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Kerr Together has been coordinating flood recovery for a year — and couldn’t legally accept a donation the whole time
Temporary housing remains a significant unsolved problem. Local Airbnb credits are exhausted. The rental market — high prices, low inventory — has pushed some displaced residents to look as far as Fredericksburg and Bandera.
The Lead’s stories
Hill Country Charity Ball raised a record $222,000 last year — and is now watching the flood drain everyone else’s donations
Last year’s ball — held at Sendera Springs with 280 people squeezed into a venue whose normal wedding capacity is 50, dancing moved outside to make it work — raised a record $222,000.
Guadalupe River Center offers to take over park development so city can redirect $2.2 million to flood repairs
The facility itself is designed as Kerrville’s “community living room” — a public hub for recreation, water access, education, and social gathering.
Veterans Assistance Dogs of Texas: Cole weighs 120 pounds and has already saved Will Scott’s life
VADogs — which carries no affiliation with the federal Veterans Administration and receives no government funding — has placed 83 specially trained service dogs with disabled Texas veterans since its founding, entirely through private donations.
Chamber Foundation raised $2.3 million after 2025 flood. After 2026, it has $35,000.
“I challenge you to go into a business you’ve never been to and buy something,” she said. “Those simple things will help our retailers not only survive, but thrive. They are the backbone of our economy.”
Kerrville police investigate overnight shooting on West Schreiner Street
The woman was flown by air ambulance to a San Antonio hospital, where she is listed in stable condition.
Texas ranks 36th nationally in state livability study, trails on health and education despite high quality-of-life score
Idaho topped the overall list, followed by New Jersey, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Texas finished with a total score of 48.35, sandwiched between Maryland (35th) and Hawaii (37th).
Explainer: What kind of license plate cameras are actually watching Kerrville
The city says it doesn’t use Flock. That’s true — but it’s not the whole picture.
More than 70 nonprofits, seven days: Lead Live’s Nonprofit Week opens Friday with its biggest lineup ever
All segments air live on The Kerr County Lead’s Facebook and YouTube pages and are archived at kerrcountylead.com/forging-connections-nonprofit-week-on-the-lead-live/. The complete schedule is available at that link.
Democratic Senate candidate Talarico brings campaign swing to deep-red Kerrville
The stop puts Talarico, a Texas state representative from Round Rock, in a county with a strong recent history of backing Republicans by wide margins. Trump carried Kerr County with 76.7% of the vote in the 2024 general election, while Ted Cruz won 74.1% in the Senate race and Chip Roy took 76.9% in the 21st Congressional District.
Kerrville police issue 98 citations, make five arrests in Operation Slowdown
Officers stopped 208 vehicles during the roughly two-week initiative, which was funded by the Texas Department of Transportation and targeted speeding and unsafe driving, the department said.
Aquatic life showing signs of resilience after second major flood, state biologists say
Recovery efforts already underway as TPWD expands assessments across multiple watersheds
Medicare ends temporary Part D subsidy, drug plan premiums could jump in 2027
Nearly a third of Kerr County’s population is 65 or older, and many rely on stand-alone Medicare drug plans about to lose two years of price protection.
Nearly half of Hill Country flood survivors don’t know if insurance covers their damage, needs assessment finds
A regional survey of more than 1,000 households reveals deep uncertainty about insurance coverage, financial strain, and pre-existing housing problems compounding this year’s flood damage
Community Foundation announces $18 million in immediate flood recovery commitments
97% of funding made available through 2025 flood donors who expanded their gift restrictions to cover this year’s disaster; funds split across housing, small business, and household emergency aid
Weak front brings rain chance Saturday, drier air follows
Saturday carries a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4 p.m., under mostly sunny skies with a high near 94.
The Lead’s Special Report
The monster in the canyon: What the storm actually was — and what was never asked
Nine months after the flood, federal meteorologists tell the full story. In 15 hours of legislative testimony this week, none of it came up.
At 12:56 a.m. on July 4, 2025, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Austin sent a message through its professional communications platform: “Some cell mergers about to take place in central Kerr County. This will be an area to watch for potential flash flooding.”
Eighteen minutes later, a flash flood warning went out to cell phones across the Hunt area — the ninth such warning issued for the Guadalupe River corridor since 2020. The previous eight had all expired without a mass casualty event.
