Staff report Like other civic facilities, the county’s only intake for stray and homeless animals is feeling the pinch of COVID-19 prevention. The San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter is closed to the public but still has an abundance of cats and dogs needing permanent – or at least temporary – homes....

The Hays County Local Health Department has been notified of an additional confirmed case of COVID-19, bringing the total cases in Hays County to 10. All 10 positive cases are adults, and the 10 th case is a resident of Buda.   CDC image. The breakdown of cases by city as of noon on Wednesday, March...

AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission sent a letter yesterday to the United States Department of Agriculture seeking permission to allow Texas Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to use their benefits at take out and drive-thru res...

Staff report The COVID-19 threat and the response to it is unprecedented in the minds of most living Americans. One aspect of the crisis, however, is something we’ve seen in the wake of natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. It’s time to be on the lookout for price gouging, the Texas Attorney...

Staff report The Hays County Food Bank has changed its distribution model in order to adhere to social distancing intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 — just as Executive Director Eleanor Owen-Oshan predicted. And, more changes may follow as the full effect of the closure of bars, restaurants and...

Shoppers stand outside of H-E-B, leaning on their empty carts, waiting so they can finally get a turn inside where only about 25 people can shop at once. H-E-B has taken many measures to ensure that it reduces the spread of the Coronavirus while people shop in-store, but their efforts did not stop o...

Staff report In keeping with efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, all Wimberley ISD campuses are closed through Friday, April 3. The closure affects all meetings, campus events, practices and extracurricular activities. The situation was addressed in a letter from Superintendent Dwain York to all...

Staff Report As the COVID-19 clampdown continues, community newspapers are among small businesses struggling to survive. That situation is made worse by the fact many paper mills in the U.S. are expected to be cutting back. All this has forced the Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch to find new ways t...

Hays County’s 8th and 9th cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in two people in separate households with connection to Carpenter Hill Elementary School in Buda. All cases confirmed so far have occurred in adults. The new cases mark four among people with connections to public schools. A person who ...

Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra stopped short of ordering residents to shelter in place on Tuesday; instead directing law enforcement to step up their efforts to enforce the Local Disaster Declaration that went into effect March 15. Among other actions, that order limited gatherings to 10 or fewer p...