By , , YORK, S.C./LEVELLAND, Texas/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ask a Federal Reserve official what is the most important step needed to get the economy on track from the body blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic, and you will likely get a short and fast answer: Wear a mask.It is a message now rolling out with greater repetition and urgency from the most influential U.S. economic players in both the public and private spheres as early signs of a fast recovery have begun to fade amid a resurgence of the disease in most states and rising deaths. (Open in an external browser for a Reuters...…By , , YORK, S.C./LEVELLAND, Texas/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ask a Federal Reserve official what is the most important step needed to get the economy on track from the body blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic, and you will likely get a short and fast answer: Wear a mask.It is a message now rolling out with greater repetition and urgency from the most influential U.S. economic players in both the public and private spheres as early signs of a fast recovery have begun to fade amid a resurgence of the disease in most states and rising deaths. (Open in an external browser for a Reuters...WW…

By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday pushed back against what he called premature demands that he reopen the state, saying he knew people were struggling without jobs but that more understanding of the new coronavirus was needed.As governors in about half of the United States partially reopen their economies over this weekend, Cuomo said he needed much more information on what the pandemic was doing in his state, the hardest hit by the disease, before he loosens restrictions aimed at curbing its spread.“Even when you are in uncharted waters, it doesn’t mean...…By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Saturday pushed back against what he called premature demands that he reopen the state, saying he knew people were struggling without jobs but that more understanding of the new coronavirus was needed.As governors in about half of the United States partially reopen their economies over this weekend, Cuomo said he needed much more information on what the pandemic was doing in his state, the hardest hit by the disease, before he loosens restrictions aimed at curbing its spread.“Even when you are in uncharted waters, it doesn’t mean...WW…

By , , SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a...…By , , SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a...WW…

By , HOUSTON (Reuters) - Less than a week before Election Day, Joe Biden is tantalizingly close to a prize that has eluded generations of Democratic presidential candidates: Texas.Public opinion polls show Biden and Republican President Donald Trump effectively tied in the Lone Star State. They also suggest the former vice president is leading among those helping to set its staggering early vote totals.As of Tuesday, nearly 8 million Texans had cast ballots, approaching 90% of the entire 2016 vote - a higher percentage than any state in the country, according to the U.S. Elections Project...…By , HOUSTON (Reuters) - Less than a week before Election Day, Joe Biden is tantalizingly close to a prize that has eluded generations of Democratic presidential candidates: Texas.Public opinion polls show Biden and Republican President Donald Trump effectively tied in the Lone Star State. They also suggest the former vice president is leading among those helping to set its staggering early vote totals.As of Tuesday, nearly 8 million Texans had cast ballots, approaching 90% of the entire 2016 vote - a higher percentage than any state in the country, according to the U.S. Elections Project...WW…

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comFeb 19 (Reuters) - Texas doctor Natasha Kathuria has practiced medicine in 11 countries, worked through the 2014 “Snowmageddon” storm that ground Atlanta to a halt, and survived the past year’s COVID-19 pandemic crush.But Kathuria and some other doctors in Texas are saying they have never seen a more than this one. Record-setting cold weather has cut water and grid energy supplies to hospitals across a wide swath of Texas. Electricity and water services were resuming, but many homes and some hospitals still did not have either on Friday....…Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comFeb 19 (Reuters) - Texas doctor Natasha Kathuria has practiced medicine in 11 countries, worked through the 2014 “Snowmageddon” storm that ground Atlanta to a halt, and survived the past year’s COVID-19 pandemic crush.But Kathuria and some other doctors in Texas are saying they have never seen a more than this one. Record-setting cold weather has cut water and grid energy supplies to hospitals across a wide swath of Texas. Electricity and water services were resuming, but many homes and some hospitals still did not have either on Friday....WW…

By , , SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a...…By , , SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) - Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a...WW…

