Ahead of Friday’s first GOP runoff debate for U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst – who led opponent Ted Cruz by ten points in the primary election – spoke with KXAN. He discussed the Senate race, criticism from Cruz’s campaign, the state’s growing population of Hispanic voters and his record in Texas politics.

Watch Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the full interview.

The KERA debate at 8 p.m. will be the first of two planned before the July 31 runoff. It will be streamed online at texasdebates.org.

We are very excited about today’s major fan and fund raising drive for Family Eldercare.  The annual Fan Fare Friday event will take place today at Threadgill’s World Headquarters on Riverside at Barton Springs Road.

We hope to collect thousands of fans and cash donations so that Family Eldercare may provide fans,  and some air conditioners to those in our community who might not be able to survive the summer without one.

This year’s event is going to be the best ever, with an incredible lineup of musical guests for you to enjoy free of charge all day, then a special evening concert, for which you may buy tickets.

Click here to learn more about our fan drive, or to make a donation online.

Here is more information on Friday’s event.

Fan Fare Friday

   Come out to Threadgill’s World Headquarters on June 22 between 6am and midnight to celebrate the Summer Fan Drive and enjoy live music at Family Eldercare’s Fan Fare Friday. Join 93.3 KGSR and KXAN News for this annual event to raise fans and funds for Family Eldercare’s Summer Fan Drive. The drive has provided fans, window air conditioners and other critical services to Central Texans in need for 22 years. For more info on fan drop-off locations and a Team Captain Packet see the PDFs below.Great live music is an essential part of Fan Fare Friday, and 2012′s line up is no exception! Shows from 8:30-6:30 are FREE and open to the public (donations encouraged for the Fan Drive). The evening show (KGSR Lonestar State of Mind Live Broadcast) requires tickets – $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

The line up includes:

8:30 am The Soldier Thread
9:30 am NAKIA & Special guest
12:00 pm VALLEJO
3:00 pm Matt The Electrician
4:00 pm Eric Tessmer
5:00 pm Jon Blondel, Denny Freeman and Frosty
6:00 pm Saints of Valory

Evening Show
Doors open at 9:00 pm with Guns of Navarone
On-air show broadcast begins at 10:00 pm with Blackbone Child, The Bluebonnets + Special Guest TBA
Purchase tickets at Frontgate: threadgills.frontgatetickets.com

Is your company interested in sponsoring Fan Fare Friday?!  Click here for details about all 2012 Family Eldercare sponsorship opportunities.

 

 

       Special thanks to our evening concert sponsor:

Water, rest, and shade. Those were the three critical elements highlighted in a conference call  weathercasters across the nation had today with Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, and the National Weather Service.

They asked us to speak directly to our viewers who work outdoors in the summer heat, and make sure they know the five steps to staying safe during the summer:

1. Drink water every 15 minutes, whether you’re thirsty or not

2. Take frequent rest breaks, in the shade

3. Wear a hat, and dress in light weight, light colored clothing

4. Know the signs of heat illness, and emergency treatment

5. Keep an eye on fellow workers

They also asked us to remind employers that they have a responsibility to provide regular breaks, continuous access to water, and training for their workers about heat illnesses.

Here is more information from OSHA:

Welcome to OSHA’s Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness in Outdoor Workers

HEAT ILLNESS CAN BE DEADLY. Every year, thousands of workers become sick from exposure to heat, and some even die. These illnesses and deaths are preventable.

• Who is affected?
• What is heat illness?
• How can heat illness be prevented?

This webpage is part of OSHA’s nationwide outreach campaign to raise awareness among workers and employers about the hazards of working outdoors in hot weather. The educational resources on this website give workers and employers information about heat illnesses and how to prevent them. There are also training tools for employers to use and posters to display at their worksites. Many of the new resources target vulnerable workers with limited English proficiency. OSHA will continue to add information and tools to this page throughout the summer.

OSHA is also partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on weather service alerts. NOAA’s Heat Watch page now includes worker safety precautions when extreme heat alerts are issued.

We invite you to join in this effort by helping to reach workers and employers in your community with the resources you will find on this site.

