Volume 30, Number 6, April 2020 PANDEMIC Take a deep ... 04 Revista_April2020.pdf · so, too....

How to survive a Pandemic. Contributed photo.

by Julie Appleby

Just last week, it seemed OK to have lunch out or maybe meet up with friends for a game of pickup soccer.

Now, in the fast-moving world of the coronavirus response, that’s no longer the case. More and bet-ter social distancing is required. But what’s still acceptable?

We reached out to public health experts, who, admittedly, vary in their recommendations. But their main message remains: The bet-ter individuals are now at social distancing to slow transmission of the virus, the better off we’ll all be eventually.

Already, California has told people 65 and older to stay at home. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where community spread is

a growing concern, just about ev-eryone else has been ordered to do so, too. California is also among the states that have ordered res-taurants, gyms and other facilities to close. And the Trump adminis-tration has instructed Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people for the next 15 days and avoid sit-down meals in bars, restaurants and food courts. More restrictions from states, localities and the federal government could follow.

In the coming days, those rules and recommendations expanded as federal, state and local health officials weigh conditions on the ground. So, what to do now?

“We ought to make risk-based decisions,” said Dr. Georges Ben-jamin, executive director of the

IN THIS ISSUE

Food Bank.................

Noticias.....................

Charlando.................

SBA..........................

La Cocina................

pg 3

pg 4

pg 8

pg 10

pg 15

PANDEMICTake a deep breath:

Making risk-based decisions in the Coronavirus era

I voted no on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

by Congressman Michael Cloud, Texas Dis-trict 27

Just over a week ago, I voted in favor of $8.3 billion to support the efforts to fight the COVID-19 pan-demic. I would have liked to have been able to vote in favor of the next step of taking emergency stop gap measures to help the American

people. Unfortunately, the “Fami-lies First Coronavirus Response Act” and the process surrounding it represents everything that is bro-ken in Washington.

After two days of closed-door negotiations between Speaker Pe-losi and Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin, Members of Congress were given less than 30 minutes

to review the 110-page text be-fore taking a vote after midnight. My office received the final text of the bill at 12:01am, and mem-bers were called to vote at 12:28 a.m after hardly ten minutes debate was permitted. (Note: For this context “debate” means speeches by members who were US Congressman Michael Cloud. Contrib-

uted photo.

See PANDEMIC, pg. 13

See ACT, pg. 12

Volume 30, Number 6, April 2020

2 — Revista de Victoria, April 2020 www.RevistaDeVictoriaTx.com

by Dr. Quintin Shepherd

Every culture has great stories. Often, these stories are shared ver-bally. Every organization you’ve ever worked for has hero stories, there are company myths and leg-ends as well. There are stories of people who did something nobody should ever do again and stories where people did amazing things that we encourage others to emu-late.

For about three decades, the

story of education has been one of failure. It all started with a report called “A Nation at Risk” pub-lished in 1983. It was published by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. This commission served under Presi-dent Reagan and was a national report. It was the first time in the history of our country where pub-lic education was called into ques-tion as not adequate. Prior to this report, as a country, we generally believed education was successful.

Worse, the report not only indicat-ed public education wasn’t getting the job done, it basically indicated teachers were to blame. In short, it sent a message to our country that public schools were bad places and teachers were at fault. Virtual-ly every major legislative initiative in the past 30 years has come as a result of this public shift in think-ing about education.

Lately, in most of my meetings, I have been encouraging a lot of storytelling. I believe we are in a pivotal moment in education (and society) and every day I am seeing heroes emerge. Our society needs a new ideology of education. For too many years, public education has been taking a beating and I am trying to encourage others to tell the story about what has been happening in the past two weeks because I believe it will have a purpose.

Educators had almost no no-tice about this health scare. I have watched over two thousand em-ployees in Victoria ISD come to-gether in the past three weeks and completely redesign a system. In the first few days, our team came together in the “Apollo 13” style to come up with solutions for problems we had not previously imagined with tools we simply didn’t have. In the middle of the global crisis, we figured out how to continue to feed every child in our community if they need food.

We accept every student, re-

gardless of income or even if they are a student in VISD. We’ve deployed staff to help support se-nior citizens.

We’ve deployed resources to get de-vices into homes for remote instruction. We have completely rebuilt a curriculum to ensure kids have access to education. No state agency stepped in to fix the problem. No federal program jumped in to solve the problem. Our Victoria staff came together and started solving prob-lems within hours of the development. The truth is that several federal and state policies created multiple roadblocks for us. We figured out how to work through those problems as well. There was no complaining about this, just solutions and super sharp thinking by our staff.

Please keep all of this in mind the next time anybody attempts to convince you schools are better run by mandates from non-educa-tors. Keep all this in mind the next time anyone tells you teachers have it easy or tried to convince you that educators are amongst the smartest, most caring, most inge-nious, most creative people in our

society. I hope to never hear the phrase, “those who can’t do any-thing else just go into teaching”. My amazing story to tell is this, get out of the way of an educator and watch in awe at what really happens.

This is not just a story for educa-tion. This is a story for our com-munity as well. We need stories of hope and optimism in times of struggle. We need heroes who help us find a path. We need legends because it gives us a glimmer into the best versions of ourselves. I encourage you to tell your stories and encourage others to share their stories of success as well.

Stories, heroes, myths and legends

Dr. Quintin Shepherd. Contributed photo.

www.RevistaDeVictoriaTx.com Revista de Victoria, April 2020 — 3

Food Bank takes precautions to reduce risk of Coronavirus

by Meridith Byrd

With businesses closing to re-duce the spread of the Coronavi-rus, the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent is seeing the greatest in-flux of people in need since Hurri-cane Harveynearly 3 years ago. A global pandemic certainly brings a set of unique challenges and we are committed to maintaining a safe environment for our clients, partners, and staff in order to pro-vide food to our neighbors in need.

The good news is that viruses do not multiply on food in the way that bacteria can.Viruses require a living host in order to multiply, so the recommendation of using wa-ter and a scrub brush (not bleach or vinegar) to wash produce remains the same. Cooking food is likely to kill the Coronavirus just as it kills the bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses.

