Here are things you need to know for Thursday, August 20:
1. Houston City Council approves allocation of $2M for grants for creative businesses impacted by COVID-19
Recommended Videos
On Wednesday, Houston City Council approved the allocation of $2 million for relief grants to creative businesses that have been hurting since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The program is open to more than 1,200 businesses previously vetted through the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
Individuals are eligible for up to $1,000 grants while nonprofit organizations can apply for more than $15,000.
2. Renewed calls for Harris County GOP chairman to resign after alleged racist Facebook post
Harris County GOP chairman Keith Nielsen officially took office August 3. However, as the party prepares for a contentious election season, there are renewed calls from some party regulars for his resignation.
Many urged Nielsen to step down even before he assumed office. In June, Nielsen posted a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. positioned next to a banana, an apparent nod to an old racist trope.
3. Trump, Pence campaign events signal lax approach to virus
Sitting and standing shoulder to shoulder, some without face masks, hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump jammed into an airplane hangar for an Arizona campaign event this week, ignoring the advice of Trump’s own health experts.
Like his boss, Vice President Mike Pence went mask-less in Iowa last week as he reached across a barrier to autograph a half-dozen familiar red Trump campaign hats, literally crossing the line of vulnerability outlined by the coronavirus task force he heads.
4. Reliant, Deshaun Watson Foundation team up with Comp-U-Dopt to provide 500 devices to students
School is almost back in session and on Wednesday three organizations in the Houston area stepped up to help families who don’t have access to technology needed for online learning.
Reliant Gives and the Deshaun Watson Foundation donated $175,000 dollars to Comp-U-Dopt, an organization that repurposes old devices for students to use for virtual learning.
5. Channelview family shares how to throw unforgettable drive-thru quinceañera party
While it was not the quinceañera they originally planned, everything worked out perfectly, the Guerrero family said. They were able to celebrate a very special birthday with all of their loved ones with masks and plenty of social distance.
Azalia and her parents have been planning her quinceañera for two years. The celebration was originally planned for April. But then the pandemic hit, and the birthday celebration was put on hold.
The family came up with a drive-by quinceañera birthday party.
3 things to share
WORD OF THE DAY
Galliard [gal-yerd] (noun) a spirited dance for two dancers in triple rhythm, common in the 16th and 17th centuries.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Aug. 20, 1619: “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrive in the British colony of Virginia and are then bought by English colonists. The arrival of the enslaved Africans in the New World marks a beginning of two and a half centuries of slavery in North America.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.” - Russell Baker