Austin news

• Fifth grader flying high into 2017 with his love for technology

  02-01-2017 23:25 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — All Josiah Almeda needs is a wide open space and a smartphone to get his drone successfully off the ground.
  “I can fly in circles, I can fly fast, I can fly slow,” Josiah says as he maneuvers the robot through the air. “It’s completely up to me.”
  About a year ago, the 10-year-old picked up the controller for the first time, and fell in love.
  “That’s pretty high,” says Josiah as he flies it around a park
  
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• Woman hit by falling bullet during New Year’s Eve on Sixth Street

  02-01-2017 22:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Police are investigating after a woman was hit by a bullet just before the new year Saturday night.
  Austin-Travis County EMS responded to the call just after midnight at 6th and Brazos. A woman in her 30s was transported UMC Brackenridge with a gunshot wound. The wound was not expected to be life threatening.
  Austin police said they believe someone shot a gun into the air in the area, and the bullet came down and hit the woman.
  The woman contacted KXAN Monday afternoon
  
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• Tech Report: How to prevent your webcam from being hacked

  02-01-2017 22:36 via kxan.com
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Cybersecurity experts say webcams and other smart devices played a role in last month’s massive internet outage.
  Hackers used these gadgets to launch a botnet attack which crippled websites like Netflix, Amazon, and Twitter for hours.
  KRON4’s Tech Reporter Gabe Slate met with a cybersecurity firm and shows us just how easy it is to hack a webcam and what you can do to protect yourself.t.
  WEB LINKS:
  Security software to scan webcams for vulnerability
  
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• Williamson County swears in newly elected officials

  02-01-2017 22:27 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) – Recently elected officials in Williamson County were sworn in to office Monday morning.
  The ceremony was held at the county courthouse for 14 people, including Sheriff Robert Chody and District Attorney Shawn Dick.
  “This event is one that people will never forget,” said Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Judy Schier Hobbs.
  The standing room only event was had to occur right after the new year because some of the officials started work righ
  
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• Air Force Academy: Cadet among dead in Texas air collision

  02-01-2017 21:53 via kxan.com
  
  McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado says one of the three people killed Saturday when two small planes collided in midair north of Dallas was a cadet at the school.
  Academy officials said in a statement Monday that Cadet 4th Class Timothy Barber was killed in the crash near Aero Country Airport, a private airport near McKinney.
  A family spokesman told WFAA-TV that Barber and his father, Gregory Barber, were both killed. The Barbers were in one plane and the third
  
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• Manor teen charged after firing at police, threatening father with knife

  02-01-2017 21:30 via kxan.com
  
  MANOR, Texas (KXAN) – Officers responding to a family disturbance call took an 18-year-old into custody after he fired a rifle at them Sunday afternoon.
  Police arrived to the 12000 block of Pecan Gate around 12:37 p.m. aware a suspect inside was said to be armed.
  According to a police affidavit, Gordon Allen walked out the back sliding door of the home holding a long rifle. Officers on scene said he got on his knees and began ejecting rounds from the gun’s magazine. He allegedly stoo
  
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• Man arrested after firing shotgun in air as fireworks protest

  02-01-2017 20:47 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – A man several witnesses claimed fired a shotgun in the air while they were setting off fireworks was taken into custody after midnight on New Year’s Day.
  According to an Austin police affidavit, people celebrating the new year with firecrackers near Gold Moss Cove and Windrift Way just before 1 a.m. Sunday morning were approached by Shawn Smith who was not happy about their celebrations.
  One witness told investigating officers that Smith, 40, yelled ‘people have
  
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• Lightning blamed for destruction of Harris County home

  02-01-2017 20:10 via kxan.com
  
  COPPERFIELD, Texas (KPRC) –  Lightning is being blamed for an early morning house fire that forced a Texas family from their home Monday.
  “One in a million, one in five million. I hit the anti-lottery here,” said homeowner Kevin Masterson. “You could tell it was bad very quickly and we had to get out.”
  The fire broke out around 6 a.m. at the Harris County home. Masterson said he was asleep when he heard glass breaking and his home alarm go off. He reset the ala
  
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• Family of Yellow Rose shooting victim protesting nightclub

  02-01-2017 19:51 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As police continue the investigation into a December shooting outside a central Austin strip club, the family of the man shot is staging a protest at the club, seeking answers to why their loved one was shot in the head.
  The shooting happened on Dec. 17 at 11:28 p.m. at the Yellow Rose Nightclub off of North Lamar Boulevard. The victim, Edward Mares, 29, was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge in critical condition.
  According to the Austin Police Department, at
  
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• Nighttime lane closures expected along SH 71

  02-01-2017 19:36 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Roadwork along SH 71 is expected to impact nighttime drivers starting Tuesday through Saturday.
  A full closure of the eastbound SH 71 direct connector to northbound SH 130, as well as single lane closures east and westbound along 71 will begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
  Delays are expected during these closures.
  Approximate times of the closures include:
  Tuesday, Jan. 3 through Thursday, Jan. 5 from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
  Friday, Jan. 6 from 8&nbs
  
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• Mother collapses, dies during Facebook Live stream

  02-01-2017 18:48 via kxan.com
  
  CAMDEN, Arkansas (KARK/NBC News) –  A young Arkansas mother’s final moments were streamed on Facebook Live as friends watch helplessly from afar.
  25-year-old Keiana Herndon went live Wednesday from a friend’s home, where she was staying with her young son.
  The video starts out with Keiana singing. You see and hear her respond to viewers and even put the spotlight on her son.
  A few minutes later, Keiana falls and the phone drops out of her hands.
  Her uncle, Jeffrey Herndon,
  
