Wow, has it been hot or what? I have never in my life looked forward to cold weather, but please someone bring on the snow. Actually, I would give anything for any type of precipitation that would actually make it to the ground in San Saba County. Let's all keep rain in our prayers and hope that the ranchers and farmers can hold on.

We all know that with the lack of rainfall comes the increased danger of fire. We are in some extremely serious fire danger here in San Saba County as well as the counties around us. It is going to fall to all of us to work together to protect our county from the threat of wildfire. Please report any burning that you see and let's all be on the lookout for smoke. It isn't going to take much to turn a small mistake into a very dangerous situation.

We had a daylight burglary on HWY 16 North between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. The front door was kicked in and items were taken from the residence. This is a heavy traffic area and we are hoping that someone spotted something unusual while driving to work. You can contact Chief Deputy Bill Price with any information on this case. We are going to see times get really tough with the drought and the economy.

We are all going to have to pull together and watch out for each other as more and more individuals will begin to look for easy cash and become braver in their illegal activities. We are asking you to really watch your roads closely and to report anything strange. Unusual traffic at odd times, vehicles that are not normally in your area and this includes work trucks that you see coming from your area. It never hurts to call in something and we can check it out, just to be safe. The more eyes we have out in the county, the better chance we have to hit back at these thieves and put them out of business.

We are also asking for your help with both new and old problems and dangers that are created by the drought. We are seeing a lot of cattle and horses out on the highways and county roads as well. We are thankful every time some of you help by putting them up for us and every time you stop to assist us when we are doing it. We will see a lot more of this as it gets hotter and the water levels continue to fall. We are asking that you call in when you see cattle out in an area and give us as much information as possible. Even if you put them up, if you would call and give the location and if you know it, the owner of the livestock to make it easier for us in the future.

We need to make sure that everyone is aware of the new dangers created in our wonderful rivers due to the drought as well. When the water drops, the rivers and tanks can become a very dangerous place to play. Never swim alone and always keep someone close by your side. Stay away from large objects that have been under water for some time, they can be extremely heavy and unstable and can easily become dangerous. The riverbed itself can become dangerous due to the mud at the bottom. Stay out of the water if you have been drinking heavily, as alcohol tends to impair one's judgement and can definitely get you in a jam in a hurry.

Snakes can and will be more aggressive and that by itself is enough for me. We also wanted to remind everyone that it is illegal to drive in a riverbed in Texas. The Game Wardens have been and will continue to enforce this along our rivers as the water levels drop.

The jail has become extremely busy as of late, with an increase in arrests and the transporting of prisoners back and forth to court. There has been a lot of misinformation out there concerning the jail and the budget that it takes to work our jail. I will be addressing the misinformation with a few articles as soon as possible, but until then, let me assure you that we are not $100,000.00 over budget. There are those out there who will not believe this so instead of feeding this nasty little rumor, please contact our County Judge, County Treasurer or any one of our County Commissioners to confirm this information. The San Saba County Sheriff/Tax Assessor is responsible for three budgets and all three of these are in line at this time. We have situations with our budgets that arise, just like very other business or hard working family does during these hard times, yet we are holding the line as best we can. We have and will continue to spend our county tax dollars as wisely as we can and will work closely with the other elected officials to ensure that we do the best job we can on managing our budgets.

We want to remind everyone to keep the young thirteen year old boy who came near drowning in your prayers. His is in Scott and White Hospital and is recovering, yet will need all our prayers to continue to get better.

Watch out for each other in this heat, be sure everyone is drinking lots of water and gatorade and report any elderly living alone or without cool air. We all have to help each other, as we always have, in these difficult times. When people ask me what makes San Saba such a wonderful place to live and raise a family, I always have one simple answer... It's the people of this community and their hearts.

Please keep the Sheriff's Office in your prayers and please contact us at 325-372-5551 or 5432 if you need to report anything. In an emergency call 911 and thanks again for all your support and assistance.