5 things for Houstonians to know for Thursday, August 6

Here are things you need to know for Thursday, August 6:

1. Officials: Man shot by ex’s boyfriend, causes crash that closed Gulf Freeway

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The Gulf Freeway’s main lanes are back open as Houston police investigate an overnight crash and shooting. Police said the situation started when an ex-boyfriend went to his ex-girlfriend’s home at the Life at Clearwood apartment complex.

Det. Grahmann said the woman’s children were home and her current boyfriend shot the ex-boyfriend.

Police said the ex-boyfriend got into a truck and crashed into a railing, then came to rest against a light post at around 11:32 p.m. on the Gulf Freeway. The man was located with multiple gunshot wounds, police said. The incident shut down the southbound lanes at Fuqua Street until 5 a.m. Wednesday morning.

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2. Houston-area school districts hand out devices, supplies to help families in need ahead of school year

Two Houston-area school districts handed out school supplies, laptops and hotspots to students in need Wednesday ahead of the start of the 2020-21 school year.

The Alief Independent School District will be the first Houston-area school district to begin its new school year with online learning Thursday.

On Wednesday, final preparations included handing out the last of 2,200 newly purchased laptops and wi-fi hot spots to students and parents in a drive-thru pick up at Taylor High School.

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3. Houston approves $20M rental relief package. Here is who qualifies

Houston city council unanimously passed a second rental relief package for $20 million, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Wednesday.

BakerRipley, a nonprofit based in Houston, will facilitate the distribution of the funds by prioritizing the most vulnerable families first.

The funding includes $15 million from the federal government through the CARES Act and $5 million from donors, who understand the impact of COVID-19 is having on working families.

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4. Five lawmakers sue Gov. Greg Abbott over $295 million contact tracing deal

Five of the Texas Legislature’s most conservative members are suing Gov. Greg Abbott and state health officials, claiming Texas leaders overstepped their bounds when they awarded a major contract for tracking Texas’ coronavirus outbreak to a little-known technology firm.

For months, lawmakers have criticized the $295 million deal with Frisco-based MTX Group, arguing it was inked too quickly, without an opportunity for the Legislature to properly vet it. 

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5. Judge Hidalgo discusses plan aimed at speeding up coronavirus test results

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo discussed a plan aimed at dealing with a surge in coronavirus testing and speeding up results from those tests.

Hidalgo said the county is partnering with the federal and state departments of Health and Human Services to transition the testing sites at both Ken Pridgeon Stadium and San Jacinto College Central Campus to surge testing sites beginning Thursday.

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3 things to share

WORD OF THE DAY

Tenebrific [ten-uh-brif-ik] (adjective) producing darkness.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Aug. 6, 1945: The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal.” - Egon Schiele


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