Austin news

• 13 year old dies in ‘Russian Roulette’ shooting in Freeport

  20-04-2017 23:37 via kxan.com
  
  FREEPORT, Texas (KXAN) — A 14-year-old has been charged with manslaughter and tampering with evidence for allegedly shooting another teenager in what was described as a game of Russian Roulette.
  Juan Borja, 13, was shot at a park and died on the way to the hospital Wednesday, KPRC has reported. Police in the city of Freeport, located about 60 miles south of Houston, say that Borja brought a gun and showed it to other children. Witnesses told officers that he loaded a round of ammunition an
  
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• Court again finds intentional voter discrimination in Texas

  20-04-2017 23:32 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Republican-drawn map setting the boundaries of Texas’ statehouse districts violates the U.S. Constitution by intentionally discriminating against minority voters, a federal court found Thursday — the third such ruling against the state’s voting laws in roughly a month.
  The latest ruling means Texas’ strict voter ID law, congressional maps and state legislative maps — all of which were enacted in 2011 — have recently been found in v
  
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• Ex-Montessori school director says she was fired for revealing child abuse

  20-04-2017 22:38 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A former school director for the Lake Hills Montessori school in Austin claims she was fired by the school’s owner, Sandra Karnstadt, in retaliation for reporting ongoing child abuse to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
  The lawsuit states Sharla Monroe had worked at the Austin school, located at 600 Cuernavaca Dr., since 2008. She was promoted to the school’s director in 2013, but early last year, Monroe began getting complaints that&n
  
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• Ex-Montessori school director says she was fired for reporting child abuse allegations

  20-04-2017 22:38 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A former school director for the Lake Hills Montessori school in Austin claims she was fired by the school’s owner, Sandra Karnstadt, in retaliation for reporting “ongoing child abuse” to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
  The lawsuit states Sharla Monroe had worked at the Austin school, located at 600 Cuernavaca Dr., since 2008. She was promoted to the school’s director in 2013, but early last year, Monroe began getting com
  
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• Texas State responds to ‘offensive’ social media posts directed at student

  20-04-2017 22:21 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — Texas State University is investigating “offensive” social media posts directed at one of its students, calling the posts “clearly reprehensible content.”
  President Denise Trauth said if they determine a Texas State student is responsible for the postings, the student will be disciplined.
  An online petition with more than 450 supporters is calling for the removal or resignation of a student government senator who is accused by the creator
  
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• Report of body in Barton Creek turns out to be an animal

  20-04-2017 22:05 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Authorities responded to reports of a body in Barton Creek in the Barton Creek Greenbelt Thursday afternoon. Firefighters say the body turned out to be an animal.
  The Austin Fire Department says the call came in around 2:44 p.m. for a water rescue at 3816 S. Lamar Blvd. The initial caller reported they spotted a body in the water.
  Officials have not said what animal was found.
  
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• Three Paris police officers shot in Champs-Elysees attack

  20-04-2017 21:52 via kxan.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — An attacker with an automatic weapon opened fire on police on Paris’ iconic Champs-Elysees Thursday night, killing one officer and seriously wounding two others before police shot and killed him.
  Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told The Associated Press that the attacker targeted officers guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station at the center of the shopping avenue popular with tourists. She said he appeared to be acting alone.
  Police and s
  
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• Police officer, suspect killed on the Champs-Elysees in Paris

  20-04-2017 21:52 via kxan.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district.
  Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told The Associated Press that the attacker targeted police guarding the area near the Franklin Roosevelt subway station Thursday night at the center of the avenue popular with tourists.
  The attack came three days before the first round of balloting in France’s tense preside
  
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• Leander police searching for woman accused of breaking into storage units

  20-04-2017 21:15 via kxan.com
  
  LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) — Leander police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a woman they say broke into two storage units last year.
  According to court documents, Corbin Millianoes, along with a male accomplice, broke into storage units at the Cubesmart Self Storage at 10201 E. Crystal Falls Pkwy. in Leander on March 23, 2016. The suspects were able to get away with numerous items including a compound bow, electronics and jewelry.
  String of storage units burglarized in Cedar Park
  Invest
  
