Bryan Mena

While retail, restaurants and other establishments have been springing back to life across much of the U.S. as more people get vaccinated and some Covid restrictions ease, many consumer-facing businesses in cities along the Southern border have yet to see a rebound, their customers still shut out by travel bans.

The Texas Democrat has spent 2021 so far block walking in South Texas and advocating for voting access before the Texas Legislature. If that means anything for his political future, he isn't saying.

Rural counties endured the same storm as big cities, but many haven't fallen under President Joe Biden's major disaster declaration. Officials say it's because those counties lack data on damages.

The economic upheaval wrought by the coronavirus has had a knock-on effect on the biofuels industry. Production plants for biofuels, which California promotes as greener than ordinary diesel or gasoline, often rely on restaurants, factories and other sources that regularly generate used cooking grease. Refineries can turn this into renewable diesel or biodiesel to fill trucks, ships, school buses and more. Biofuels leaders say that the supply of used cooking oil in recent months has run far below the comparable time period in 2019.

What some consider a drought-friendly material to keep soil moist can also be fuel for blazing infernos, firefighters say. Landscaping laws prohibit the use of flammable materials, including wood chips, within 100 feet of a house, according to Cal Fire. But enforcement is relatively rare.

In the decades-long history of this prestigious medical award, no Black person has received it, two Black doctors in Fort Worth say. They come from families of successful physicians that have lived in Tarrant County for generations. The two Black doctors — Dr. Joseph Guinn and Dr. Michael Brooks — say the situation is an example of systemic racism.

A former student unsuccessfully attempted to file articles of impeachment against incumbent Student Government Association (SGA) President Jessica Martinez last semester on the grounds that she was drunk during a general meeting. In a weekslong investigation, The Prospector investigated an email sent to three university officials Dec. 13 alleging that Martinez was “publicly intoxicated” during SGA’s Dec. 5 meeting.