Religion and the river are constant Kerr County touchstones. As residents lean on their faith, they grapple with their relationship to the water. view article

KERRVILLE — A crowd gathered at Antler Stadium on Wednesday night, but they were not there to see the Tivy Antler football team run drills or host rival teams.  Instead, the parents, teachers, students and others who filled the bleachers solemnly looked ahead at the Kerrville Independent School District’s football field. They grappled with a grief caused by a devastating flood that swept away people young and old in the early hours of July Fourth.  As hundreds trickled in for a vigil for the flood's victims that night, people hugged. Some smiled when they spotted a friend, striking up a conversation. Many cried for the Texas Hill Country, which was struck last Friday by the state’s second-deadliest flood. Among the victims lost to the deadly currents of the Guadalupe River was Reese Zunker, who had coached soccer for 12 years at Tivy High School, home to about 4,700 students. view article

KERRVILLE — A crowd gathered at Antler Stadium on Wednesday night, but they were not there to see the Tivy Antler football team run drills or host rival teams.  Instead, the parents, teachers, students and others who filled the bleachers solemnly looked ahead at the Kerrville Independent School District’s football field. They grappled with a grief caused by a devastating flood that swept away people young and old in the early hours of July Fourth.  As hundreds trickled in for a vigil for the flood's victims that night, people hugged. Some smiled when they spotted a friend, striking up a conversation. Many cried for the Texas Hill Country, which was struck last Friday by the state’s second-deadliest flood. Among the victims lost to the deadly currents of the Guadalupe River was Reese Zunker, who had coached soccer for 12 years at Tivy High School, home to about 4,700 students. view article

The organized attackers lured officers outside and then began shooting. view article

Experts suggested that more data and education are needed as Texas and the rest of the country build in known flood plains. view article

Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action. view article

These maps and charts show the scale and intensity of the Hill Country floods and highlight Camp Mystic’s proximity to high-risk flood zones.  Over the July Fourth weekend, the Texas Hill Country experienced catastrophic flooding that killed more than 100 people, left more than 160 others missing and caused widespread damage. One of the hardest hit areas was the town of Kerrville, where the nearby Guadalupe River rose rapidly early in the morning on July 4. view article

Texas Scorecard's Joseph Trimmer covered the aftermath on the ground. The videos he shot are available on ��.  Catastrophic flash floods swept across Central Texas over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. According to state officials, more than 100 people are dead and dozens more are missing. view article

Girls remain missing from the camp, which has hosted the daughters of governors and one president. view article

Raptor Technologies, the leading provider of school safety software, announced its partnership with Liberty Hill Independent School District to implement Raptor Badge Alert, the most advanced wearable panic alert system fully integrated into a school emergency management platform. The district will deploy Raptor Badge Alert across all campuses, equipping staff with a fast, reliable way to initiate emergency alerts and improving real-time communication with first responders. Raptor Badge Alert is a fully managed, end-to-end solution built for K-12 schools. It delivers scalable, compliant emergency response technology to help school districts meet safety mandates and respond quickly to critical incidents. view article

ULTIMATE THREAD DOCUMENTING FLOODING DISASTER IN TEXAS HILL COUNTRY WITH FIRST HAND VIDEO - Joseph Trimemer - Texas Scorecard I spent 2 days documenting the recovery, search and rescue efforts ON THE GROUND in the devastated areas - Joseph Trimmer - post on "X" view article

Camp Mystic says it’s grieving 27 campers and counselors. At least two dozen people were reported missing across the region Monday, though it is not clear how many people in total are still unaccounted for.  The number of people killed in devastating Central Texas floods surpassed 100 on Monday as emergency officials spent another day searching through snapped trees and wrecked homes for those who remain missing — and as clouds threatened to bring more rain and flooding to the region.  A deluge of rainfall inundated the Guadalupe River in Kerr County on Friday before dawn and unleashed a gush of fast-moving water that plucked cabins off their foundations and ravaged the area.  At least 103 people were killed across the region, including 28 children and 56 adults in Kerr County. At least seven people died in Travis County, six in Kendall County, three in Burnet County, two in Williamson County and one in Tom Green County. Portraits of those killed emerged on social media and news outlets over the weekend, including kids who texted their relatives that they loved them. view article

