TodayKerrville

  Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who represents Kerr County, condemned protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol and offered a rebuke of President Donald Trump for inciting the violent behavior that unfolded on Wednesday.   During a speech Wednesday night after the House of Representatives, Roy said there was no defense of the attack against the U.S. Capitol, but his strongest words — on which he drew applause — were saved for Trump.   “And the president should have never spun up certain Americans into believing something that cannot be,” said Roy, who represents the 21st Congressional District and who is based in Austin. “I applaud House leadership of both parties for bringing us back to do our job, which is to count the electors and no more.” While railing against positions held by Democrats, Roy saved equal passion for his Republican colleagues, who had fomented objections against certifying the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden, who won the popular vote and Electoral College. “Now

A Kerrville couple was in the middle of Wednesday’s pro-President Trump protests at the U.S. Capitol Building, and they are the first to admit they were proud to be there.   Leigh and David Gibson flew to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to participate in rallies to support President Trump, who is still fighting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Of course, Wednesday was the day that Congress was going to certify the Electoral College but that was delayed when hundreds of people stormed the U.S. Capitol.   There has been plenty of blame placed on Trump for what happened at the Capitol, but the Gibsons see it differently.   “We are not incited by (Trump),” Leigh Gibson said. “We have done our own homework. We are not stupid. In fact, I left his speech early because he’s not telling us anything new. So, we headed out. We marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol, and that’s when my mother called me and said they’ve breached the Capitol. We just kept marching.” It was durin

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Wednesday afternoon at least one death of a Kerr County person from COVID-19, and the regional situation when it comes to hospitalizations continued to intensify as the availability of intensive care unit beds dwindled.  The DSHS said that a person from Kerr County died on New Year's Eve, but it also noted a death on Dec. 30. It's not clear if that's the fourth death on Dec. 30 or confirming a death reported by Peterson Regional Medical Center. At least 32 people have died in Kerr County in the month of December and the final death toll may be much higher. An estimated 73 people have now died from COVID-19 in Kerr County since May 31. At Peterson Regional Medical Center there were 32 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and across the San Antonio region, which includes Kerr County, there were just 52 intensive care unit beds available in a region that has 2.9 million people. Across the state, there were more than 13,600 pe

As Kerr County awaits the arrival of vaccines to curb the coronavirus pandemic, the virus continues to surge in the county and Texas. On Wednesday, Peterson Health reported 43 new cases but more concerning is that over the last two days 32% of those seeking coronavirus screening are testing positive for COVID-19.  Peterson Regional Medical Center said it has a record 32 people hospitalized with COVID-19 — 36% of the hospital's capacity. Reporting from the Texas Health and Human Services noted that more patients at the Kerrville State Hospital were infected, and delayed data about nursing homes and assisted living centers showed a bit of stability when it comes to the virus.  Here was the breakdown:  At River Hills Rehabilitation and Health, as of Dec. 23, had 26 residents with the virus and nine employees. The Bandera Highway facility had 75 people — both staff and residents — infected with the virus. There were two deaths.  At the Kerrville State Hospital, as of Tuesday, 24 patien

Reports from the Texas Department of State Health Services and Health and Human Services showed that Kerr County had four additional COVID-19 deaths in December, including two more at Villagio of Kerrville — an assisted living center that has been hit hard by the virus.  All of this comes as Peterson Health reported 51 new cases on Tuesday— one of the biggest one-day totals since the pandemic began — and nearly 30,000 people tested positive for the virus across the state. Peterson Regional Medical Center had 29 people admitted to the hospital on Tuesday.  The deaths at Villagio bring the assisted living home's toll to five, but that report is only through Dec. 22. At that point, 17 residents had tested positive for the virus. The same report showed that 52 people had tested positive at Kerrville's River Hills Nursing and Health, where two people died. More than 250 people have tested positive for the virus among the staff and patients at nursing homes.  An estimated 31 people d

Peterson Health reported that 100 people had tested positive for the coronavirus over the extended New Year's holiday weekend, and at least one person had lost their life due to the virus.  The Kerr County death toll is now estimated to have reached 67 people since May — more than one-third of those deaths happened in December. This latest death is the 14th at Peterson since Sept. 29. The lengthy delays in reporting from Texas Health and Human Services do not give a clear real-time picture of what is happening at Kerrville's nursing and assisted living centers, which have been hit hard by the virus.  The last update by Health and Human Services showed significant outbreaks at Villagio of Kerrville — an assisted living center — and the River Hills Nursing and Health.  More concerning, however, is that Peterson Health reported a 35% infection rate of those who were screened for COVID-19 — the highest sample of positivity during the recent surge of the virus in Kerr County. In the

The Texas Department of State Health Services said there were two additional Kerr County to die from coronavirus this week in its update on Friday.  The two deaths happened on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30. The second death could be a duplicate count from Peterson Health, which reported one death on that day, but officials were unavailable to clarify the accounting. Over the last few months, Kerr County residents who have died in San Antonio-area hospitals have been counted long before those from Peterson Health.  With the two deaths, the estimated number of people from Kerr County who have died from COVID-19 is 66 in 2020, including 26 in December.  The hospitalization situation continued to worsen across the state and in the DSHS San Antonio region, which includes Kerrville, 85% of hospital beds were filled. More than 24% of those patients were infected with COVID-19. Across Texas, more than 12,400 people were hospitalized with the virus.  Texas officials said there were just 580 intensive car