Austin news

• US Postal carrier filmed dumping bins of mail into a ditch

  21-10-2016 15:19 via kxan.com
  
  DECATUR, GA (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service has launched an investigation after a metro Atlanta resident says she filmed a worker dumping hundreds of pieces of mail in the woods.
  Kellie Campbell of DeKalb County tells WSB-TV she recorded the postal worker walking near a fence and dumping several bins of mail into a ditch.
  Campbell called the Postal Service, which sent workers to collect and deliver the mail.
  In a statement, the Postal Service condemned the unlawful disposal of mai
  
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• ERCOT issues Weather Watch for Wednesday, expects 'unseasonably high' temperatures

  07-05-2024 19:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) issued a "Weather Watch" for Wednesday, May 8.
  ERCOT said in a post on social media the watch was issued due to "unseasonably high temperatures, high levels of expected maintenance outages during the spring shoulder months, and the potential for lower reserves."The grid operator said grid conditions are expected to be normal during a Weather Watch and can be monitored online.Hottest stretch of 2024 so far with isolated storm
  
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• Biden condemns antisemitism at Holocaust remembrance

  07-05-2024 18:26 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden condemned the “ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world” during a Tuesday ceremony to remember victims of the Holocaust at a time when the Hamas attack on Israel and controversy over the war in Gaza have sparked new waves of violence and hateful rhetoric toward Jews.“We’re at risk of people not knowing the truth," Biden said of the horrors of the Holocaust, when 6 million Jews were
  
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• Boy Scouts of America changing its name to be more inclusive

  07-05-2024 18:25 via kxan.com
  
  IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.The organization steeped in tradition has made seismic changes after decades of turmoil, from finally allowing gay youth to welcoming girls throughout its ranks. With an eye on increasing flagging
  
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• Forbes declares these Texas schools new Ivy Leagues

  07-05-2024 17:22 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Tuesday, May 7, 2024.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- New reporting from Forbes published last week outlines a host of college campuses employers are turning to instead of Ivy League institutions -- including two in Texas.The University of Texas at Austin and Rice University joined the rankings of new public and private school elites which are "attracting the smartest students and plaudits from employers."Forbes' researchers said the eva
  
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• LIVE: Energy drinks show 'damaging' effects on young adults, multiple studies show

  07-05-2024 17:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Energy drinks are increasingly becoming the go-to solution for college students seeking a boost as the end of the semester draws near, according to Brittany Krim, a registered dietitian and University of Texas kinesiology professor. However, these beverages could pose more harm than aid to students' well-being, according to several studies."The research has either been a denying health outcome or a negative one," Krim said. "So if it's neutral or bad, I just tend to shy awa
  
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• Energy drinks show 'damaging' effects on young adults, multiple studies show

  07-05-2024 17:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Energy drinks are increasingly becoming the go-to solution for college students seeking a boost as the end of the semester draws near, according to Brittany Krim, a registered dietitian and University of Texas kinesiology professor. However, these beverages could pose more harm than aid to students' well-being, according to several studies."The research has either been a denying health outcome or a negative one," Krim said. "So if it's neutral or bad, I just tend to shy awa
  
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• Doctor talks about rise of strokes in young people, importance of knowing the signs

  07-05-2024 17:04 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Researchers are looking into why stroke rates seem to be rising among young people, or those under the age of 55.A study of more than 94,000 people found a 67% increase in stroke incidence among younger adults, while there was a 15% decrease among older adults.“It does seem like the risk of stroke is going up for some younger people, I think it's all due to the same risk factors, actually,” said Dr. Clinton Wright a Vascular Neurologist and Associate Director of Nati
  
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• Dua Lipa, Chris Stapleton, Blink-182 to headline 2024 ACL

  07-05-2024 16:14 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Tuesday, May 7.
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin City Limits Music Festival announced its lineup Tuesday morning, featuring headliners Dua Lipa, Tyler, The Creator, Chris Stapleton, Blink-182, Sturgill Simpson, Pretty Lights, Khruangbin and Leon Bridges.
  It's a guarantee each year that fans speculate who the performers will be, but this year the buzz has been high in part because of a payphone that popped up in Zilker Park ove
  
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• Extreme weather will be focus on new undergrad program at University of Texas

  07-05-2024 12:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As the school year comes to a close, extreme weather is ramping up. Recent flooding in the Houston area and tornadoes in West Texas are reminders that weather is difficult to predict around the globe. A new degree program at the University of Texas in Austin hopes to address that.Starting in the fall, UT's Jackson School of Geosciences will offer a program in climate sciences."We're seeing a lot of students now. They take one class and they say, 'Hey, this class made me realize
  
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• Kyle is looking into ways to improve cell service in the city