Safety precautionsThough food packaging is not

at high risk for transmitting the

virus according to researchers, we are sanitizing every can, box, jar, and package that comes through our door. We are also cleaning and sanitizing high traffic areas throughout the building, as well as frequently touched surfaces like doorknobs and light switches.

Staff and volunteers are required to wear face masks while working in the warehouse, and everyone has increased the frequency of their hand washing. Hand sanitiz-er is available for use throughout our building and there are signs reminding us to wash and sani-tize often. In addition, our front desk now has a Plexiglas barrier, and we are asking everyone to be mindful of staying a safe distance apart.

We have completely reworked our mobile food distributions to limit the number of people who might be touching the food. Staff and volunteers are pre-packing boxes of food here in our ware-house instead of having numerous people fillfood boxes at the distri-

bution site.

How to receive assistanceThe Food Bank is a warehouse

that receives, sorts, and stores food and then provides it to food pan-tries and soup kitchens through-out the 11 counties we serve. We

have a complete list of every pan-try with whom we partner on our website: https://www.tfbgc.org/food-assistance. If you need food, please contact the food pantries in your area to get registered.

Our social services team is still helping clients apply for SNAP, CHIP, Medicaid, and other assis-tance, but in order to maintain so-cial distancing, appointments are being conducted over the phone rather than in person. Call the Food Bank at 578-0591 for more information or to set up an ap-pointment.

How to helpMonetary donations are what

the Food Bank needs most, as the numbers of people approaching us for help continue to rise. Every dol-lar donated helps provide 8 meals to those in need. You can send a check to 3809 E. Rio Grande, Vic-toria, TX 77901 or give online at

https://www.tfbgc.org/donate.

Volunteer with usIf you are feeling healthy and

well, we invite you to volunteer with us during our weekday busi-ness hours. (Our Saturday vol-unteer opportunities have been suspended for now.) We accept volunteers from 8:00 to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 during the week (1:00 to 3:00 on Fridays).

We are honored to be able to continue serving the needs of our neighbors throughout the Golden Crescent.

Meridith Byrd is the Direc-tor of Community Engagement for the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent. She also manages the Victoria Farmers’ Market held ev-ery Saturday at the Pattie Dodson Public Health Center. Contact her at 578-0591 or [email protected].

A TODAS LAS PERSONAS Y PARTES INTERESADAS:

Formosa Plastics Corporación, Texas, ha solicitado a la Comisión de Calidad Ambiental de Texas (TCEQ) la ameni-dad del Permiso de Calidad de Aire Número 19199, el cual autorizaría modificaciones de la Planta de Point Comfort Formosa ubicada por la calle 201 Formosa Drive, en la ciu-dad de Point Comfort, Condado de Calhoun, Texas 77978. En la sección de avisos públicos de este periódico se encuen-tra información adicional sobre esta solicitud.

Food Bank Edna mobile prep. Contributed photo.


Estados Unidos — El presi-dente de EE.UU., Donald Trump, celebró el acuerdo alcanzado por los países de la OPEP para recortar la producción de petróleo y esta-bilizar el mercado. Más de 22,000 personas han muerto por coro-

navirus en EE.UU. y hay más de 550,000 contagiados, según datos de la Universidad Johns Hopkins. El director de la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de Es-tados Unidos dijo que el país está muy cerca del pico de contagios

por covid-19. Ecuador y El Salvador -El Go-

bierno de Ecuador comenzará este lunes a realizar pruebas rápidas de coronavirus “puerta a puerta.” Y en El Salvador, unas 1,083 per-sonas han sido detenidas por vio-lar la cuarentena solo en los últi-mos ocho días, según confirmó la policía nacional civil del país.

China — Los residentes de Wuhan que ya salieron del con-finamiento por el coronavirus. La vida en el epicentro original del covid-19 está recobrando algo de normalidad lentamente. Escucha qué dicen algunos residentes en Wuhan, China, y sus planes ahora que pueden salir.

Texas y Louisiana — Domingo de Pascua trae tornados en Texas y Louisiana. El domingo de Pascua varias regiones de Estados Unidos sufrieron la inclemencia del clima

y se han reportado daños de torna-dos en Texas y Louisiana. Inglaterra — El primer ministro Boris Johnson fue dado de alta del hospital y agradece al personal médico en discurso. El primer ministro Boris Johnson fue dado

de alta del hospital el domingo y expresó que se le hace difícil en-contrar las palabras para agradecer al personal médico que arriesga la vida para atender a los pacientes en medio de esta crisis sanitaria.

Pruebas rápidas de coronavirus. Contributed photo.

Disaster Relief Scamsby Officer John Turner

When a community is recover-ing from a disaster,we see people at their best, donating time, money

and resources to ensure a quick recovery for those hit hardest. Unfortunately, we also see the worst in people. Those who want to capitalize on the generosity of others.

If you are one who won’t hesi-tate to help when others are in need, consider the following tips:

• Only donate to established charities that you are familiar with.

• Take a second to research any other charities you may want to contribute to.

• Hang up on robocalls. Don’t press any numbers if you are prompted to.

• Don’t click on any links in unsolicited emails from unknown sources.

• Don’t allow someone to take advantage of your generosity by pressuring you and rushing you into donating. Any legitimate charity will allow you time to de-cide and contact them.

• Don’t donate to solicitors requesting donations be made in cash, gift cards or by wiring

money.When confirming the legitimacy

of charities check out the follow-ing sites for assistance:

Charitywatch.org; Guidestar.org or Give.org

The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest challenge we must face but this too shall pass and we will be wiser afterwards. In the meantime, take a few precautions to stay safe, make yourself a hard target and prevent some scammer from mak-ing you a victim.

John Turner is a Crime Preven-tion Specialist with the Victoria Police Department’s Community Engagement Unit. For more in-formation on scams or other crime prevention topics, he may be con-tacted at 361-485-3811 or [email protected].

Stay safe from scammers. Contributed art.


City works to accommodate residents’ financial needs

The City of Victoria has amend-ed its policies to lessen financial pressure on residents during the COVID-19 situation.