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• Tennessee girl safe, teacher arrested near California cabin

  20-04-2017 20:47 via kxan.com
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A 15-year-old Tennessee girl was rescued near a cabin in a remote part of northern California on Thursday, more than a month after her 50-year-old teacher kidnapped her and set off a nationwide manhunt, authorities said.
  Health sciences teacher Tad Cummins surrendered to sheriff’s deputies without incident in Cecilville, California, hours after they had set up surveillance on his vehicle in the area, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. The girl was app
  
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• Tennessee girl safe, teacher arrested at California commune

  20-04-2017 20:47 via kxan.com
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A 15-year-old Tennessee girl who disappeared with her teacher more than a month ago was found safe at a commune in California and the teacher was arrested, authorities said Thursday.
  The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said 50-year-old Tad Cummins surrendered without incident in Cecilville, which is in northern California. Authorities said they found Cummins’ Nissan Rogue and later located the pair. The agency said it planned a news conference for 4 p.m. EDT
  
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• ‘Lactation Station’ added to Dell Diamond

  20-04-2017 20:46 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Breastfeeding mothers don’t have to miss a second of a Round Rock Express game if their young one needs to make their feeding time.
  A new ‘Lacation Station’ is open for business at Dell Diamond thanks to a partnership between the Express and St. David’s Round Rock.
  “As a nursing mother myself, I was thrilled to have the immediate backing of management and ownership on this project this past offseason,” said Express Senior Vice
  
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• WATCH: Driver slams into Abilene patrol car

  20-04-2017 20:05 via kxan.com
  
  ABILENE, Texas (KXAN) — An Abilene police officer conducting a routine traffic stop on a highway last month narrowly missed being hit by a driver who slammed into a parked patrol car.
  While Officer Mary Guitar was talking to the driver of a pickup truck, another driver struck her patrol car and spun out of control. Luckily, no one was hurt.
  The Abilene Police Department is using the video as an opportunity to remind drivers to slow down when they see an emergency vehicle stopped on th
  
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• Texas drunk driving stops could play out differently with new technology

  20-04-2017 18:10 via kxan.com
  
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A new statewide system to expedite the blood draw warrants for DWI’s is in the testing phase. The new technology is expected to change the way drunk driving stops play out in the state.
  This week, representatives from Law Enforcement Advanced DWI/DUI Reporting System (LEADRS) trained municipal court judges in Leander and Liberty Hill on the technology.
  The new online reporting system will enable an officer in the field to send a DWI blood s
  
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• Local judges, officers first to use new system for DWI blood search warrants

  20-04-2017 18:10 via kxan.com
  
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — New technology is about to change the way drunk driving stops play out in Texas.
  A new statewide system to expedite the blood draw warrants for DWI’s is in the testing phase. This week, representatives from Law Enforcement Advanced DWI/DUI Reporting System (LEADRS) trained local municipal court judges and police officers on the technology.
  The new online reporting system will enable an officer in the field to send a DWI blood search warrant
  
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• Austin expands options to take citizen comments during council meetings

  20-04-2017 17:52 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Getting to an Austin City Council meeting to voice your opinion on a topic can be difficult due to the time of day and when an item is actually for discussion.
  To get input from concerned citizens from all over the city, starting May 4, residents can participate via video conferencing at nine city libraries during General Citizen’s Communications. The city began the pilot program last month at three Austin public libraries after District 5 Council Member Ann Kitchen&r
  
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• In final hours, Hernandez thought of family, not football

  20-04-2017 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  BOSTON (AP) — Family, not football, dominated Aaron Hernandez’s final hours as a lifer in prison.
  As the hour of his death approached, the former NFL star chatted on the phone with his longtime fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez. Authorities say the pair stayed on the phone until the 8 p.m. lockdown at the maximum-security prison where he was serving a life sentence for murder.
  Alone in his cell, the ex-New England Patriots tight end scribbled three notes. He laid them carefully nex
  
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• Hernandez family wants trauma researchers to examine brain

