Austin news

• Jarrell teen charged with sexual assault of two schoolmates

  25-01-2017 23:40 via kxan.com
  
  JARRELL, Texas (KXAN) — An 18-year-old high school student in Jarrell, who said he was interested in girls who are “fixer-uppers” because it’s easier to take advantage of them, is facing two charges of sexual assault of a child.
  On Dec. 22, a DPS trooper pulled over Ryan Runquist in a traffic stop in Williamson County. When asked about his past arrest for aggravated sexual assault of a minor, Runquist admitted to being “sexually interested” in 15 and 16 y
  
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• 65 pounds of liquid meth found in gas tank

  25-01-2017 23:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police discovered 65 pounds of liquid methamphetamine hidden in a gas tank during a routine traffic stop earlier this week.
  Sgt. Greg White with the Austin Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit said an officer pulled over a woman driving a 2004 Ford Escape on I-35 in south Austin on Monday for failing to maintain a lane. Once the officer started speaking with the woman, later identified as Maria Bermudez Gutierrez, 45, they noticed there were some discrepanc
  
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• Lockhart man arrested on 5 counts of child porn possession

  25-01-2017 23:39 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — James Brian Gorley, 33, is facing up to ten years in prison after he was caught sharing child pornography online, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
  Gorley, from Lockhart, Texas, was arrested by the Child Exploitation Unit on Wednesday after receiving online tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center says Gorley shared child porn on social networking sites.
  Investigators searched his home and found the images on his phone. Go
  
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• Construction on N. Lamar Blvd. at Rundberg Lane will cause delays

  25-01-2017 23:13 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Over the next few weeks, if you’re traveling on North Lamar Boulevard between Rundberg Lane and Rutland Drive, be prepared for delays as construction crews work on adding raised medians in the area. Over the next two weeks, construction will require closures to one lane in each direction on North Lamar Boulevard between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on weekdays.
  The road improvements are all part of an effort to make one of Austin’s most dangerous intersections safe
  
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• UT study determines cheapest electricity for the future

  25-01-2017 22:49 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Have you already paid your electric bill for the month? A group of researchers at the University of Texas are helping to make things easier when exploring options in the future.
  A recent study at UT discovered just what type of electricity is the cheapest to generate, depending where you live. The Energy Institute at the University of Texas developed a new online calculator that simplifies determining the cheapest electricity to generate and distribute, while
  
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• VIDEO: Window washers rescued from Dallas high-rise

  25-01-2017 21:43 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (KXAN) — Firefighters rescued two window washers from a north Dallas building, Wednesday afternoon.
  The washers were dangling from the 15-story Prosperity Bank building at 9330 LBJ Freeway, according to NBC DFW. The cause of the scaffolding malfunction is currently unknown.
  Firefighters with Dallas Fire-Rescue said the washers’ safety equipment worked as it should have and kept them from falling. NBC DFW estimated wind speed at 10-15 mph.
  MORE: Wi
  
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• Television icon Mary Tyler Moore dead at 80

  25-01-2017 20:49 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP/KXAN) — Television icon Mary Tyler Moore is dead at age 80, publicist says. According to TMZ, Moore died in a Connecticut hospital after being on a respirator for more than a week. Her publicist, Mara Buxbaum, says Moore died with her husband and friends nearby.
  Moore was most widely known for her sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show that aired during the 70s. Moore also appeared on the Dick Van Dyke show during the 60s.
  The actress received her only nomination for the Academ
  
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• Woman says ‘lesbianism’ listed as a problem in her medical history

  25-01-2017 20:30 via kxan.com
  
  INDIAN TRAIL, NC (WCMH) — A North Carolina woman says she saw “lesbianism” listed under medical problems on her medical history record.
  Kristina Rodriguez told WSOC-TV she noticed it after she had blood work done by her medical service provider.
  “This listed as a medical problem could really set someone back, could mess with their self-esteem and could make them think something is wrong with them,” Rodriguez told WSOC. 
  Rodriguez’s doctor and a
  
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• VIDEO: Husky returned to owner after ‘mistake’