“We realize that many residents are facing financial difficulties as a result of this pandemic, and we want to relieve some of that stress as much as we can,” said City Manager Jesús A. Garza. “We don’t yet know how serious the impact of the virus will be in our community, but the City is work-

ing proactively to accommodate residents’ needs during this time of uncertainty. We will continue to explore ways in which we can relieve stress to our residents. We are all in this together.”

Below is a list of City depart-ments that have updated their poli-cies as of March 27.

• Through the end of April, the Utility Billing Office will not shut off customers’ water as a result of missed payments. The $25 past-

due service fee for late payments also will be waived for those cus-tomers with past-due accounts. The Utility Billing Office can be contacted at 361-485-3400.

• The Victoria Public Library will not charge late fees on any materials until regular services re-sume, and items that were overdue before the library suspended its in-person services will not continue to accrue fines. For more informa-tion, call the library at 361-485-3301.

• Environmental Services is waiving overage fees related to pickup of brush and bulky items through the end of April. Resi-dents may schedule a pickup of any size at no additional cost, even if they already have received two or more bulk pickups this year. Call 361-485-3220 or 361-485-3230 to schedule a pickup.

• The Municipal Court is ex-tending all deadlines until May 13, provided that defendants submit an email containing updated contact

information, including a current phone number, to [email protected]. All community service obligations are suspended until further notice. Additional fees for past-due balances will not be as-sessed through May 13. For more information, call the Municipal Court at 361-485-3050.

The City is continuing to assess how to best serve Victoria resi-dents during this rapidly changing situation and will notify the public if the above policies are extended.

For more information, contact Communications & Public Affairs at 361-485-3110.

A TODAS LAS PERSONAS Y PARTES INTERESADAS:

Formosa Plastics Corporación, Texas, ha solicitado a la Comisión de Calidad Ambiental de Texas (TCEQ) la ameni-dad del Permiso de Calidad de Aire Número 19200, el cual autorizaría modificaciones de la Planta de Point Comfort Formosa ubicada por la calle 201 Formosa Drive, en la ciu-dad de Point Comfort, Condado de Calhoun, Texas 77978. En la sección de avisos públicos de este periódico se encuen-tra información adicional sobre esta solicitud.

Jesus Garza, city manager. Contributed photo.


How businesses can survive in Coronavirus lockdownWith commerce drying up and

the entire service economy grind-ing to a halt in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that business lead-ers, from the captains of industry to mom and pop bakeries, take pains to navigate this crisis care-fully and deliberately. This is not the time to panic. Businesses can survive this – and business leader, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Liz Elting can speak to how. Elt-ing, who famously shepherded her company TransPerfect from a dorm-room startup into a billion-dollar enterprise through both 9/11 and the 2008 financial meltdown, knows how to handle a growing and unpredictable crisis and wants to help businesses overcome this challenge.

Liz Elting’s Nine Necessities for Business Survival in a Crisis

1. Reassure your team. “You

can’t predict the future, but you must do what you can to provide

calm, steady leadership by renew-ing your commitment to the peo-ple who work for you. Set the tone, and everyone else will follow.”

2. Have backup plans for your

backup plans. “Much of the world is lurching suddenly over to primarily work-from-home ar-rangements, which comes with its own set of problems. Tools like conference call systems are already being overwhelmed by volume beyond capacity, so you need to know what you’re going to do when your plans fall through. The whole world is rushing to find technological solutions, and that’s going to take time. Plan accord-ingly.”

3. Maintain person-to-person

contact. “After 9/11, flights in the United States were grounded for weeks, which meant that business travel was impossible. Thankfully, here in 2020 we have tools we didn’t have nineteen years ago to keep in touch. That means that it’s

time to back off from email and text and engage more over voice or video. Don’t become a discon-nected presence.”

4. Proactive communication.

“If you weren’t a big communica-tor before, you have to step up and be one now. You need to be pro-active and make sure your team and your customers know what’s happening step by step. Stay con-nected, stay together, and make sure your team knows they’re not alone. You need to up your com-munication game. And that ex-tends to clients as well. See what they need, because their needs are changing day by day. The better you stay on top of those needs, the stronger your business will be.”

5. ABC – Always be closing.

“You need to hustle like you’ve never hustled before. There will be a strong tendency for potential cli-ents to grow timid in these uncer-tain times, but the same goes for your competition. Be forthright,

be out there, and offer solutions to the problems of this strange new world we’re suddenly in. Don’t re-trench. Don’t retreat.”

6. Invest in work-from-home

solutions. “I know the tempta-tion right now is to preserve cash. But you need to keep your busi-ness running, and that’s not going to happen with half-measures or workarounds. Productivity is al-ready going to be struggling right now; don’t let bad tools make it worse. Find a solution that fits your business, and make it work. Give your team time to get up to speed, too; there is going to be a learning curve, so make sure to emphasize scheduling and goal-setting to keep everyone on track.”

7. Remember that you aren’t

alone. “You don’t have to solve this crisis at once, and luckily, it’s not your responsibility to do it by yourself. You’ve hired a team you trust and believe in. Now is the time to lean on their collective ex-perience, intelligence, and wisdom to help make the right decisions.”

8. Reevaluate your finances.

“These are going to be lean times the likes of which the United States hasn’t faced in quite a while. Cut where you can. If you are in a posi-tion to get out of a lease on office space, well, your team is already working from home anyway. Let the space goand get that cash back. Do whatever you can to preserve cash flow without cutting people. And the Fed is busy injecting

capital into the financial system and slashing interest rates, which means cash is going to be cheap.”

9. Act with integrity. “You need

to understand the weight of the historical moment we are in. This is not a time to shirk responsibili-ties or balk on commitments. Re-affirm your commitment to your team. If your company is healthy, you have a responsibility to sup-port your team through this crisis. These are times that make and break leaders, and it’s going to require vision and a commitment to the common good to make it through. We have an opportunity here to not only survive the crisis, but to create whatever comes after.