Who is affected? Workers exposed to hot and humid conditions are at risk of heat illness, especially those doing heavy work tasks or using bulky protective clothing and equipment. Some workers might be at greater risk than others if they have not built up a tolerance to hot conditions.

What is heat illness? The body normally cools itself by sweating. During hot weather, especially with high humidity, sweating isn’t enough. Body temperature can rise to dangerous levels if precautions are not taken. Heat illnesses range from heat rash and heat cramps to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat stroke can result in death and requires immediate medical attention.

How can heat illness be prevented? Remember three simple words: water, rest, shade. Drinking water often, taking breaks, and limiting time in the heat can help prevent heat illness. Employers should include these prevention steps in worksite training and plans. Gradually build up to heavy work in hot conditions. This helps you build tolerance to the heat – or become acclimated. Employers should take steps that help workers become acclimated, especially workers who are new to working outdoors in the heat or have been away from work for a week or more. Gradually increase workloads and allow more frequent breaks during the first week of work. Also, it’s important to know and look out for the symptoms of heat illness in yourself and others during hot weather. Plan for an emergency and know what to do — acting quickly can save lives!

NEW HEAT SAFETY APP

HEAT SAFETY TOOL [en Español]
By U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

When you’re working in the heat, safety comes first. With the OSHA Heat Safety Tool, you have vital safety information available whenever and wherever you need it — right on your mobile phone.

The App allows workers and supervisors to calculate the heat index for their worksite, and, based on the heat index, displays a risk level to outdoor workers. Then, with a simple “click,” you can get reminders about the protective measures that should be taken at that risk level to protect workers from heat-related illness—reminders about drinking enough fluids, scheduling rest breaks, planning for and knowing what to do in an emergency, adjusting work operations, gradually building up the workload for new workers, training on heat illness signs and symptoms, and monitoring each other for signs and symptoms of heat-related illness.

Stay informed and safe in the heat, check your risk level.

For more information about safety while working in the heat, see OSHA’s heat illness webpage, including new online guidance about using the heat index to protect workers.

---

The source code for this app is available for download:

• Android: English [9 MB ZIP^*] | Spanish [6 MB ZIP^*]
• iPhone: All-in-One [1 MB ZIP^*]

---

Accessibility Assistance: Contact the OSHA Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management at (202) 693-2300 for assistance with accessing the application or ZIP materials.

^*These files are provided for downloading.

Headed to the coast? Take care. Not only should you think about the sunscreen and staying hydrated, but do you know what to do if you’re caught in a rip current?

It might be good information to have on hand.

There’s a high risk of rip currents near Corpus Christi Tuesday. Here’s more information and tips on how to get out of a rip current from the National Weather Service.

COASTAL HAZARD MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
254 AM CDT TUE JUN 19 2012

...HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS TODAY...

.MODERATE ONSHORE WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH 8 TO 9 SECOND SWELLS
TODAY AND A NEW MOOON TO RESULT IN A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS.

TXZ242>247-192300-
/O.NEW.KCRP.RP.S.0005.120619T1200Z-120619T2300Z/
KLEBERG-NUECES-SAN PATRICIO-ARANSAS-REFUGIO-CALHOUN-
254 AM CDT TUE JUN 19 2012

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM CDT THIS MORNING
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A HIGH
RIP CURRENT RISK...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM CDT THIS MORNING
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.

* TIMING...THROUGH 6 PM TONIGHT...WITH THE GREATEST CONCERN
  BETWEEN 9 AM AND 4 PM.

* IMPACTS...DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG
  BARRIER ISLAND BEACHES OF THE MID TEXAS COAST. THE RIP
  CURRENTS WILL BE MOST FREQUENT AND STRONGER NEAR THE VICINITY
  OF STRUCTURES SUCH AS JETTIES AND PIERS. BOTH THE STRENGTH AND
  FREQUENCY OF THESE RIP CURRENTS WILL RESULT IN SURF THAT IS
  DANGEROUS FOR ALL LEVELS OF SWIMMERS. RIP CURRENTS ARE LIFE-
  THREATENING TO ANYONE ENTERING THE SURF.

