Texas
Certain Texas Businesses Can Apply for More COVID-19 Relief Starting Tuesday
A brand new wave of aid is on the best way for companies within the meals and repair trade, amid rising meals prices, inflation and different monetary pressure spurred by the pandemic.
On Tuesday November 1, Texas companies with NAICS Code 722—together with eating places, bars, caterers, and meals vans—can submit their functions on-line for the Texas Journey Trade Restoration Grant Program (TTIR).
Click on right here to entry the web page to use. The button for the portal button is towards the top of the web page.
It is going to present grants of as much as $20,000 to assist native companies get better from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Texas Restaurant Affiliation (TRA) led a coalition representing each side of the hospitality and tourism trade to efficiently advocate for the creation of this program when the Texas Legislature convened late final yr.
As the biggest section of the hospitality and tourism trade, eating places and different meals and consuming locations acquired the biggest subset of this system’s $180 million whole allocation, and that subset turns into accessible on November 1.
Eligibility to use for the TTIR Program is predicated on a number of elements, however importantly, companies that acquired help from the Paycheck Safety Program or related restoration packages should not disqualified. And for eating places with a number of places, grants can be found for every qualifying enterprise with a singular Texas Taxpayer ID.
The TTIR Program is being administered by the Texas Financial Growth Workplace throughout the Workplace of the Governor. A number of assets can be found to assist companies apply for this system together with an FAQs web page, a webinar on this system, and a video explaining the net software portal.
The TRA encourages any enterprise that could be eligible to overview these assets earlier than the applying portal opens on November 1.
The deadline for functions is November 22. One other wave of funding functions could possibly be introduced at a later date.
“Eating places and different foodservice companies confronted unprecedented challenges on account of authorities closure orders and the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Emily Williams Knight, Ed.D., President & CEO of the TRA. “We’re so happy with the TTIR Program as a result of it’s actually the primary of its sort in Texas, and whereas the cash will doubtless fall in need of the necessity, it demonstrates that the State of Texas understands the important position that the foodservice trade performs and the best way it was particularly impacted by the pandemic. Many eating places are nonetheless struggling over two years after the pandemic began, and so it’s very important that we get the phrase out about these grants. For a lot of eating places, this grant program will go a good distance in direction of serving to them get again on their ft to allow them to proceed to make use of and serve their neighbors for years to come back.”
Texas
Reacts Survey: Can Texas win the SEC Championship?
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Texas Longhorns fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
It didn’t take long for Steve Sarkisian to prove Texas was “SEC ready” as they prepare for the conference championship game in their first season in the new conference.
The Longhorns face the only team they lost to in the regular season: the Georgia Bulldogs.
Let’s hear your predictions in this week’s survey as Texas aims to exact retribution on the Dawgs. The Horns are 2.5-point favorites in the championship game. Overall, Texas is 7-5 against the spread this season but failed to cover as a 4-point favorite over Georgia in their October loss.
Georgia is 3-9 ATS and 1-1 in neutral site locations but with the SEC Championship game in Atlanta, Sark calls it a “road game”.
Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.
Texas
Texas man identified by FBI as subject of child sexual abuse videos using social media and tattoos
A Texas man has been identified and charged with allegedly producing child pornography, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Christopher Lynn Driskill, 48, originally listed on the FBI’s most wanted list as John Doe 49, was believed to have produced child pornography from 2017 to 2024, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
FBI agents were able to identify Driskill on November 18th and charged him with production of child pornography and arrested him on November 26th.
Court documents show that in July 2024, child sexual abuse material posted on the dark web was referred to the FBI’s Victim Identification Program. The videos displayed a male sexually assaulting a prepubescent male and several tattoos can be seen, including the word “DABBY” on his chest,” the number “197x” on his left bicep, the words “CAST NO STONES” on his left forearm, and a Texas flag in the shape of a head on his right forearm.
SON OF SUSPECTED WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN ARRESTED ON CHILD PORN CHARGES
In September 2024, a former dating partner had also come forward to report to the Coleman Police Department that Driskill had drunkenly confessed to molesting a child and recording it. Those officers were able to meet with the child, who did not make an outcry.
They interviewed Driskill on camera, who denied the allegations, claiming his former partner was upset over a bad breakup. Because officials had no other evidence, the case was closed.
FORMER ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ SINGER ARRESTED ON POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
In the recorded interview, police officials noted that the tattoos “CAST NO STONES” on his left forearm, a 1975 tattoo on his left bicep, and part of a Texas flag in the shape of a head on his right forearm were visible.
Still images from the interview were then uploaded to a database by the FBI.
The FBI were able to match tattoos via social media with those seen in the assault video. They also said that the profile picture appeared similar to the images of the subject in the child sexual abuse material.
Utilizing that information, they traced the account back to Driskill who was living in Coleman, Texas with his parents.
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In November, Coleman Police Department were also made aware of the FBI investigation into a possible molestation and compared the footage of their interview allegedly matching the face and tattoos.
If convicted, Driskill faces up to 30 years in federal prison.
Texas
Texas A&M QB Conner Weigman to enter transfer portal: What’s next for former 5-star, Aggies?
Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman, a former five-star recruit who began each of the last two seasons as the Aggies’ starting quarterback, intends to enter the transfer portal, a source briefed on the decision confirmed.
The decision, while not unexpected, closes the chapter on what was once a promising A&M career for Weigman.
As part of Texas A&M’s historic 2022 recruiting class, the highest-rated in the modern recruiting era according to 247Sports, Weigman showed early flashes of the talent that earned him his lofty recruiting ranking. He started four of the last five games of the 2022 season, then won the starting job going into the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
His 2023 campaign was cut short by a foot injury suffered in the first month of the season. At the time, Weigman was playing his best football, completing 68.9 percent of his passes for 979 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.
After A&M’s coaching change from Jimbo Fisher to Mike Elko, the program entered 2024 with high hopes for Weigman. But he endured a rough debut in A&M’s 23-13 loss to Notre Dame and missed three games later in September with a shoulder injury. He returned to start the next three, including a 41-10 win over Missouri in which he looked dominant, but he was benched in an Oct. 26 win over LSU for Reed, who had started earlier in the season while Weigman was sidelined.
Weigman only saw the field once in November, playing nine snaps in the second half of a 38-3 win over New Mexico State.
In three seasons, Weigman appeared in 15 games (starting 13), throwing for 2,694 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He completed 60 percent of his throws.
Despite his up-and-down 2024 season, Weigman is likely to find plenty of suitors in the transfer portal. When he’s at his best, he was considered one of the nation’s top quarterbacks. Coming into the season, there was some buzz about Weigman being a potential first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if he had a strong season.
But he struggled to find consistency as A&M’s starter this season. After being benched in the LSU game, Elko said that Weigman was “sped up” in going through his progressions and not seeing the field as well as he had before. That led to poor decisions and inaccurate throws.
“His clock starts moving faster when he’s not having success,” Elko said on Oct. 28. “His eyes are going through the progressions a little too quick. He’s getting the ball out of his hand a little too quick. I think we saw that a couple of throws.
“Or he rushes his mechanics a little bit and the ball sails on him.”
The fact that his last two seasons were interrupted by injury also didn’t help him. Weigman never had a chance to be a full-time starter for more than four consecutive games during his A&M career. Weigman, from Cypress, Texas, near Houston, was the No. 2 quarterback in the 2022 class, according to 247Sports.
The transfer portal officially opens on Dec. 9.
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
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