About Liz Elting

Liz Elting, Founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Founda-tion, is an entrepreneur, business leader, linguaphile, philanthro-pist, feminist, and mother. After living, studying, and working in five countries across the globe, Liz started TransPerfect out of an NYU dorm room. During her ten-ure as Co-CEO, she grew Trans-Perfect into the world's larg-est language solutions company, with over $600 million in revenue, 4,000+ employees, 11,000+ cli-ents, and offices in more than 90 cities worldwide. Liz has been recognized as a NOW “Woman of Power & Influence,” an Enterpris-ing Women “Enterprising Woman of the Year” and one of Forbes’ “Richest Self-Made Women”

Liz Elting. Contributed photo.


Social Security benefits will be paid on time and other updates related to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Andrew Saul, Commissioner of Social Security, reminds the pub-lic that Social Security and Sup-plemental Security Income (SSI) benefit payments will continue to be paid on time during the CO-VID-19 pandemic. The agency also reminds everyone to be aware of scammers who try to take ad-vantage of the pandemic to trick people into providing personal information or payment via retail gift cards, wire transfers, internet currency, or by mailing cash, to maintain Social Security benefit payments or receive economic im-pact payments from the Depart-ment of the Treasury.

“Social Security will pay monthly benefits on time and these payments will not be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Com-missioner Saul said. “I want our beneficiaries to be aware that scammers may try to trick you into thinking the pandemic is stopping or somehow changing your Social Security payments, but that is not true. Don’t be fooled.”

The Department of the Trea-sury will soon provide information about economic impact payments under the recently enacted law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Eco-

nomic Security Act, or CARES Act. Treasury, not Social Security,

will be making direct payments to eligible people. Please do not call Social Security aboutthesepay-ments as the agency does not have information to share.

The agency continues to direct the public to its online self-service options whenever possible. Local offices are closedtothepublicbut are available by phone. People can find their local field office phone number by accessing the Field Office Locator.

To allow available agents to provide better phone coverage, the agency is temporarily changing the National 800 Number hours starting on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. The hours will change from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time to 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time. The agency is experiencing lon-ger than normal wait times on the

800 Number and asks the public to remain patient, use its online ser-vices at www.socialsecurity.gov, or call their local office.

Please visit the agency’s COV-ID-19 web page at www.socialse-curity.gov/coronavirus/for impor-tant information and updates.

Social Security benefits uninterrupted. Contributed photo.

To advertise, call578-9686.


Disney ya prepara un live-action de Robin Hood junto a un director mexicano. La industria del entre-tenimiento cinematográfico se vio inevitablemente afectada por la pandemia de coronavirus (COV-ID-19) en todo el mundo. Las pér-didas millonarias ya son un hecho,

y cada compañía está haciendo su mejor esfuerzo por sobrellevar la crisis.

En particular, Disney cerró sus parques temáticos, aplazó cotiza-dos estrenos fílmicos, e hizo dona-ciones en especie alrededor del mundo... pero eso no quiere decir

que la agenda usual se detenga: los ejecutivos del “sello de ratón” ya planean su próximoliveaction.

Si bien la fecha de lanzamiento de este reboot está pendiente, los ejecutivos Disney encabezados por Bob Chapek —CEO Disney— ya eligieron director para el proyecto: el mexicano Carlos López Estrada, quien es hijo de la productora tele-visiva Carla Estrada, recordada en América Latina por proyectos como Alondra, Te sigo amando, El privilegio de amar, El manantial, etc.

Por su parte, el joven Carlos López Estrada recién comienza su carrera como cineasta. Tiene 31 años y se formó en Chapman Uni-versity, donde completó una carre-ra en Artes Visuales y Realización Cinematográfica

El Batman de Robert Pattinson no tendrá la acción que esperas: el director explicó el enfoque. Aunque el mundo del entreten-imiento cinematográfico está “en pausa” dada la pandemia de COV-ID-19 en el mundo, las ideas y los realizadores no paran. Las expec-tativas respecto a futuros estrenos están al alza y mantienen en pie a los fanáticos de antaño.

Así es el caso del Batman que estará bajo la dirección de Matt Reeves y bajo la piel del actor Robert Pattinson. Desde el inicio, esta versión despertó escepticis-mo: a muchos fans les cuesta ver a Robert en el cotizado batí traje.

Mientras la percepción de la de-safortunada saga Twilight todavía rodea a Pattinson (a pesar de haber

See CHARLANDO, pg. 9

por Santos Raya y contribuidores

Robin Hood. Contributed photo.

Carlos López Estrada. Contributed photo.


demostrado grandes dotes actora-les con otros filmes) el guión que planea Reeves también ha logrado fruncir miles de ceños.

A manera de profundizar en la historia que se avecina para un jo-ven Bruce Wayne, Reeves habló en entrevista exclusiva con Nerd-isty adelantó lo que todos pueden esperar de su argumento. Si eres

de los que ansiaban una trama lle-na de acción...ya puedes irte des-pidiendo de tu sueño: Matt Reeves apostará por una versión más hu-manista del hombre murciélago.

CHARLANDO, from pg. 8

Robert Pattinson. Contributed photo.


SBA now ready to assist Texas small businesses Impacted by Coronavirus (COVID-19)by Justin Crossie

Many Texas small businesses are already feeling the impact from the spread of the Coronavi-rus (COVID-19) and its disrup-tion of the American way of life. Today, small businesses statewide are eligible to apply for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). We are processing ap-plications as soon as possible and some are even processed as fast as a within a few days.

The Texas Governor’s Of-fice and the SBA Disaster Office teamed up to rapidly make this recovery funding available to help minimize any economic disruption

to Texas’s 2.7 million small busi-nesses, who employ 4.7 million people across the state.

The SBA joins the whole of government response and stands beside Texas’s entrepreneurs ready to help guide them through this unprecedented chapter in our country’s history.

