🗞️ Our film school just landed in the nation's top 10 again

🗞️ The rain helped, but Forsyth is still in extreme drought

🗞️ Drones that fly a defibrillator to you are coming to Forsyth

🗞️ How to save a life: hands-only CPR in 60 seconds

🌤️ Drier and pleasant | High: 82°F | Low: 64°F

Finally, a proper break. The stalled front is moving out, leaving us with a mix of sun and a few clouds, lighter humidity and a comfortable high in the low 80s. Winds stay light. After the week we just had, this is the kind of Sunday to get outside and enjoy.

Time to brag on a neighbor. The Filmmaking School at the UNC School of the Arts, right up the road in Winston-Salem, has once again been named one of the best in the country.

The Hollywood Reporter ranked UNCSA No. 8 on its annual list of the Top 25 American Film Schools, up two spots from last year. That is the fifth year in a row the school has landed in the trade publication's top 10, which is rare company. For scale, the No. 1 spot went to the University of Southern California, a school with Hollywood in its backyard and a much bigger checkbook.

UNCSA is doing it a little differently. "Securing the 8th spot in this year's ranking demonstrates the exemplary work of our faculty and students alike," said Filmmaking Dean Deborah LaVine. "UNCSA prioritizes the fundamentals of filmmaking without leaning entirely on the capabilities of new technologies." In an era of AI everything, that is a notable thing to plant your flag on.

If you are wondering whether it actually produces working filmmakers, the alumni list answers that. It includes Danny McBride, co-creator of "The Righteous Gemstones," and director David Gordon Green. Not bad for a public conservatory a few minutes from Kernersville.

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The good news from this week's soaking: the worst of the drought is easing. The important news for us: not here, not yet.

After parts of the Triad picked up close to six inches of rain, Guilford County improved from D4 Exceptional Drought, the highest category on the U.S. Drought Monitor's scale, down to D3 Extreme. Greensboro had been stuck at that top level for 42 days. Reservoirs are responding too, with Lake Brandt and Lake Townsend each up about three inches.

But here is the part that matters for Kernersville. Forsyth County is still listed at extreme drought, and we remain under voluntary water restrictions. One very wet week does not undo a monthslong dry spell, and roughly a quarter of Guilford County, north of Greensboro, is still in the highest category too.

So the takeaway is simple. Enjoy the fuller creeks and the greener grass, but keep being smart with the hose. We are better off than we were a week ago, not out of it.

See the drought map

This one sounds like science fiction, but it is about to be very real here.

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office and Duke University are adding two AED drone launch sites, in Walkertown and Pfafftown. Here is how it works: when someone goes into cardiac arrest, a trained pilot flies a drone carrying an AED, an automated external defibrillator, straight to the scene. A bystander grabs it and starts helping while staying on the phone with a dispatcher until EMS arrives. In those first few minutes, when every second counts, that can be the difference between life and death, especially in rural parts of the county where an ambulance is farther away.

The Sheriff's Office is holding two public information sessions where you can see how it works and meet the people behind it, including Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr., the drone team, and Duke cardiologist Dr. Monique Starks. The first is Tuesday, July 28, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Walkertown Branch Library, 2969 Main Street. The second is Tuesday, August 18, at the Reynolda Manor Branch Library in Winston-Salem.

Best part: they will teach free CPR before and after each session, starting at 5 p.m. Which brings us to our next item.

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Those AED drones only work if a person on the scene starts helping. The good news is that the most important thing you can do takes about a minute to learn, and you do not need a certification or a class to do it in an emergency.

It is called hands-only CPR, and it is meant for a teen or adult who suddenly collapses and is not breathing normally. Two steps. First, call 911, or have someone else call and put it on speaker. Second, push hard and fast in the center of the chest, about two inches deep, at a rate of 100 to 120 pushes a minute. If you need a beat to follow, the old song "Stayin' Alive" is almost exactly right. Do not stop to check, and do not worry about rescue breaths. Just keep pushing until help arrives or the person wakes up.

If there is an AED nearby, use it. Turn it on and it will literally talk you through the rest, and it will not deliver a shock unless the person actually needs one. You cannot make things worse, and you might make all the difference. Bystander CPR can double or even triple someone's chance of survival.

The American Heart Association and Red Cross both offer a free two-minute refresher online, and remember, the Sheriff's sessions on July 28 and August 18 include hands-on CPR practice for free. It is a good hour to spend.

Watch the 90-second demo