Austin news

• 2 boaters injured in hit-and-run crash on Lake LBJ

  24-03-2017 23:32 via kxan.com
  
  BURNET COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Two people were injured in a hit-and-run boating crash on Lake LBJ late Wednesday night.
  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says they received a call just before midnight stating there was a possible hit-and-run. When Game Wardens arrived at the scene, they found a boat that crashed into a retaining wall near the Legends Golf Course in Kingsland.
  Two people onboard, a man and a woman both from Kingsland, were taken to the hospital. Authorities are still w
  
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• Hutto man arrested, charged in deadly racing crash

  24-03-2017 23:30 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Three months after the street racing crash that killed a woman and critically injured her husband in Williamson County, the man suspected of causing her death has been arrested.
  Hernan Abel Martinez, 23, was booked into the Williamson County Jail Thursday on multiple charges related to the crash, including racing on highway causing death and racing on a highway causing serious bodily injury. If convicted, the felony comes with a punishment of two to 20 years in p
  
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• Proposal for urban gondola system in Austin will not move forward

  24-03-2017 23:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The plan to build a gondola cable car system in Austin, in what would have been the largest system of its type in the world, is not moving forward.
  In a list of shared conclusions released by Capital Metro, the transit agency says gondolas are best suited to “niche” applications and not as a primary way of moving people as part of a regional transportation network. The door is being left open in the event another interested party wants to study the concept.
  Last
  
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• Police increase presence at Pflugerville High after man screamed at student

  24-03-2017 22:53 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — A man apparently tried to flirt with a Pflugerville High School student waiting to be picked up at around 7:10 p.m. Wednesday and screamed at the girl when she walked away.
  In a letter to parents Thursday, the school district said the man pulled up to the girl next to the Pizza Hut at 100 12th St. — adjacent campus — and said she was “cute,” but that he was too old for her. When she walked away without saying anything, the dist
  
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• Drivers killed, track team injured in northeast Texas school bus crash

  24-03-2017 22:03 via kxan.com
  
  MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas (KXAN) — Two drivers are dead and a dozen students injured after a three-vehicle crash in northeast Texas.
  The Mount Pleasant High School track team was on their way back from a meet Thursday night when an 18-wheeler veered into oncoming traffic, according to KXAN sister station KETK. 
  The semi then slammed into the school bus carrying students and staff and a passenger vehicle on Highway 271, just south of the town of Talco, about about 60 miles west of Texarkan
  
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• One-time procedure eliminating sweat and odor for patients

  24-03-2017 21:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As a family nurse practitioner, sweat and odor have been hurting Viki Swynenberg’s quality of life for years.
  “I’m a healthcare provider. I cannot be stopping in the middle of a busy day and say, ‘Excuse me, let me freshen up my armpits,'” says Swynenberg.
  In 1997, she started having painful allergic reactions to her deodorant and can no longer wear it. While she uses natural products, they don’t work as well, forcing her to use hygiene w
  
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• VIDEO: High school student performs Heimlich maneuver saves friend from choking

  24-03-2017 19:42 via kxan.com
  
  LA CROSSE, WI (WCMH) — Ian Brown said his training in the local police explorers program helped him save his friends life.
  Brown, Will Olson and some other friends were having lunch one day when someone cracked a joke.
  “I took a deep breathe in, as I was laughing and that’s when I started to choke,” Olson tells WKBT.
  Brown said he started Olson began to change colors and he knew something wasn’t right.
  “A couple of the other kids just didn’t do anyt
  
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• USA Wrestling allows transgender high schoolers to compete with gender they identify as

  24-03-2017 19:33 via kxan.com
  
  HURST, TX (WCMH) — USA Wrestling has adopted a new policy detailing new rules for transgender high school wrestlers.
  The clarification comes a month after Mack Beggs, who is transitioning from female to male, controversially won a girls state wrestling title. Beggs, 17, had wanted to compete in the boys division. State University Scholastic League (UIL) rules mandated he wrestle as a female, since that’s the gender listed on his birth certificate.
  Some parents exp
  
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• Survey: 15 percent of women on UT campus report being raped

  24-03-2017 18:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A survey of University of Texas undergraduates reports that 15 percent of women reported being raped on the flagship Austin campus.
  University spokesman J.B. Bird revealed the figure Thursday, during a state Senate committee hearing. He said survey respondents said those reported rapes often came by force, threat of force, coercion or while the victim was impaired or otherwise incapacitated.
  UT President Greg Fenves tweeted of the report’s findings, “It&rsq
  
