Austin news

• UT murder suspect will not be offered a plea deal, DA says

  16-03-2017 23:46 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Travis County district attorney says they will not be offering any kind of plea deal to Meechaiel Criner, the teenager charged with capital murder in the death of University of Texas at Austin student Haruka Weiser.
  Criner, 18, pleaded not guilty in the case. Because he was 17 years old at the time of the homicide, Criner is not eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
  Over the past few months, there have been numerous back-and-forths between the prosecution and def
  
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• Motorcyclist killed on US 290 near Dripping Springs identified

  16-03-2017 20:50 via kxan.com
  
  HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) —  A motorcyclist who died in a crash on US 290 near Dripping Springs Tuesday evening has been identified.
  The Texas Department of Public Safety says the motorcyclist, Robert Dunn, 55, from Austin was going eastbound on the highway when he lost control of his bike and began sliding near the intersection of Sawyer Ranch Road just after 7 p.m. Dunn died at the scene.
  No other vehicles were involved in the crash. Authorities are still trying to determine wh
  
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• Fully autonomous mini-buses are ‘the future of public transportation’

  16-03-2017 20:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Capital Metro is using South by Southwest to showcase, what they’re calling, ‘the future of public transportation.’
  On March 16 and 17 free rides will be given on a first come, first served basis in the new EasyMile EZ10 autonomous shuttle.
  “Because transit is not a one-size-fits-all solution to mobility challenges, we are actively working to identify cost-effective technologies that will allow us to better match our services to the needs of the comm
  
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• Southwestern University faces 2nd Title IX sexual assault investigation

  16-03-2017 18:50 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A new sexual assault case at Southwestern University in Georgetown is being investigated by the Office of Civil Rights. The Title IX investigation into campus sexual violence was launched on March 13.
  This is the second investigation since the first one launched in February of 2016. The Office of Civil Rights does not discuss details of its investigations. But in an email from the SU president to students last year, Edward Burger wrote, “The Office of Civil
  
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• 2nd Title IX sexual assault investigation underway at Southwestern Univ.

  16-03-2017 18:50 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A new sexual assault case at Southwestern University in Georgetown is being investigated by the Office of Civil Rights. The Title IX investigation into campus sexual violence was launched on March 13.
  This is the second investigation since the first one launched in February of 2016. When KXAN News checked with the university in December regarding the first investigation, the school said they hadn’t heard back from the Office of Civil Rights since that
  
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• New York court to determine if chimp is legally a person

  16-03-2017 18:45 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Should a chimpanzee be treated as a person with legal rights?
  That’s what attorney Steven Wise tried to convince a state appeals court in Manhattan of on Thursday. Wise, who represents the Florida-based Nonhuman Rights Project animal advocacy group, argued that two chimps named Tommy and Kiko should be freed from cages to live in an outdoor sanctuary.
  Wise has been trying for years, unsuccessfully, to get courts to grant the chimps habeas corpus in order to, he says,
  
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• Texas faces at least $21 million in wildfire damages

  16-03-2017 18:30 via kxan.com
  
  AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — Texas ranchers are facing at least $21 million in agricultural damages from wildfires that blackened more than 750 square miles in the Texas Panhandle last week.
  Economist Steve Amosson tells the San Antonio Express-News (that damages last week included $6.1 million in lost pastureland; $6.1 million in lost or damaged fencing; $3.8 million in lost buildings; $4 million in livestock deaths; and $1 million for emergency hay and feed.
  Amosson says long term effects will
  
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• Man cites typo, stress as reasons he viewed child porn, documents say

  16-03-2017 18:26 via kxan.com
  
  WAYNESBORO, Pa. (WHTM) – A man is in a Pennsylvania jail after an investigation into the sharing of child pornography.
  Andrew Douglas Moats, 29, was arrested and charged Monday with felony counts of dissemination of images of child sex acts, child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility.
  The Waynesboro resident downloaded a video file using a file sharing program in November that showed a nude female obviously under the age of 18 years old, according to a criminal complain
  
