Here are things you need to know for Tuesday, Sept. 1:
1. Man faces capital murder charge in death of infant daughter who was sexually assaulted, deputies say
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A man is charged with capital murder in the death of his 9-month-old daughter, who was also sexually assaulted an autopsy revealed, according to homicide investigators with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Luis Luna, 23, is accused of killing 9-month-old Savayah Mason on Aug. 24.
Deputies said the child was being treated by emergency medical personnel before being taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An investigation was opened into the child’s death, deputies said.
2. New ’Sugar Land 95′ report includes a roster of 72 forced laborers ‘likely buried’ in the unmarked graves
About 2.5 years after workers stumbled upon the first skeletal remains during construction of a Fort Bend Independent School District Career and Technical Center, the school district published a 500-page report “honoring the Sugar Land 95.”
“It’s not speculation, it’s archeology, a true historical report that documents all of this,” said Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Dr. Charles Dupre. “There are lot of people throughout the nation who will be very interested in learning more about this project.”
The executive summary of the report and the full report are available online here.
3. Texas officials want to cut funding for women’s health services while preserving an anti-abortion program
Texas is proposing to cut nearly $3.8 million in funding from programs that offer low-income residents access to contraceptives and breast and cervical cancer screenings, while leaving intact a robustly funded program that discourages women from having abortions.
Texas health officials proposed the cuts while taking great pains to avoid belt-tightening in most other programs that offer direct services in health care. As the coronavirus pandemic ravages parts of the economy, leaving the state with a projected $4.6 billion deficit, Gov. Greg Abbott asked state agencies to cut their spending by 5% — but largely exempted programs deemed crucial to public health.
4. LIST: Houston-area hospitals are relaxing visitor policies as area positivity rate goes down
Houston-area hospitals are beginning to relax their strict visitor policies as the positivity rate in the area is on the downturn.
Here’s a look at the visitor policies for some of the area’s largest hospital systems as of Monday, Aug. 31.
5. Quiz at Pearland ISD stirs controversy because of coronavirus question
COVID-19 is real, people are getting sick and some are dying.
Despite the seriousness of the virus, there are people who remain highly skeptical of the reported case numbers, positivity rates, and other related statistics.
But is the coronavirus a scam?
That was a question asked by a science teacher at Pearland Junior High East. It was posed in a quiz given to a class on the district’s Canvas learning management system. True or false were the answer choices and for those who said false -- they got the answer wrong.
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WORD OF THE DAY:
Coffers: [ kaw-ferz, kof-erz ] (plural noun) Funds, especially of a government or corporation.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
Sept. 1, 1972: On Sept. 1, 1972, in what’s billed as the “Match of the Century,” American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer defeats Russian Boris Spassky during the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“You will never win if you never begin.” - Helen Rowland