By 4:03 a.m., NWS had upgraded that warning to a Flash Flood Emergency — the most urgent alert the agency can issue. Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas was home sick that night. Whether anyone else in Kerr County’s emergency structure was actively monitoring professional NWS channels during those critical hours remains unknown. Read more: https://kerrcountylead.com/the-monster-in-the-canyon-what-the-storm-actually-was-and-what-was-never-asked/
The Lead’s Special Sections
Day 4 video
Nonprofit Week 2026
Kerr Together has been coordinating flood recovery for a year — and couldn’t legally accept a donation the whole time
Temporary housing remains a significant unsolved problem. Local Airbnb credits are exhausted. The rental market — high prices, low inventory — has pushed some displaced residents to look as far as Fredericksburg and Bandera.
Hill Country Charity Ball raised a record $222,000 last year — and is now watching the flood drain everyone else’s donations
Last year’s ball — held at Sendera Springs with 280 people squeezed into a venue whose normal wedding capacity is 50, dancing moved outside to make it work — raised a record $222,000.
Kathy and Caitlin: a Walmart trip for white towels, 14 years, and a first-generation Texas A&M graduate
Hall, Caitlin, and board member Jeannie Wanhainen appeared Thursday to represent a program whose local waitlist has grown to 40 children — with an urgent specific shortage: men.
Texas Hill Country Nurses Honor Guard releases nurses from their pledge — at bedside or at the graveside, always free
The Nightingale Pledge — named for Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing — is a professional and moral commitment that nurses carry for the rest of their careers. It is not a document they sign and file. It becomes part of who they are.
Kerr County Cares Foundation: 600 deliveries in 10 months, a volunteer’s garage, and an Ingram woman who grabbed a stranger’s hand and cried
“Just the matter of handing them a simple bag of groceries helped them get to a point where they felt like they could make it to the next,” he said.
224 DWI arrests, 46 smoke shops, and two floods: the Hill Country Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse is watching the numbers climb
The organization also tracks the local retail landscape. As of June 30, Kerr County had 46 registered hemp retailers — 8.5 stores per 10,000 residents. Neighboring Kendall County had 23.
Guadalupe River Center offers to take over park development so city can redirect $2.2 million to flood repairs
The facility itself is designed as Kerrville’s “community living room” — a public hub for recreation, water access, education, and social gathering.
A Kerrville nurse asked a routine pre-op question. The answer changed both their lives.
Kristy Vandenberg, executive director of the Ultimate Gift of Life Foundation, which is celebrating its 13th year of organ and tissue donation advocacy spoke about the power of the need.
Dietert Center’s dementia program at interview 50: isolation is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day
T. Teresa Salmon — known simply as “T” at the Dietert Center, a nickname adopted because two Teresas work there and confusion is inadvisable in a dementia program — is the Director of Senior Support Services and the driving force behind Dementia Care Advocates.
Bird City Kerrville planted native habitat twice at Flat Rock Park. Both times, the flood took it.
The organization recently secured a $10,000 grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife, earned through a statewide bird survey in which 1,400 participants competed — the teams recording the most birds got to select grant recipients from the event’s admission fees.
Arts and Culture
Playhouse 2000’s new director inherits a 30-year institution — and a fly rail that still runs on ropes
“Art is meant to teach and delight,” she said. “And so some things delight and some things teach and some things do both. You need a balance.”
Symphony of the Hills opens season Oct. 8 with Weber and Brahms — and the Governor came to their July 4 concert
Dowdy, the orchestra’s conductor and artistic director, appeared alongside Board President Tim Summerlin to discuss a season that is both one of the symphony’s most programmatically ambitious in its 26-year history.
Another diverse week of offerings for Kerr County events, arts and culture
Kerr County’s calendar this week runs deep on live music and community outreach, with more than 60 listed events spanning eight categories — from qigong sessions to a rodeo. Here’s what stands out.
Photo galleries
Photo gallery: July 18, 2026 flood recovery
Across Kerr County on July 18, the community came together to help feed residents who were displaced by the July 16, 2026 flood.
Photo gallery: July 17, 2026 flood recovery
The day after the July 16, 2026 flood, Kerrville and Kerr County tried to pick up the pieces following a devastating event that damaged hundreds of homes and businesses.
Photo gallery: July 16, 2026 flood in Kerr County
In the early morning hours of July 16, 2026, another devastating flood tore through Kerr County, leaving one man dead in Kerrville.
Photo gallery: The 2026 Down Home Parade in Center Point
The Center Point community gathered in force on Saturday for the annual Down Home Parade
Photo gallery: The Lead’s Fourth on the River photos since 2022
Since 2022, The Kerr County Lead has covered Fourth on the River from the crowd at Louise Hays Park — the bands, the fireworks, the kids splashing in the Guadalupe, the whole town turning out for the Hill Country’s biggest Independence Day party.
