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Top Stories: The Electoral College Votes Today; Behind The Mumps Outbreak

State of Texas

The top local stories this morning from KERA News: The Electoral College meets today at their respective state capitols to cast ballots for President. Donald Trump is expected to win the electoral vote, though some electors say they won’t vote for him.

Art Sisneros of Dayton says he’ll resign at today’s meeting rather than vote for the president-elect. Christopher Suprun of Dallas says he’ll vote for a different Republican – John Kasich. Suprun’s decision has raised his public profile, and questions about his background.

State Republicans are now pushing for legislation that would bind electors to the statewide popular vote.

Today though, one of the first orders of business will be to propose a replacement elector for Sisneros. Once that person is approved and sworn in, electors will vote.

Other stories this morning:

  • Members of the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System fund voted Saturday to reject benefit cuts. Risky investments, overly-generous benefits, and a recent run of mass withdrawals from deferred retirement accounts could bankrupt the pension fund by 2028 if changes aren’t made.
  • Texas typically sees only about 20 cases of mumps statewide, but the current outbreak in North Texas is more than twice that many in Johnson County alone. Here’s what you need to know about mumps.
  • The Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night, 26-20. But running back Ezekiel Elliott has everyone talking. He scored the 13th touchdown of his rookie season – a record in franchise history. He celebrated by jumping into a giant Salvation Army red kettle. The Cowboys are now 12-2, and closer to the NFC East title.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.