Coronavirus concerns grow: Common sense answers from experts

As a number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 are identified across the country and locally, medical experts are asking for calm and say common-sense actions can help prevent the spread of the disease.

Dr. Jacquelyn Johnson is the director of Fort Bend County Health and Human Services and advises to avoid going to the emergency room if you start feeling ill because ER’s should be reserved for the very sick.

“If you have symptoms like a cough, fever, or other respiratory problems, please contact your doctor,” she said. “Practicing good hygiene every day will be a big help, starting with washing your hands frequently.”

For the latest information about Coronavirus and the efforts being made to contain it go to the special coronavirus coverage section of Click2Houston.com.

Houston election night process receives failing grade

The image on Super Tuesday of long lines of people waiting to vote has been roundly criticized. The question is what to do about it?

Former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is a KPRC 2 political analyst and says the responsibility for election day failings stops at the doorstep of Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman. He says the problem Tuesday is not a partisan issue and suggests taking election administration out of the hands of an elected official.

“The county hires an engineer to run that department,” he said. “We need to have an election administrator, a professional to run the elections. They can report to the county clerk but we need a professional in there.”

Judge Emmett is joined by Dr. Michael O. Adams, Ph.D. and chair of Texas Southern University’s political science department, on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall to discuss the surprising results of Super Tuesday.

TSU study of black millennial voters

What impact will black millennials have on the electoral process this year? That is the question the Knight Foundation wanted answered and is provided in a report from the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University.

Dr. Michael O. Adams, Ph.D., is interim chair of the Department of Political Science and one of the authors of the report. He says black millennials point to specific issues of importance related to the times in which they live such as Black Lives Matter.

Former Houston City Councilman Carroll Robinson is an assistant professor at TSU and also an author of the report.

“They’re much more informed than people give them credit for,” he said of the black millennials. “And they exercise a lot of due diligence using technology to confirm information, so this whole notion of fake news? They don’t just depend on any one source.”

Read the full report here.

What to do about those darned weeds

(KPRC)

As sure as it’s Spring in Houston we can count on weeds trying to dominate yards across the region. That is especially true this year after a mild winter that barely slowed that ugly encroachment. Raleigh Jenkins is the president of ABC Home and Commerical Services and says the most effective way to get rid of them is to pull them out by the roots but he understands that’s not practical for some.

“Going in with chemicals or hiring a professional to come out and do it is a viable option,” he said. “In doing that you’ve got a herbicide we have to put in the yard that will really be specific to the type of weed you have in your yard.”

Jenkins gives advice on how to do it yourself and says one key is to know what kind of weed you’re dealing with or you won’t get the results you’re looking for. See the full discussion on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.

More information

Ed Emmett, KPRC Political Analyst

Michael O.Adams, Ph.D., Interim Chair, TSU Department of Political Science

Carroll G. Robinson, Esq., Asst. Professor TSU Political Science

Raleigh Jenkins, President, ABC Home and Commercial Services