Austin news

• Texas Senate approves creating state music museum in Austin

  24-04-2017 23:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (AP) — The state Senate has approved creating a Texas music museum slated to be built near the state Capitol.
  The bill by Austin Democratic Sen. Kirk Watson passed Monday and creates a foundation overseeing the museum. It now heads to the House, where a similar measure by Fort Worth Republican Rep. Charlie Geren is awaiting a floor vote.
  Watson said the museum won’t cost Texas money and will actually bring in revenue since the foundation will rent space for it from the state.
  
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• VIDEO: Toddler falls from moving bus as dash cam rolls

  24-04-2017 23:20 via kxan.com
  
  HARRISON, Arkansas (NBC News) — A 4-year-old girl is recovering after falling from a moving bus.
  A volunteer firefighter’s dashboard camera was rolling when the girl tumbled to the street in Harrison, Arkansas.
  In the footage the back door of the bus swings open and the child falls out. The unknowing bus driver kept going.
  Ryan Ciampoli stopped his car and rushed to the girl. He happens to be a licensed EMT and volunteer firefighter.
  Ciampoli says the girl was unconscious at first, b
  
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• Austin mayor to meet with AG Jeff Sessions Tuesday

  24-04-2017 23:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Tuesday, Austin Mayor Steve Adler along with other mayors and police chiefs from all over the country will meet with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to discuss a wide range of public safety issues.
  Adler is expected to talk to Sessions about the sanctuary cities debate as well as issues related to criminal justice reform. The meeting is intended to provide an opportunity for the attorney general to hear directly from city officials.
  As part of the U.S. Conference of
  
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• Twin brothers shot in school parking lot near Fort Worth, one dies

  24-04-2017 22:15 via kxan.com
  
  BURLESON, Texas (AP/KXAN) — Authorities say a 17-year-old was fatally shot and his twin brother was wounded after they went to a North Texas school parking lot to have a fight with someone.
  City of Burleson spokeswoman DeAnna Phillips said Monday that an 18-year-old turned himself in after the shooting at Mound Elementary School, about 16 miles south of downtown Fort Worth. Tristan Torres is awaiting arraignment after being arrested on a murder charge.
  The Tarrant County medical examiner&r
  
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• Report: Whole Foods could be taken over by Albertsons

  24-04-2017 21:08 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sources are reporting that the private equity group that backs U.S. grocer Albertsons is considering a bid on Austin’s own Whole Foods.
  According to the Financial Times, Albertsons’ buyout group, Cerberus Capital Management, has been looking to expand its supermarket business, originally expressing interest in Sprouts Farmers Market. Those talks fell apart.
  A bid on Whole Foods would come three years after Albertsons acquired Safeway for $9 billion, making it th
  
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• Tests find Samsung’s S8 phones more prone to screen cracks

  24-04-2017 19:54 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Samsung’s latest phones feature big wraparound screens and lots of glass. They also appear to break more easily, according to tests run by SquareTrade, a company that sells gadget-repair plans.
  The nearly all-glass design of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus makes them beautiful, SquareTrade said, but also “extremely susceptible to cracking when dropped from any angle.”
  Samsung had no comment.
  The new phones have received positive reviews from The Asso
  
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• Beloved 600-year-old white oak tree takes final bow

  24-04-2017 19:38 via kxan.com
  
  BERNARDS, N.J. (AP) — A white oak tree that has watched over a New Jersey community and a church for hundreds of years began its final bow Monday as crews began its removal and residents fondly remembered the go-to spot for formal photos, landmark for driving directions and the remarkable piece of natural history.
  Crews at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards began taking down the 600-year-old tree that was declared dead after it began showing rot and weakness over the last co
  
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• Arkansas prepares for 1st double execution in US since 2000

  24-04-2017 19:11 via kxan.com
  
  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Two Arkansas killers set to die Monday in the nation’s first double execution in more than 16 years acknowledge they’re guilty but fear the lethal injections could subject them to excruciating pain due to their various health problems.
  Jack Jones and Marcel Williams say their medical conditions — which include obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure — could complicate their executions. Jones’ execution is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
  
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• Arkansas executes Jones; plans 2nd lethal injection of night

  24-04-2017 19:11 via kxan.com
  
  VARNER, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas executed inmate Jack Jones Monday night and prepared for another lethal injection in what would be the nation’s first double-execution since 2000.
  Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 Monday night, 14 minutes after the procedure began at the state’s Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. There were no apparent complications, and Jones’ chest stopped moving two minutes after officials checked for consciousness.
  Jones, who’d argued that his heal
  