While Texas’ law was blocked by a federal appeals court last week, Paxton says the state is not giving up. view article

A North Texas man charged with capital murder after slipping mifepristone into his girlfriend’s food signals another attempt to rein in abortion pills.  A North Texas man charged with capital murder this month after he allegedly slipped his girlfriend abortion-inducing medication and caused a miscarriage marks the first time a murder charge has been brought in an abortion-related case in Texas.  The case tests a new method for reining in abortion pills — by threatening to prosecute individuals who provide them with the most severe criminal charge — while advancing the longstanding legal provision that defines an embryo as a person, legal experts say. The latter could raise serious implications about the legality of fertility treatments and in other legal realms such as criminal and immigration issues.   “It is shocking to people that the law can be used this way… that this is the extent and result of the more than 20 year old fetal personhood laws,” said Blake Rocap, a Texas attorney who works in abortion rights advocacy and studies pregnancy criminalization. Legal experts say the case will not change Texas laws that prevent women who receive abortions from being prosecuted. view article

Texas will not participate in a federal program that provides summer food assistance for low-income children after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed state funding for the initiative on June 22. view article

The new law requires health insurance agencies to pay for any adverse effects from a gender mutilating surgery if they provided coverage for the surgery itself.
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The company announced this week that it would discontinue use of harmful color additives in school lunches by summer 2026, expanding the ban to all of its products by 2027.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has secured an agreement with food manufacturer General Mills to remove petroleum-based artificial colors from its products.  On Wednesday, General Mills announced plans to remove the artificial dyes from its U.S. cereals and foods served in K-12 schools by summer 2026. It also plans to eliminate the dyes from all U.S. retail products by the end of 2027. view article

Canyon ISD has issued a statement after a student was hit by a car Monday. The statement says, “Monday morning a West Plains High School student was leaving campus on foot and was struck by a vehicle while crossing Loop 335 in the crosswalk.” The statement continues to thank first responders and says, “We are keeping the student and family in our thoughts and prayers as they focus on recovery. Canyon ISD continues to work with TxDOT to improve traffic and pedestrian safety in the area.” view article

SAN JUAN, Texas – From Monday, July 25, to Saturday, July 30, the Texas Health and Human Services will carry out Operation Border Health/Preparedness (OBHP). OBHP is a program that sets up sites around the Rio Grande Valley, offering residents free health services. Services include general physician services, immunizations, screenings, sport physicals, dental services, vision services, and more. Although assisting the public in maintaining their health is a goal of OBHP, the underlying purpose is to assist the community in preparing for disasters. State Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said Operation Border Health Preparedness allows state, local, and nonprofit entities to practice setting up and operating health clinics that may be needed in the case of a public health emergency, while providing free care to the community. He said services include medical exams, immunizations for children and adults, sports physicals for students, health and diabetes screenings, and dental and vision exams. “Operation Border Health Preparedness is a great example of a smart policy that not only ensures we are prepared for future public health crises, but also provides an immediate public benefit in the process,” Hinojosa said. view article

Police officials and law enforcement experts say there’s no guarantee that officers will follow their training and confront a shooter — no matter how much training they have.  In the weeks since officers in Uvalde waited more than an hour to confront a gunman who killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school, police departments across the state have asked themselves a crucial question: If they faced a similar situation, would they be able to quickly stop the gunman?  The images of parents and students pleading with officers to take action at Robb Elementary School on May 24 before a tactical team of federal agents finally breached a classroom and fatally shot the 18-year-old gunman deeply disturbed Marfa police Chief Estevan Marquez. view article

An increase in COVID-19 cases among children in El Paso is resulting in more absences at some schools. "Last week my child had a light cough so we decided not to take her to school to not expose the other children to her cough," said El Paso ISD parent Guerrero Garcia. view article

