Winter Storm Called “Once In A Generation”
An arctic storm that swept through the state bringing low temperatures and high winds also affected roughly two-thirds of the country’s population, according to the National Weather Service, bringing the coldest Christmas in decades to parts of the country.
The Dallas Morning News reported around 190 million people across the United States were under some type of winter weather advisory starting last Thursday.
“This is quite the arctic cold air outbreak,” said Hunter Reeves, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. “This air has been bottled up in Canada and is letting loose, headed straight south.”
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages nearly all the state’s electric grid, reported Friday that grid conditions were adequate to handle current demand for power. ERCOT is providing a dashboard that monitors supply and demand across the state. Texas is coming up on the second anniversary of Winter Storm Uri, which resulted in power outages throughout much of the state and at least 137 deaths. The storm resulted in several measures to improve the grid’s reliability.
Temperatures in the latest arctic storm were in single digits Friday throughout much of the state.
Study on Antisemitism in Texas Released
A committee established by the 2021 Texas Legislature has submitted its first study on antisemitism in Texas, laying out eight recommendations to the state’s leaders and lawmakers.
The Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission (THGAAC) report concludes “antisemitic incidents have grown more frequent and extreme in Texas in recent years,” reflecting a national and global trend. Five of the recommendations can be implemented directly by the commission through its ongoing advisory role to universities, school districts, government agencies and law enforcement, largely through training and outreach. Three of the commission’s recommendations require legislative action in the upcoming session:
• Creating a state-funded security grant program to help religious organizations, schools and community centers harden their security infrastructures.
• Prohibiting state-funded colleges from implementing academic boycotts, such as those promoted through the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Scheduling “listening tours” for lawmakers to speak with THGAAC, local educators and museum officials to better understand their needs around Holocaust and antisemitism education.