Good morning, Kerr County!
The National Weather Service says we can expect a 40% chance of rain this morning and then some foggy conditions. The rest of the week looks like seasonable temperatures in the 50s, with partly cloudy conditions. Saturday's forecast for the Kerrville Lighted Christmas Parade looks like cool and clear.
On today's episode of The Lead Live!
We're chatting about families and literacy! Misty Kohte joins the show at 9 a.m. to share with us about Families and Literacy's latest efforts. Our Monday crew of Texas Hill Country Advisors Gilbert Paiz and Andrew Gay provide the latest in financial news. The Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau's Leslie Jones storms onto the show to share this week's events!
Speaking of events!
It's Kerrville Lighted Christmas Parade Week. That's right; we get a start on the "Merry Christmas" greetings early here in Kerr County! Here's a look at our Top 5 events this week:
Christmas in Kerr County
- Kerrville's Lighted Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting — Downtown Kerrville, Water and Earl Garrett Streets, 6 p.m. Saturday Information: https://www.kerrvilletx.gov The details: Officially welcome the holiday season with a lighted parade and the arrival of Santa Claus on his signature fire truck. The parade will commence at the corner of the G St. Bridge and Water St. It will travel westbound on Water St., make a right on Earl Garrett St. and end at the Kerr County Courthouse. After the parade, enjoy a Christmas program, caroling, and the lighting of the Courthouse & 45' tree ceremony.
Performing Arts
- A Christmas Carol — Hill Country Arts Foundation, Time TBD, Friday-Saturday. Information: https://www.hcaf.com/2022-theatre-season/ The details: A Christmas Carol recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.
Live Music
- Brennen Leigh and Asleep at the Wheel — Arcadia Live, 8 p.m. Friday. Information: https://www.thearcadialive.org The details: Western swing is a fine genre year after year, and you can't beat Asleep at the Wheel, and Brennen Leigh is every bit their peer.
Science and nature
- Star Party — Schreiner University, 6:30 p.m. Friday Information: kdarvidsson@schreiner.edu The details: The event is free to attend and open to the public. Participants will be able to view celestial objects in the Hill Country sky in the domed observatory containing Schreiner's 16-inch telescope. Several eight-inch telescopes will also be available for public viewing. Free parking is available adjacent to the center. The entrance gate is along East Main Street across from the Schreiner University baseball and softball fields and is marked by a flagpole. The star party will generally go till about midnight, and participants may come and go at any time. The event will be cancelled if the sky is overcast.
Fundraiser
- Monte Carlo Night — Hill Country Youth Event Center, 6 p.m. Saturday. Information: https://hillcountrycrisiscouncil.com/casinonight/ The details: A fun-filled night with all your favorite Vegas-style table games, plus slot machines. Winnings turn into raffle tickets with many high-end items to choose. Dinner and drinks are included with the ticket.
What a marvelous weekend for events
Kerr County hosted a pair of Veterans Day events on Saturday with a return of a parade starting on Cully Drive and stretching into Kerrville's Louise Hays Park. One of the highlights was seeing the marching bands of Center Point, Ingram Tom Moore and Tivy high schools all participate. The other big event was at the Kerrville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which played host to a parade and a car show. Here's a look at the day in pictures:
Kerrville Veterans Day Parade
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Grand Marshall Mac Anderson. |
Check out more than 60 photos from the parade: https://thekerrcountyleadphotography.zenfoliosite.com/zg/2022-kerr-county-veterans-day-parade
VA Medical Center Car Show
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More photos here: https://thekerrcountyleadphotography.zenfoliosite.com/zg/2022-kerrville-va-medical-center-veterans-day-car-show
Can you help a guy stuck at the pound?
Kerrville Pets Alive alerted us to this guy — Cookie. He's stuck at the Kerr County Animal Shelter after his owner surrendered him. His impound number is: 9289. |
A return to the library battle
The struggle over Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library continues this morning as the Kerr County Commissioners Court considers terminating an agreement that exchanges library services for animal control.
The court meets at 9 a.m., and it's the first item on the agenda. Based on previous meetings, there is a majority of Commissioners Jonathan Letz, Don Harris and Harley David Belew to end the deal that provides county residents free access to library services in exchange for the county providing animal control.
