Austin news

• People who fly drones over jails could get sent to one with proposed law

  27-04-2017 23:46 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (AP/KXAN) — Texas lawmakers are trying to clear the skies over sports stadiums and jails.
  Flying a drone above a large sports arena or a detention center would constitute a crime under a bill approved 120-2 on Thursday by the state House. It now only needs a largely symbolic final vote to head to the Texas Senate.
  Individuals could face up to six months behind bars for one violation, and one year maximum in jail for multiple violations.
  The new regulation is designed to protect the
  
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• More families coming forward with complaints on AISD sex assault investigations

  27-04-2017 23:25 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Almost a week after Austin ISD police revealed they mishandled an investigation into the reported sexual assault of a 4-year-old Boone Elementary School student on Feb. 7, families of two other students have come forward with similar complaints about investigations into alleged sexual assault.
  A parent of a 5-year-old student at Hart Elementary School, in northeast Austin, says her son was sexually assaulted by a janitor in the school bathroom in 2015.
  The boy’s mothe
  
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• Passenger who was dragged off jetliner settles with United

  27-04-2017 21:48 via kxan.com
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — The passenger who was dragged off a flight after refusing to give up his seat settled with United for an undisclosed sum Thursday in an apparent attempt by the airline to put the fiasco behind it as quickly as possible.
  David Dao’s legal team said the agreement includes a provision that the amount will remain confidential. One his lawyers praised United CEO Oscar Munoz.
  Munoz “said he was going to do the right thing, and he has,” attorney Thomas Demetrio sa
  
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• Lawyer: ‘Infowars’ host Jones often acts like ‘cult leader’

  27-04-2017 21:44 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A lawyer for the ex-wife of right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones says the radio personality is a “cult leader” who’s turning their children against his former wife.
  Attorney Robert Hoffman made the claims Thursday during closing arguments in the custody trial involving Jones and ex-wife Kelly Jones, who’s seeking sole or joint custody of their three children.
  The Austin American-Statesman reports that Randall Wilhite, a lawye
  
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• Alex Jones loses primary custody; ex-wife gets joint custody

  27-04-2017 21:44 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A jury has stripped right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of having primary custody of his children and awarded joint custody to his ex-wife.
  The Austin American-Statesman (http://atxne.ws/2oOBEd9 ) reports that state District Judge Orlinda Naranjo (nah-RAHN’-hoh) also announced Kelly Jones will decide where their three children will live.
  The Travis County jury deliberated all Thursday afternoon and late into the night before returning its ver
  
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• I-35 will be shut down at Slaughter Creek Friday and Saturday nights

  27-04-2017 21:37 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Main lanes of Interstate 35 at the Slaughter Creek overpass in south Austin will close between 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.
  All southbound lanes will be closed Friday night and all northbound lanes will be closed Saturday night, as Texas Department of Transportation crews erect concrete beams for reconstruction of the bridge — weather permitting.
  Traffic will be detoured to the frontage roads in both directions at exit 226. Ramps and lanes will
  
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• Baylor leader: School will exceed laws to protect students

  27-04-2017 20:42 via kxan.com
  
  WACO, Texas (AP) — The new president of Baylor University says school officials will exceed state and federal laws in ensuring that students are not subjected to sexual violence.
  Linda Livingstone says a university president is ultimately responsible for complying with Title IX rules, which guard against sexual discrimination and violence.
  She tells the Waco Tribune-Herald that she’s previously met with assault victims and that’s better informed her understanding of the issue.
  
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• Pedicab driver honored for stopping sexual assault in downtown Ausitn

  27-04-2017 20:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A pedicab driver’s quick thinking in 2016 stopped a sexual assault in progress on the streets of downtown Austin. On Thursday, he is being honored by the Austin Police Department.
  Austin police said Luis Palos heard the woman’s cries of pain near the United States Courthouse on Fourth Street around 1 a.m. on May 19. Riding up on the situation, Palos began to question the suspect, identified by police as Said Yarow, who said the victim was his girlfriend.
  Su
  
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• USPS releasing 1st color changing stamp commemorating solar eclipse

  27-04-2017 19:34 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCMH/NBC News) — The stamp will change from black to the image of the moon with the touch of a finger.
  The United State Postal Service announced Thursday, the Total Solar Eclipse forever stamp will be released June 20.
  The first-of-its-kind stamp will feature thermochromic ink, and using he body heat of your thumb or fingers and rubbing the eclipse image will reveal an underlying image of the moon.
  On Monday, August 21, 2017, the contiguous United States will experie
  
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• More sections of MoPac Improvement Project will open by this summer

  27-04-2017 19:03 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority has agreed to a contract extension for HNTB, the civil engineering firm working on the MoPac Improvement Project. During Wednesday’s board meeting, the board agreed to extend the engineering oversight contract to the end of this year without any additional cost.
  Justin Word, director of engineering contact at CTRMA, says he anticipates the bulk of the work to be done this summer but the rest of the year will be spent on cl
  
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• Pflugerville ISD advises parents about Netflix’s ’13 Reasons Why’