  25-01-2017 20:17 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON, Texas (KXAN) — A dog has been reunited with his owner after a woman mistakenly thought a man was trying to steal the puppy, according to Click 2 Houston. 
  Fox, a 2-year-old Husky, appeared to be snatched from a driveway in Fort Bend County, near Houston. Now the woman is saying the man thought Fox was lost and was trying to return him.
  READ: Stolen puppy jumps out of truck, reunites with his owner
   
  
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• VIDEO: Houston thief captured stealing dog from driveway

  25-01-2017 20:17 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON, Texas (KXAN) — A Houston dog-owner says she hopes surveillance video of a thief stealing her dog will help bring her furry friend home.
  Fox, a 2-year-old Husky, was snatched from a driveway in Fort Bend County, near Houston. In the video the suspect can be seen wrapping the leash around the dog’s body and dragging it into a van.
  READ: Stolen puppy jumps out of truck, reunites with his owner
  The dog owner says she is heartbroken because you can tell the dog was fighting to st
  
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• $10K reward issued for hundreds of missing salamanders

  25-01-2017 20:13 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services is offering a $10,000 reward for information related to salamanders that have gone missing from the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center.
  On Nov. 25, 2016 USFWS was made aware that 253 Texas Blind Salamanders and 110 San Marcos Salamanders were missing from the San Marcos facility. The department is now trying to determine if the salamanders were stolen or possibly eaten by another animal.The Texas Blind Sala
  
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• Trump: Construction on border wall will begin immediately

  25-01-2017 19:53 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP/KXAN) — President Donald Trump signed two executive orders in keeping with campaign promises to boost border security and crack down on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The president signed the two orders Wednesday during a ceremony at the Department of Homeland Security after honoring the department’s newly confirmed secretary, retired Gen. John Kelly.
  The executive orders jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, which Trump says will begin im
  
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• Florida tops nation for shark attacks in 2016

  25-01-2017 19:49 via kxan.com
  
  GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Unprovoked shark attacks dropped last year after a record-breaking number in 2015.
  The International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida said this week that there were 81 unprovoked attacks in 2016, a sharp decrease from the 98 attacks a year earlier. Four of last year’s attacks were fatal, with two in Australia and two in the French territory of New Caledonia.
  File curator George Burgess says 58 percent of the attacks worldwide involved board spor
  
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• Lago Vista issues boil water notice after pressure line break

  25-01-2017 19:46 via kxan.com
  
  LAGO VISTA, Texas (KXAN) – Customers in ‘Pressure Plane 6’ of Lago Vista must now boil their water after a pressure line break Wednesday.
  Crews are working on the line but will need to flush the system and take samples.
  Water for drinking, cooking, and making ice should be boiled and cooled prior to use. The water should be brought to a vigorous, rolling boil and then boiled for two minutes. In lieu of boiling, you may purchase bottled water or obtain water from some other suit
  
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• HP expands recall of laptop batteries due to fire, burn hazards

  25-01-2017 19:43 via kxan.com
  
  PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A risk of fires and burns has prompted HP, Inc. to expand a recall of lithium-ion batteries used in its notebook computers.
  About 101,000 batteries are included in the recall, in addition to the 41,000 that were recalled back in June. Batteries not listed in the previous recall may be included in the expanded recall, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
  The company has received one additional report of the battery overheating, melting and char
  
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• Painters prepping Super Bowl LI field

  25-01-2017 19:41 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON, Texas (KXAN) — We’re 11 days away from Super Bowl LI and crews are busy preparing the field at Houston’s NRG Stadium to host the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.
  The best painters from the NFL are chosen to make the trip and make sure every letter and design are perfect before the big game. The painters will paint each team’s logo in the end zones as well as the NFL logo.
  The grass they’re painting isn’t your regular turf either. It was grown
  
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• Texas vehicle registration fee increases by $3.75, unless you do it online

  25-01-2017 19:17 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has increased the cost of in person vehicle registration and lowered the cost of online registration.
  The new fees for Travis County, which took effect at the beginning of the year, are now $78.25 for the typical vehicle registration renewal or 77.25 for online.
  Previously, county residents paid $74.50 to renew in person and $77.50 to renew online.
  New vehicle registration fees being proposed
  Counties will receive 25 cents fo
  
