Good morning, Kerr County!

Are you ready for another hot one? That's right if Sunday wasn't hot enough for you — 102 or 103 depending on the weather service — we could see 103 or hotter today. The good news, at least for a few of us, was some rain fell Saturday and Sunday. We will begin today with a heat advisory until 8 p.m.

Here's what the National Weather Service is saying about the rest of the week (Tuesday-Saturday): "The overall pattern still is dominated by the subtropical high located over the Four Corners region to keep most areas dry. At the surface, a high-pressure system across northern Texas is forecast to push to the northeast into the Central Plains and Middle Mississippi Valley between Tuesday and Wednesday. There is a weak area/low-level inverted trough at the bottom of the high that pushes across the local area on Tuesday afternoon and could trigger isolated showers and even a thunderstorm or two across the southern Edwards Plateau and Hill Country."

We got about 20-minutes of rain at The Lead's worldwide headquarters Saturday evening, and it drew plenty of interesting responses from our Facebook audience.

https://fb.watch/ebcKNuQlwg/

Wednesday it will be a super moon dance

Wednesday will be a spectacular one for moon watchers — or dancers. It will be the biggest super moon of 2022 — the moment when the moon is closest to Earth. Here's more on the supermoon: https://www.space.com/full-buck-moon-biggest-supermoon-2022

On today's The Lead Live!

The Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau Leslie Jones will co-host and update us on the events this week. In the show's second half, Texas Hill Country Advisors Gilbert Paiz and Andrew Gay give us the latest in the world of personal finance. Coming Tuesday, we're going to cruise Nimitz Lake via The River Rat — the new paddle-driven party boat. This might be the most interesting show of the year.

The river is running — barely

After an assignment last week, we decided to spend Friday afternoon checking the flow of the Guadalupe River — it's low. From Ingram to Kerrville, the river flows at about 7 cubic feet per second. Last year, the river was flowing 10 times that amount. The drought is taking its toll.

It's also made many people question whether Kerrville and Kerr County have enough water. When we returned from our scouting mission, which took us up to Hunt, the city of Kerrville sent a press release trying to answer those questions.

The release said Kerrville constantly monitors the water available during drought conditions. In addition, we are continuously looking for additional water supplies. Over the past 30 years, Kerrville has led the way in water planning. "From an early partnership with the Upper Guadalupe River Authority to implement the first Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) system in the state to develop a 96-million gallon reuse water reservoir for irrigation purposes, the Kerrville community has benefited from long-term water resource planning and management," the city said.

Kerrville's water sources are impounded surface water; run of the river water from the Guadalupe River; a groundwater permit; An Aquifer Storage and Recovery system; a reuse water system.

While they're not saying conservation, the city of Kerrville heavily implies conservation. "Our citizens and our community's conservation efforts are by far the most important tool in our drought contingency plan." the city said.

Stories we're paying attention to today

The Kerr County Commissioner's Court meets at 9 a.m. today. The agenda feels pretty routine and short. However, this is the Kerr County Commissioner's Court, and anything is possible.
The Kerrville City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday but will hold a 4 p.m. workshop. The agenda is more of the same — short-term rentals.
Some of the best amateur male golfers in the U.S. will attempt to qualify for the 122nd U.S.G.A Amateur Championship in New Jersey by finishing in the top three in a qualifying event starting this morning at Riverhill Country Club. The top three advance to the famed Amateur Championship Aug. 15-21. More than 50 players take the course today — most are from Texas.
You may have noticed that the old Tivy/Hal Peterson Middle campus has a temporary chain-link fence, signifying imminent demolition. Our sources say the transaction to acquire the property could be finalized in the coming days.
A New York Times story featured Robb Elementary School teacher Arnulfo Reyes, who taught fourth-grade at the Uvalde school. Reyes was wounded in the shooting that left 19 children and two of his teaching colleagues dead. Reyes was the first person shot by the shooter. He lay in a pool of his own blood for more than an hour, helpless to help his students. "It was supposed to be an easy day, just before summer break," he said. Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/10/us/uvalde-injured-teacher-reyes.html
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin disputed a report from Texas State's ALERRT Center that a Uvalde police officer passed on an attempt to shoot the shooter entering Robb Elementary School.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is doing his best to stretch his authority when it comes to immigration. Abbott ordered law enforcement to bring detained immigrants to ports of entry for a return to Mexico, but the power to deport still lies with the federal government. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/07/texas-greg-abbott-state-police-border/
"It's important to start that young so kids can recognize that police officers are not someone to fear," City of Kerrville – Police Department Chief Chris McCall said. "We are here to help." Read about the police department's outreach with ice cream: https://kerrcountylead.com/on-a-scorching-day-kerrville-police-offered-a-sweet-way-to-keep-cool
"I always enjoy this day and look forward to it," said Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha, who was in line at the Center Point Volunteer Fire Department to have the barbecue lunch of brisket, sausage and beans. Trailing behind Leitha were two of his granddaughters. Read more about Center Point's big parade: https://kerrcountylead.com/in-center-point-history-connection-and-pride-are-the-focus-of-the-down-home-parade/

COVID-19 variant is starting to wreak havoc — again

While many Kerr County residents argue the COVID-19 virus is fake, overhyped or not that bad, the number is starting to tell another story as it appears another wave of the virus is coming. More than 30,000 people tested positive for the virus from Friday through Sunday. However, those numbers are probably low because of the rise of take-home tests.

And that's where the risk lies because those submitting their results to the Texas Department of State Health Services are returning 30% positive results. The trend could surpass the worst of the omicron outbreak earlier this year — 34% positivity.

If there's any good news attached, the number of people hospitalized fell below 3,000. There are 140 children hospitalized.

As we've reported previously, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2021 for Kerr County. The data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wonder database, which tracks various health and mortality-related data. It was the No. 1 cause of death among Kerr County's Hispanic population.

Heart disease and cancer remain the most significant killer of Kerr County residents — in line with state and national trends.

For the doubters, you know, the ones who say the flu is worse, influenza and pneumonia killed 14 people in 2018 and less than 10 in 2019.