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• DUI suspect drives home with victim’s motorcycle lodged in front bumper

  16-03-2017 17:36 via kxan.com
  
  MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG/KXAN) — In some situations, it might be difficult for authorities to gather enough evidence regarding driving while intoxicated cases, but for one Alabama man, police say the evidence was stuck to his bumper.
  Mobile police were called to a crash Wednesday morning where a motorcyclist was taken to the hospital after being hit by a driver that left the scene. Police were told the man who hit him had driven off in his Jeep with the motorcycle still attached to his front bum
  
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• San Marcos city employees at risk of identify theft due to email scam

  16-03-2017 16:52 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – Every person employed by the city of San Marcos in 2016 is at risk of identity theft after the city says an employee was targeted in a “spear phishing” email. The city tells KXAN News 803 employees’ information was compromised.
  In an email sent to all city employees, the acting city manager, Steve Parker, says his department learned about the situation on Tuesday. Parker says the city employee responded to a targeted “spear phishing”
  
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• Hundreds of W2s stolen from city of San Marcos in email scam

  16-03-2017 16:52 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – Every person employed by the city of San Marcos in 2016 is at risk of identity theft after the city says an employee was targeted in a “spear phishing” email. The city tells KXAN News 803 employees’ information was compromised.
  In an email sent to all city employees, the acting city manager, Steve Parker, says his department learned about the situation on Tuesday. Parker says the city employee responded to a targeted “spear phishing”
  
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• McDonald’s investigating hack after tweet calls Trump ‘disgusting excuse of a President’

  16-03-2017 16:18 via kxan.com
  
  (NEXSTAR MEDIA) — It appears McDonald’s is the latest victim of a Twitter hack.
  A tweet was sent out Thursday morning from the company’s corporate account calling President Trump a “disgusting excuse of a President.”
  Published at 6:16 a.m., the tweet read, “@realDonaldTrump You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have @BarackObama back, also you have tiny hands.”
  It was pinned to the top of the McDonald’s Twitter ac
  
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• Hyundai recalls 978,000 cars; seat belts can come loose

  16-03-2017 16:01 via kxan.com
  
  DETROIT (AP) – Hyundai is recalling nearly 978,000 cars in the U.S. because the front seat belts could detach in a crash and fail to hold people.
  The recall covers Sonata midsize sedans from the 2011 through 2014 model years, and the Sonata hybrid from 2011 through 2015.
  Hyundai says in government documents that a fastener for a seat belt anchor may not have been fully latched during assembly. If that happens the belts can detach.
  The company says it knows of one minor injury caused by the
  
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• House panel approves troubled GOP health care bill

  16-03-2017 15:52 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Budget Committee has voted to advance the troubled Republican health care bill.
  Three conservative GOP lawmakers voted against the measure. That’s one vote shy of what would have been needed to deal a damaging and embarrassing — but not fatal — setback to the party’s showpiece legislation.
  Even so, the tally underscored the challenge Republican leaders face in trying to round up votes for the measure. They hope to bring it to the full Hou
  
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• Austin abortion clinic closed in 2014 to reopen in April

  16-03-2017 15:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin abortion clinic that closed in spring of 2014 will reopen nearly nine months after the Supreme Court rejected a Texas law which shut down clinics across the state.
  Whole Woman’s Health’s reopening will mean Texas will have 19 abortion facilities, down from 41 when House Bill 2 was passed by lawmakers in 2013. The Supreme Court called the bill unconstitutional, saying its admitting privileges and surgical center requirements placed a “substantial
  
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• Austin abortion clinic closed in 2013 to reopen in April

  16-03-2017 15:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin abortion clinic that closed in 2013 will reopen nearly nine months after the Supreme Court rejected a Texas law which shut down clinics across the state.
  Whole Woman’s Health’s reopening will mean Texas will have 19 abortion facilities, down from 41 when House Bill 2 was passed by lawmakers in 2013. The Supreme Court called the bill unconstitutional, saying its admitting privileges and surgical center requirements placed a “substantial obstacle&r
  