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• Crockett High student accused of punching school monitor

  25-01-2017 18:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A 20-year-old Crockett High School student is in jail accused of assaulting two school security monitors, including punching one in the face.
  Austin Independent School District police say when a security monitor tried to detain Colton John Michael Bauer in the school’s walkway Tuesday afternoon, Bauer punched the 55-year-old monitor. When a second monitor tried to help, the student bit his pinky finger, police say. A school resource officer was finally able to pl
  
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• 16-year-old girl sexually assaulted at ACC campus library

  25-01-2017 18:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man was charged with indecency with a child after, police determined, he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl at the Austin Community College library on Monday.
  According to a police affidavit, Jonathan Aldaco, 22, approached the girl Monday afternoon in the library of the Riverside campus of ACC.
  According to the victim, Aldaco, who she did not know, had been following her since 1:30 p.m. As she was sitting in the back of the library, Aldaco began to talk to her and eve
  
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• Fast-food restaurants failing to make kids menus healthy, despite promise

  25-01-2017 18:10 via kxan.com
  
  INDIANAPOLIS Ind. (WISH) – Fast food restaurants haven’t significantly improved the nutritional value of their kids menus, according to new research, six years after they pledged to make a change.
  Back in 2011, more than 150 restaurant chains with 42,000 locations promised to reduce calories, saturated fat and salt in their kids menu food.
  A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed no significant change in the restaurant offerings.
  The pledge to change menus wa
  
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• Lobos bags another with $900,000 cocaine bust

  25-01-2017 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  FAYETTE COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – Fayette County’s famed K9, Lobos, has sniffed out another large package of drugs being taken through the county.
  Lobos sprung in to action Tuesday around 8:50 a.m. during a traffic stop on a Ford F-150 truck. As a Fayette County Sheriff’s deputy engaged the driver, 40-year-old Arnold Acedo of McAllen, they noticed abnormal behavior. The driver then refused a search.
  Missing boy found by K9 Lobos in tree surrounded by donkeys
  Lobos arrived in anoth
  
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• Travis County sheriff responds to governor's threats

  25-01-2017 17:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (AP/KXAN) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is escalating a standoff with Austin’s sheriff over so-called “sanctuary cities” policies and now says he will seek new laws to remove her from office.
  Abbott said Tuesday on “Fox and Friends” that Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez will lose her job unless she reverses plans to stop honoring all federal immigration detainers in her jail starting in February. The governor has already said he will immediately withhol
  
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• Gov. Abbott says ‘sanctuary’ jail will cost Travis County sheriff her job

  25-01-2017 17:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (AP/KXAN) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is escalating a standoff with Austin’s sheriff over so-called “sanctuary cities” policies and now says he will seek new laws to remove her from office.
  Abbott said Tuesday on “Fox and Friends” that Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez will lose her job unless she reverses plans to stop honoring all federal immigration detainers in her jail starting in February. The governor has already said he will immediately withho
  
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• Investigation of officers in Breaion King case completed

  25-01-2017 16:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin police officers Bryan Richter and Patrick Spradlin are back on patrol after the conclusion of an Internal Affairs investigation about what happened the day Breaion King was slammed to the ground.
  The widely seen dash camera video of the June 2015 incident shows King being thrown to the ground by Richter following a traffic stop in southeast Austin.
  Officer Patrick Spradlin asked King in the back of the patrol car, “Why do you think so many people are afrai
  
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• Dow hits 20,000 following solid open for US stocks

  25-01-2017 16:16 via kxan.com
  
  The Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 20,000 mark for the first time in early trading Wednesday, the latest milestone in a record-setting drive for the stock market. The other major U.S. stock indexes were also moving higher, led by banks and other financial companies, as investors pored over the latest batch of company earnings and deal news.
  KEEPING SCORE: The Dow gained 108 points, or 0.6 percent, to 20,021 as of 9:58 a.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 11
  
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• Bolt loses 2008 Olympic relay gold in teammate’s doping case

  25-01-2017 16:05 via kxan.com
  
  LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Usain Bolt has lost one of his nine Olympic gold medals in a doping case involving teammate Nesta Carter.
  The IOC said Wednesday that Carter tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant, in re-analysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  Carter and Bolt were teammates on the winning 4×100-meter relay team, which also included Michael Frater and Asafa Powell.
  “The Jamaican team is disqualified,” the IOC said in a statement.
  