  07-05-2024 05:17 via kxan.com
  
  KYLE, Texas (KXAN) – At its meeting on Tuesday, the Kyle City Council will consider whether more cell towers are needed throughout the city to bridge gaps in coverage and support the rapid population growth. Some Kyle residents told KXAN on Monday that there are spots throughout the city where their mobile phones lose service. “There’s all kinds of little pockets that get messed up,” said James Boisvenue, who has lived in Kyle for two years. ”I definitely
  
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• Vandegrift three shots off lead after Day 1 of UIL 6A girls golf tournament

  07-05-2024 04:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two Vandegrift and a Westlake golfer are in the top five after the first day of the UIL 6A girls golf championships Monday at White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown.Vandegrift's Swetha Sathish is tied for the lead with San Antonio Reagan's Danielle Bailey with a 2-under-par 70. Vandegrift's Sydney Givens, who finished second at last year's tournament following a 3-way playoff, is tied for third at 1-under with two other golfers — Southlake Carroll's Tyler Burtnett and Wes
  
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• Texas aquarium nominated for USA Today award

  07-05-2024 04:04 via kxan.com
  
  CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (KXAN) -- USA Today has nominated the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi for their "Best Aquarium for 2024" award with voting ongoing through mid-May.KXAN meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with Jesse Gilbert, the CEO of the Texas State Aquarium, about the nomination and the importance of the aquarium to the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico.KXAN Meteorologist Nick Bannin: Jessie, you were nominated by USA Today for best aquarium for 2024. Can you tell us about that nominati
  
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• Houston preps for a busy hurricane season

  07-05-2024 02:11 via kxan.com
  
  HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (Nexstar) -- As thousands of Texans in and around southeast Texas fight flooding over the weekend, local leaders and residents fear this round of storms may be just the precursor to a busy summer in the Gulf.The Colorado State University forecast gives Houston a 45% chance of experiencing a tropical storm this season, and a 25% chance of getting a hurricane. Those chances are up from the typical 29% and 16%, respectively."Anyone along the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico shou
  
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• City of Austin has roughly $30M in ARPA funding left to be allocated, documents show

  07-05-2024 01:54 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Conversations are happening now at the City of Austin about what happens when more than $188.5 million in federal pandemic relief funding runs out. More than half of that money is going toward addressing homelessness.
  "[That] included the investment in permanent supportive housing, we're gonna see over 400 new permanent supportive housing units come online by the end of the year. It also included some strategic investment in rapid rehousing," Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said.
  
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• Brad Stuver earns 2nd Team of the Matchday honor, leads MLS in saves

  07-05-2024 00:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver continues his strong start to the 2024 season with another Team of the Matchday selection, Major League Soccer announced Monday.It's Stuver's second such honor of the season and comes after he made seven saves to keep the Vancouver Whitecaps off the scoreboard in a 0-0 draw May 4 at BC Place in Vancouver. It was Stuver's third consecutive clean sheet of the season.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up
  
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• DEA arrests Austin man, seizing nearly 10 pounds of fentanyl, meth and heroin

  07-05-2024 00:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin man has been arrested on federal charges of possession with intent to distribute multiple controlled substances following a drug trafficking investigation conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
  According to court records, DEA obtained a federal search warrant for Joshua James Calvo's residence in southeast Austin on April 26.KXAN reached out to Calvo's Federal Public Defense attorney, Jesus M. Salinas, Jr., and will update this story once a response is rec
  
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• Big 12 Conference softball tournament schedule

  06-05-2024 23:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas enters the Big 12 Conference softball tournament in Oklahoma City as the No. 1 seed after claiming the regular season title for the first time since 2010.The top-ranked Longhorns swept their last Big 12 series in grand fashion with three wins via the mercy rule against Texas Tech, and they could end up playing the Red Raiders again in the conference tournament.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sp
  
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• Which is the most popular Costco product in your state? New analysis offers clue

  06-05-2024 23:14 via kxan.com
  
  (NEXSTAR) – When they’re not buying gold bars or dining at their members-only food courts, many Costco shoppers can often be found in the not-so-deep recesses of the internet, heaping praise on their newest Costco fixations.Social-media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Reddit are abundant with accounts dedicated to discovering, discussing and reviewing the latest Costco items, with some users going as far to say they’re “obsessed” with the store’s offeri
  
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• San Francisco woman convicted of stealing $60K of goods from Target with self-checkout scam

  06-05-2024 23:14 via kxan.com
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A San Francisco woman was convicted Friday of stealing more than $60,000 worth of merchandise from a Target store by pretending to pay for the items at self-checkout machines, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office said.Aziza Graves, 43, now faces up to three years in prison.The district attorney's office said Graves had been accused of stealing from a single Target location at the city's Stonestown Galleria "dozens" of times between Oct 3, 2020, and Nov. 16, 2
  
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• They were once popular social media sites — what happened?

