Ebola is the last thing I want to talk about but it is now up the interstate. “Today” spent the first ten minutes of their show this morning reporting on Ebola in Dallas and West Africa. A relative of the fella that has Ebola in Dallas told the media that he had to call the CDC because the Dallas hospital wasn’t responding properly.
CNN is reporting now that 80 folks are being monitored in the Dallas area. The State of Texas has just put that number at 100. Parents are taking their kids out of schools after they found out that some students attending the schools had been exposed to the Ebola patient. Here is from a story on the front page of today’s Chron:
The headline: Are area hospitals ready for potential Ebola threat?
Houston health officials Wednesday sought to provide assurances the area is prepared for any local arrival of an Ebola patient, as their counterparts in Dallas scrambled to explain why a hospital initially discharged a symptomatic man from West Africa who turned out to have the deadly disease.
The local officials pointed to a widely disseminated strategy, such as signs posted throughout hospitals, instructing workers to question feverish patients about whether they’ve travelled to countries affected by the Ebola outbreak or have been in contact with sick people from such countries, then isolate those who have. The strategy also calls for hospitals in such cases to notify the local health department.
The last thing I am going to do is talk about their hospital and clinical protocols. They know what they are doing. The problem is communications and gaining the trust of the public.
This morning Channel 2 had a crew staked out at IAH waiting to talk to passengers arriving from West Africa. What were they going to ask them? How are you feeling? Do you have any Ebola symptoms? Did they really have to have a news crew out there?
I hope this Ebola situation in Dallas gets better before it gets worse. I don’t know though. We don’t have a whole lot of experience dealing with something like this so mistakes will be probably be made from the communications from those in charge to the media doing the reporting. Right now I don’t have 100% confidence.
Nobody really challenged the 49% to 40% lead by AG Abbott over Team Davis among likely voters in the Texas Lyceum Poll. Among registered voters it is 43% – 37% AG Abbott and that’s what Team David is sending out in emails to their list – interesting. Folks are saying that a huge turnout advantage among Dem voters is what will keep them in the game. We will know soon.
The Harris County DA came out with a proposal for those caught with small amounts of pot. Kim Ogg’s proposal is way better and a whole lot different. Here is from the Chron:
“This is not a new plan,” Ogg said. “It’s a ‘me too’ program by a candidate who has shifted her position with the winds of political change.”
If elected, Ogg has said, police officers will simply ticket misdemeanor marijuana suspects, even repeat offenders, and require them to spend two days picking up litter around Houston’s bayous.
Ogg said her program would save an average of $10 million a year in jail, court and prosecution costs by diverting about 12,000 offenders annually.
(Harris County DA Devon) Anderson’s six-month pilot program is different because it only affects first offenders, about 2,000 people a year, the incumbent said. It also requires police officers to take suspects to a police station, write an offense report and catalog the evidence.
While they may sound similar, the two plans are fundamentally different because of their primary goal. Ogg’s plan is an effort to keep police officers on the street to catch more serious criminals. Anderson’s plan is a move to get first offenders to stop using the illegal drug before it affects their future.
And:
Beginning next week, non-violent first offenders caught with less than 2 ounces of marijuana, the threshold for a Class B misdemeanor, will still get a ride to a police station where they’ll be fingerprinted to confirm their identity and lack of a criminal record.
If they qualify, they will be released and allowed three days to make an appointment with the county agency tasked with monitoring suspects out on bail.
If suspects do not successfully complete the program’s requirements, class B misdemeanor charges will be filed and an arrest warrant will be issued, Anderson said. If convicted, suspects face a maximum of six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.
That’s a huge difference folks. Like night and day.
Like Commentary, Burkablog also thinks Sen. Wendy Davis won the debate. Here is his first line of his take:
The final debate in the 2014 governor’s race is over, and the winner was clear-cut: Wendy Davis.
Here is his take: http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/davis-win.
The Chron E-Board today endorsed for local judgeships three GOPers and one Dem. Check it out here:
http://www.chron.com/opinion/recommendations/article/Criminal-courts-part-1-5795019.php.
I am skipping the MLB question and any mention of the ‘Stros and MLB Playoffs.
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