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Hard to believe, but summer hasn’t officially started yet.  Yea, we have already hit 100, and we have hit 90 so many times it seems pointless to go back and count them  The Summer Solstice officially starts Wednesday evening at 6:09pm our time.  This is the point when the sun is the farthest north point in the sky.  If you are sick of the really long days, well there is some good news.  The days will start to get shorter in the weeks following the start of the Summer Solstice.   By shorter, I am talking about the amount of sunlight, we will still have 24 hours in each day, just the sunrises will be later and the sunsets will be earlier.  If you are ready for some temperature relief, well the start of summer normally means hotter weather is to come.  Typically temps will continue to increase, and will stay hot into the first few weeks of September, and then temps start to relax.  This might seem odd since the Earth’s tilting causes the sun to start moving southward on Thursday, but you have to consider the physics at work.  The Earth’s atmosphere, ground, and waters all have properties to retain heat and energy.  The rates at which each absorbs and releases energy are different.  So during the summer the Sun is still quite strong, and the ground and water are quite warm.  They continue to absorb the Sun’s energy, and are also releasing collected energy.  The net effect for a couple of months is even warmer temperatures.  By the middle of September the Sun is almost directly overhead of the Equator, and far enough away that the absorption of energy is a lot less.  Think about the hottest time of the day this time of year, about 3pm-5pm?  Well, the sun gives off its strongest energy between 12p-2pm, but is still quite strong through the later part of the afternoon.  The sun is still giving us strong energy, and the ground is also giving off energy, working together to make max temps.  Typically the coolest time of the day this time of the year is around sunrise, when we have had the maximum amount of time without collecting the Sun’s energy.

Our Earth takes a roughly 365.24 day trip around the Sun on its orbit.  What a lot of people probably don’t realize, is that when we have our summer here in Texas, the Earth is actually at its farthest point away from the sun.  That’s right, the first day of summer for us, the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun, and the first day of Winter, we are the closest.  On Wednesday we will be approximately 94.5 million miles from the Sun.  On the first day of Winter we will be approximately 91.4 million miles, or about 3.1 million miles closer to the Sun.  The Earth follows an oval shaped orbit, so the Southern Hemisphere starts its Summer when the Earth is closest to the sun.   It is the tilt of the Earth on that orbit that produces the seasons.  If you were assuming that the Southern Hemisphere has a always has a warmer Summer because it is closer to the Sun…. not so much.  Because North has more land and the South has more water, and the rates that land and water heat and cool are far different, the temperatures in each are different as well.  Its not to say that you can’t have scorching heat, or air so cold it burns in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere.

First off, I am not getting too excited yet, but several forecast models are developing an area of low pressure in the Bay of Campeche or into the Gulf of Mexico late next work week and into the weekend.  The reason I say I am not getting to excited yet, it a LOT of things can change between now and then.  Also, the models are differing on how strong this system will get, and the exact track.  The track is quite an important feature if the low does form, because it can mean the difference in getting well needed rainfall, or getting bone dry, hot air.  As of now I think if the low does form, that we will be on the dry side of this system on Friday with more of a northerly flow.  With drier air in place this time of the year, we might get lucky and get a comfortable start to the day, but in the afternoon we are going to see hot temperatures.  While a weak tropical storm might not seem like a bad thing, especially given how are away we are from the coast, we have to be careful what we wish for.  Remember  just a few years back when Tropical Storm Hermine came through the area.  It did produce some tropical storm forced winds, but the rainfall was too much, too quickly.  Camp Mabry picked up more than 7.5″ of rain in a two day period, with most of the metro picking up between 6-12″ of rainfall.  Some isolated areas picked up more than 15″ of rainfall from the event in Williamson County.   Tropical storms can produce amazing rainfall amounts when they move inland, especially when they stall out, or make sharp turns.  Another case to look at was back in 1979 when Tropical Storm Claudette came ashore near Houston, went inland, stalled, weakened, and then moved on.  It dumped between 30-43″ of rainfall in a 24 hour period!!  That’s right, 24 hour rainfall totals were recorded in a 2.5-3.5 FOOT range between Freeport and Alvin, Texas.  There were reports of almost 4 foot totals near Alvin by the time the storm moved on.

