July 5, 2022 Picture: McKinney Area Democratic Club car in the July 4th Parade. Covid Update: Collin County has 228,308 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 1,142 more cases than I reported last week and 1,516 of our Collin residents have died (2 additional deaths). As you know, people not reporting their positive home tests are skewing our numbers. However, according to the Department of Labor (which keeps tabs on Covid transmission rates around their field offices), Collin County has moved into the Medium transmission category. In an interesting twist, that’s just us. Denton and Dallas counties are both still Low. That …
Collin County Politics: Let Us Work Together
June 28, 2022 Picture: Democrats Kim Vaught and Susie Machemehl support the Pride story time at the McKinney Library. Covid Update: Collin County has 227,166 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 3,159 more cases than I reported last week and 1,514 of our Collin residents have died (4 additional deaths). That’s a sharp increase in both cases and deaths. I’m also hearing a lot of anecdotal stories about numerous people getting Covid, some for the first time. For those who haven’t been masking up, it’s time to start again! Commissioner’s Court: Duncan Webb was absent from their 24-minute meeting last week. The …
Collin County Politics: What Kind of World Do You Want?
June 21, 2022 Picture: Hundreds braved the heat to celebrate Pride with Drag Queen Bingo, an event put on by the McKinney Area Democratic Club. Covid Update: Collin County has 224,007 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 1,565 more cases than I reported last week and 1,510 of our Collin residents have died (no deaths). We’re holding our own but there are still risks, especially of long Covid. Although not enough is known about long Covid, a recent study showed that women are more likely to develop it than men. Of course, we are. It’s not enough that women in the United …
Collin County Politics: Make Some Noise
June 14, 2022 Picture: Collin County Democratic Party Precinct Chairs Subir Purkayasta and Rekha Shenoy participating in the March for Our Lives. Covid Update: Collin County has 222,442 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 1,830 more cases than I reported last week and 1,510 of our Collin residents have died (an increase of 1 person). Although hospitalizations are rising and are at their highest peak since March, experts insist we’re still OK. Collin County has a relatively high rate of vaccinations and warmer weather may be helping keep cases low. Providers are reporting more non-Covid respiratory illnesses right now – stuff we …
Collin County Politics: Let’s Safeguard Democracy
June 7, 2022 Picture: HD67 candidate Kevin Morris helps McKinney Area Democratic Club’s Julie Luton with a service project at Holy Family School. Covid Update: Collin County has 220,612 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 3,041 more cases than I reported 2 weeks ago and 1,509 of our Collin residents have died (no change). Our transmission rate is still low but hospitalizations are increasing. An average of 244 cases per day were reported in Collin County this week, a 36% increase from the average 2 weeks ago. Remember, this is a low estimate since people aren’t reporting at-home test results. As is usually the case following …
Collin County Politics: The Gun Edition
May 31, 2022 Picture: Plano’s Jenna Royal speaks with a reporter at the rally outside the NRA meeting in Houston. Like many of you, I felt hopeless after hearing about the gun massacre in Uvalde, especially since it came on the heels of the gun massacre in Buffalo. I don’t know if I even have it within me to hope this time will be different. I naively thought we as a nation would do something after Sandy Hook. We clearly don’t care about killing adults but I thought we’d at least care about massacring children (especially the party of “family …
Collin County Politics: Fighting Fascism Requires Untiring Effort
May 24, 2022 Picture: MADC Candidate Development & Support Chair Tonya Dangerfield with Carroll Robinson, candidate for Texas Democratic Party chair. He spoke at a recent MADC meeting. Covid Update: Collin County has 217,571 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 1,401 more cases than I reported last week (a sharp increase) and 1,509 of our Collin residents have died (an increase of 1 person). Our transmission rate continues to be low but public health officials are worried we don’t have accurate data because many are either not testing at all or are testing at home and not reporting their positive test results. …
Collin County Politics: Run-Offs Are Here!
May 17, 2022 Picture: Les Cunningham, longtime union activist and human rights advocate, with Tevita ‘Uhatafe, a dedicated labor activist and the first Tongan elected to the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. They were supporting a new local union at the Denton Starbucks. Covid Update: Collin County has 216,170 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 881 more cases than I reported last week and 1,508 of our Collin residents have died (that’s an increase of 2 people). Our transmission rate is still low but a surge is happening in New York City and the Midwest. Some of our low rates could be …
Collin County Politics: We’re in a War for Our Soul
May 10, 2022 Picture: What a line-up of strong women marching for reproductive freedom! From left to right: Cassandra Hernandez (HD70), Caroline Werner (CCDP Chair), Angie Solomon (Plesa staffer) Iro Omere (CD4), Sheena King (HD61), Mihaela Plesa (HD70), and Elizabeth Michel (President of MADC). Covid Update: Collin County has 215,289 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 796 more cases than I reported last week and 1,506 of our Collin residents have died (that’s an increase of 2 people). Our transmission rate is still low but a surge could still be coming as it gets hotter. The NY Times said they’re expecting the …
Collin County Politics: We Must Vote for Democrats!
May 3, 2022 Picture: At the McKinney School Board meeting promoting public education. The blue shirts were for the Public Schools First McKinney PAC. The opposing side flipping us off and flying an offensive flag were edited out. Covid Update: Collin County has 214,493 confirmed Covid cases. That’s 791 more cases than I reported last week and 1,504 of our Collin residents have died (still holding steady with NO increase!!). Schools: True to their threat….er, promise, the Texas Public Policy Foundation began its Parent Empowerment Tour last week in McKinney. They advertise themselves as a non-partisan group but, if that’s …