By Jason Clay Jansky

Water quality in each of the county’s four cities currently meets federal standards set by the Food and Drug Administration, according to local city leaders.

Water quality reports published near the end of June this year showed Runge, Falls City, and Karnes City met all FDA standards, and Kenedy met all standards save for their arsenic levels.

Kenedy’s water and wastewater systems are currently managed by Veolia Water.

"We didn’t have the arsenic absorber online," Veolia Water Project Manager Ray "Rebel" Borroum said. "Basically we were trying to get approval to get away from using sulfuric acid to (treat the water.) On the arsenic removal, we’re within the standard now. I think the rest of (the work) is just trying to get everything tweaked."

Borroum said the water in town has been tested twice since the city’s new arsenic treatment system went online, and both times the arsenic levels were below the maximum amount allowed by the FDA. On May 14, the first sample from the new system showed an arsenic level of 6 parts per billion (ppb) which is below the 10 ppb threshold.

Karnes City council members tried to patch things up with county economic development leaders during a special budget meeting August 7.

For the past several years Karnes City has contributed $12,000 annually to the Karnes County Economic Development Corporation.

Last year’s contribution amounted to less than one half of one percent of the city’s $2.46 million in total projected expenditures for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

It’s almost time for Karnes City to finalize their budget for the coming fiscal year and the decision whether or not to keep making a financial contribution to county economic development efforts is one council members will have to make.

Dr. Rayford Mitchell has been busy setting up and beginning his medical practice for the people of Karnes County in his office adjacent to Otto Kaiser Memorial Hospital.

Mitchell is being phased in to assume the local practice of Dr. Gerardo de Sequera who will be moving to San Antonio.

Mitchell is a family practitioner having come to our area from his three-year residency at Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi. He grew up in Wharton County, attended El Campo High School, and graduated from Prairie View A&M as well as Southwestern University in Dallas.

By Cathy Passmore

Residents voiced complaints about the condition of their roads during the Commissioners Court meeting on July 31.

The recent rainy season has played havoc with county roads, particularly County Road 224.

County officials were presented with a report on the conditions by residents who have homes along the road. After hearing the report about the dangers and the possible inability of important traffic to get through, County Commissioner Darrel Blaschke assured residents that the county would give its best effort to repair and resurface the road "as soon as I can."

Later discussion revealed that it would take time and money to get all of the county repairs done since the continual rain has affected many of the outlying areas.

Runge has become rock music headquarters for Karnes County after local band Sev7sky — pronounced "Seven Sky" — has climbed their way into the top 50 spots in an online band battle hosted by Austin City Limits.

Lead vocalist and 27-year-old Runge resident Sylvester Olveda puts a face and a voice — both in music and in publicity — to the band. The Austin City Limits band battle is judged entirely using an online voting system.

"It has been a little rough in a small town area but we try our hardest to get noticed. So far it has been going really well and we can’t wait to break out into the bigger cities," Olveda writes on their mini-Web-page at the Austin City Limits contest site.

On the lead guitar is Kenedy resident Matthew Zambrano, playing rhythm guitar is Runge resident Greg Delagarza, on bass guitar is Karnes City resident Michael Pergrem, and Runge resident Zeke Casarez plays the drums.

The five of them all got together thanks to a local open-mic night two years ago.