Some Brenham ISD parents are concerned about the safety of their children aboard school buses, while the district struggles to find people to drive them. Overcrowding and longer run times for some buses has parents worried and debating whether their children should be using school transportation. One parent, Cassi Harrison, has pulled her three children off after she says her daughter had to sit on the floor of her elementary school bus, which had students from two bus routes. Harrison says the safety of the children needs to be addressed. view article

Saying positive cases of COVID-19 are climbing to "very high rates" in the district, the Richardson ISD says they are once again temporarily implementing a mask requirement for everyone inside K-12 schools. In a letter to parents, the district said active cases of COVID-19 have increased from 49 on Dec. 7 to 1,089 on Jan. 6, an increase of more than 2100%. The previous pandemic-high number of positive cases in RISD was 367 on Sept. 3. view article

They say participation is strictly voluntary, but the Fort Worth Independent School District is offering a one-time $500 incentive to employees who get fully vaccinated against COVID. Administrators say the money is an ‘effort to provide safe and healthy environments for students, staff and visitors’. view article

In a video address by the Conroe ISD superintendent, Dr. Curtis Null gave an update on the latest numbers on Friday as COVID-19 cases in the district continue to climb. Dr. Curtis Null, the Conroe ISD Superintendent, said, “We need to do something as a community to help make sure that we can keep our schools open and keep our kids safe.” According to the district in the first two weeks of the school year, there have been over 1,100 reported positive cases that included 962 students and 176 staff. view article

Houston ISD students and employees who refuse to wear masks when the school year begins could face discipline and be forced to temporarily learn online under new guidelines released by the district. With exceptions and reasonable accommodations made for people with a “documented medical disability,” the district’s updated back-to-school plan, released Friday evening, says that those who refuse to comply with the mask mandate will face consequences. view article

As COVID-19 cases rise and schools begin to come back into session, the safety of students is a top priority for many school districts. According to a social media post by Jim Hogg County Judge Juan Carlos Guerra, JHC ISD is taking precautions to protect students against rising case numbers. view article

The largest school district in the San Antonio area said Wednesday they will not be enforcing a mask mandate, “for now,” despite a county-wide requirement issued Tuesday that students and teachers wear masks in public schools. A Northside Independent School District spokesperson told KSAT that the district will continue to “strongly encourage the use of facemasks by students, staff, and visitors to district facilities and events” but stopped short of requiring them. Meanwhile, they will “closely monitor the changing guidelines and directives” and alert the public of any change to the policy before the district’s start date on Aug. 23, the spokesperson said. view article

Round Rock ISD parents are divided on COVID-19 masking protocol, with some fighting to keep mask rules in place for their schools and others wanting it to be a choice. The school district's board of trustees recently considered relaxing the mask requirement, but voted to keep the rules in place through the end of the calendar year. view article

All Fort Worth ISD employees will soon be offered a COVID-19 vaccine. Superintendent Kent Scribner sent the information to employees on Thursday. The email states that all employees, including part-time and substitute workers, will be invited to sign up for the vaccine through the school district. view article

During and after a Nov. 9 meeting, Friendswood ISD board members and parents discussed the merits and challenges of structural changes to the district’s virtual learning program. Guidance from the Texas Education Agency released Nov. 5 gave the district significantly more options when it comes to virtual learners, officials said. But that guidance continues to change. view article

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Mackenzie Middle School has confirmed the first case of COVID-19 at the school. Mackenzie Middle School release a statement to parents confirming the case of COVID-19 on August 26, 2020. view article

School districts across the Brazos Valley will be heading back to school in the next few weeks but many are dealing with new protocols as the pandemic continues into the new school year. One area that many districts are dealing with is extracurricular activities. KBTX spoke to Bryan ISD’s Fine Arts Director, Patrick Corbett about how the district’s protocols are adjusting to fit the needs and safety for those who choose to participate. view article

The union for Austin Independent School District employees is asking the district and the state not to send employees back to school buildings in August. Union members say it is unsafe for employees and children to be in classes together. During an online news conference Wednesday, Education Austin President Ken Zarifis said the union is asking AISD to commit to online learning only for the first nine weeks of the semester, while monitoring Covid-19 cases in the city. He also asked that increased pay for employees like cafeteria workers and other support staff continue. view article