I’m grateful to work under Ad-ministrator Jovita Carranza who understands the challenges small businesses are facing right now. To get money to small businesses across the nation sooner, she re-vised the criteria for states seeking an economic injury declaration re-lated to Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Her bold move to relax the cri-teria had two immediate impacts:

1. Faster, Easier Qualification Process for States Seeking SBA Disaster Assistance. Historically, the SBA has required that any state or territory impacted by di-saster certify at least five small businesses have suffered substan-tial economic injury as a result of a disaster, with at least one business located in each declared county. Under the revised criteria, states or territories are only required to certify that at least five small busi-nesses have suffered substantial economic injury, regardless of where those businesses are locat-ed.

2. Expanded, Statewide Access to SBA Disaster Assistance Loans for Small Businesses. SBA disas-

ter assistance loans are typically only available to small businesses within counties identified as disas-ter areas by a Governor. Under the revised criteria, disaster loans will be available statewide following an economic injury declaration. This will apply to current and fu-ture disaster assistance declara-tions related to Coronavirus.

The interest rate on EIDL loans is 3.75 percent for small busi-nesses and 2.75 percent for private nonprofit organizations with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial con-dition.

Loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. It’s important to note that for the first $25,000 no collateral is re-quired. Over $25,000 you may be required to pledge available col-lateral.

Apply for loans online by vis-itinghttps://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/, or call 1-800-659-2955. You can also email [email protected].

The SBA launched www.sba.gov/coronavirus to provide infor-mation about additional resources small businesses can access now. This includes financing through SBA Loan Guarantee Program – working capital, microloans, express loans and lines of credit – and counseling services through the SBA’s Resource Partner Net-work to help businesses navigate preparedness plans.

SBA is the tip of the spear in this administrations effort to com-bat and minimize any economic disruption to Texas’s small busi-nesses impacted by the Coronavi-rus outbreak (COVID-19).

We will get through this togeth-er and SBA will be there providing resources and support every step of the way.

(Justin Crossie is the regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s South Central Region VI, serving, Loui-siana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Follow us on Twitter @SBASouthCentral. The SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small businesses with resources to start, grow, expand or recover.)

SBA processing applications now. Contributed art.


American Public Health Associa-tion.

Expect change. Maybe daily. But also take a deep breath. Some things are still all right.

“At the end of the day, we have to take care of our kids, our fam-ily, we have to eat,” said Benja-min. “What people ought to do is think about how best to reduce risk and do as many less risky things as they can.”

So, what about walking around the neighborhood?

“Yes, but not in groups,” said Benjamin, who added that he would wave at his neighbors while out for a stroll but “would not have a long conversation.”

If you do chat outside, maintain 6 feet of separation.

Dinner parties? Food for those shut in their homes.

“Inviting people over depends on whether or not they have symp-toms, whether they have traveled overseas,” Benjamin suggested. “I would not have a BBQ on my deck with a bunch of people.”

If you bring food to a shut-in or a neighbor, “leave it on the porch,” he said, and always, always make sure you wash your hands before preparing the meal.

In a blog post titled “Social dis-tancing: This is not a snow day,” Dr. Asaf Bitton, an assistant pro-fessor at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard, takes a hard line, recommending no play dates or sleepovers for children. No sharing of toys with other fam-

ilies. Even playing outside with other kids is a no-go “if that means direct physical contact” such as in basketball or soccer.

Limit trips to stores. Cooking food at home, he wrote, is less risky than takeout. Don’t have oth-er families over for dinner.

School closings won’t slow transmission if parents allow close play dates, or even activity on playgrounds, said Elizabeth Stu-art, a professor of mental health, biostatistics and health policy at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in an interview with KHN.

Playgrounds are a problem be-cause they put children, and their watching parents, in proximity. There is also a chance the virus could remain on surfaces.

But some people need more flexible guidelines, especially those with young children or those who can’t work from home, such as health care workers.

For them, a “closed-network strategy” might work, Stuart, two epidemiologists and a health poli-cy expert wrote in a piece that ran in USA Today.

That means a small, trusted cir-cle can continue to interact while creating social distance from out-siders. If any member of an indi-vidual family within that circle, however, exhibits symptoms, the entire family should isolate — and let everyone else in their circle know.

“The ideal situation is everyone stays home, but that’s just not a

reality for a lot of people,” Stuart said in an interview with KHN.

She said friends have asked what to do in specific situations, such as deciding whether a teen-ager should babysit for another family.

The key, she said, “is to think of the number of unique people you come in contact with.”

Each case involves a judgment call — and an element of risk. Maybe two families share child-care, or a teenager babysits for one family. But the teen does not sit for 10 families, she said.

Bitton, in his column, took a tougher stance.

“Even if you choose only one friend to have over, you are creat-ing new links and possibilities for the type of transmission that all of our school/work/public event closures are trying to prevent,” he wrote.

Do get outside every day, he wrote, as “it will be important dur-ing these strange times,” but “stay physically away from others.”

Marcus Plescia, the chief medi-cal officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Offi-cials, agreed.

“We encourage people to go out and exercise, but in a solitary way. Your pickup soccer game, because

of a lot of close contact, no. But maybe tennis because there’s a big distance from you and another player,” he said.

Maintain that 6-foot distance, whether outside or if you invite someone into your home, he said. If people come over, wipe down surfaces after they leave. And al-ways wash your hands.

These recommendations — and the stricter ones being imposed in some cities, like San Francisco — are vitally important, Plescia said.

“Social distancing works. If we do it, we can keep the spread from going up. We can get ahead of this and slow it down,” he said.

PANDEMIC, from pg. 1


pre-selected by leadership before bill text was available to mem-bers.)

The Constitution does not con-template the Treasury of the Secre-tary playing a more important role in writing legislation than those elected to represent the people. On such a crucial vote, more au-thority was delegated to the ex-ecutive branch than the legislative body constitutionally mandated to debate and pass legislation. The people of our district did not send me to Washington to be a rubber stamp for bills drafted by Speaker Pelosi and the Secretary of the Treasury, and I could not in good conscience vote ‘yes’ on a bill that will spend untold billions without first reading the bill.

This type of rushed, behind-closed-door governance is com-pletely backwards. As a delibera-tive body, we could have debated and amended the legislation over the course of the two days that we waited for Speaker Pelosi to negotiate the final text of the bill. The final product almost certainly would have been better and the questions surrounding the practi-cal implications of the bill could have been answered.

