County and city officials have traveled the community offering insight and preparedness for COVID-19. The effort is an attempt to educate citizens on the severity of the virus.
City Manager Andy McCuistion appeared at the Rotary Club meeting on Tuesday, March 17 and offered guidance on the situation.
Due to the executive order from Governor Greg Abbott, Stephens County will see an impact on various items around the town.
Courts, eateries and other locations will have to follow the directives of the governor and adjust hours to further assist the community.
“We will have new hours at the courthouse for the seniors of the community,” County Judge Michael Roach said. “Nine in the morning until eleven, will only be for those who are 60 years of age and older or any individuals with underlying health conditions and are susceptible to COVID-19.”
Stephens County and the city of Breckenridge amended the "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order for the community and will give penalties for violations of the order.
Editor’s note: If your business, school, entity or event has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and is not listed below, please send the information by email to news@breckenridgeamerican.com, call the office at 254-559-5412 or by Facebook comment or message. This article will continued to be updated as information is provided.
With the recent developments in the spread of COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, many businesses, schools, public entities and the hospital have announced cancellations and restrictions.
Investigators with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Criminal Investigation Division, were assisted by the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office to conduct Amusement Machine Tax Compliance Inspections, according to Texas Occupation Code Section on all gaming rooms in Stephens County on Thursday, March 5.
The Breckenridge Police Chief Bacel Cantrell provided information that he deemed important for the community to know to keep construction workers and drivers safe during road construction.
“The road construction on U.S. Highway 183 North and Breckenridge Ave. will be there for quite some time,” Chief Cantrell said. “There is no speed reduction on the street or any signs up, but the ‘Move Over/Slow Down’ law still applies. If a driver sees those flashing lights, they need to slow down and be aware that we have guys out there working on the road.”
With the expanse of COVID-19 around the United States, local entities have taken precautionary measures to assess the impact on the area.
Earl Jarrett, Interim Superintendent of Breckenridge ISD sent out a letter on March 13 to BISD staff, families, and the community informing them BISD was closed for students and staff on Monday, March 16. Campus and district administration, directors, and central office employees were expected to report to work.
With the votes from the Super Tuesday election mostly counted, the results are pivotal to understand who will represent various parties in the November General Election.
The race for U.S. Senator will be a contest between incumbent John Cornyn, who received 76.25% of the total Stephens County vote, Cedric Jefferson (People Over Politics Party), James Brumley (The Human Rights Party), Tim Smith (Independent), Arjun Srinivasan (Independent), Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla (Independent), and a Democratic candidate.
The Stephens County commissioners voted for public officials to properly enforce the guidelines of the Public Information Act (PIA). The vote came during the regularly scheduled meeting on March 9, inside the county courthouse.
The purpose of the item was to standardize the requesting process for all citizens and provide fairness to all parties requesting records.
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Stephens County and Breckenridge officials have decided to declare a local disaster due to a public health emergency on Monday, March 16 at the County Courthouse. The declaration comes as officials believe the community may have active cases of COVID-19.
“Locally we have been trying to get our arms around the impact this virus will have on our community,” County Judge Michael Roach said. “The trigger was the moment we felt the community had local transmission of COVID-19. It’s a very strong belief that we have active cases of COVID-19 in Stephens County/Breckenridge.”