  20-04-2017 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  BOSTON (AP) — Aaron Hernandez’s family wants to donate his brain to science, but Massachusetts officials are refusing to release it despite turning over the rest of his body to a funeral home, the former NFL star’s lawyer said Thursday.
  Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for murder, apparently killed himself in his prison cell on Wednesday.
  Hernandez attorney Jose Baez said the family had arranged for Boston University researchers looking at brain trauma in athletes to
  
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• Aaron Hernandez’s apparent suicide shrouded in mystery

  20-04-2017 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  BOSTON (AP) — Aaron Hernandez’s apparent suicide in prison — just days after the former NFL star was cleared of additional murder charges — remains shrouded in mystery.
  Why now? Is there more to the story? What happens to his estate?
  Authorities offered few answers after Hernandez was found hanging from a bedsheet Wednesday in his cell in a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts, where he was serving a life sentence for the 2013 slaying of a onetime friend.
  His death ca
  
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• Woman accused of faking son’s death to raise money

  20-04-2017 16:55 via kxan.com
  
  RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Nevada woman accused of falsely claiming her 10-year-old son had a terminal illness and died so she could solicit gifts and money from sympathizers told the boy during the alleged scam that he was dying from leukemia, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
  Victoria Morrison, 31, spent months faking the boy’s illness and then his death — complete with a fictitious memorial service, authorities said as she made her first court appearance following her arrest last week.
  
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• Dallas man pleads guilty to I-35 expansion-related fraud

  20-04-2017 16:26 via kxan.com
  
  SHERMAN, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors say a Dallas man has pleaded guilty to North Texas highway expansion-related fraud and faces up to five years in federal prison.
  Wade Wylie Blackburn pleaded guilty Wednesday in Sherman to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Investigators say the case involves an Interstate 35 East expansion project in Denton County and inaccurate information provided to state appraisers.
  Prosecutor say Blackburn, from 2008 to 2011, conspired to defraud the Texas Department o
  
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• Mayor: Staff ‘misled’ Dallas leaders on hiring for 911 staff

  20-04-2017 16:14 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (AP) — Mayor Mike Rawlings says city staff for years “misled” Dallas leaders by making them believe money would be spent to hire additional 911 dispatchers when such hiring never occurred.
  Rawlings’ sharp criticism came Wednesday during a city council briefing on 911 operations long plagued by staffing shortages and technological problems that at times have resulted in hundreds of callers being placed on hold.
  The council learned the call center in March had 60 dis
  
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• Local entrepreneurs get chance to enter Chinese market

  20-04-2017 15:41 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin is offering small business owners a rare opportunity to break into one of the largest markets in the world.
  On May 3 and May 4, the Small Business Festival is hosting a midnight pitch event where 60 product-based businesses will pitch live to 45,000 buying agents in China.
  To take part, you must apply online by Friday and give details about your business and the product you want to pitch.
  The Chinese shopping site Taobao Global will approve each product a
  
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• Pesticide maker pushes Trump administration to kill risk study

  20-04-2017 15:18 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Dow Chemical is pushing the Trump administration to scrap the findings of federal scientists who point to a family of widely used pesticides as harmful to about 1,800 critically threatened or endangered species.
  Lawyers representing Dow, whose CEO also heads a White House manufacturing working group, and two other makers of organophosphates sent letters last week to the heads of three Cabinet agencies. The companies asked them “to set aside” the results of gov
  
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• Texas House OKs major school finance fix, but will Senate?

  20-04-2017 14:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas House has approved a bipartisan, $1.6 billion bill to begin overhauling the state’s troubled school finance system.
  Houston Republican Rep. Dan Huberty’s proposal increases annual, per-student funding about $200 to $5,350. It also raises funding for school district transportation and educating dyslexic students.
  The bill tweaks the current “Robin Hood” system, decreasing some local property tax revenue that school districts in wealthy
  
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• House lawmakers hear overnight testimony on alternative ‘bathroom bill’

  20-04-2017 14:23 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — Amid concerns about rolling back local protections for vulnerable Texans and dire economic fallout, a panel of House lawmakers considered a measure into the early hours of Thursday morning that some are hoping will serve as an alternative approach to regulating bathroom use for transgender Texans.
  But if the large majority of testimony against the measure serves as any indication, the House proposal will likely continue to face fierce opposition from LGBT advocates
  
