Austin news

• Gov. Abbott declares 6 Texas counties disasters after wildfires

  11-03-2017 23:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Gov. Greg Abbott has declared six Texas Panhandle counties disaster areas following deadly wildfires.
  Abbott issued the proclamation Saturday to help clear the way for government assistance in Gray, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts and Wheeler counties.
  A statement from Abbott says Texas officials have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a disaster designation to activate the agency’s emergency loan program. The funds would be used to help eligible
  
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• Neighbors’ suspicions led police to bust a ‘spa’ for prostitution

  11-03-2017 23:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police say citizens are the eyes and ears of the community. A prostitution case in east Austin goes to show a concerned and curious neighbor can make a difference.
  On Tuesday, Austin police received an email from someone who lived near “Pinky’s Spa.” The neighbor says they saw “very sketchy, suspicious people coming in and out of there late at night.”
  Neighbors took it a step further and jumped online to see if they could find any inform
  
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• Spreading a ‘Culture of Good’ this SXSW

  11-03-2017 22:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The South by Southwest Festival is finally here. For one company, they are using the festival to encourage others to pay it forward throughout the week.
  As part of their three-month bus tour, Culture of Good has launched a social media campaign which gives SXSW-goers a chance to share their good deeds online. All you have to do is share your picture on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #cultureofgood.
  For every good-deed photo shared during
  
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• Texas State upsets UTA in Sun Belt semifinals

  11-03-2017 22:13 via kxan.com
  
  NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bobby Conley scored 16 points and Immanuel King scored 11 of his 13 in the first half when Texas State built a nine-point lead and went on to upset top-seeded UT Arlington 83-62 on Saturday.Nijal Pearson added 14 points, Kavin Tilbury-Gilder 12 and Nedeljko Prijovic 11 for the fourth-seeded Bobcats (20-12), who will play the winner of No. 2 seed Georgia State and No. 6 seed Troy for the conference championship on Sunday. Texas State shot 53 percent.
  The Bobcats reached 2
  
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• Getting healthy with Dell Children’s 5K and Family Fun Fair

  11-03-2017 21:53 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Spring is a perfect time to get outside and get moving. Not just for adults, but for kids, too.
  To keep children and their families active, Dell Children’s Medical Center is hosting their annual 5K and Family Fun Fair.
  The event, which benefits the Texas Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Obesity, will be held at the medical center Saturday, April 8.
  Dr. Stephen Pont, pediatrician and medical director for the TCPTCO, visited the KXAN studio and spoke
  
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• Federal judges find Texas gerrymandered maps on racial lines

  11-03-2017 20:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Federal judges found more problems in Texas’ voting rights laws, ruling that Republicans racially gerrymandered some congressional districts to weaken the growing electoral power of minorities, who former President Barack Obama set out to protect at the ballot box before leaving office.
  The ruling late Friday by a three-judge panel in San Antonio gave Democrats hope of new, more favorably drawn maps that could turn over more seats in Congress in 2018. But the jud
  
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• Report: Missed opportunities led to 2016 Texas balloon crash

  11-03-2017 20:23 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANTONIO (AP) — An investigation by the San Antonio Express-News has found that U.S. regulators ignored expert warnings that hot-air balloons like one that crashed in July in Texas, killing 16 people, have higher accident rates than other aircraft and similar fatality rates.
  The newspaper said its review of government documents and internal emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and testimony given at a federal hearing show a “bleak picture of missed opportuniti
  
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• Man injured in overnight East Austin shooting

  11-03-2017 18:42 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Police are investigating an overnight shooting that injured a man in East Austin early Saturday morning.
  It happened before 2 a.m. in the 1100 block of Leona Street near Rosewood Avenue.
  Austin police say medics transported a man to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his shoulder and believe his injuries were minor.
  Police say there is no danger to the public.
  No further information has been released.
  