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• Hutto police chief resigns after 2 years on the job

  24-03-2017 18:16 via kxan.com
  
  HUTTO, Texas (KXAN) — After two years as the top cop in the city of Hutto, Chief of Police Earl Morrison is resigning from his position.
  The city says Morrison’s resignation is effective immediately and an acting chief has been appointed until the new police chief, Byron Frankland, can start. In a press release from the city, Morrison left the job to “pursue other opportunities.”
  During his time with the Hutto Police Department, Morrison had to deal with the death of one
  
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• SH 130 could grow from 4 to 6 lanes

  24-03-2017 18:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It was just five years ago that the main lanes of the fastest toll road in Texas opened to drivers.
  When it opened, it felt like no one was using the freeway (except maybe for some feral hogs), but that has since changed. The Texas Department of Transportation is asking the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization for money to add an extra lane in each direction—bringing the total to three lanes in each direction—along SH 130 starting at SH
  
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• Man who exposed self to 12 year old sought by Bastrop police

  24-03-2017 17:59 via kxan.com
  
  BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) — Authorities in Bastrop are searching for a man, they say, exposed himself to a 12-year-old girl Thursday.
  Bastrop police said at an unknown time, a white man between 20 and 30 years old wearing a green shirt and jeans was hiding behind a bush at the entrance to 122 Old Austin Highway. When the girl walked by, police said the man got her attention by saying “excuse me” and then exposed himself.
  The girl told police that when she walked away the man follow
  
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• For PGA TOUR players, hotel gyms don’t cut it

  24-03-2017 17:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In years past, people viewed golfers the same way they viewed bowlers; skilled but not athletic. Then Tiger Woods came along and now, with a few exceptions, PGA TOUR players have bulging biceps and flat bellies. They look like world class athletes.
  Unlike NFL or NBA players, golfers don’t have one central training facility. PGA TOUR pros can travel 30 weeks a year or more. So, their training facility travels with them.
  Its official name is the Player Performance Cente
  
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• Texas unemployment for February up slightly to 4.9 percent

  24-03-2017 17:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas unemployment rate in February rose slightly to reach 4.9 percent.
  The Texas Workforce Commission on Friday reported that compares to a January statewide jobless rate of 4.8 percent. Nationwide unemployment last month was 4.7 percent.
  Commission officials say the Amarillo area had the lowest February jobless rate in Texas at 3.6 percent. A TWC statement says the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area recorded the state’s highest unemployment last month at 8.8 per
  
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• Million pounds of breaded chicken recalled because it may contain metal

  24-03-2017 17:06 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (WCMH) — An Oklahoma company is recalling approximately 933,272 pounds of breaded chicken products that may contain metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
  The chicken items were produced on various dates from Dec. 19, 2016-March 7, 2017. The products were shipped to retail locations and institutions nationwide.
  The products subject to recall bear establishment number “P-7092” inside the USDA mark o
  
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• The Latest: WH no longer expresses confidence in health vote

  24-03-2017 16:31 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on an effort in Congress to pass a health care bill (all times local):
  1:55 p.m.
  The White House is no longer expressing confidence that the upcoming House vote on health care will be successful.
  Instead, spokesman Sean Spicer says President Donald Trump is confident that the White House has done “every single thing possible” to corral the 216 votes needed to pass legislation to repeal the Obama-era health care law.
  House lawmakers and aides say the
  
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• The Latest: Ryan bemoans collapse of health care bill

  24-03-2017 16:31 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on an effort in Congress to pass a health care bill (all times local):
  4:30 p.m.
  Speaker Paul Ryan says the collapse of the House Republican health care bill means former President Barack Obama’s health care law will be around for the foreseeable future.
  The Wisconsin Republican addressed reporters minutes after GOP leaders abruptly shelved the legislation, averted likely defeat for the bill. But it still dealt a damaging setback to President Donald Trump
  
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• Ransomware attack on Urology Austin compromises patient info

  24-03-2017 16:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin health provider is admitting they fell victim to a ransomware attack and that patient information was breached because of it.
  Urology Austin said the attack happened on Jan. 22 and within minutes they were alerted and able to shutdown the network the data was on.
  Investigators determined that the breach impacted patient information, including names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and medical information. The company tells KXAN they d
  
