Garland has named Ayako Schuster to lead the city’s Economic Development Department. In her new role, she will focus on bringing new development and redevelopment partnerships to the city, according to a news release. Ayako Schuster, who began her work for Garland as an intern in 2000, was recently named as the city’s new Economic Development Director. Schuster began her …

Like many North Texans, Sarah Watkins followed federal advice and stopped wearing her mask after getting her COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year. But lately, as she watched the number of delta variant cases grow in the region, the 62-year-old retired Plano ISD principal started to have second thoughts. “I made the decision a week or two ago that I’d mask up …

GEORGETOWN — Defiantly, boldly even, leaders of a national push for new federal voting-rights laws gathered at a Lutheran church beside Interstate 35 in Georgetown late Tuesday to launch a reenactment of one of the civil rights movement’s most storied successes: three marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1965. The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, founder of …

AUSTIN — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday named 11 Senators to the Senate Select Committee on the Future of College Sports in Texas to study the economic and athletic impact the University of Texas’ decision to ditch the Big 12 will have on the state. The announcement landed the same day UT released a joint statement with the University …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Residents of the Pleasantville neighborhood in east Houston want the city to interfere with what they’re calling a “big rig problem” in their historic neighborhood. “It’s bringing down the value of our neighborhood,” one resident told. Despite the “No thru Trucks,” signs in the neighborhood, residents said they continue to deal with big rigs squeezing through …

Texas State Rep. Jake Ellzey on Tuesday defeated Republican activist Susan Wright to replace Wright’s late husband, Ron Wright, in Congress. Ellzey’s victory was a blow to former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Wright over the objections of several major Texas Republicans, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Trump is perceived to be the leader of the Republican Party, both …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Police are searching for a man they said robbed a woman in the parking lot of a grocery store in west Houston. The incident happened July 12, in the 2500 block of South Gessner Road. The woman told police she was getting out of her car when she was approached by an unknown man who took …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A chase through north Harris County ended with a high-speed crash Tuesday afternoon. Harris County Sheriff’s deputies were following the driver, who slammed into other vehicles on the Hardy Toll Road just north of the North Loop. The driver tried to squeeze a blue Kia between two other cars, and ended up hitting both of them. …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course Tuesday on some masking guidelines, recommending that even vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the coronavirus is surging. Citing new information about the ability of the delta variant to spread among vaccinated people, the CDC also recommended indoor masks for …

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Amid a resurgence of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now asking those in high-spread areas to mask up. “First thoughts are … I’ve seen this movie before,” said small business owner Al Jara. His neighborhood bar, the Marquis II located near Bissonnet and Kirby, is still on the rebound after being shut down for …