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• Arkansas executes 2 inmates on the same gurney, hours apart

  24-04-2017 19:11 via kxan.com
  
  VARNER, Ark. (AP) — Two inmates received lethal injections on the same gurney Monday night about three hours apart as Arkansas completed the nation’s first double execution since 2000, just days after the state ended a nearly 12-year hiatus on administering capital punishment.
  While the first inmate, Jack Jones, 52, was executed on schedule, shortly after 7 p.m., attorneys for the second, Marcel Williams, 46, convinced a federal judge minutes later to briefly delay his execution over
  
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• Dallas police responding to possible active shooter

  24-04-2017 18:47 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (AP) — Dallas police say officers are responding to a possible active shooter situation at an office building in the north of the city.
  Police have provided no other details, including whether any shots have been fired or any injuries were reported in 911 calls Monday morning.
  Television footage shows a heavy police response, including a SWAT team, at the multi-story office building along an interstate in northern Dallas.
  A broken window can be seen on one of the upper floors.
  Dalla
  
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• Safety improvements finished at Rundberg, Lamar intersection

  24-04-2017 18:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Work on safety improvements to one of Austin’s most dangerous intersections were finished last week. The project was a part of the city’s Vision Zero plan.
  The intersection of North Lamar Boulevard and Rundberg Lane now has medians designed to reduce left-turn crashes, a new pedestrian hybrid beacon, a traffic signal with pedestrian crossings converted from an existing pedestrian beacon, high-visibility continental crosswalks and accessible pedestrian ramps
  
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• Oklahoman author, Texas dispute ownership of ‘lunar Bibles’

  24-04-2017 17:52 via kxan.com
  
  TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Ten microfilm Bibles once launched hundreds of thousands of miles into space sit landlocked today inside an Oklahoma courthouse while a legal battle rages in two states over who is the rightful owner of the celestial keepsakes.
  Eight of the 10 tiny holy books in dispute landed on the surface of the moon during NASA’s 1971 Apollo 14 mission, carried in a pouch by astronaut Edgar Mitchell. Each isn’t much larger than a postage stamp and contains all 1,245 page
  
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• Fire destroys garage, shed in south Austin

  24-04-2017 17:38 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Authorities are trying to figure out what caused a fire that destroyed a detached garage and storage building in south Austin Monday morning.
  The fire started shortly after 9 a.m. in the 10500 block of Etta Lane. When firefighters arrived, there was smoke and flames coming from the two buildings behind the home.
  Both the Austin Fire Department and Manchaca Fire worked to put out the fire. The fire has been deemed accidental but the cause is undetermined due to heavy damage
  
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• Trump calls US astronaut who broke record for time in space

  24-04-2017 17:37 via kxan.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump made a very long distance phone call to the International Space Station, to congratulate its commander on breaking the record for the most time spent in space of any American astronaut.
  The president spoke Monday with Peggy Whitson, commander of the International Space Station, and fellow astronaut Jack Fischer.
  Whitson, the first woman to command the International Space Station, surpassed the record of 534 days, two hours and 48 minutes f
  
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• Astronaut breaks US space record, gets call from Trump

  24-04-2017 17:37 via kxan.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronaut Peggy Whitson broke the U.S. record Monday for most time in space and talked up Mars during a congratulatory call from President Donald Trump.
  The International Space Station’s commander surpassed the record of 534 days, two hours and 48 minutes for most accumulated time in space by an American.
  “This is a very special day in the glorious history of American spaceflight,” Trump said. His daughter and close adviser, Ivanka Trump, also
  
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• At least global warming may get Americans off the couch more

  24-04-2017 17:33 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Global warming’s milder winters will likely nudge Americans off the couch more in the future, a rare, small benefit of climate change, a new study finds.
  With less chilly winters, Americans will be more likely to get outdoors, increasing their physical activity by as much as 2.5 percent by the end of the century, according to a new study in Monday’s edition of the journal Nature Human Behaviour . Places like North Dakota, Minnesota and Maine are likely to see
  
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• Man sentenced to 80 years in prison for strangling co-worker

  24-04-2017 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 80 years in prison for strangling a hospital co-worker to death and dumping her body beside a remote county road in 1989.
  Sharon Trimble’s strangulation death is the second for which Temmie Cooley has been convicted and sentenced. He already is serving a 35-year term for the 2001 strangulation death of another co-worker, Earlene Warrell.
  Detectives say both had become romantically involved with Cooley when they were strangled to deat
  
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• Obama to deliver first post-presidency speech in Chicago