Although some provisions were things I would support, others were harmful, including new bur-dens placed on small businesses while exempting large businesses. Companies like Amazon and Mc-Donalds are not required to pay emergency leave to their hourly workers, but Main Street business-es are. Small businesses already strained by the economic chal-lenges surrounding the response, would have to bear the additional burden. Practically, this means many small businesses could close within weeks and with them the provision for thousands of families across the nation.

Having passed a multi-billion emergency supplemental for coro-navirus just last week, Congress had the time to debate this bill rather than rush to pass it at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. Neither the fi-nancial markets nor the U.S. Sen-ate was going to open again before Monday, so we could have easily evaluated this legislation over the weekend to ensure it was the best next step for our country.

The $8.3 billion we passed with

TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

EXAMPLE A

AVISO DE ENMIENDA Y DECISIÓN PRELIMINARPARA UN PERMISO DE CALIDAD DE AIRE

PERMISO NÚMERO: 19200

SOLICITUD Y DECISIÓN PRELIMINAR. Formosa Plastics Corporación, Texas, PO Box 700, Point Comfort, TX 77978-0700, ha solic-itado de la Comisión de Calidad Ambiental de Texas (TCEQ por sus siglas en ingles) la modificación del Permiso de Calidad de Aire Número 19200, el cual autorizaría modificación de la Planta de Point Comfort Formosa ubicada por la calle 201 Formosa Drive, en la ciudad de Point Comfort, Condado de Calhoun, Texas 77978. Esta solicitud se presentó a la TCEQ el día 23 de febrero del año 2016. La instalación existente emitirá los siguientes contaminantes: monóxido de carbono, compuestos de cloro, contaminantes peligrosos del aire, óxidos de nitrógeno, compuestos orgánicos, partículas incluyendo partículas con diámetros de 10 micras o menos y 2.5 micras o menos y dióxido de azufre.

El director ejecutivo de la TCEQ ha concluido la revisión técnica de la solicitud y ha preparado un permiso preliminar, el cual, si es apro-bado, establecerá las condiciones bajo las cuales el sitio deberá operar. El director ejecutivo ha tomado la decisión preliminar de otorgar este permiso porque cumple con todos los requisitos. La solicitud del permiso, la decisión preliminar del director ejecutivo, y el permiso preliminar estarán disponible para ser revisados y copiados en la Oficina Central de la TCEQ, en la oficina Regional de Corpus Christi, y en el Internet en https://www.fpctx.com/sustainability/public-notices, comenzando el primer día de la publicación de este aviso. El expediente de cumplimiento de la planta, si existe alguno, está disponible para su revisión en la oficina regional de TCEQ en Corpus Christi, NRC edificio Suite 1200, por la calle 6300 Ocean Drive, Unidad 5839, Corpus Christi, Texas.

COMENTARIO PÚBLICO/REUNIÓN PÚBLICA. Usted puede presentar comentarios públicos, o solicitar una reunión pública sobre esta solicitud. El propósito de la reunión pública es proporcionar la oportunidad de presentar comentarios o hacer preguntas sobre la solici-tud. La TCEQ tendrá una reunión pública si el director ejecutivo determina que hay suficiente interés de parte del público en esta solicitud o si es solicitada por un legislador local. Una reunión pública no es una audiencia de caso impugnado. Usted puede someter comentarios públicos por escrito dentro de 30 días después de este aviso a la Oficina del Secretario Oficial, de la manera indicada en la sección de CONTACTOS DE LA AGENCIA E INFORMACIÓN al párrafo a continuación.

RESPUESTA A LOS COMENTARIOS PÚBLICOS Y ACCIÓN DEL DIRECTOR EJECUTIVO. Después del plazo final para someter comentarios públicos, el director ejecutivo considerará los comentarios y preparará una respuesta a todos los comentarios públicos relevantes y materiales significativos. Porque no se han recibido peticiones para una audiencia de caso impugnado, el director ejecutivo aprobará la solicitud para este permiso. La respuesta a los comentarios, junto con la decisión del director ejecutivo sobre la solicitud, será entonces enviada por correo a todos aquellos que hayan sometido comentarios públicos o que están en la lista de correo de esta solicitud, y será puesta electrónicamente en la Base Integrada de Datos de los Comisionados (CID, por sus siglas en ingles).

DISPONIBILIDAD ELECTRÓNICA DE INFORMACIÓN. La respuesta del director ejecutivo a los comentarios y la decisión final so-bre esta solicitud estarán disponibles el sitio web de la Comisión, en la página www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/cid. Una vez que usted haya obtenido acceso a la Base de Datos Integrada de los Comisionados (Por sus siglas en inglés: Commissioners’ Integrated Database, o CID) usando el enlace de arriba, favor de poner el número de permiso de esta solicitud, el cual se encuentra en la parte superior de este aviso. Este enlace a un mapa electrónico de la ubicación general del sitio o de la instalación es proporcionado como una cortesía y no es parte de la solicitud o del aviso. Para la ubicación exacta, consulte la solicitud. http://www.tceq.texas.gov/assets/public/hb610/index.html?lat=28.6888&lng=-96.5472&zoom=13&type=r.

LISTA PARA ENVÍO DE CORREO. Usted puede solicitar ser incluido en una lista de correo para recibir información adicional con respecto a esta solicitud. Para ser incluido en una lista de correo, envíe su petición a la Oficina del Secretario Oficial a la dirección que se encuentra en la siguiente dirección.

CONTACTOS DE LA AGENCIA E INFORMACIÓN. Comentarios públicos y peticiones se deben entregar por el Internet a www14.tceq.texas.gov/epic/eComment/, o se deben enviarse por escrito a la Oficina del Secretario Oficial, MC-105, TCEQ, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711 3087. Si se comunica con la TCEQ por vía electrónica, por favor tenga en cuenta que su dirección de correo, como su dirección actual, pasará a formar parte del registro público de la agencia. Para más información sobre esta solicitud de permiso o sobre el proceso de permisos, por favor llame sin cobro al Programa de Educación del Público al 1 800 687 4040. Si desea información en español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040.