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• State to oversee APD DNA lab when it reopens

  16-03-2017 14:24 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After closing down last summer the Austin Police Department’s DNA lab is set to reopen with some major changes.
  Assistant Chief Troy Gay said a proposed deal would see the state oversee day-to-day operations.
  The Department of Public Safety Capital Area Regional Lab will receive $800 thousand a year from the city of Austin.
  Austin could be without a DNA lab for two years, police say
  APD would have no oversight or management of the lab.
  City Council is set to take
  
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• Letter bomb explodes at France office of IMF, injuring 1

  16-03-2017 14:10 via kxan.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — A letter exploded Thursday at the French office of the International Monetary Fund, lightly injuring one person, amid heightened security around Europe after a string of deadly attacks.
  The incident came as a Greek anarchist group claimed responsibility for a failed letter bomb sent to the German Finance Ministry on Wednesday.
  After Thursday’s explosion in Paris, staff from the IMF office were evacuated and armed military officers and police guarded the area, in a chic d
  
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• Woman beats cancer twice, then dies in crash after final chemo treatment

  16-03-2017 13:55 via kxan.com
  
  ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A day after her last round of chemotherapy, an Anderson County woman was killed in a car accident.
  A trash truck hit Estelle Josephine Wood’s car on the driver side at the intersection of S.C. 24 and Whitehall Road around noon last Friday.
  “Miss Jo,” as everyone called her, was taken to AnMed Hospital where she died.
  7News’ coverage partners at the Anderson Independent Mail first reported the story of “Miss Jo.”
  The mo
  
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• VIDEO: How to survive getting kidnapped and locked in a trunk

  16-03-2017 13:47 via kxan.com
  
  (WIAT) — The story of a 25-year-old woman who escaped a nightmare situation after she was kidnapped, locked in her own trunk, driven around by her kidnapper, and forced to withdraw money from ATM’s is shocking Birmingham
  Fortunately, the woman survived with few injuries, but her story is making some people take a second look at their own trunks.
  Keith Czeskleba with the Hoover Police Department says there are steps you can take if you find yourself in that situation. Every vehic
  
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• Could Garth Brooks be headlining SXSW Saturday night?

  16-03-2017 13:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Rumors are starting to go around that a special someone may be headlining SXSW on Saturday night.
  Let’s look at the facts.
  We know that country superstar Garth Brooks is a keynote speaker Friday with Amazon Music’s Vice President, Steve Boom.
  Local teen builds with Jimmy Carter, Garth Brooks for Habitat for Humanity
  Brooks announced a ‘very special’ press conference for Friday morning at 11. It’s not known what he plans on announcing
  
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• HALO cameras lead police to duo who fired shots into air downtown

  16-03-2017 11:52 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN)- Austin Police arrested a driver and their passenger Thursday morning for firing shots into the air in Downtown Austin.
  No one was hurt in the shooting which happened around 3 a.m. near the intersection of 7th Street and Red River Street.
  Police say they were able to track the car down quickly because of HALO Cameras and because there are more officers on patrol due to South by Southwest.
  Police say the passenger was firing into the air and not at anyone in particular.
  
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• Suspect in early morning chase wanted for multiple robberies

  16-03-2017 11:20 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The man chased by police after a robbery — in what became an early morning SWAT situation Thursday — appears to be the suspect in as many as three robberies and aggravated robberies, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office says.
  Alfonso Miguel Chapa, 28, ran from deputies in what they call a “very short” car and foot chase. They lost the suspect, but arrested a woman in the car and confiscated 2 firearms and a substantial amount of nar
  
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• Possibly armed suspect prompts SWAT callout on Dessau Road