  24-04-2017 17:18 via kxan.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is set to hold the first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career.
  Obama will speak Monday at the University of Chicago, where his presidential library is planned.
  College students from around the Chicago area are expected to attend. The invitation-only event is being billed as part of his post-presidency goal to “encourage and support the next generation of leaders.”
  Obama deliver
  
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• Obama dishes on leadership at 1st event since leaving office

  24-04-2017 17:18 via kxan.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama used his first public appearance since leaving office to dole out advice to young people on leadership, managing social media and even marriage. What he didn’t do was mention his successor.
  At a forum Monday for students at the University of Chicago, adjacent to where his presidential library will stand, Obama talked about his formative experiences as a community organizer and as a young politician running for office in Illinois. But for m
  
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• Extra patrols at 4 Austin ISD schools after student threat

  24-04-2017 16:42 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A student has been charged by police with making a terroristic threat against four Austin schools, prompting the district to alert families and increase safety patrols.
  According to a letter sent to parents, officials at Akins High School were notified Friday evening that a student was allegedly making threats against Akins and Bowie high schools and Bedichek and Paredes middle schools. Austin Independent School District police investigated and identified the student respon
  
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• Popular Jalapeño flavored chips recalled for Salmonella

  24-04-2017 16:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you like things a little spicy when it comes to potato chips, you need to check your pantry if you tend to buy Lay’s or Miss Vickie’s kettle cooked varieties.
  Frito-Lay announced a voluntary recall of the chips due to the potential for Salmonella to be present in the seasoning. The supplier of the seasoning recently announced their own recall.
  Although no Salmonella was found in the seasoning supplied to Frito-Lay, the company has decided to recall these prod
  
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• Future of southeast Travis County fire department up in the air

  24-04-2017 15:46 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) —  People who live in southeast Travis County are in danger of losing their fire department if funding is not approved in the special election.
  Firefighters in that portion of the county say their budget was cut by a third when the city annexed a small piece of land belonging to the Holt Caterpillar Company.
  The annexation, which goes into effect in December 2017, will result in a 32 percent loss to Emergency Services District 11’s budget, r
  
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• Birthing giraffe was a cash cow for tiny zoo

  24-04-2017 14:31 via kxan.com
  
  HARPURSVILLE, New York (AP) — April the giraffe has become a cash cow for a tiny zoo in rural upstate New York, thanks to a YouTube video livestream of her pregnancy and birth of an incredibly cute calf that has riveted viewers around the world.
  Owners of the for-profit Animal Adventure Park won’t say exactly how much they’ve pulled in from all April-related ventures, but internet marketing experts conservatively estimate the haul in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The ve
  
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• Texas cat faces off with rattlesnake in viral photo

  24-04-2017 14:13 via kxan.com
  
  LAGUNA VISTA, TX (WCMH) — Police in Texas warned people about the end of snake hibernation season with a photo of a cat facing off with a mad rattlesnake.
  In a post to Facebook, the Laguna Vista Police Department shared a series of photos asking for residents to be careful after a large rattlesnake was found near a walking trail.
  It’s one of the photos in particular that caught a lot of people talking. PHOTO: Rattlesnake captured Laguna Vistas Police Department/FacebookLaguna Vistas
  
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• Law enforcement rolls with Special Olympics bowlers

  24-04-2017 14:06 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A special competition between police officers and those with special needs raised a lot spirits and a little money Sunday afternoon.
  The first ever Bowling with Badges event saw Georgetown and Round Rock officers trading in their duty belts to raise money for Special Olympics Texas as part of their Law Enforcement Torch Run fundraiser.
  “The Bowling with Badges event means a lot to me and each of our officers,” said Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks.
  
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• Cigarette sparks overnight apartment fire in southeast Austin

  24-04-2017 13:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two people are out of their home Monday morning after an overnight fire destroyed their apartment.
  Austin fire officials said the fire began around 2 a.m. at the Ballpark West apartments located at 1600 Wickersham Ln. Austin police said the fire was reported on the third floor of the building.
  Fire investigators said a sprinkler in the building helped with containing the fire which was extinguished around 2:18 a.m.
  No injuries were reported.
  It was determined a cigarette ca
  
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• Journey to citizenship: 350 people to become U.S. citizens in Austin Monday

  24-04-2017 05:37 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — 350 people from over 70 countries will become U.S. citizens in a naturalization ceremony at the LBJ Presidential Library Monday afternoon. For many of the people obtaining citizenship, this ceremony comes after years of waiting, paperwork and expenses. All have been living as lawful permanent residents in the U.S. for years, said Paul Parsons of the Austin Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
  One of the people being naturalized Monday is Brenda “Enice” Rios o
  