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• Chip Gaines of ‘Fixer Upper’ is getting his own store

  25-01-2017 15:50 via kxan.com
  
  WACO, TX (WCMH) – Chip Gaines, who stars in HGTV’s Fixer Upper along with his wife Joanna is getting his own store.
  The Dallas Morning News reports that Chip’s store will open in one of the former cottonseed silos that sits on the couple’s Magnolia Market property.
  Fedex Office also recently opened a kiosk in the Magnolia Market store so shoppers can ship purchases directly home.
  A spokesperson told the Dallas News that the product selection is still being developed, but
  
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• Three dead as car crashes into tree in Bastrop County

  25-01-2017 15:19 via kxan.com
  
  SMITHVILLE, Texas (KXAN) – Authorities in Bastrop are working a fatality crash involving a single car that hit a tree.
  The roadway at Farm to Market 2104 and Coyote Trail is closed as Texas Department of Public Safety investigators work to learn what happened.
  Three people in the vehicle are dead. It’s unknown the total number of people in the car.
  THIS STORY IS DEVELOPING
  
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• Car slams into tree killing three in Bastrop County

  25-01-2017 15:19 via kxan.com
  
  SMITHVILLE, Texas (KXAN) – A man and two women are dead in Bastrop County after the car they were in hit a tree Wednesday morning.
  The crash happened just before 8:30 a.m on Farm to Market 2104 and Coyote Trail. Texas Department of Public Safety investigators said the car was heading northbound when the driver suddenly veered into the southbound lane.
  The car hit a barbed wire fence before colliding with the tree. Three adults died in the crash.
  A male and female in the front seat wer
  
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• Dallas teacher blackmailed for $28,000 to hide relationship with student

  25-01-2017 15:02 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS, Texas (KXAN) – A Dallas teacher was arrested after authorities discovered she had paid $28,000 to cover up a sexual relationship she had with a student.
  According to KXAS, 27-year-old Thao Doan, a teacher at Quintanilla Middle School,  began having sex with a student in July 2015. She said it began as conversations via text messaging and social media before she picked the boy up at his home and drove to a nearby park where they had sex.
  Doan admitted they had sex numerous
  
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• Trump announces ‘major’ voter fraud investigation

  25-01-2017 14:59 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump tweeted early Wednesday that he is ordering a “major investigation” into voter fraud, revisiting unsubstantiated claims he’s made repeatedly about a rigged voting system.
  The investigation, he said, will look at those registered to vote in more than one state, “those who are illegal and … even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time).”
  Depending on results, Trump tweeted, “we will s
  
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• UPS owner tracks down owner of package 4 years after it went missing

  25-01-2017 14:17 via kxan.com
  
  GOLDEN VALLEY, MINNESOTA (NBC News) – If he wants, a shipping store owner may find some success moonlighting as a detective.
  A seemingly run-of-the-mill package started UPS store owner Randy Holst on a search that would last several years.
  The Minnesotan who sent the package had moved, and so had the person who was supposed to get the package. And since UPS shipped it, the box found its way on to Randy’s shelf.
  Even sending dozens of messages to possible relatives on Facebook.
  &ldquo
  
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• Trump to order investigation into ‘voter fraud, announce Supreme Court pick

  25-01-2017 13:39 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will order an investigation into voter fraud.
  The president tweeted early Wednesday that the measures will affect those registered to vote in more than one state, “those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time).”
  Trump says that “depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures.”
  Pres. Trump claims millions of illegal immigrants cost him the popular v
  
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• Caretaker missing after video captures her abusing 94-year-old Houston woman