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• Sweet news: Germany’s Haribo to produce gummy bears in USA

  24-03-2017 15:18 via kxan.com
  
  BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s iconic gummy bear will soon be “Made in USA.”
  Bonn-based Haribo, which invented the gummy bear nearly a century ago, said Friday it would open a U.S. factory in Wisconsin in 2020.
  Haribo, founded in 1920, has been in the U.S. since 1982 with a sales operation, and is already the top seller of gummy bears in the country, but says it wants to grow further.
  Company head Hans Guido Riegel says “Haribo of America is the fastest growing confectiona
  
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• Spacewalking astronauts prep station for new parking spot

  24-03-2017 14:54 via kxan.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts ventured out on a spacewalk Friday to prep the International Space Station for a new parking spot.
  NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and France’s Thomas Pesquet emerged early from the orbiting complex, then went their separate ways to accomplish as much as possible 250 miles up.
  “We are ready to get to work,” Mission Control informed them.
  Their main job involves disconnecting an old docking port. This port needs to be moved in order to m
  
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• LIVE: Spacewalking astronauts prep station for new parking spot

  24-03-2017 14:54 via kxan.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts ventured out on a spacewalk Friday to prep the International Space Station for a new parking spot.
  NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and France’s Thomas Pesquet emerged early from the orbiting complex, then went their separate ways to accomplish as much as possible 250 miles up.
  “We are ready to get to work,” Mission Control informed them.
  Their main job involves disconnecting an old docking port. This port needs to be moved in order to m
  
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• 2 rollover victims found dead hours after crash in Mustang Ridge

  24-03-2017 14:19 via kxan.com
  
  MUSTANG RIDGE, Texas (KXAN) — Two were killed when a pickup truck went off the road and rolled over several times on US 183.
  DPS says the driver went off the left side of the road and over-corrected at around 3:30 a.m. Friday. The vehicle was found in a ditch by a passerby at 10798 South US Highway 183 southbound around 8:19 a.m.
  Juan Salinas, 33, and Erik Salinas, 36, both from Lockhart, were found dead.
  TSCO dispatchers said the crash is near Tom Sassman in Mustang Ridge. DPS says the we
  
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• 2 dead after single vehicle crash on US 183 in Mustang Ridge

  24-03-2017 14:19 via kxan.com
  
  MUSTANG RIDGE (KXAN) — According to Travis County Sheriff’s officials, two people are dead after a single vehicle crash in south Travis County.
  According to Austin-Travis County EMS, they were called by a driver at 7:56 a.m. for a car found down an embankment at 10798 South US Highway 183 southbound. Two men were declared dead at the scene.
  TSCO dispatchers said the crash is near Tom Sassman in Mustang Ridge. Officials said the engine was cold.
  The Texas Department of Public Saf
  
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• Casey Anthony, O.J. Simpson may star in reality show together

  24-03-2017 14:08 via kxan.com
  
  HOLLYWOOD, California (AP/WISH) – People are freaking out after In Touch magazine exclusively revealed Casey Anthony and O.J. Simpson may star in a reality show together.
  According to the magazine, the two are talking about starring in a series together after they were acquitted of murder.
  “It will give viewers the inside story on the aftermath of living with the horrible crimes they were ultimately acquitted of,” a source told In Touch.
  Ex-professional football player, O.J. Si
  
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• Pres. Trump administration approves Keystone XL pipeline

  24-03-2017 13:42 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration issued a permit Friday to build the Keystone XL pipeline, reversing the conclusion of the Obama administration and clearing the way for the $8 billion project to finally be completed.
  The State Department, responsible for reviewing the project because it crosses an international border, determined that building it serves U.S. national interests. That conclusion followed a review of environmental, economic and diplomatic factors, the department sai
  
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• Texas healthcare workers closely watching AHCA vote

  24-03-2017 12:56 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Congress delayed a vote on the American Health Care Act in Washington, D.C. Thursday, healthcare groups in Texas are closely watching what happens next.
  The Texas Alliance for Health Care, a group of healthcare providers and workers, plans to visit state lawmakers Friday. They said they are focused on Medicaid because it serves the state’s poorest patients. Texas has more than four million Medicaid recipients, which include low-income children and disabled and preg
  
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• Gov. Greg Abbott to meet with President Trump at White House

