A local call center that employed hundreds of area residents closed unexpectedly Friday as the Texas-based company that operated it announced that it’s ceasing operations.

The state reported more than 7,300 new cases of COVID-19 and the regional count rose by almost 400 on the first day of the long Independence Day weekend Friday.

Area hospitals are managing the surge in COVID-19 cases in some area counties, but planners are considering what to do if they no longer can.

A woman who’s accused of helping her boyfriend dismember and bury the body of a 20-year-old Fort Hood soldier was transferred Friday from Bell County to McLennan County to face federal charges.

With dozens of jailers quarantined for COVID-19,, inmates at the McLennan County Jail are now being tested for the virus, too.