Austin news

• State of Texas: In-depth – Sanctuary Standoff

  04-02-2017 23:38 via kxan.com
  
  Yolanda Garza Birdwell was one of hundreds of people drawn to the State Capitol on Thursday by the controversy over Senate Bill 4. “This is racist.  This is not acceptable.  And we are here to reject it!”  Birdwell said as she stood in a crowd outside the Senate chambers.  More than 450 people signed up to speak at a committee hearing on the bill.  Like Birdwell, who said she’s a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Mexico, most of the speakers voiced
  
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• Super Bowl attendees visit house decorated with 50K beer cans

  04-02-2017 23:08 via kxan.com
  
  We’ve seen a lot of beautiful and unique places here this week in Houston, but this house may be at the top of the list for creativity and dedication.
  Let’s introduce you to The Beer Can House.
  It’s an iconic house and it says Houston all over it.
  What started as a normal house on Malone street in Houston has turned into an aluminum masterpiece.
  Que Byers, Supervising Docent for Orange Show Center/Beer Can House, talks about John Milkovisch. He started starting decorating his y
  
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• Kyle police investigating body found at Steeplechase Park

  04-02-2017 22:31 via kxan.com
  
  KYLE, Texas (KXAN) – The Kyle Police Department are investigating the death of a man in Steeplechase Park Saturday afternoon.
  According to Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett, officers do not believe the case is criminal in nature and that it is an isolated incident. Police say there is no threat to the public at this time.
  Hays County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace has been called to the scene.
  Kyle Police say no additional information will be released until next of kin has been notified.
  
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• Texas Boys Scouts celebrate accomplishments at annual Report to State Parade

  04-02-2017 22:11 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The annual Report to State Parade brings Boy Scouts all across Texas together to celebrate Scout achievements. On Saturday, more than 3,500 of them joined at the Texas Capitol for its 68th year.
  To commemorate some of their accomplishments, an Eagle Scout Rededication Ceremony was held to honor those who have completed the highest rank in the Boy Scouting program.The requirements to earn this rank are a minimum of 21 badges, and only 5 percent of Boy Scouts who enroll ever
  
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• 3-year-old found with full diaper in middle of northeast Austin road

  04-02-2017 20:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – An Austin mother has been charged with child abandonment after her 3-year-old was found wandering a northeast Austin road Thursday night.
  According to a police affidavit, a woman driving in the 9600 block of Teasdale Terrace around 9:17 p.m said she had spotted the young girl in the road. She told police she originally thought what she saw was the shadow of a dog crossing the road and had nearly hit it. When she got out of her car to help the child, the child reac
  
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• Trayvon Martin’s parents write book on 5-year anniversary

  04-02-2017 20:15 via kxan.com
  
  It wasn’t supposed to take Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin five years to write a book about the death of their son, Trayvon Martin. But their grief has made finding the words unbearable until now.
  Martin’s parents collaborated to write “Rest In Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin,” published Tuesday by Spiegel & Grau. The book recounts the journey of two grieving parents, thrust into the spotlight by tragedy and on some days, still as close to their loss as the
  
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• Trump lashes out a federal judge over ruling on travel ban

  04-02-2017 17:30 via kxan.com
  
  PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at “this so-called judge” who put a nationwide hold on his executive order denying entry to the U.S. to refugees and to people from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The ruling set in motion another weekend of confusion and chaos around the country.
  The White House pledged to swiftly appeal the federal judge’s ruling late Friday, but that didn’t appear to be enough for Trump, who vented his frust
  
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• Uber buying plane fare for drivers stranded by Trump ban

  04-02-2017 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Uber CEO Travis Kalanick says his company is buying plane tickets for stranded drivers now that a federal judge has put a hold on President Donald Trump’s ban on travel to the United States by people from seven Muslim-majority countries.
  Kalanick tweeted Friday night that the head of litigation for the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company is “buying a whole bunch of airline tickets ASAP!”
  He added, “#homecoming #fingerscrossed.”
  U.S. Distri
  
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• How to sound like an NFL fan while watching the Super Bowl

  04-02-2017 16:36 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — If you’re among the millions of people who watch precisely one NFL game each year, yet want to sound like a real football fan during Sunday’s Super Bowl, The Associated Press has you covered.
  This guide includes talking points for some of the biggest storylines and critical characters that everyone will be watching and discussing when the New England Patriots face the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 in Houston:
  New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady does an
  
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• Weekend Gardener: Cold season planting

  04-02-2017 15:48 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – While the winter weather has been kind of mild, colder temperatures are in the forecast. Wondering if you can still get your planting done?
  The Natural Gardener’s John Dromgoole has the tips you need to be a planting master.
  The key? Good soil.
  