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• More fish-eye cameras, better signal timing may soon ease traffic

  20-04-2017 13:50 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin’s Department of Transportation is looking to cut down on the amount of time drivers spend at traffic lights. The city believes it can do that with a better bird’s eye view from fish-eye cameras.
  City leaders plan to vote at their council meeting Thursday to bring more of the panoramic cameras to intersections. Austin already has 11 of the cameras, mostly along Loop 360. There are also cameras at Riverside and Congress and Westlake and Loop 360.
  Red light
  
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• Austin looks to increase focus on reducing single-occupant commuters

  20-04-2017 12:56 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin could expand a program that encourages drivers to not commute alone. It’s called Smart Trips and it started as a pilot program last year in a North Austin neighborhood.
  Capital Metro and the city asked residents in that neighborhood to try taking the bus, biking or walking to their destination just one day a week. In the end, six percent of those residents did it and, while six percent of 13,000 households might not sound like a lot, Lonny Stern wit
  
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• Austin City Council preview for April 20

  20-04-2017 12:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Here’s a quick rundown of Austin City Council’s relatively lighter agenda on Thursday.
  APD Mounted Patrol Unit facility lease renewal This item calls for a 32-month lease renewal for the Austin Police Department’s horse stable and arena facilities for the Mounted Patrol Unit. The facility is located in Manor and includes 16 stalls, an arena, two round pins, a turn-out pasture and a hay barn. The land for the new facility was purchased back in 2011 and
  
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• The origins of 4/20, marijuana’s high holiday

  20-04-2017 12:13 via kxan.com
  
  SEATTLE (AP) — Thursday marks marijuana culture’s high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather — at 4:20 p.m. — in clouds of smoke on campus quads and when pot shops in legal weed states thank their customers with discounts.
  This year’s edition provides an occasion for pot activists to reflect on how far their movement has come, with recreational pot now allowed in eight states and the nation’s capital, as well as a changed national political climate that
  
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• Hundreds sign up to speak on Texas’ new ‘bathroom bill’

  20-04-2017 06:24 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (NEXSTAR) — State representatives are prepared to pull an all-nighter at the Capitol Wednesday with hundreds of people signed up to speak on the House’s version of a so-called bathroom bill.
  House Bill 2899 would ban cities from adopting non-discrimination ordinances that apply to public restrooms.
  Rep. Ron Simmons, R-Carrollton, said the latest version of his bill would only apply to policies on multiple occupancy bathrooms, showers and changing rooms.
  “It’s a ver
  
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• Threat against high school in Cedar Park not credible, police say

  20-04-2017 06:05 via kxan.com
  
  CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — Leander ISD says they are investigating after a threatening post was made on social media against Vista Ridge High School.
  Police determined the threat was not credible, and school will go on Thursday as usual.
  Making a threat against a school is a felony. “We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our students and staff,” Principal Paul Johnson said. “I commend students/parents for bringing this to the attention of campus administrators
  
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• Union Pacific, Austin police team up to teach about railroad dangers

  20-04-2017 05:57 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — When a Crockett High School senior was hit by a train last month, Union Pacific told KXAN they’d seen several similar incidents within two miles over the last year.
  To keep other people away from the tracks, Union Pacific police and Austin police teamed up Wednesday to teach people about railroad dangers. KXAN went aboard the train to see how they’re keeping people safe.
  “It goes back to the 1800s. Frank and Jesse James, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
  
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• Future of proposed $23 million Lakeway police station up to voters

  20-04-2017 05:16 via kxan.com
  
  LAKEWAY, Texas (KXAN) — Voters will soon decide the fate of a possible brand new police station in Lakeway. On May 6, residents will decide whether to pass a $23 million bond to fund the land acquisition and construction for the Lakeway Police Department.
  Lakeway Mayor Joe Bain says the justice center the city’s police department currently operates out of is inefficient. It was built more than 25 years ago.
  “We’re not providing the services at the levels we really ne
  
