Texas Tribune: “Local officials and experts in Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth have expressed concerns in recent days that increasing coronavirus hospitalizations could overwhelm their intensive care capacities, with some saying it could happen in less than two weeks.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued an executive order requiring all Texans to wear a face covering in public in counties with 20 or more positive coronavirus cases, Axios reports.

“It’s a stark reversal for the Republican governor… On June 3, Abbott issued an executive order banning local governments from imposing fines on people who don’t wear masks in public.”

Said Abbot in a video: “In short, we must do more to slow the spread without locking Texas back down.”

Florida’s Department of Health confirmed 10,109 additional cases of COVID-19, breaking another single-day record and pushing the state’s total confirmed cases to hit 169,106, the Miami Herald reports.

There were also 67 new deaths announced, bringing the statewide death toll to hit 3,617.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told reporters that the state will not reinstate restrictions or close businesses to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, Axios reports.

Said DeSantis: “We’re not going back, closing things. I don’t think that that’s really what’s driving it, people going to a business is not what’s driving it. I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that’s natural.”

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced that, due to “significant rebounds in COVID-19 activity,” the state is putting a pause on approving counties hoping to move to the fourth phase of the governor’s reopening plan, the Seattle Times reports.

“The House and Senate are expected to act quickly this weekend to remove the Mississippi state flag, the last in the nation containing the Confederate battle emblem, after clearing the procedural path on Saturday,” Mississippi Today reports.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has already said he will sign the bill.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R), who has long insisted voters should decide whether to remove the Confederate emblem from the state’s flag, said for the first time Saturday that he would sign a bill to change the banner if one is sent his way, the Washington Post reports.

Robert Regan (R), who is vying for a seat in the Michigan state House, has offered an odd explanation for why his daughter publicly called on voters to “pls for the love of god do not vote for my dad,” The Hill reports.

Regan explained that his daughter, Stephanie, urged people to vote against him because she attended a liberal college and “and you know, they just kind of get sucked into this Marxist, communist ideology.”

“Fury exploded outside the Wisconsin State Capitol on Tuesday night as protesters smashed windows at the statehouse, attacked a state senator, and tore down two iconic statues — including one of an abolitionist who died trying to end slavery during the Civil War,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

“The unrest began earlier Tuesday following the arrest of a Black man who was arrested after bringing a megaphone and a baseball bat into a Capitol square restaurant.”

Said state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D): “I don’t know what happened … all I did was stop and take a picture … and the next thing I’m getting five-six punches, getting kicked in the head.”

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) issued an executive order to eliminate the word “plantations” from state documents, symbols and related government websites.

The state seal currently includes a golden anchor along with the word “hope” and the phrase “the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.”