So I am in no way wishing away rainfall to our area, we just need good moderate amounts of rainfall, vs a deluge.  We will be closely monitoring this *possible* system late into next week.  If it does follow some of the models and goes into Mexico, then it will just be muggy and warm late next weekend.  If it follows a more northerly track, well then we could get some rainfall for the first full week of summer.

Below is the GFS forecast model graphic for 7am next Saturday morning.    You can see the low about 200 miles southeast of Brownsville, with all the moisture in the Gulf, and the dry air over Texas.   Hopefully this low comes inland, and the only damage is does, is to the current drought here in the state.

Central Texas’ drought status has worsened the past two weeks. We’ve seen little rain so far this month. In fact, only 0.04″ of rain has fallen in Austin at Camp Mabry. The Hill Country and areas east of Austin have been luckier. La Grange saw just under two inches of rain earlier this week.

Here’s the latest drought statement from the National Weather Service.

DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1236 PM CDT THU JUN 14 2012

...SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...THE HILL COUNTRY AND RIO GRANDE
PLAINS REMAIN IN ABNORMALLY DRY TO SEVERE DROUGHT STATUS...

SYNOPSIS...
JUNE HAS BEEN DRY ACROSS THE REGION. WE ARE NOW MOVING INTO THE
DRIER TIME OF THE YEAR AND THE LONGER RANGE OUTLOOKS ARE NOT
SHOWING ANY STRONG TRENDS TOWARDS NORMAL...BELOW NORMAL...OR ABOVE
NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS. WITH THE DRIER THAN
NORMAL CONDITIONS SHORT TERM IMPACTS LIKE WATER RESTRICTIONS HAVE
RETURNED TO MANY LOCATIONS. ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE
TO PROVIDE IMPROVEMENTS IN LAKE AND RESERVOIR LEVELS...THUS
REDUCING THE LONG TERM DROUGHT IMPACTS AND CONTINUING TO MINIMIZE
ANY SHORT TERM IMPACTS.

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER (CPC) IS CALLING FOR AN ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION) NEUTRAL PATTERN FROM NOW INTO LATE SUMMER. A WEAK EL NINO IS FORECAST TO BEGIN TO DEVELOP BY LATE
SUMMER AND INTO THE FALL. WITH AN ENSO NEUTRAL PATTERN EXPECTED WE
SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE A MORE TYPICAL RAINFALL PATTERN.



THE US DROUGHT MONITOR (USDM) VALID JUNE 12TH AND ISSUED ON JUNE
14TH SHOWED THE MAJORITY OF THE AREA IS CURRENTLY IN ABNORMALLY DRY
(D0) TO MODERATE (D1) DROUGHT STATUS. THERE IS A PORTION OF THE
WESTERN HILL COUNTRY...NORTHERN RIO GRANDE PLAINS AND PORTIONS OF
THE COASTAL PLAINS WITH SEVERE DROUGHT (D2) CONDITIONS. AS DRIER
CONDITIONS DEVELOP OVER THE SUMMER...DROUGHT CONDITIONS WILL
LIKELY GET WORSE.

CURRENTLY 68 PERCENT OF THE STATE IS IN MODERATE DROUGHT (D1) TO
EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT (D4). LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF THE STATE
REMAINS IN EXCEPTIONAL (D4) DROUGHT STATUS.

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Mike Krusee, former Texas House member, in 1993

This week, the watchdog group Texans for Public Justice lodged an ethics complaint against former state lawmaker Mike Krusee for allegedly spending leftover campaign funds on himself. But Krusee, who once represented Williamson County, is no stranger to the Texas Ethics Commission.

In April 2008, the commission met to determine whether Krusee had violated the Election Code, allegations stemming from his finance reports in 2005 and 2006:

“The complaint alleges that the respondent improperly reported political expenditures as reimbursements… The complaint also alleges that the respondent failed to properly report, and improperly reimbursed, political expenditures made from personal funds.”

In its report, the commission found evidence of those violations and imposed a $2,300 fine for Krusee.

The latest TPJ complaint will now being filtering its way through what will likely be a multi-month process with the commission. A TEC spokesman said the matter is confidential, until a report is released.