  24-03-2017 12:04 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (TEXAS TRIBUNE) — Gov. Greg Abbott is set to meet with President Donald Trump on Friday at the White House.
  The meeting, scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern Time in the Oval Office, will include Charter Communications CEO Thomas Rutledge, according to the White House.
  The topic of the meeting was not immediately clear, but it comes as the cable company moves forward with plans to open its first Spanish-language call center in McAllen. The call center is expected to add over 600 jobs to th
  
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• Abbott, Trump praise Charter Communications plan at White House

  24-03-2017 12:04 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (TEXAS TRIBUNE/AP) — Gov. Greg Abbott met with President Donald Trump Friday at the White House.
  Charter Communications CEO Thomas Rutledge announced a plan to hire 20,000 American workers over the next four years and invest $25 billion in the future. Rutledge says that the company will return the call center jobs acquired through Time Warner Cable to the United States, opening a new call center in McAllen and hiring 600 workers there.
  Trump says the plans will be great for Ame
  
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• RV park tenants face eviction after learning location isn’t permitted

  24-03-2017 04:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tenants in a North Austin RV park reached out to KXAN saying the community of dozens was given just 24 hours to get out.
  “I don’t really know what any of these people are going to do. They’re already one step away from being homeless as it is,” tenant Scott Taylor said, who was homeless himself for 10 years and now mows lawns. “I came here because Texas has the best job market in the entire country and I’m trying to get off the stree
  
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• Bat-killing fungus found for the first time in Texas

  24-03-2017 03:21 via kxan.com
  
  COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease to hibernating bats, has been found for the first time in Texas.
  The fungus has been detected in samples taken from three bat species in six West Texas counties — Childress, Collingsworth, Cottle, Hardeman, King and Scurry. The research team from Texas A&M University and Bat Conservation International report the samples showed fungus present on tri-colored, cave myotis and Townsend’s
  
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• Big wind and wild outcomes at Match Play

  24-03-2017 02:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Soren Kjeldsen and Alex Noren won their groups in the Dell Technologies Match Play, one round before group play is even finished.
  Rory McIlroy took the day off, and he’s already guaranteed the weekend off.
  Thursday was as wild as it gets in this tournament, even without wind ripping so hard through the edge of Hill Country that Phil Mickelson chipped into the water and still halved the hole.
  Brandt Snedeker, showing class in the midst of such exasperating conditi
  
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• Spieth grinds out “must win” over Ikeda

  24-03-2017 02:38 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — With a big lead on the back nine, Jordan Spieth put the ball in water again.
  Gulp.
  This time, there was no collapse, just a grind-it-out “must win” to beat Japan’s Yuta Ikeda in Thursday’s second round at the Dell Technologies Match Play in gusty wind that lived up to the legendary tough conditions of Texas golf.
  Spieth beat Ikeda 4-and-2 at the Austin Country Club a day after losing his first-round match by the same score to Japan’s
  
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• Revised plan for Austin ISD school closures, new campuses out Friday

  24-03-2017 01:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After months and months of meetings and gathering feedback from the community, a final recommendation for nearly 130 school buildings and future schools across the Austin will be made public Friday.
  Austin ISD’s Facilities and Bond Planning Advisory Committee (FABPAC) has been meeting on a regular basis to fine-tune the facilities master plan, which takes into account the physical condition of a campus, the capacity and projections, and its ability to educate stu
  
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• Are Google and Amazon spying on you?

  24-03-2017 01:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Voice-activated assistance like Google Home and Amazon Echo have exploded in popularity in the last year.  There are an estimated 8 million of them in use right now and some industry reports predict that number could triple by the end of the year.
  The devices work by responding to a keyword like “Alexa” or “OK, Google.”
  They’re convenient for us, but for the companies that sell them, they are the newest way to further their quest to know a
  
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• Kidnapped Lubbock 16-year-old found with chain, padlock around neck

  24-03-2017 00:17 via kxan.com
  
  LUBBOCK, Texas (KLBK) — A 16-year-old girl who was kidnapped and raped was found by Lubbock police with a chain and padlock around her neck after she was able to escape from her attacker.
  According to an arrest affidavit, on Jan. 12, Tyrone TK Carter, 43, kidnapped the girl, chained her to the front seat of his car, took her to an abandoned apartment and raped her repeatedly. The victim told police she was walking home from a friend’s house when a man dragged her to his vehicle
  
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