Austin news

• Austin-area couples welcome first babies of the new year

  01-01-2017 23:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Not even a minute into 2017, and the Austin area had already welcomed its two newest residents.
  Geneva Ruth Bowling was born at exactly midnight at St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas. Geneva’s mother, Ashley, went into labor Friday evening. The healthy 8 pound, 14 ounce baby was born by c-section, which was not intentionally scheduled for midnight on New Year’s Day.
  “I can’t wait to see her and her [2-year-old] brother grow together and
  
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• Mississippi hospital limits pain prescriptions

  01-01-2017 22:51 via kxan.com
  
  COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) — A hospital emergency room in Columbus is limiting pain medication doctors and nurses give to patients with chronic pain complaints.
  The Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2hZW2p4 ) the policy goes into effect Tuesday at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and is in response to the nation’s opioid epidemic.
  ER Doctor Joel Butler says the policy is in line with recommendations from the Center for Disease Control that medications are best dispensed by a patient
  
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• Austinites leap into new year, jump into Barton Springs Pool

  01-01-2017 21:25 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Leaping into the new year, hundreds of people jumped into Austin’s popular Barton Springs Pool in the annual Polar Bear Leap Sunday morning.
  “It feels like washing away last year,” said Barbara Rush, who took the plunge. “It feels to me like it’s cleansing the year before and it’s like a renewal at the beginning of the new year. It’s just fabulous. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating.”
  Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell was
  
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• No injuries after plane crashes on top of New Braunfels home

  01-01-2017 20:45 via kxan.com
  
  NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS (KXAN) — A small aircraft crashed into a New Braunfels home Sunday morning after the pilot tried to make an emergency landing.
  New Braunfels police say around 11:30 a.m., the 67-year-old pilot attempted to land in a field behind the home, in the 1600 block of Wald Road, after the single-seat Ultralight plane lost power. The plane clipped some power lines, flipped upside down and landed on the roof of a carport attached to the home. Some homes in the area lost powe
  
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• Vandalized Hollywood sign briefly reads ‘HOLLYWeeD’

  01-01-2017 20:19 via kxan.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles residents awoke New Year’s Day to find a prankster had altered the famed Hollywood sign to read “HOLLYWeeD.”
  Police were investigating Sunday after the vandal used giant tarps to turn two of the iconic sign’s white Os into Es sometime overnight.
  The vandal, dressed in all black, was recorded by security cameras and could face a misdemeanor trespassing charge, said Sgt. Robert Payan.
  The person scaled a protective fence surrounding the
  
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• Thousands celebrate the New Year at Auditorium Shores

  01-01-2017 18:11 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Thousands of music lovers spent the final hours of 2016 listening to live music near downtown Austin on Saturday.
  “We wanted to do something with our kids before the evening and my son gets to see the Austin skyline and he’s like I love Austin!” said Austin resident Cassandra Noboa.
  Three stages at the event welcomed 15 local and regional bands, food trucks, and kid’s activities. Those who celebrated say the event was a perfect way to end a year they
  
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• Queen Elizabeth II misses church due to ‘heavy cold’

  01-01-2017 13:30 via kxan.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II missed a traditional New Year’s Day church service Sunday because of the effects of a lingering cold.
  Buckingham Palace said the queen “does not yet feel ready to attend church as she is still recuperating from a heavy cold.” There was no indication she is suffering from a more serious illness.
  It was unusual for Elizabeth not to attend the service, long part of her New Year’s Day routine. The inclement weather may have been a contri
  
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• Two of three victims of Texas mid-air collision identified

  01-01-2017 02:52 via kxan.com
  
  McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Authorities have released the names of two of the victims of Saturday’s mid-air plane collision near McKinney, Texas. A third victim remains unidentified.
  KXAS reports Gregory Barber and Tim Barber were killed in the collision shortly after 5:30 p.m. near Aero County Airport. The private airport is about 35 miles north of downtown Dallas.
   
  FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford says “both aircraft were flying under Visual Flight Rules and were not in contact w
  
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• Small planes collide mid-air in Texas, killing three

  01-01-2017 02:52 via kxan.com
  
  McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Three people have been killed after two small planes collided in mid-air over McKinney, Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration says the collision occurred shortly after 5:30 p.m. near Aero Country Airport. FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford says “both aircraft were flying under Visual Flight Rules and were not in contact with air traffic control at the time of the collision.”
  McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — At least one person has been killed after two small pl
  
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• Small planes collide mid-air in Texas, killing at least 1

  01-01-2017 02:52 via kxan.com
  
  McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — At least one person has been killed after two small planes collided in midair over McKinney, Texas.
  The Federal Aviation Administration says the collision occurred shortly after 5:30 p.m. near Aero Country Airport. The airport is about 35 miles north of downtown Dallas.
  FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford says “both aircraft were flying under Visual Flight Rules and were not in contact with air traffic control at the time of the collision.”
  McKinney Police said t
  
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• Turkey: Search launched for New Year’s nightclub attacker

  01-01-2017 01:35 via kxan.com
  
  ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police are hunting for an assailant who — reportedly dressed as Santa Claus — opened fire at a crowded Istanbul nightclub during New Year’s celebrations Sunday, killing at least 39 people and wounding close to 70 others in what authorities said was a terror attack.
  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vehemently condemned “the terror attack in Istanbul’s Ortakoy neighborhood in the first hours of 2017” and offered condolences for those
  
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• Istanbul governor: at least 35 dead in attack on nightclub

  01-01-2017 01:35 via kxan.com
  
  ISTANBUL (AP) — Istanbul’s governor says at least 35 people were killed in the attack at a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year’s celebrations.
  Vasip Sahin said some 40 other people were wounded in the assault in the early hours of Sunday.
  Sahin said the incident was a “terror attack” without saying who may have carried it out.
  
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• Gunman in New Year slayings at Istanbul club still at large

  01-01-2017 01:35 via kxan.com
  
  ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police struggled Sunday to track down a gunman who attacked New Year’s Eve revelers at a popular Istanbul nightclub, killing at least 39 people, most of them foreigners. Close to 70 more were wounded.
  The attacker, armed with a long-barreled weapon, killed a policeman and a civilian outside the Reina club around 1:15 a.m. before entering and firing at people partying inside, Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin said.
  “Unfortunately, (he) rained bullets in a very cr
  
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