Photo gallery: The 2026 Bluebell Bike Parade
Riders of all ages decorated their bikes before setting off on the charming neighborhood parade route, adding a lighthearted, family-friendly moment to the holiday.
Photo gallery: Symphony of the Hills’ “Stars, Stripes and Spirit” concert
Conductor Dr. Eugene Dowdy said the free concert was meant to honor both the tragedy and the community’s resilience, and before the performance, the public viewed nine original paintings from artist Robert R. “Bobby” Cahill’s “Freedom” series, tracing the history of the American flag since 1776.
Photo gallery: The 2026 Fourth on the River
The free, all-ages celebration featured a full day of live music — including Los Juanos, Jamie Lin Wilson, Junior Brown and William Beckmann, several of whom were booked for last year’s canceled show.
Photo gallery: Faith and Fellowship at Louise Hays Park
The free event offered space for community healing ahead of the flood anniversary, with live music from Southern Oaks Church, Briscoe and Caleb & Kelsey, plus access to trained mental health professionals for those still processing last year’s tragedy.
Photo gallery: Kerrville Pets Alive remembrance
Kerrville Pets Alive hosted a remembrance ceremony to honor pets lost in the July 4, 2025 flood in Kerr County.
Sports
Schreiner enters ASC schedule with two nationally ranked opponents
Hardin-Simmons University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor both earned spots in the 2026 D3football.com Preseason Top 25 poll, released July 20.
ETBU picked unanimous preseason favorite in ASC volleyball; Schreiner picked fourth
Schreiner was picked fourth with 37 points in its return to the ASC, coming off a 24-7 season in 2025. The Mountaineers return two 2025 All-Conference selections in setter Harlie Gallaspy, a senior, and outside hitter Giana Hilliard, also a senior.
Meet the Edwards siblings, Kerr County’s homeschool track and field powerhouse
Now it’s on to Iowa, where three Edwards kids will take the runway at Drake University with a Junior Olympics medal, and a little Hill Country pride, on the line.
Schreiner University Sports Pages
Obituaries
Margaret Jean Ward: March 8, 1940-Aug. 17, 2026
After working as a bookkeeper, Jean felt called to accept a position as secretary at Trinity Baptist Church, beginning 44 years of devoted service to the church.
Dorthy Christeen Flores: July 22, 1934-Aug. 19, 2026
Her life was a beautiful testimony of faith, love, family, friendship, and service.
Bobby Gene Lancaster: July 22, 1936-Aug. 11, 2026
Bob was known for his loyalty, honesty, and great work ethic; he was a man truly admired by all who knew him. His honesty sometimes led him into trouble, but Bob was a “what you see is what you get” type of guy!
John Allen Prentice: Jan. 11, 1947-Aug. 16, 2026
After college, John joined the Texas Parks and Wildlife Fisheries Division where he worked as a research biologist improving Texas lakes, rivers, and streams for over 35 years.
Sandra “Sandy” Carlile: Dec. 25, 1954-Aug. 5, 2026
Her warmth, quick wit, and desire to serve resonated louder than the crash of pins and machinery at the Lanes and continues to impact the lives she touched in her time there.
Community voices
Wayne Uecker: So, God made a small-town Texas business owner
In this Paul Harvey-inspired piece, Kerrville resident Wayne Uecker praises the small business owners of Kerr County.
Editorial: A year later, the hardest comment to hear
So when “nobody told us” gets said out loud, a year on, it lands as a heavy sigh for everyone who has spent that year telling. The nonprofits that stood up relief funds within the week. The case managers. The volunteers.
Commentary: How a trip to Ingram helped bond, unite the San Antonio Spurs to greatness
That trip was initiated by Spurs ownership and management, but it was executed by head coach Mitch Johnson, who made trips to Kerr County in the days immediately after the flood. Johnson saw the devastation firsthand through his volunteer efforts; he connected with the community, especially Ingram Tom Moore football coach and athletic director Tate DeMasco.
They came for Brenda Hughes. Here’s what they used — and what the truth is.
This has been an extraordinary campaign. Not because of anything Hughes has done, but because of what has been done to her.
The Mission of The Kerr County Lead
Covering community news in the heart of the Hill Country.
Founded in 2021, The Kerr County Lead aims to provide high-quality journalism for Kerrville, Texas and the surrounding communities of the splendid Texas Hill Country. In the coming years, Texas faces exponential growth and the challenges of managing land, resources and water. At the same time, the Hill Country offers a robust quality of life and culture. With this mission, The Lead focuses its work on the stories that matter most to the readers in Kerr County.