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• Mom dies in fire, sacrificing herself for newborn daughter

  04-02-2017 15:19 via kxan.com
  
  WYOMING, IL (KWQC) – A new mother and her 12-day-old baby girl were in their Illinois home when a fire broke out Monday morning.
  Wyoming Fire Chief Ed Fogelsonger says Shelby Carter strapped her baby girl in a car seat before dropping her out of a window to save her life.
  Fire crews found Carter deceased on the second floor of the home near a window.
  Carter turned 21 years old on Sunday, the day before the fire. People who knew her say that was the first day she spent as a mother before ma
  
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• Valentine’s Day is also a day to consider kidney health

  04-02-2017 15:04 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Mayor Steve Adler declared February 14th the day when hundreds of advocates will descend on the Capitol to increase awareness about the need for kidney health funding.
  One in three Americans is at risk for kidney disease and more than 30 million already have it.
  Texas has the largest number of end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in the nation. These are dialysis or kidney transplant patients.
  Early kidney disease usually has no symptoms. The only way to know if you have
  
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• Singing national anthem at Super Bowl will be ‘highlight’ for Luke Bryan

  04-02-2017 14:48 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (MEDIA GENERAL) — Country star Luke Bryan has 17 No. 1 hit songs and has sold more than 27 million singles but he says Sunday, singing the national anthem at Super Bowl LI, will be a moment he never forgets.
  “It’ll be certainly a highlight of my career, in my entertainment life, to be able to walk out there, and hopefully perform the anthem in the way that I’ve always dreamed I would do it,” he said.
  Anyone who’s listened to his songs knows Bryan likes
  
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• Protesters in opposition to Travis Co. cuts rally outside Governor’s Mansion

  04-02-2017 05:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — “Immigrants are welcome here, don’t give in to racist fear,” the group of about 100 chanted outside the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, Friday night.
  Many were protesting several immigration items, including rumors about Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids coming to Travis County.
  One woman KXAN spoke with said she was there for her two grandchildren. “I don’t want them to be raised in a world where they are condemned for who they are
  
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• Austin bar pours energy into party and safety for the Big Game

  04-02-2017 04:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin bars are filling up fast on this Friday night, but many are pouring most of their energy into Sunday.
  “I’d like to see the Falcons win,” said Jessica Lombardi, general manager at Dogwood Rock Rose at the Domain. “I think they’ve kinda been the underdogs this entire season.”
  She says they could be close to capacity with more than 700 football fans on game day drawn in by their 38 televisions screens, plus a 40-foot pr
  
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• How technology could help Austin police prevent shootings

  04-02-2017 03:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gunfire erupted. Screams followed. A woman died.
  Innocent bystander Teqnika Marie Moultrie, 30, died after she was shot while walking down a crowded sidewalk on Sixth Street with her wife and friends last summer. In that case, cellphone video captured the sounds of gunfire. Even though police were nearby, they weren’t able to catch the suspected shooter, Endicott McCray until several days later.
  On New Year’s, a bullet struck a woman in the leg while she wa
  
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• Man who torched ex-girlfriend’s car, broke out of cop car gets 15 years

  04-02-2017 03:09 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Jesse Ocampo was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for felony arson, after torching his ex-girlfriend’s car in an Austin apartment complex parking lot.
  The Travis County District Attorney’s Office says Ocampo faced 2 to 20 years in prison and a possible $10,000 fine. He pled to 15 years after DA’s office investigators unearthed disturbing information about other crimes after the arson, the office said.
  Investigators learned he fled to Dallas where he
  
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• Attorney: Nearly $52M in Ike damage claims are pending

  04-02-2017 03:03 via kxan.com
  
  GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A lawyer representing a group of Gulf coast cities and school districts says they’re still owed nearly $52 million by the state’s windstorm insurer from damage caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
  Attorney Shaun Hodge tells The Galveston County Daily News that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, a division of the Texas Department of Insurance, has “delayed every step of the way.”
  The city of La Marque and the Texas City school district are
  
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• Weed 101: Colorado agriculture agency shares pot know-how

  04-02-2017 02:40 via kxan.com
  
  DENVER (AP) — North Carolina wants to know if marijuana could one day replace tobacco as a cash crop. Louisiana is wondering how pot holds up in high humidity. And Washington state has questions about water supplies for weed.
  Colorado agriculture officials this week briefed officials from about a dozen states — some that have legalized weed, others that joked their states will legalize pot “when hell freezes over” — on the basics of marijuana farming and swapped sto
  
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• US added a healthy 227K jobs last month; rate up to 4.8 pct.