This isn't the first time the county court suggested ending the deal — one week before the controversy erupted over banned books, Harris said he wasn't a fan of the agreement. Harris made those comments on Sept. 12, a week later the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library displayed several books with LGBTQ+ themes as part of Banned Book Week.
The selection of books is no secret because they are frequent targets of conservative groups, with a significant genesis point in the Texas Panhandle. Many of the books are on a list of more than 800 books that Texas state Rep. Matt Krause demanded the Texas Education Agency investigate if they are in school libraries. That movement has been in play in the Kerrville Independent School District for months.
Today's meeting figures to be another squaring off of a cultural battle that dominated the Kerrville City Council, but now the commissioner's court faces questions from Kerrville residents in the wake of their overwhelming support to construct a $5 million animal shelter.
A series of social media posts, created anonymously but shared widely, suggest the court is conducting "a bait and switch" with Kerrville voters by threatening to end the interlocal agreement. A 90-day notice compounds the complexity of terminating the deal and questions whether the county can deny providing animal control services.
Letz raised those issues in a Nov. 4 press release.
"As the local rabies control authority, the county is obligated to continue to serve in that role for all county residents, including those who live in Kerrville," Letz said. "The county continues to review operations and any changes made will be the same for all residents."
And today's two sides could be the forces of animal lovers, who proved formidable in getting the bond measure passed for the shelter, and so-called patriot groups, who advocate ending the deal over the book controversy.
Just a reminder about the books in question:
- Gender Queer, by Maiz Kobabe
- Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evison
- All Boys Aren't Blue, by George M. Johnson
- Out of the Darkness, by Ashley Hope Perez
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
- George, by Alex Gino
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
- All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice, by Marianne Celano, Marrietta Collins and Ann Hazzard, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin
- To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
- A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, by Jill Twiss, illustrated EG Keller
- Sex is a Funny Word, by Cory Silverberg, illustrated by Fiona Smyth
- Prince & Knight, by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis
- I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas.
- The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
- Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
- Captain Underpants series, by Dav Pilkey
- Thirteen Reason Why, by Jay Asher
- This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
- Skippyjon Jones series, by Judy Schachner
- This Day in June, by Gayle Pitman, illustrated by Kristyna Litten
- Two Boys Kissing, by David Levithan
- The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
- Make Something Up: Stories You Can't Unread, by Chuck Palahniuk
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon
Chip Roy is making noise
With the Republicans leaning toward gaining a slim (very slim) majority in the House of Representatives, our own Rep. Chip Roy, who represents Kerr County via District 21, is making noise — at least on Twitter — that he's in contention for Speaker of the House. Roy, now more closely aligned with the hard-right Freedom Caucus, retweeted several items calling for him to assume a leadership role rather than presumed Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Last week, The Heritage Foundation led a discussion about the origins of COVID-19, and Roy was there.
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Schreiner men move to 2-0, women lose another close game
One day after struggling, Schreiner University's trio of Kamden Ross, Darian Gibson and Bronson Evans combined for 38 points and 25 rebounds to help the Mountaineers to a 78-66 win in front of more than 500 people at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene on Saturday.
The victory was the Mountaineers' second consecutive and featured the team's depth. Schreiner's bench outscored Hardin-Simmons 35-17, including a team-high 16 points for Evans, who played for 18 minutes. Schreiner overcame a 32-31 halftime deficit.
Ross, who experienced foul trouble Friday night, scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Mountaineers did all this despite some shooting struggles, including a 5-of-20 night from 3-point range. Reserve guard Beau Cervantes scored 9 points with three 3-pointers. Gibson added 12 points, and fifth-year guard Alex Dehoyos added 12.
The women's team did everything right, including hitting 11 3-pointers, but still couldn't close out Hardin-Simmons in an 81-77 loss on Saturday in Abilene.
Sophomore Demauria Miles scored 20 points, and Elisa Peralta added 15. The Mountaineers' got some strong play off the bench, including 11 points from Gabby Ivarra and 10 from Nariyah Buggs, but it still wasn't enough. The loss is Schreiner's second consecutive of the season.