  06-05-2024 23:13 via kxan.com
  
  (NEXSTAR) — With the stroke of his pen, President Joe Biden seemingly started the countdown to the demise of TikTok. Though it’s possible the app won’t actually be banned in the U.S., the potential end of the platform prompted some social media users to reflect on those we have lost.Here’s a look at the social media sites that have retired to the annals of the internet archive. MyspaceWhat better place to start than MySpace, arguably the first major social networking
  
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• UT Austin researchers find shift in Texas earthquake activity

  06-05-2024 22:37 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's note: The above video is from May 2019 and breaks down the prevalence of Texas earthquakes.AUSTIN (KXAN) — A team of scientists at the University of Texas at Austin discovered seismic activity is moving northeast in the Midland Basin, after reviewing multiple years of tracked earthquake activity in the area.UT Austin announced the findings Monday, adding the research has been published in the journal "Seismological Research Letters." The release noted past earthquakes have tended
  
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• LIVE Horns Report: Longhorns win series on both diamonds, softball claims Big 12 regular season title

  06-05-2024 22:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas softball won its first Big 12 regular season title since 2010 with a sweep of Texas Tech and some help from Oklahoma State over the weekend.The No. 1 Longhorns finished the Big 12 with a 23-4 record, a game ahead of Oklahoma who had a steak of 11 regular season titles snapped with Texas' triumph. Oklahoma State beat the Sooners in two of their three games in the Bedlam Series to open the door for Texas to take the title outright.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to dat
  
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• Horns Report: Longhorns win series on both diamonds, softball claims Big 12 regular season title

  06-05-2024 22:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas softball won its first Big 12 regular season title since 2010 with a sweep of Texas Tech and some help from Oklahoma State over the weekend.The No. 1 Longhorns finished the Big 12 with a 23-4 record, a game ahead of Oklahoma who had a steak of 11 regular season titles snapped with Texas' triumph. Oklahoma State beat the Sooners in two of their three games in the Bedlam Series to open the door for Texas to take the title outright.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to dat
  
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• Austin Energy puts up AI cameras to help fight fires with wildfire season ahead

  06-05-2024 21:57 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The recent rain in Central Texas could actually make our fire risk more dangerous this summer.Both city and county officials said all this wet weather is helping the grass grow, which adds more fuel for fires when the weather is drier.
  "We get into our summer setting where those grasses stop growing," Pflugerville Fire Department Assistant Chief Mark Moellenberg said. "They actually die off if we get into a drought. That becomes a fuel load."Artificial Intelligence detectin
  
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• Austin city manager prioritizes police chief hiring, new police contract

  06-05-2024 21:15 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Monday, May 6, 2024.AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax said police leadership and police job stability are at the top of his priorities as he takes over a leadership role with the city.Broadnax announced his first set of priorities in a press release Monday — his first official day on the job. Austin’s new city manager will make roughly $470K, according to documentsBroadnax said his priori
  
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• How many 100° days will Austin get this year? Here's what the First Warning Weather team predicts

  06-05-2024 21:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you're not a fan of triple-digit heat, you're probably hoping this year won't be a repeat of 2023. Camp Mabry, Austin's official weather reporting site, recorded 80 days at or above 100° last year, second only to 2011, when 90 days of triple-digit heat were recorded.Each year, we ask the KXAN First Warning Weather team to predict how many times Austin will hit the century mark. How often does Austin hit 100°? Here’s a breakdown by date, month, year and deca
  
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• What do the goats on Austin's Hike-and-Bike Trail do?

  06-05-2024 21:08 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin's cutest lawn mowers have returned to the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail.
  The goats are back to work cleaning up vegetation and poison ivy near the trail along Lady Bird Lake.
  It's not the first time the goats have worked on the trail.
  The Trail Conservancy started the goat program in 2023 to clear harmful plants, such as poison ivy, along the lakeside trail. They munch on noxious and invasive plants along the trail in groups of about 150, according to t
  
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• East Austin's Green & White Grocery named historic landmark

  06-05-2024 19:53 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Monday, May 6, 2024.AUSTIN (KXAN) — A nearly 100-year-old Austin institution is officially a historic landmark, following approval by Austin City Council late last week.Green & White Grocery, located at 1201 E. Seventh St. in east Austin, received the historic designation Thursday, months after Austin's Historic Landmark Commission first initiated the historic zoning process in November.Norberto T. Lopez founded
  
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• Nick Bannin named new KXAN Chief Meteorologist

  06-05-2024 19:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- KXAN announced on Monday Nick Bannin is the KXAN First Warning Weather Team's new chief meteorologist.
  Bannin joined KXAN in 2021 after spending a total of 10 years in western Massachusetts as a meteorologist in the area, where he won the First-Place award for Best On-Air Personality from the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association, an AP Award for Best Weather Coverage along with several team Emmy and Regional Murrow awards.Bannin was born in Bristol, England, then moved to Manc
  
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