Se puede obtener información adicional también de Formosa Plastics Corporación, Texas, en la dirección anterior o al llamar al la Sra. Tammy Lasater Wacker, EHS Departamento Staff al (302) 383-1598.

Enmienda de Fecha de Expedición: el día 3 de abril del año 2020

ACT, from pg. 1

See ACT, pg. 14

VC’s allied health programs donate needed supplies to local hospitals

Victoria College’s allied health programs have donated personal protective equipment supplies to DeTar Healthcare System and Citizens Medical Center to aug-ment their supplies during the CO-VID-19 pandemic.

“The American Association of Community Colleges issued a call to action encouraging community college nursing programs to pro-vide supplies to their local com-munity healthcare facilities to aid the national shortage,” said Darla Strother, VC dean of allied health.

After taking inventory of avail-able supplies, Strother determined VC had the ability to donate medi-cal masks and gloves to Victoria’s two acute care facilities.

“Citizens Medical Center is so appreciative of the gift from Victo-

ria College,” said Jane Cook, chief nursing officer at Citizens Medical Center. “We truly appreciate our partnership, especially right now. We greatly appreciate VC reaching out to us with these supplies that we truly need.”

A total of 500 facemasks and 6,000 pairs of gloves were deliv-ered Citizens and DeTar.

“We thank Victoria College for its partnership with us and value this relationship that we can share with the rest of the community,” said Heidi Wolf, chief nursing of-ficer at DeTar Healthcare System. “We appreciate all Victoria Col-lege does for us.”

Strother encourages the public to also help local healthcare facili-ties if they have surplus personal protective equipment.


VICTORIA COUNTYTAX SALE

Tuesday, May 5, 2020Sale of the Victoria County tax deed property online at

https://victoria.texas.sheriffsaleauctions.com

For Tax Sale Information contactLINEBARGER GOGGAN BLAIR & SAMPSON, LLP at:

1-(855) 650-5848 (toll free) or www.LGBS.COM

Victoria College Dean of Allied Health Darla Strother, left, and Jane Cook, chief nursing officer at Citizens Medical Center, pose by personal protective equipment donated to Citizens Medical Center by VC’s allied health programs. Contributed photo.

Victoria College Dean of Allied Health Darla Strother, left, and Heidi Wolf, chief nursing of-ficer at DeTar Healthcare System, pose by personal protective equipment donated to DeTar Healthcare System by VC’s allied health programs. Contributed photo.


my support last week will help federal, state, and local officials combat the threat. It will help con-tinue to address the virus at home and abroad, including expediting vaccine development, purchasing essential equipment and supplies, and assisting state and local health departments. More than $4 billion of the total will go to make diag-nostic tests more broadly avail-able, to support treatments to ease the symptoms of those infected with the virus, and to invest in vaccine development and procure vaccines when they are available.

While I appreciate the desire to ensure that WIC, SNAP, school lunch, and unemployment pro-grams receive flexibility to help those in need, there were too many questions left unanswered in the thirty minutes we had to review the bill. There might be good answers to how the paid leave provisions would impact small businesses and their employees, for example, but we never had the opportunity to review and ask them. And to that point, as we were walking off the House floor, work began im-mediately on a bill to fix the bill we had just voted on. At last word, that bill is 46 pages of fixes to a 110-page bill.

This bill was too important to rush through. I know President Trump is dedicated to tackling this pandemic head on. However, Con-gress should have done the serious and transparent work of legislating – not passing the bill before we find out what’s in it.

I went to Congress to ensure it would become accountable to the people again. We need to stop plowing irresponsible legislation like this through an already broken system.

TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

EXAMPLE A

AVISO DE ENMIENDA Y DECISIÓN PRELIMINARPARA UN PERMISO DE CALIDAD DE AIRE

PERMISO NÚMERO: 19199

SOLICITUD Y DECISIÓN PRELIMINAR. Formosa Plastics Corporación, Texas, PO Box 700, Point Comfort, TX 77978-0700, ha solic-itado de la Comisión de Calidad Ambiental de Texas (TCEQ por sus siglas en ingles) la modificación del Permiso de Calidad de Aire Número 19199, el cual autorizaría modificación de la Planta de Point Comfort Formosa ubicada por la calle 201 Formosa Drive, en la ciudad de Point Comfort, Condado de Calhoun, Texas 77978. Esta solicitud se presentó a la TCEQ el día 2 de junio del año 2015. La instalación existente emitirá los siguientes contaminantes: monóxido de carbono, contaminantes peligrosos del aire, óxidos de nitrógeno, compuestos orgánicos, partículas incluyendo partículas con diámetros de 10 micras o menos y 2,5 micras o menos, dióxido de azufre y compuestos de cloro.

El director ejecutivo de la TCEQ ha concluido la revisión técnica de la solicitud y ha preparado un permiso preliminar, el cual, si es apro-bado, establecerá las condiciones bajo las cuales el sitio deberá operar. El director ejecutivo ha tomado la decisión preliminar de otorgar este permiso porque cumple con todos los requisitos. La solicitud del permiso, la decisión preliminar del director ejecutivo, y el permiso preliminar estarán disponible para ser revisados y copiados en la Oficina Central de la TCEQ, en la oficina Regional de Corpus Christi, y en el Internet en https://www.fpctx.com/sustainability/public-notices, comenzando el primer día de la publicación de este aviso. El expediente de cumplimiento de la planta, si existe alguno, está disponible para su revisión en la oficina regional de TCEQ en Corpus Christi, NRC edificio, Suite 1200, por la calle 6300 Ocean Drive, Unidad 5839, Corpus Christi, Texas.

