Morning Roundup: A sting operation edition

Good morning, Houston. We think it's even too hot for the beach lately, but that didn't stop lots of people from heading to Galveston last weekend. But the heat wasn't the only thing those folks had to watch out for - fourteen of them were stung by stingrays. These injuries were all due to beachgoers stepping on stingrays and causing them to lash out. According to Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis, such incidents can be avoided by by shuffling through the water when blue flags are present on the beach warning of dangerous marine life. We'd rather not take our chances.

>> If you can't stand the heat: Of course the extreme heat is unpleasant, but it's also causing a number of serious problems around the city. Isaias Garza Lopez, a 55-year-old construction worker, collapsed on Wednesday while on the job, and it is now confirmed that his subsequent death was due to the heat. His death is a reminder to all of us to take the necessary precautions if we must be outside for long periods of time. There is also concern that our air-conditioning addiction is pushing Texas' power supply to its limit. We came near using the entire 71,000 megawatts that are available when all the state's power plants are running on Monday, which makes some people a little nervous. Major energy consumers are asked to voluntarily cut back to make sure the heat's the only thing making us sweat.

>> Local soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan: Two Houstonians were killed last weekend serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army Pfc. William L. Edwards was deployed to Iraq in May 2007 and was killed in an attack on Saturday when a sniper shot at him from a booby-trapped house. Five soldiers died in the incident after stepping on a pressure-triggered bomb. In Afghanistan, Pvt. Alan J. Austin died of injuries that were not combat-related on Sunday. Austin suffered the injuries after his Humvee crashed into a forward operating base. These two deaths bring the number of Houston casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan to 87.

>> Today's weather: Today won't be quite as hot as yesterday, but that's not really saying much. This morning should be sunny, but clouds will be moving in this afternoon and maybe even bringing a little rain with them. Dare we dream.

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