  04-02-2017 02:37 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers stepped up hiring last month, adding a healthy 227,000 jobs, and more Americans began looking for work, a sign that President Donald Trump has inherited a robust job market.
  January’s job gain was the best since September and exceeded last year’s average monthly gain of 187,000, the Labor Department reported Friday.
  The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.8 percent last month from 4.7 percent in December. But the rate rose for a mostly
  
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• Trump inherits a healthy job market, with solid hiring

  04-02-2017 02:37 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has inherited a healthy-looking job market from his predecessor, with the U.S. economy registering a burst of hiring in January and an influx of Americans looking for work.
  U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday . That’s the biggest gain since September, and it exceeded last year’s monthly average of 187,000.
  Unemployment ticked up to a still-low 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in December. But it ros
  
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• Zilker Kite Festival will be around for at least another half century

  04-02-2017 01:37 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin favorite will be around for 50 more years.
  ABC Home and Commercial Services has signed a 50-year pledge with the Exchange Club of Austin to host the ABC Zilker Kite Festival. The festival has been going on since 1929, making it the oldest kite festival in the country.
  Bobby Jenkins, owner of ABC, said, “It’s an absolute tradition and kickoff to springtime, kickoff to the event festival time of the year. But more than anything it’s about
  
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• US judge temporarily blocks Trump’s travel ban nationwide

  04-02-2017 01:33 via kxan.com
  
  SEATTLE (AP) — A U.S. judge on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries after Washington state and Minnesota urged a nationwide hold on the executive order that has launched legal battles across the country.
  U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled against government lawyers’ claims that the states did not have the standing to challenge Trump’s order and said they showed their case was likely to s
  
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• Texas bets big money on Super Bowl LI

  04-02-2017 01:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texas has a lot riding on Super Bowl LI. The state is betting on an economic boom that many experts say will be significantly smaller than current estimates. Texas set aside $25.4 million to help Houston pay to play host to Super Bowl LI.
  The state’s Major Events Trust Fund uses tax money to cover the cost of Super Bowl preparations and activities. The state will pay out the reimbursement after the game and the final amount will be determined by how much money the
  
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• 6 kids injured after SUV crashes into Texas day care center

  04-02-2017 01:24 via kxan.com
  
  CIBOLO, Texas (AP) — Six children were injured after a woman crashed her SUV into a San Antonio-area day care center.
  Police say the elderly woman was trying to park in front of the day care in Cibolo on Friday morning when she somehow accelerated instead of applying her brakes.
  The SUV drove through the front of the day care, which had 40 children inside.
  Six of the children inside were taken to local hospitals and treated for mainly minor injuries. One child suffered rib injuries. The dr
  
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• In wake of grant cuts, Travis County launches fundraising site

  04-02-2017 00:44 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Ever since Gov. Greg Abbott cut $1.5 million in grant money to Travis County earlier this week in response to Sheriff Sally Hernandez’ new ICE detention policy, GoFundMe campaigns have started popping up in an effort to raise money for the county and its programs.
  While Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt says she is encouraged by all the people who want to help, she wanted to make sure any donations being made would be managed properly and tax-exempt. On Friday, worki
  
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• Ranked: Big game party foods

  04-02-2017 00:27 via kxan.com
  
  (NEXSTAR MEDIA) — A select group of fans will get to enjoy Super Bowl LI in Houston, but the rest of us will enjoy Sunday’s big game on our couches or at parties across the world.
  The game is a key element for enjoyment, yes, and some people for some reason still like the goofy, expensive commercials. But, let’s be real, the day centers around the food spread.
  Bad snacks will wreck any party. Are you looking to impress your friends or family? You have to avoid the hack snacks a
  
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• Expert: ICE raids in Central Texas highly unlikely

  04-02-2017 00:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As uncertainty grows about how local and federal agencies are handling immigration issues, rumors are flying about possible “massive” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids coming to Central Texas, but some in the community are calling those claims wrong and irresponsible.
  “I think the noise is getting a little out of control,” said Kevin Lashus, an immigration lawyer and former prosecutor for Homeland Security who specialized in handling de
  
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• 37 undocumented immigrants released from Travis Co. Jail with new policy

  04-02-2017 00:07 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thirty-seven inmates were released from the custody of the Travis County Sheriff’s Office after the release of their ICE detainer on Wednesday.
  Sheriff Sally Hernandez’s new policy, which went into effect on Feb. 1, prohibits deputies and jailers from asking about someone’s immigration status and limits how they will work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
  One hundred and ninety-one people with ICE detainers held Tuesday&nb
  
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