Descendants of a prominent white family and a formerly enslaved couple are fighting over ownership — and the oil and gas royalties that would come with it — of an 147.5-acre tract that has bound and divided generations of their families.

The executive order allows DPS troopers to reroute vehicles back to their origin point or a port of entry. Critics say citing the coronavirus as justification is hypocritical since the governor won't let local officials require masks in public.

More than two dozen hospitals in rural Texas, from the Panhandle to South Texas, are still waiting on doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to distribute to their front-line workers and community members, hospitals and health care advocates say. Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune“There’s no question there are massive inequities in this,” said Don McBeath, director of government relations for the Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals. Some 1,217 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases have been reported in the county by state health officials. "Rural hospitals serve an important role in providing care in their communities, and we will allocate vaccine to them as they enroll. Some rural facilities, like Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital in Karnes County, have been approved providers for weeks but haven’t received any doses to distribute yet.