  16-03-2017 11:20 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY (KXAN) – Law enforcement officials said SWAT and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers are responding to a situation on Dessau Road.
  We’re told the call began at 2:00 a.m. at 9701 Dessau Road, the Cameron Business Park.
  Officials say one person is inside a business and refusing to come out. A business owner on scene waiting to open for the day told Alicia Inns police informed him the suspect had a weapon when they entered the building.
  No other details have be
  
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• Cash for trash: Egyptians in Cairo can sell their garbage

  16-03-2017 05:18 via kxan.com
  
  CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians stood in line Wednesday outside a waste management station in the capital Cairo to sell their solid trash, a baby step in an ambitious project to ease the gigantic waste management problems afflicting this city of some 18 million.
  Those in the queue outside the station — a large and colorful kiosk standing on a sidewalk in Cairo’s leafy suburb of Heliopolis — carried bags of old school books, plastic water bottles and other recyclable material. They
  
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• Neighbors in Pflugerville told by police to stay inside given all clear

  16-03-2017 05:17 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Police in Pflugerville gave the all clear after asking people to avoid the area in the Mountain Creek neighborhood, a block away from the Wells Branch Parkway and Dessau Road intersection.
  Officers responded after 8 p.m. Wednesday to the report of a shot fired and a disturbance.
  At around 11:30 p.m., officers said a deceased man was found inside the home. Officials are waiting on the medical examiner to release an official cause of death.
  Neighbors around Ambro
  
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• Body found in Pflugerville home after ‘shots fired’ call

  16-03-2017 05:17 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Police in Pflugerville gave the all clear after asking people to avoid the area in the Mountain Creek neighborhood, a block away from the Wells Branch Parkway and Dessau Road intersection.
  Officers responded after 8 p.m. Wednesday to the report of a shot fired and a disturbance.
  At around 11:30 p.m., officers said a deceased man was found inside the home. Officials are waiting on the medical examiner to release an official cause of death.
  Neighbors around Ambro
  
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• Pedicab passenger injured in hit-and-run crash

  16-03-2017 05:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The owner of an Austin pedicab company is concerned Austin police resources to investigate hit-and-run collisions around the city’s downtown are insufficient.
  “I hope APD is able to lend a hand. Maybe they need more funding for [these type] investigations,” said David Tashnick, owner of Easy Rider Pedicabs, which boasts 110 pedicabs that have roamed Austin’s streets since 2010.
  Tashnick‘s comments come the day after a sedan rear-ended one of hi
  
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• Driver leaves scene after hitting pedicab near downtown Austin

  16-03-2017 05:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person was taken to the hospital after a vehicle hit a pedicab in south Austin Wednesday night.
  The crash happened on South Congress Avenue near Barton Springs Road around 10:40 p.m. The owner of Easy Rider Pedicab says the female passenger was taken the hospital and remains in the hospital with facial injuries.
  Austin police said the driver did not stay after the crash. The pedicab driver told police the vehicle that hit them was a dark blue BMW 5 series.
  Hear mor
  
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• Driver leaves scene after hitting pedicab in south Austin

  16-03-2017 05:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police tell KXAN at least one person was sent to the hospital after a vehicle hit a pedicab.
  Police said the driver did not stay on scene. We have reached out to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services for an update.
  It happened on South Congress Avenue near Barton Springs Road around 10:40 Wednesday night.
  This is a developing story and KXAN will continue to update.
   
  
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• Austin police allocate $1.5 million for patrol overtime during SXSW

  16-03-2017 05:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department has bumped up the overtime for South by Southwest compared to years past.
  At the start of the decade, when the festival was much smaller,  Austin Police paid out just over $100,000 in overtime, then in 2013, it was $600,000. This year, the department plans to shell out $1.5 million for all sworn officers working overtime.
  In past years, officers have been forced to work SXSW, pulling patrols from other areas of the city, but
  
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• Shooting suspect still at large in Lake Travis after 2 killed, 1 injured