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• Journey to citizenship: 350 people to become U.S. citizens in Austin

  24-04-2017 05:37 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — 350 people from over 70 countries will become U.S. citizens in a naturalization ceremony at the LBJ Presidential Library Monday afternoon. For many of the people obtaining citizenship, this ceremony comes after years of waiting, paperwork and expenses. All have been living as lawful permanent residents in the U.S. for years, said Paul Parsons of the Austin Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
  One of the people being naturalized Monday is Brenda “Enice” Rios o
  
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• In debate over Round Rock bond, are you being told about appraisal increases?

  24-04-2017 05:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Early voting for Round Rock’s $572 million bond proposal for a long list of projects and a new high school begins Monday. Ahead of the vote, we’re taking a closer look at a local group’s accusation that the district is misleading the voters.
  To learn details of all the projects; go here. 
  In three years they say it will be only increase the average property tax bill by $27 dollars a year. But we took a closer look at the small print in the bond presen
  
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• Debate over cost of Round Rock ISD bond proposal heats up

  24-04-2017 05:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Early voting for Round Rock’s $572 million bond proposal for a long list of projects and a new high school begins Monday. Ahead of the vote, we’re taking a closer look at a local group’s accusation that the district is misleading the voters.
  To learn details of all the projects; go here.
  In three years, officials say it will increase the average property tax bill by $27 a year. We took a closer look at the small print in the bond presentation. The district
  
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• Driver amazed to have survived crash with Austin fire truck

  24-04-2017 04:29 via kxan.com
  
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — The firefighter who was driving an Austin Fire Department fire truck that collided with a car Sunday afternoon failed to yield to the right of way, authorities say.
  The department says their fire truck was involved in the crash at around 4:45 p.m. near the intersection of Elroy Road and South SH 130. A spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office says the crash report indicates the fire truck stopped at a stop sign but failed to yield to a c
  
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• AFD firetruck collides with car in Del Valle

  24-04-2017 04:29 via kxan.com
  
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — An Austin firetruck collided with a four-door sedan in Del Valle Sunday afternoon, said Travis County Fire Rescue.
  The Austin Fire Department says their firetruck was involved in the crash that happened at about 4:45 p.m. near the intersection of Elroy Road and South SH 130. Initial information indicated the firetruck landed on the hood of the sedan.
  AFD says the truck was not on its way to a call. It was a standby truck that was leaving an assignment at the Circu
  
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• AFD fire truck collides with car in Del Valle

  24-04-2017 04:29 via kxan.com
  
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — An Austin fire truck collided with a four-door sedan in Del Valle Sunday afternoon, said Travis County Fire Rescue.
  The Austin Fire Department says their fire truck was involved in the crash that happened at about 4:45 p.m. near the intersection of Elroy Road and South SH 130. Initial information indicated the firetruck landed on the hood of the sedan.
  AFD says the truck was not on its way to a call. It was a standby truck that was leaving an assignment at the Cir
  
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• Early Voting: What you need to know for the May 6 election

  24-04-2017 02:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Early Voting for the May 6 Uniform Election starts Monday, April 24 and runs through Tuesday, May 2. While there aren’t any city of Austin races or propositions, some Austinites living in certain jurisdictions could have a school bond on their ballot. School district bonds are some of the largest items residents in Round Rock and Hays County will have to vote on.
  To find out what is on your ballot, check here. 
  Where to Vote
  Registered and eligible voters may vot
  
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• Marquez wins fifth straight GP of the Americas at COTA

  24-04-2017 01:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Spain’s Marc Marquez is still on top in America. Italy’s Valentino Rossi is back on top in MotoGP.
  Now the series heads to Europe for the next phase in a world championship that has suddenly been cracked wide open.
  Marquez’s title hopes got a major boost Sunday when he guided his Repsol Honda to his fifth consecutive victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas, a race that saw him duel teammate and countryman Dani Pedrosa for six laps at the Circuit of
  
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• UT students get close look at one of world’s most advanced cameras

  24-04-2017 00:11 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Virtual reality and 3D cameras are the latest and greatest things in technology.
  On Saturday, a small group of students at the University of Texas at Austin got up-close with one of the most high-tech 3D cameras in the world that also shoots 360-degree video.
  It was part of a VR Workshop held by the UT3D Immersive Media Program at the university to help students learn the basics of VR in a single afternoon session.
  As for the specialized camera featured in the session &mdas
  
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