Morning Roundup: Blue Monday edition

Good morning, Houston. Planning a day trip to see the bluebonnets? Well, the good news is that they've started blooming — but the bad news is that the season may be relatively ho-hum thanks to dry weather in the past few months. But did we mention the good news? If it rains in the next few weeks, the flowers could come out full-force. "The rain is good," Andrea DeLong-Amaya, horticulture director at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, told the Chronicle. "A lot of the bluebonnets have germinated and they're just kind of waiting to get bigger." Before you head out, check TxDOT's wildflower map or call the wildflower hotline (no, seriously) at 800.452.9292. In the meantime, learn how the bluebonnet got to be Texas' state flower in the first place.

>> Numbers in for local caucuses: KTRK's Miya Shay has posted caucus numbers from the Harris County Democratic Party, and they're pretty impressive — especially for Barack Obama supporters. Preliminary numbers show that 114,648 Harris County Democrats caucused earlier this month, a record number; of them, 69 percent supported Obama, while 30.6 percent favored Hillary Clinton. The remaining 0.4 percent were either uncommitted (which makes us wonder: Why caucus if you're uncommitted?) or supported someone else. The numbers reflect results from 850 of the county's 874 precincts; reporting was delayed because of some irregularities in the caucus process. (You've probably already heard, but Obama also won the popular primary vote in Harris County, with 55.7 percent of the 410,908 votes cast.)

>> A Rodeo for the record books, sort of: The 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is officially over, and though total attendance fell just short of the record, officials say the event was a success. The Chronicle reports that about 1.21 million tickets were sold for this year's Rodeo, a 2.6 percent increase over 2007 but still below the 1.22 million sold in 2003. That's not bad, though, considering that the economy is going to hell in a handbasket: "If you consider where the economy is this year ... this makes this an unbelievable record year," Leroy Shafer, the Rodeo's chief operating officer, said. This year's top concert attendance was 73,460, for Hannah Montana; the grand champion painting in the school art sale brought $185,000, a record; and the grand champion steer drew $300,000, the same amount as last year's.

>> This week's weather: Looks like the cool weather that was supposed to hit yesterday will actually get here today: Expect a high of 67 this afternoon with plenty of sun, followed by a low of 51 tonight under partly cloudy skies. The rest of the week should be relatively sunny and mild, with afternoon temps slowly warming to 80 by Friday. Best chances of rain are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, in case you wondered.

>> In brief: Deputies shoot and kill sex offender while serving warrant ... Tejano star Emilio Navaira in critical condition after bus crash ... Fort Bend County's Central Unit prison may be demolished for airport expansion ... Mom and daughter accused of taking cash in exchange for school credit

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Photo: flickr user Christine (bpc)