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• New clue emerges that could explain bee deaths

  02-01-2017 18:24 via kxan.com
  
  MENOMONIE, Wisconsin (KARE) – For Jim Burritt, the quiet speaks the loudest.
  “I wish you could see these hives when they’re really humming,” says the beekeeper. “They’re not humming now.”
  Burritt begins pulling frames from one of his hives. Frame after frame, no sign of life. Each is loaded with thousands of dead bees.
  “These bees were living just literally a few days ago,” he says. “They had to all die at once.”
  The past few year
  
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• VIDEO: Twins delivered minutes apart have different birth years

  02-01-2017 18:05 via kxan.com
  
  GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Twins delivered 10 minutes apart at an Arizona hospital over the New Year’s weekend have different birth years.
  Phoenix TV station KNXV-TV reports that parents Holly and Brandon Shay welcomed their first son, Sawyer, into the world at 11:51 p.m. Saturday at Banner Hospital.
  Their second son, Everett, arrived one minute after midnight on Sunday.
  Austin-area couples welcome first babies of the new year
  The father joked that Sawyer will tease his brother about bei
  
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• Texas lawmaker recovering after being shot at new year’s party

  02-01-2017 17:37 via kxan.com
  
  WESLACO, Texas (AP) — A state lawmaker says he’s recovering after being struck in the head during a new year’s celebration by what he suspects was celebratory gunfire.
  Rep. Armando Martinez told The Monitor newspaper that he had gathered with his family late Saturday at a residence near the South Texas town of Weslaco.
  He heard gunfire in the neighborhood before hugging his wife as the new year arrived, and then felt like he was hit with a sledgehammer to the back of the head.
  
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• Win tickets to see Cirque du Soleil OVO at HEB Center

  02-01-2017 17:00 via kxan.com
  
  We’re giving away two tickets to see Cirque du Soleil OVO at HEB Center on March 18! All you need to do to enter the contest is fill out the form below. You can find full details in the Official Contest Rules.
  
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• 1st biker trial over 2015 Waco shootings set for April

  02-01-2017 16:43 via kxan.com
  
  WACO, Texas (AP) — The first trial over a Central Texas gunfight involving rival motorcycle gangs that left nine people dead, 20 others hurt and more than 150 bikers charged is now set for April, 23 months after the 2015 shootout.
  Several charged in the gunfire at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco have been seeking a speedy trial.
  “In complex cases, it’s not uncommon for the trial to occur 18 months to two years after the alleged incident occurred,” 54th District Judge Matt
  
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• Lawsuit: Dude ranch owner asked chef for ‘black people food’

  02-01-2017 16:13 via kxan.com
  
  RENO, Nev. (AP) — Madeleine Pickens wanted the African-American chef she recruited from the country club she owns in Southern California to cook “black people food” — not “white people food” — at her rural Nevada dude ranch and wild horse sanctuary, according to a federal lawsuit accusing her of racial discrimination.
  Armand Appling says the wealthy philanthropist and ex-wife of Oklahoma energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens told him fried chicken, BBQ ribs and
  
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• Man not seriously injured in 40-50 ft. fall near Pennybacker Bridge

  02-01-2017 13:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man survived a 40-50 foot fall from a cliff near the Pennybacker Bridge early Monday morning.
  Austin-Travis County EMS says the man in his 20s had no life-threatening injuries after the fall. Austin Fire Department firefighters and ATCEMS rescue medics located the man and brought him topside through a rope system.
  First responders were called to the cliff on the northwest side of the bridge at 3:24 a.m. Medics say the man chose not to be taken to the emergency room.
  Austi
  
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• Romo plays in first regular season game of the season

  02-01-2017 05:26 via kxan.com
  
  ROB MAADDI, AP Pro Football Writer
  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tony Romo is ready to go if the Dallas Cowboys need his help in the playoffs.
  Romo looked sharp in his first regular-season game since Thanksgiving 2015. He threw his first touchdown pass in nearly 14 months and showed the offense can produce when Dak Prescott is on the sideline.
  The Cowboys played it safe in a 27-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, but fulfilled their objective by keeping star players healthy.
  “I don&r
  
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• High needs, high stress ahead of 2017 Texas session

  02-01-2017 04:33 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In just a few days, lawmakers will begin changing the laws governing your life. From who can use which bathroom to who pays for your neighborhood school, legislators begin their work Jan. 10.
  For 140 days, lawmakers from across Texas will be in Austin. Scott Braddock, the editor of the QuorumReport.com, has covered Texas politics for nearly two decades. He says the Senate will push many desires of Tea Party voters such as ending sanctuary policies for immigrants i
  
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• Central Texas Turkish community responds to terror attack

  02-01-2017 04:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN)- Austin’s Turkish community are reacting to the Sunday morning attack in Istanbul that left at least 39 dead at a nightclub.
  Guner Arlsan is a founding member of the Dialogue Institute. He says attacks in Turkey are becoming too common and the Turkish government needs to do more to keep another attack such as Sunday’s from happening. “They’re going and arresting regular people just who are opposing the government, so when we have that, you are not
  
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• Patient escapes care of Austin psychiatric hospital

  02-01-2017 00:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Department of State Health Services confirms Leticia Fletcher, 41, got away from Austin State Hospital staff while visiting an off-site doctor. Fletcher was taken to UMC Brackenridge for an appointment Friday morning.
  A spokesperson for DSHS says staff with Austin State Hospital do not go into exam rooms with patients. They say Fletcher got away while staff was waiting to take her back to Austin State Hospital. She was located and taken to the Travis County Jail Saturda
  
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