KSTV News

Only four new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Thursday in Erath County. That allowed the active case count to drop slightly. It now stands at 138 after hitting its highest level ever earlier this week. Three of these latest cases are from folks in Stephenville, while the other case is in rural Erath County. The bad news is that the number of people hospitalized in Erath County also went up again by two Thursday. That number now stands at 38. A total of 974 people have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began back in mid-March.

A Brown County man has decided to take a plea deal after his trial started. Alex Lopez Junior decided to plead guilty in exchange for a 30 year prison term, according to DA Michael Murray. Lopez was charged in a drug case that included him fighting with poclie when he was arrested, so he was also charged with aggravated assault on a public servant. Investigators were tipped off that Lopez was transporting drugs through Brown County in August of last year. Deputies located more than a half pound of meth and two handguns in the man’s car when they pulled him over, along with various drug paraphernalia.

After the county’s largest one-day jump in coronavirus cases ever, Erath County reported only six new positive test results on Wednesday. Four of the cases are in Stephenville, while one is in Dublin and one more is in rural Erath County. The county has seen a significant uptrend in cases in the poast several weeks, with the active case count skyrocketing to 148, the highest it’s ever been in Erath County. 36 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 illnesses, while five people have died since the pandemic began in mid-March.

Tarleton State University is participating in a $1.49 million grant to digitize Texas herbarium collections received by the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. BRIT received funding from the National Science Foundation to digitize herbarium specimens gathered in Texas and Oklahoma. Peter Frisch, Vice President of Research and Director of the BRIT Herbarium in Fort Worth, is the principal investigator for the project. The four-year project brings together 46 collaborating herbaria to mobilize the data from nearly two million plant specimens.

Tuesday’s report on coronavirus from Erath COunty was a bit jarring. 30 new positive test results returned in the past 24 hours. That is the highest number of cases in one day ever for Erath County. 17 of the cases are from Stephenville, four from Dubline and the remaining nine live in rural parts of Erath County. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 illnesses also rose by two, to 36. The trend upward has been steady in the last month, bring the active case load in the county to 147.

Tarleton State University’s Department of Fine Arts is presenting the Society for Photographic Education South Central Chapter Student Exhibition in the Clyde H. Wells Gallery of Art through Oct. 25. The free exhibition is held in conjunction with the South Chapter Conference titled “To Be Continued.” Students created work celebrating their identities, reassessing their histories, reconsidering their privilege, fighting against injustice and expressing themselves in ways that advance the dialogue of photography.

A bit of a reprieve in the latest update on coronavirus from Erath County officials. Monday’s rteport identified only seven new positive test results in the community. This, after almost a week straight of double digit increases. The active case count heald steady at 143. However, the bad news is that the number of people hospitalized with COVID illnesses went up by two. Right now, 34 people are hospitalized in Erath County. The total case count since the pandemic began is up to 934, with five deaths.

The Brownwood City COuncil has given its final stamp of approval to move forward with developing a multipurpose event center downtown. Funding for the project will come directly from economic development sales tax dollars that have already been saved up, according to the city in a statement last week. The project is pegged at 8.9 million dollars.

The STephenville City Council has begun phase two of its COVID-19 small business relief grant program. The program was started in April when the Stephenville City Council approved a meal voucher program for residents to use at local restaurants, who have been hit hard by the faltering economy. The city sent out 5,400 vouchers to residential water customers and just over 3,200 were redeemed. The city had allocated 135-thousand dollars for the first round, and spent only 80-thousand. The vote to approve a second round of vouchers was approved unanimously last week. All residential water customers will be getting a new voucher to use at restaurants soon.

Erath COunty health officialsd reported 16 new coronavirus positive tests on Friday. Eight of the new cases are in Stephenville, while 4 are in Dublin and the remaining four are in rural parts of Erath County. The number of active cases in the community has now risen to 145, it’s highest point ever. The number of people hospiatlized with COVID illnesses in Erath COunty also went up by one more on Friday, to 32. After holding steady for almost two months, the number of people hospitalized has risen sharply in the past week.