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• Secret Service: Person arrested on White House grounds

  11-03-2017 17:38 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Secret Service says a person is under arrest after climbing a fence and getting onto the south grounds of the White House.
  The breach happened at about 11:38 p.m. Friday. President Donald Trump was at the White House.
  The agency says the individual — whom it did not identify — was arrested without further incident. No hazardous materials were found during a search of a backpack the individual carried.
  The Secret Service also says a search of the south
  
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• Weekend Gardener: Maintaining cover crops

  11-03-2017 16:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you want to make sure you have healthy soil in your garden, cover crops can help.
  Weekend Gardner Expert John Dromgoole said a good cover crop to plant is red clover because it fixes nitrogen into the soil. When planted in the fall, red clovers can break down on tough soil and create compost in time to fertilize more plants in the spring, he said.
  Dromgoole, who owns the Natural Gardener off of Bee Caves Road, has tips how to maintain cover crops over time.
  
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• AISD freshening up the school lunch line with local, organic options

  11-03-2017 05:23 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Chances are you’ve heard of farm-to-table, but have you heard of farm-to-school?
  It’s a movement picking up momentum in the Austin Independent School District.
  “We’re committed to providing Austin ISD students with tasty, healthy food, while sourcing locally and sustainable whenever possible,” said Anneliese Tanner, AISD Food Services director.
  The district recently made the switch to all pasture-raised eggs from Vital Farms, an Austin com
  
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• Protective orders could get needed extensions with proposed law

  11-03-2017 05:14 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — Each year, thousands of Texas families fall victim to domestic violence. In San Marcos, one local organization says they are seeing a steady increase in the number of their clients seeking a protective order to escape the violence.
  Unfortunately, sometimes that protective order isn’t long enough, but if passed a new state bill could change that.
  Texas representatives are always looking at ways to make life a little better, whether that’s on the road,
  
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• Family of mother, daughter killed in crash sue Lyft

  11-03-2017 04:54 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — A local family is suing Lyft after a mother and daughter died in an October 2015 crash in Round Rock. They say their Uber driver was trying to access the Lyft app to schedule another ride when the driver made a left turn, pulling in front of another car. Irene Edwards and her daughter Kate were killed in the crash.
  The lawsuit claims Lyft is responsible because its app allows drivers to access it while driving for other companies.
  Loved ones say their l
  
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• Low-level marijuana possession penalties could be reduced with new bill

  11-03-2017 03:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — State lawmakers will hear public testimony Monday on House Bill 81, which would reduce penalties for low-level marijuana possession.
  “House Bill 81 would eliminate the arrest, the jail time, and most importantly, the criminal record currently associated with small amounts of marijuana,” explained Heather Fazio, the Texas political director for the Marijuana Policy Project. “The bill will recalibrate penalties for low-level possession, making it a simple ti
  
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• Man stabbed in east Austin dies from his injuries

  11-03-2017 03:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man who was stabbed in east Austin Friday evening has died from his injuries. While police do not have a suspect in custody, they say there is not a threat to the public.
  A 911 call at 7:53 p.m. brought officers to the bus stop at Seventh and Comal Street. Austin-Travis County EMS medics performed CPR on the man as they took him to University Medical Center Brackenridge, where he was pronounced dead.
  The man, who police say is around 50 years old, was initially repor
  
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• CPR performed on man after east Austin stabbing

  11-03-2017 03:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin-Travis County EMS medics performed CPR on a man as they took him to the hospital after he was stabbed in east Austin, Friday.
  Medics responded to the intersection of East Seventh Street and Comal Street at 7:51 p.m. The man has critical, life-threatening injuries.
  Austin police say they do not know if the stabbing was intentional or accidental.
  