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• South Austin neighbors seeing a wave of car break-ins

  20-04-2017 04:48 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Homeowners in a neighborhood near South Fifth Street and Barton Skyway say they need help after a wave of car break-ins.
  They say the thieves are striking after midnight and they’ve had enough. Now neighbors are doing their own detective work using cameras, social media and each other to help catch those responsible.
  “I came out to the truck got it on the driver side and this was not closed — it was propped open,” Trey Hebert, a neighbor said. H
  
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• Police ask for your help finding 85-year-old man last seen in north Austin

  20-04-2017 04:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An 85-year-old man last seen at his home in north Austin has been reported missing by his family.
  Tomas Hernandez was last seen on Bolles Circle at 8 a.m. Wednesday, near North Lamar Boulevard and Anderson Lane. He is described by police as a Hispanic male, 5-foot-6, with brown eyes, white hair, a mustache, thin build, and wearing a black fedora, blue jean jacket and khaki pants.
  Police say he suffers from dementia and is on foot.
  Anyone with information on his location is
  
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• Sixth grader brought unloaded gun to Del Valle ISD middle school

  20-04-2017 04:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A sixth grade student at Ojeda Middle School Wednesday morning told staff there may be a gun in their backpack.
  In a letter from Principal Sarah Reuwsaat to parents, she says the student was taken off the bus by administrators and an unloaded gun was found and confiscated from the child’s backpack.
  The principal says no students were threatened and staff worked quickly to keep the students safe. “This is a very serious violation of the law and the Del Valle ISD
  
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• SeaWorld announces its last killer whale calf is born in San Antonio

  20-04-2017 03:35 via kxan.com
  
  MIAMI (AP) — The last orca has been born in captivity at a SeaWorld park in San Antonio, Texas, just over a year after the theme park decided to stop breeding orcas following animal rights protests and declining ticket sales.
  The Orlando-based company said the orca — the last in a generation of whales bred in confinement — was born Wednesday afternoon. SeaWorld did not immediately name the calf because the park’s veterinarians had not yet determined whether it was male or
  
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• ACC celebrates Earth Week with eco-friendly transportation options

  20-04-2017 02:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Earth Week brings awareness to the importance of sustainability and promoting people to be “green.” That’s why Austin Community College is hosting a variety of events this week, including transportation options that are environmentally friendly.
  Caleb Crow is the Energy Conservation Manager for the ACC District. “We’re pretty cutting-edge on our charger infrastructure, we’ve had chargers on our campuses for many years now and we’ve
  
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• Banister ejected in 9-1 blowout loss to Oakland

  20-04-2017 01:40 via kxan.com
  
  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Khris Davis hit his seventh home run of the season, Yonder Alonso and Chad Pinder also went deep, and the Oakland Athletics routed the Texas Rangers 9-1 on Wednesday.
  Josh Phegley hit a two-run double in a four-run first that gave a quick lead to Jesse Hahn (1-1), who allowed one run and two hits over six innings, struck out four and walked four. Phegley made his second start since he was brought up from the on April 5; he allowed two runs over six innings of relief
  
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• With four vandalized UT fraternities, police increase patrols

  20-04-2017 01:31 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The University of Texas is now investigating incidents of vandalism at four fraternities.
  Monday morning, the fence at Phi Gamma Delta house was spray painted with “rapist” and “racist.”
  A university spokesperson said Pi Kappa Alpha was spray painted Tuesday morning and Kappa Alpha and Kappa Sigma were vandalized Tuesday night. UT’s student newspaper The Daily Texan reports the words “rapist” and “racist” were also
  
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• Man who smashed Lady Bird Lake turtle with hammer gets 4 years probation

  20-04-2017 00:42 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Terry Wayne Washington is prohibited from being within 500 meters of Lady Bird Lake after a viral video last summer showed him killing a turtle with a hammer. The man had claimed he killed the turtle in self-defense.
  Washington pleaded guilty to animal cruelty this week, according to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Due to his previous criminal history, the potential punishment was increased to 2 to 20 years. However, in a plea deal, his 10-year sentence
  
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