COMENTARIO PÚBLICO/REUNIÓN PÚBLICA. Usted puede presentar comentarios públicos, o solicitar una reunión pública sobre esta solicitud. El propósito de la reunión pública es proporcionar la oportunidad de presentar comentarios o hacer preguntas sobre la solici-tud. La TCEQ tendrá una reunión pública si el director ejecutivo determina que hay suficiente interés de parte del público en esta solicitud o si es solicitada por un legislador local. Una reunión pública no es una audiencia de caso impugnado. Usted puede someter comentarios públicos por escrito dentro de 30 días después de este aviso a la Oficina del Secretario Oficial, de la manera indicada en la sección de CONTACTOS DE LA AGENCIA E INFORMACIÓN al párrafo a continuación.

RESPUESTA A LOS COMENTARIOS PÚBLICOS Y ACCIÓN DEL DIRECTOR EJECUTIVO. Después del plazo final para someter comentarios públicos, el director ejecutivo considerará los comentarios y preparará una respuesta a todos los comentarios públicos relevantes y materiales significativos. Porque no se han recibido peticiones para una audiencia de caso impugnado, el director ejecutivo aprobará la solicitud para este permiso. La respuesta a los comentarios, junto con la decisión del director ejecutivo sobre la solicitud, será entonces enviada por correo a todos aquellos que hayan sometido comentarios públicos o que están en la lista de correo de esta solicitud, y será puesta electrónicamente en la Base Integrada de Datos de los Comisionados (CID, por sus siglas en ingles).

DISPONIBILIDAD ELECTRÓNICA DE INFORMACIÓN. La respuesta del director ejecutivo a los comentarios y la decisión final so-bre esta solicitud estarán disponibles el sitio web de la Comisión, en la página www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/cid. Una vez que usted haya obtenido acceso a la Base de Datos Integrada de los Comisionados (Por sus siglas en inglés: Commissioners’ Integrated Database, o CID) usando el enlace de arriba, favor de poner el número de permiso de esta solicitud, el cual se encuentra en la parte superior de este aviso. Este enlace a un mapa electrónico de la ubicación general del sitio o de la instalación es proporcionado como una cortesía y no es parte de la solicitud o del aviso. Para la ubicación exacta, consulte la solicitud. https://tceq.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=db5bac44afbc468bbddd360f8168250f&marker=-96.5472%2C28.6888&level=12.

LISTA PARA ENVÍO DE CORREO. Usted puede solicitar ser incluido en una lista de correo para recibir información adicional con respecto a esta solicitud. Para ser incluido en una lista de correo, envíe su petición a la Oficina del Secretario Oficial a la dirección que se encuentra a la dirección que se encuentra en la siguiente dirección.

CONTACTOS DE LA AGENCIA E INFORMACIÓN. Comentarios públicos y peticiones se deben entregar por el Internet a www14.tceq.texas.gov/epic/eComment/, o se deben enviarse por escrito a la Oficina del Secretario Oficial, MC-105, TCEQ, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711 3087. Si se comunica con la TCEQ por vía electrónica, por favor tenga en cuenta que su dirección de correo, como su dirección actual, pasará a formar parte del registro público de la agencia. Para más información sobre esta solicitud de permiso o sobre el proceso de permisos, por favor llame sin cobro al Programa de Educación del Público al 1 800 687 4040. Si desea información en español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040.

Se puede obtener información adicional también de Formosa Plastics Corporación, Texas, en la dirección anterior o al llamar al la Sra. Tammy Lasater Wacker, EHS Department Staff al (302) 383-1598.

Enmienda Fecha de Expedición: el día 31 de marzo del año 2020

ACT, from pg. 12


PICANTE POT ROAST 1 16- or 17-ounce package refrig-erated cooked beef pot roast with juices 1½ cups purchased sliced fresh mushrooms 1 8-oz. bottle picante sauce 1 14½ -ounce can reduced –so-dium chicken broth 1-cup quick-cooking couscous 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro Dairy sour cream (optional) Chopped fresh tomato (optional) Sliced avocado (optional)

Cilantro sprigs (optional)

1. Transfer liquid from pot roast package to a large skillet; add mushrooms and picante sauce. Cut pot roast into 1-to 1½ -inch cubes; add to skillet. Bring to boil-ing; reduce heat. Cover and sim-mer for 10 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, in a medium sauce-pan bring chicken broth to boil-ing; stir in couscous. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork; stir in snipped cilantro.

3. Spoon pot roast mixture on top of hot cooked couscous mixture. Serve with sour cream, tomato, and/or avocado and top with cilan-tro sprigs. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI SALAD 1 head cauliflower separated into small flowerets 1 bunch broccoli separated into flowerets 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped 1 red onion, chopped

Dressing: 1-cup mayonnaise ½ cup vegetable oil 1/3-cup vinegar ½ cup sugar

1. Mix first four ingredients to-gether; pour dressing over and mix to blend. Make at least 2 hours in advance.

COUNTRY BISCUITS 2 cups flour 1-tablespoon baking powder ¾ teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons butter or margarine 2/3-cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. 2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter. Add milk and stir it with a fork.

3. Put dough on a floured cutting board. Knead about 15 turns into a ball. Roll out to about ¾ inches. Cut with a biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on an un-greased cookie sheet. 4. Bake 12-14 minutes, until me-dium brown.

COOL BUNNY DESSERT 1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding 2 cups cold milk 28 Oreo Cookies 1 cup Jet-Puffed Miniature Marshmallows 1½ cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping ½ cup Baker’s Angel Flake Co-conut 2 Cameo Crème Sandwich Cook-ies

3 gumdrops 7 pieces red string licorice (6 inches each)

1. Beat pudding mix and milk with whisk for 2 minutes. 2. Place 14 Oreo Cookies on bot-tom of 8-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap; cover with layers of 1-cup pudding and marshmallows. Repeat layers of Oreo Cookies and pudding. Cover with additional plastic wrap. 3. Refrigerate overnight. Uncover. Invert dessert onto serving plate; remove plastic wrap. Frost des-sert with Cool Whip; sprinkle with coconut. Decorate with Cameo Cookies for the bunny ears, gum-drops for the nose and eyes, and licorice for the mouth and whis-kers. Keep refrigerated.

Picante pot roast. Contributed photo.

Volume 30, Number 6, April 2020 PANDEMIC Take a deep ... 04 Revista_April2020.pdf · so, too....

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