What’s New with the Harris County Civil District Courts?

On March 5, 2021, the Supreme Court of Texas issued its Thirty-Sixth Order Regarding the COVID-19 State of Disaster, which provided, among other things, that, subject to stated constitutional limitations, in-person proceedings may be conducted in the district courts, so long as minimum standard health protocols are followed. The Order prompted the Local Administrative Law Judge for the Harris County District Civil Courts, Honorable Robert Schaffer, to modify the existing COVID-19 Operating Plan to allow for the resumption of in-person proceedings and to set the minimum standard health protocols for such proceedings to keep the participants and the public safe.

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Jane Jacobs: Urban Ecologist and Community Advocate

At heart, Jacobs was an observer. Her keen perception about people and the communities they inhabit informed all of her writing and activism. Jacobs had no formal training as an urban planner or sociologist, but her observations about city life gave her the street cred of a true public intellectual. Jacobs was more than a mouthpiece for a movement, however; she was a boots-on-the-ground, grassroots organizer who encouraged everyday folks to take part in shaping their communities from the bottom up.

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