10 am on Monday, September 1, 2020, the Marshall Police Department Emergency Communications received a 911 call from the Fairfield Inn at 105 West Interstate 20 in Marshall. The caller alerted authorities that an individual had committed a theft from the hotel register and shoved the pregnant clerk while committing the theft. The suspect’s use of force to commit the theft changed the charge from theft to robbery.

Detectives investigating this case had knowledge of a similar theft at the Holiday Inn & Express & Suites at 500 Interstate 20 East in Marshall which occurred on Friday, August 28, 2020. This theft resulted in a warrant being issued for the arrest of the identified suspect, Mr. Glenn Earl Johnson.

The suspect in the Fairfield Inn robbery fled from Marshall Police Patrol Officers and was apprehended after a brief pursuit. He was positively identified as Glenn Earl Johnson and is now custody for both crimes.

The Marshall Police Department mission is to preserve public safety and quality of life within the City of Marshall, to respond effectively to the changing needs of the community, and to promote mutual respect between the Police Department and the people we serve.

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Labels

By George Smith

This country must redefine a label, change it, label it for what it is and stop using it in a blurred sense.

The label? Pro-life.

Everybody is pro-life…me, you, them, us!

Those who support Donald Trump, the most corrupt president in this country’s history, are not pro-life…they are anti-abortion.

Trump is only anti-abortion now because of its basic appeal to his base. A life-long chameleon on the issue, he has donated multiple times to Planned Parenthood and donated to candidates who fervently believe that a woman, in cincert with her doctor and God, has singular control over her body. And, according to second-wife Marla Maples, when she informed her then-boyfriend she was pregnsnt, he said, “Well, what are you going to do about it?”

And, then, there’s the issue of the American community making a commitment to assist in taking care of children born in less than ideal conditions. What, then?

The president has demanded cuts to programs aimed at supporting low income families with children.

(From Chikdren’s Defense Fund —April 2020)
President Trump’s 2020 budget request landed with a thud this week, laden with deep cuts to programs that lift millions of children and their families out of poverty every year. In a moment of great prosperity, just more than a year after giving away $2 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy, the President has once again offered a draconian budget that would leave more children hungry, unhoused and uninsured.

“The President has proposed cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) by $220 billion over the next decade, even though SNAP helped 19.2 million children avoid hunger in 2016 and kept 1.5 million children out of poverty in 2017.”

Do not tell me this president cares about children, the embryo or newborn.

He cares about one thing — himself. It’s all about his fragile ego and how tough he can portray himself to be.

He’ll use anything — even the future and fate of children — to fulfill his fantasies of power and complete adulation.

He wants the best of all alt-right worlds: A strong, unwavering anti-abortion stance … AND a just-as-strong stance against so-called “gimme” programs that protect the health and well-being of children.

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Marshall Modernizes City Communication

September 1, 2020 at 1:00 p.m.

As a component of our Mobilize Marshall plans to optimize communication with our citizens, the City of Marshall is delighted to unveil a new, interactive website today at www.marshalltexas.net.

“In January, one staff member representing every city department met to evaluate multiple companies who specialize in developing new government websites. This group was tasked to find the right company to work with our city. After reviewing eight companies for their credentials, previous website designs, and interviews with previous clients, our design team recommended CivicPlus begin a new website for the City of Marshall in April. On August 17, 2020, the system user training was completed. Our team of Anna Lane, Rachel Chapman, Nikki Smith, Eric Powell, and Stormy Nickerson completed the necessary revisions. Jimmie Rambo of our IT Department launched the new website today. I am grateful to all city staff who participated in this process to bring convenient, simple, transparent solutions and information to Marshall. Special mention needs to be made of the leadership and oversight displayed by Stormy Nickerson throughout the process,” shared City Manager Mark Rohr.

Founded in 1998, CivicPlus has 4,000 government clients, and over 250,000 million citizens engage with their municipal websites daily. This current technology will enable the City of Marshall to create efficiencies in all areas of our local government by delivering the tools needed by our employees and our residents.

• CivicReady – Mass notification system for residents to receive texts or emails during emergency events (weather, boil water notices), press releases, and newsletters. See News & Announcements for this feature.

• CP Pay – A single payment gateway for your water utility bill.

• CivicService – Residents may report city needs. See RequestTracker for this feature.

• CivicHR – Employment listings for the City of Marshall. See Jobs for this feature.

• CivicClerk – Agendas and minutes for City Commission and Board meetings. See Agendas for this feature.

As there are thousands of servers updating with our domain’s new DNS information, this process can take as little as an hour, 24 hours, or up to 72 hours for all City of Marshall residents to view the new website.

For more information, please contact:

Stormy Nickerson

City of Marshall Communications Coordinator

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Black Former N.F.L. Players Say Racial Bias Skews Concussion Payouts

The players say doctors use two scales — one for Black athletes, one for white — to determine eligibility for dementia claims.

Aug. 25, 2020
Note: Dr. Jim Harris provided this article. For several followed and contributed to the research related to head injuries resulting from football impact. The person that wrote3 the article is a friend of Jim.
Two retired players have accused the N.F.L. of “explicitly and deliberately” discriminating against hundreds if not thousands of Black players who filed dementia-related claims in the landmark concussion settlement reached in 2013, making it harder for them to qualify for payouts worth as much as $3 million.

In two legal actions filed Tuesday in United States District Court in Philadelphia, the players asked that the judge stop the league from insisting that race-based benchmarks be used to evaluate players’ claims. They also asked that the scores on Black players’ neurocognitive exams be recalculated using “race-neutral” scales that would put them on an even footing with white players.

“In effect, the settlement, as it has been administered, has a white door and a Black door,” said Cyril Smith, a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder and the lead counsel for two players who are Black, Najeh Davenport, a former running back, and Kevin Henry, a longtime defensive end. “Although the neurocognitive tests behind each door are the same, the raw scores for Black and white former players are interpreted differently when they are converted” to scores that are used to determine whether a player is eligible for a payment.

To read the entire story click here

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