  25-01-2017 13:34 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON, TX (WCMH) — Houston police are searching for the woman caught on camera abusing an elderly woman.
  In the video, the 94-year-old woman is sitting in her chair when the caretaker comes into the room.
  “Told you to stop feeding that dog that human food,” the caretaker, Brenda Floyd, 59, can be heard saying on the video.
  Floyd can be seen continually hitting the elderly woman.
  “She’s very frail, you can tell she’s scared and to have someone take advantage
  
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• Homeowner to police impersonators: ‘If you don’t get off my property, I’m going to shoot you’

  25-01-2017 13:00 via kxan.com
  
  INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A sudden pound and a knock at the door caught Craig Cammelot’s attention.
  When he opened it, two unknown men were standing in his doorway demanding to come inside. The uninvited guests told Cammelot they were with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and that they needed to step inside his home to check on his welfare. Cammelot asked the men for documentation.
  Suddenly one man flashed a badge, but the badge provided no details and gave no confirmation tha
  
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• Anti-sex trafficking legislation gets support at Capitol

  25-01-2017 12:49 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Several groups are expected to meet at the Texas Capitol Wednesday to rally in support of legislation and that target human trafficking in Texas.
  Texas accounts for almost 10 percent of all trafficking calls received by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, second only to California.
  Lawmakers are considering eight bills this session. But, the groups rallying today strongly support two of those eight bills.
  The first is House Bill 269. It allows trafficking victim
  
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• VIDEO: Train destroys FedEx 18-wheeler

  25-01-2017 12:28 via kxan.com
  
  SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KSL) – Utah police video that captured a train slamming into a semitrailer Saturday shows that the railroad crossing arms were not lowered or flashing to warn drivers.
  A North Salt Lake police officer was among the vehicles approaching the crossing at 10 a.m., and his dashboard camera recorded as the southbound FrontRunner train collided with a FedEx semitrailer pulling two trailers.
  The train crashed through the first of two trailers, missing the truck’s cab. T
  
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• Bahorich reappointed Texas Board of Education chairwoman

  25-01-2017 12:09 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Praising her “exemplary leadership,” Gov. Greg Abbott has reappointed Houston Republican Donna Bahorich chairwoman of Texas’ sometimes controversial Board of Education.
  Bahorich is less-outspoken then some board social conservatives, who long raised ideological objections when setting academic curriculums and approving textbooks.
  Abbott taps Donna Bahorich as new Board of Education chairwoman
  That bloc of Republicans helped emphasize conservative idea
  
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• 129 jobs coming as Georgetown gets Holt Cat facility

  25-01-2017 11:51 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) – The city of Georgetown is expecting an influx of $13 million over ten years and 129 new jobs when the largest Holt Cat retail location in the past 30 years hits the area.
  Holt Cat, a Caterpillar equipment dealer, will build their new 60,000-square-foot facility at 2101 Airport Road near the intersection of Lakeway Drive and I-35. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.
  Georgetown City Council approved the agreement at the January 24 meeti
  
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• Book publisher orders more copies of ‘1984’ after sales surge

  25-01-2017 11:32 via kxan.com
  
  (NEXSTAR) — We are just days into the Trump presidency and we’ve already been hit with historical lines of “alternative facts” and threats of “rethinking (the White House’s) relationship” with the media.
  It seems some of Kellyanne Conway’s tip-toeing around questions has triggered some déjà vu in the minds of some readers. According to an Associated Press report, George Orwell’s “1984” was one of Amazon’s top-s
  
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• After 60 years, El Gallo closing its doors on South Congress

  25-01-2017 05:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Only a handful of restaurants can say they’ve been in Austin before Interstate 35, and one of them is closing its doors this weekend.
  El Gallo first opened on South Congress Avenue in 1957 by Abraham and Maria Kennedy. Years later, their children took over the business. The restaurant has seen its own growth over the past few decades, but the city around it is growing much faster.
  “We’ve only raised prices a quarter — one quarter in five ye
  
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• Central Texas doctors see alarming spike in flu cases