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• Man accused of robbing Georgetown bank while wearing traffic vest arrested

  11-03-2017 03:02 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — Calvin Dejuan Patterson, accused of robbing the Compass Bank in Georgetown last week, has been arrested.
  Georgetown police say Patterson was identified through evidence collected at the robbery scene.
  Officers notified Killeen police who then arrested Patterson, who is from Killeen. He is currently being held in the Bell County Jail.
  Police were called to the bank on West Spring Street at around 4:25 p.m. on March 3 after the suspect, who did not show a weapon, g
  
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• Sunday night’s Daylight Saving Time change could affect road safety

  11-03-2017 02:39 via kxan.com
  
  COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA)—Daylight saving time starts this Sunday morning at 2 a.m., meaning you should set your clocks ahead one hour when you go to bed Saturday night. That loss of one hour’s sleep can have serious consequences.
  A study by a doctoral student at the University of Colorado-Boulder found that fatal crashes increased by about six percent in the six days right after the spring time change when people lose sleep. The increase was 17 percent on the Monday right after the chan
  
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• Austin Fire collisions decline as zero tolerance policy is enforced

  11-03-2017 02:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin’s Fire Department reports collisions with other vehicles or fixed objects are down more than a third — 36 percent — this year since the chief began docking firefighters’ pay in October.
  A KXAN analysis shows much of the same trend – preventable collisions dropping from a high of 10 in Feb 2016 to 4 in the final months of the year.
  When you’re driving a fire truck there’s plenty to collide with: curbs, overhanging tr
  
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• From tech to politics: What’s new at SXSW Interactive

  11-03-2017 02:24 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Downtown Austin has been shutdown and transformed, thousands of people have their badges — South by Southwest is officially underway. The two-week festival kicked off Friday with the interactive portion.
  The technology conference is billed as an inspiration, idea-sharing, networking event. It’s considered the place to be for creators and tech-pros with a focus on startups, media and more than ever — politics.
  For 2017, SXSW made some big changes for b
  
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• AISD dad shares message of love after son’s death from cancer

  11-03-2017 02:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A cable technician for 16 years, Freddy Zamora never imagined he’d be in a middle school gym speaking to hundreds of sixth graders. His message is simple: spread love.
  Zamora lost his 18-year-old son, Freddy Jr., to cancer in 2012. By the time it was diagnosed, the cancer had spread all over his body.
  “Anything he needed, anything he ever wanted, daddy was there to fix it, but that day we found he had cancer, he looked at me and was like ‘Da
  
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• Year later, Trump supporter, man he sucker-punched at rally get lunch

  11-03-2017 01:27 via kxan.com
  
  FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN/AP) — A Donald Trump supporter who was caught on video sucker-punching a protester at a Fayetteville rally in March 2016 sat down with the protester to discuss the last and how they are moving forward.
  CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM McGRAW’S COURT APPEARANCEJohn Franklin McGraw, 79, of Linden, was captured on video punching Rakeem Jones as he was being escorted out of the rally by Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office deputies. The video was tweeted by Ne
  
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• Dell ‘Experience’ will showcase new tech at SXSW

  11-03-2017 01:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — South by Southwest often introduces us to the next big idea.
  Dell Technologies hopes their ‘Experience,’ debuting Friday at South by Southwest, will be a proper showcase of the things they’ve been working on.
  The interactive pop-up shows off some of their latest technology solutions driving human progress; things like virtual reality, security, open source, entrepreneurship and creativity. There are also plenty of new things for video gamers.
  It’s no
  
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• Silent march held to memorialize DWI deaths in Texas

  11-03-2017 00:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A silent and emotional tribute to people killed by drunk drivers circled the state capitol today as AAA Texas hosted the fifth annual DWI March for Change on the eve of Spring Break.
  The latest numbers from the Texas Department of Transportation show more than 24,000 alcohol-related traffic crashes which claimed nearly 1,000 in Texas in 2015. AAA says DWI crashes typically increase during spring break, which, starts today for many students in Texas.
  “Indescr
  
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• ‘Bridges of Madison County’ author dies in Fredericksburg home

  11-03-2017 00:34 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Robert James Waller, whose best-selling, bittersweet 1992 romance novel “The Bridges of Madison County” was turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and later into a soaring Broadway musical, has died in Texas, according to a longtime friend. He was 77.
  Scott Cawelti, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, told The Associated Press that Waller died early Friday at his home in Fredericksburg, Texas. He had been fighting multiple myeloma, a form of cancer.
  In &
  
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