  16-03-2017 02:19 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Travis County Sheriff’s deputies continue to search for a suspect in a shooting Wednesday night that left two people dead and one injured.
  The Travis County Sheriff’s Office says the shooting happened in the 2000 block of Whitebead Trail, not far from the intersection of Ranch Road 620 and Hudson Bend Road.
  Austin-Travis County EMS says units were called to the scene at 7:40 p.m. Paramedics say a woman in her 40s and a man in his 50s died.
  A S
  
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• Lake Travis shooting kills 2, injures 1; suspect still at large

  16-03-2017 02:19 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Travis County Sheriff’s deputies continue to search for a suspect in a shooting Wednesday night that left two people dead and one injured.
  The Travis County Sheriff’s Office says the shooting happened in the 2000 block of Whitebead Trail, not far from the intersection of Ranch Road 620 and Hudson Bend Road.
  Austin-Travis County EMS says units were called to the scene at 7:40 p.m. Paramedics say a woman in her 40s and a man in his 50s died.
  A S
  
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• Lake Travis murder victims identified; search continues for suspect

  16-03-2017 02:19 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Travis County Sheriff’s deputies continue to search for a man who they say shot and killed two people in the Lakeway-area Wednesday night.
  Richard Dale Guthrie and Susan Gulla-O’Leary, both 60 years old and from Austin, were identified Friday as the two victims.
  In a news conference Thursday afternoon, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office says they have identified the suspect as 54-year-old Randall Lee Burrows, of Lakeway. They say Burrows
  
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• Lake Travis double murder suspect still on the loose

  16-03-2017 02:19 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Travis County Sheriff’s deputies continue to search for a man who they say shot and killed two people in the Lakeway-area Wednesday night.
  The Travis County Sheriff’s Office says the shooting happened around 7:40 p.m. in the 2000 block of Whitebead Trail, not far from the intersection of Ranch Road 620 and Hudson Bend Road. Inside the home, authorities say the found a man and a woman—who they say are boyfriend and girlfriend—dead w
  
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• 2 killed in shooting near Lake Travis, suspect still at large

  16-03-2017 02:19 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Two people are dead at the scene of a shooting near Lake Travis, Wednesday evening, according to Austin-Travis County EMS. Another woman is being taken to the hospital in critical, life-threatening condition.
  The Travis County Sheriff’s Office says the shooting happened in the 2000 block of Whitebead Trail, not far from the intersection of Ranch Road 620 and Hudson Bend Road, and that the suspect is still at large.
  EMS was called to the scene a
  
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• Need help with your NCAA Tournament bracket? SportzEdge has your back

  16-03-2017 00:38 via kxan.com
  
  It’s March Madness, the greatest time of the year. Looking for some help with your bracket? Don’t know which teams to believe in, in this crazy college hoops season? We’ve got your back. We’re breaking down every first-round game in the field of 68, plus looking ahead at which teams will make the run to the Final Four.
  Here is a list of games (by region) we’ve previewed so far.
  Check back for constant updates Sunday and Monday:
  EAST
  Will No. 1 Villanova reach the Fi
  
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• Feds: Dripping Springs man threatens mass killing spree at Fort Hood

  16-03-2017 00:14 via kxan.com
  
  DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — A Dripping Springs man faces up to five years in federal prison if he’s found guilty for making threats to kill soldiers on Fort Hood.
  On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted 28-year-old Thomas Anthony Chestnut with one count of interstate communications with threat to injure. Authorities say on Feb. 22, Chestnut called Fort Hood where he spoke to several people about how he was a former soldier who was wrongly accused of a crime.
  During the convers
  
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• The Latest: Judge in Hawaii puts Trump’s travel ban on hold

  16-03-2017 00:07 via kxan.com
  
  The Latest on legal challenges to the Trump administration’s revised travel ban (all times Pacific unless noted):
  12:50 p.m.
  A federal judge in Hawaii has put President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban on hold.
  U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued his ruling Wednesday after hearing arguments on Hawaii’s request for a temporary restraining order involving the ban.
  His ruling prevents the executive order from going into effect Thursday.
  More than half a dozen states are try
  
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