  25-01-2017 04:13 via kxan.com
  
  CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) – Central Texas doctors are seeing a surge in flu cases.
  At Baylor Scott & White three weeks ago, doctors reported 63 cases of the flu. This past week that number jumped to 150 cases. Doctors are mainly treating the influenza A strain. “It’s concerning,” said Dr. Goddy Corpuz, pediatrician at Baylor Scott & White Cedar Park Clinic. “We don’t know if this is the actual peak, we will know in hindsight, weeks later.”
  Dr. Cor
  
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• Trump to move on border wall, restricting refugees this week

  25-01-2017 04:02 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration Wednesday, beginning with steps to tighten border security — including his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border — and other domestic immigration enforcement measures, according to two administration officials.
  Later in the week, the president is expected to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. The proposed plans include at least a four-month halt on all refugee
  
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• Travis Central Appraisal website temporarily downed by users

  25-01-2017 03:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Travis Central Appraisal District’s website was downed temporarily Tuesday by two users.
  Marya Crigler, chief appraiser for the district, said two users tried to bulk download information on 424,000 property parcels at the same time. The district’s IT department was able to identify the IP addresses of the users involved and blocked them.
  Crigler said they don’t know who was accessing the website or their motivations. She says the issue was r
  
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• Police: Ohio woman records video performing sex act on dog

  25-01-2017 02:19 via kxan.com
  
  WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – Warren Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a woman that they say was shown on video performing sexual acts on a dog.
  Amber Finney is the first to be charged with bestiality under the city’s new law.
  WKBN received a video from a viewer showing a woman participating in a sex act with a dog and brought it to police. Police then began an investigation.
  Last summer, Warren became the first Ohio city to make bestiality illegal.
  Under the new law, the crime
  
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• 6 things you’ll miss if Obamacare is repealed

  25-01-2017 02:11 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON D.C. (KASW) — With Obamacare near the chopping block, here are 6 things you will miss if it is repealed.
  President Trump is holding up his promise to remove the Affordable Care Act. Trump signed an executive order to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Future healthcare plans have yet to be fleshed out so it remains unclear what parts of Obamacare will stay. Here are 6 things you’ll miss if Obamacare is ended.
  1. You can’t be charged more based
  
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• Proposed Texas budgets downsize Gov. Abbott’s Pre-K initiative

  25-01-2017 01:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gov. Abbott’s pre-kindergarten emergency item could be getting a haircut this legislative session. Nearly every lawmaker in 2015 approved $118 million in grant funding for high quality early childhood programs. This year lawmakers’ total budget is smaller and so are the grants in their first form.
  This year the Texas Education Agency awarded $118 million in grants. To keep services the same, they’ve asked to continue the amount for each of the next tw
  
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• Austin’s curbside clothing pickup service faces cancellation

  25-01-2017 01:53 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin city council is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to cancel their contract with Simple Recycling for curbside pickup of unwanted clothes and other goods.
  The contract comes at no cost to the city and is meant to keep clothes out of the landfill. Currently, Simple Recycling is selling the clothes it collects to for-profit thrift stores in the Houston-area, according to a city memo.
  READ: Austin charities want curbside clothing pickup contract cancelled
  &
  
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• San Marcos looks at bond election for the first time in a decade

  25-01-2017 01:39 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — The city of San Marcos is preparing to ask the public to vote on two bond propositions totaling $31.7 million in the upcoming May election. If both propositions pass residents who own a $150,000 home will pay an extra $125 per year in taxes (with a tax rate of 8.37 cents per $100 valuation). Proposition 1 focuses on public safety, while Proposition 2 focuses on the expansion of the library.
  Proposition 1 focuses on public safety and would cost the city $19 millio
  
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• San Marcos asks voters to consider $31M bond for first time in decade

  25-01-2017 01:39 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — The city of San Marcos is preparing to ask the public to vote on two bond propositions totaling $31.7 million in the upcoming May election. If both propositions pass residents who own a $150,000 home will pay an extra $125 per year in taxes (with a tax rate of 8.37 cents per $100 valuation). Proposition 1 focuses on public safety, while Proposition 2 focuses on the expansion of the library.
  Proposition 1 focuses on public safety and would cost the city $19 millio
  
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