By MOLALLA, Ore. (Reuters) - Nicole West steered her bulldozer through the smoldering forest, pushing logs into the underbrush and away from the wildfires ripping through Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Her border collie, Oink, rode shotgun as West and a volunteer crew raced to clear a fire line.Behind West, on the front lines of the 136,000-acre (55,000-hectare) Riverside fire, two young men pulled a water tank behind their pickup truck, struggling to douse the flames.These are the men and women of the “Hillbilly Brigade” - about 1,200 in all who came together this past week to fight the...…By MOLALLA, Ore. (Reuters) - Nicole West steered her bulldozer through the smoldering forest, pushing logs into the underbrush and away from the wildfires ripping through Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Her border collie, Oink, rode shotgun as West and a volunteer crew raced to clear a fire line.Behind West, on the front lines of the 136,000-acre (55,000-hectare) Riverside fire, two young men pulled a water tank behind their pickup truck, struggling to douse the flames.These are the men and women of the “Hillbilly Brigade” - about 1,200 in all who came together this past week to fight the...WW…

By (Reuters) - The Executive Committee of the Texas Republican Party voted on Thursday to push ahead and have their state convention in person this month despite a surge in coronavirus cases in Houston, where it will take place.The committee voted 40 to 20 to host the meeting that about 6,000 people are expected to attend in Houston’s George R. Brown convention center in just over two weeks.During a lengthy virtual meeting, those opposed to hosting the convention in person said it would endanger older delegates and would disenfranchise many people who would not go out of fear of the virus....…By (Reuters) - The Executive Committee of the Texas Republican Party voted on Thursday to push ahead and have their state convention in person this month despite a surge in coronavirus cases in Houston, where it will take place.The committee voted 40 to 20 to host the meeting that about 6,000 people are expected to attend in Houston’s George R. Brown convention center in just over two weeks.During a lengthy virtual meeting, those opposed to hosting the convention in person said it would endanger older delegates and would disenfranchise many people who would not go out of fear of the virus....WW…

By , (Reuters) - Protesters shut down a major highway in Atlanta on Saturday and burned down a Wendy’s restaurant where a black man was shot dead by police as he tried to escape arrest, an incident likely to fuel more nationwide tensions over race and police tactics.The restaurant was in flames for more than 45 minutes before fire crews arrived to extinguish the blaze, protected by a line of police officers, local television showed. By that time the building was reduced to charred rubble next to a gas station.Other demonstrators marched onto Interstate-75, stopping traffic, before police...…By , (Reuters) - Protesters shut down a major highway in Atlanta on Saturday and burned down a Wendy’s restaurant where a black man was shot dead by police as he tried to escape arrest, an incident likely to fuel more nationwide tensions over race and police tactics.The restaurant was in flames for more than 45 minutes before fire crews arrived to extinguish the blaze, protected by a line of police officers, local television showed. By that time the building was reduced to charred rubble next to a gas station.Other demonstrators marched onto Interstate-75, stopping traffic, before police...WW…

By (Reuters) - The coronavirus has been a far deadlier threat in New Orleans than the rest of the United States, with a per-capita death rate twice that of New York City. Doctors, public health officials and available data say the Big Easy’s high levels of obesity and related ailments may be part of the problem.“We’re just sicker,” said Rebekah Gee, who until January was the health secretary for Louisiana and now heads Louisiana State University’s healthcare services division. “We already had tremendous healthcare disparities before this pandemic – one can only imagine they are being...…By (Reuters) - The coronavirus has been a far deadlier threat in New Orleans than the rest of the United States, with a per-capita death rate twice that of New York City. Doctors, public health officials and available data say the Big Easy’s high levels of obesity and related ailments may be part of the problem.“We’re just sicker,” said Rebekah Gee, who until January was the health secretary for Louisiana and now heads Louisiana State University’s healthcare services division. “We already had tremendous healthcare disparities before this pandemic – one can only imagine they are being...WW…