  27-04-2017 18:36 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — A new Netflix show with strong themes of bullying, sexual assault and teen suicide is raising concerns across the nation due to the overt nature in which the issues are handled.
  13 Reasons Why is a miniseries that chronicles the fictional story of a high schooler who kills herself, leaving behind cassette tapes detailing the reason why.
  The show has received critical acclaim but Pflugerville ISD officials are concerned what impact it may have on youth who watch
  
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• Pflugerville, Hutto ISD advise parents about Netflix’s ’13 Reasons Why’

  27-04-2017 18:36 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new Netflix show with strong themes of bullying, sexual assault and teen suicide is raising concerns across the nation due to the overt nature in which the issues are handled.
  13 Reasons Why is a miniseries that chronicles the fictional story of a high schooler who kills herself, leaving behind cassette tapes detailing the reason why.
  The show has received critical acclaim but Pflugerville ISD officials are concerned what impact it may have on youth who watch it. Cit
  
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• Drive-by shooting reported on UT campus

  27-04-2017 18:13 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — University of Texas at Austin police sent out an alert regarding shots fired on campus Thursday morning.
  Authorities say they received a delayed report around 10:20 a.m. for shots fired from a vehicle in the construction area around Dean Keeton Road and San Jacinto Boulevard. After the shots were fired, the suspect vehicle left the scene but the victim didn’t tell police until a short time later.
  UTPD police say the victim, who was uninjured, knew the suspect and that
  
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• Woman with special needs wheeled off Allegiant plane while sleeping

  27-04-2017 17:39 via kxan.com
  
  PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A woman who suffers from COPD claims she was wheeled off an Allegiant Airline flight because she fell asleep.
  Roxanne Raynes, 52, was scheduled to fly out of PIE Tuesday morning and expected to arrive in Bangor, Maine a few hours later.
  Raynes was moving back to Maine to live with family.
  Because she suffers from severe COPD, Raynes was traveling with an oxygen tank and her two cats. It took staff at the hospice nearly a month to book all the necessities
  
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• 10-year Mansfield Dam rehabilitation project will keep Austin safe

  27-04-2017 16:56 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Mansfield Dam forms Lake Travis, the largest water supply reservoir in the Highland Lakes and last line of defense against devastating floods funneling into Austin.
  Built and placed between 1937 and 1942, the dam’s 24 floodgates are showing signs of corrosion and deterioration. While the dam is still safe and fully functional, the Lower Colorado River Authority says it is time to pull each of the 50,000 pound floodgates, rehabilitate and replace them.Ma
  
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• 6 investigated for manslaughter in Italian hotel avalanche

  27-04-2017 16:35 via kxan.com
  
  MILAN (AP) — Italian prosecutors are investigating six people for multiple counts of manslaughter and causing bodily harm in a deadly avalanche at a mountain hotel that killed 29 people, Italian news reports said Thursday.
  The news agency ANSA said prosecutors were issuing formal notices of investigation against the Pescara provincial president, Antonio Di Marco; the mayor of Farindola, Ilario Lacchetta; and the director of the Rigopiano hotel, Bruno Di Tomasso. Also under investigation ar
  
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• ESPN laying off 100 broadcasters, writers as viewers dwindle

  27-04-2017 16:04 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — ESPN is laying off about 100 employees, including former athletes-turned-broadcasters Trent Dilfer, Len Elmore and Danny Kanell, in a purge designed to focus the sports network on a more digital future.
  The cuts will trim ESPN’s stable of on-air talent and writers by about 10 percent.
  The 37-year-old network has been squeezed by rising fees to broadcast live events at the same time hordes of cord-cutting TV viewers have been canceling their ESPN subscriptions. ESPN ha
  
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• Man found dead in grass after Bastrop home burns

  27-04-2017 15:28 via kxan.com
  
  BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) — A man was found dead outside of a trailer on fire when first responders arrived at the scene after midnight Thursday morning.
  According to the Bastrop County Emergency Service District 2 chief, crews were called to the scene at 12:37 a.m. on reports of an explosion with possibly injury.
  When firefighters arrived at the scene on Ash Street they found a single-wide trailer half covered in heavy fire. Crews posted on the ESD 2 Facebook page that they fire was extinguis
  
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• Man critically injured when hit by vehicle in southeast Austin

  27-04-2017 13:41 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — First responders are evaluating a man after he was hit by a vehicle around 6:20 a.m. Thursday morning.
  Crews said to expect delays near the intersection of East Stassney Lane and Chaparral Trail.
  Austin-Travis County EMS said the man in his 40s has been transported to South Austin Medical Center with critical, life threatening injuries.
  Austin police are still in the area processing the scene and said the driver did stop.
  
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• United raising limit on payments to bumped flyers to $10,000

  27-04-2017 13:24 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (AP) — United Airlines says it will raise the limit — to $10,000 — on payments to customers who give up seats on oversold flights and will increase training for employees as it deals with fallout from the video of a passenger being violently dragged from his seat.
  United is also vowing to reduce, but not eliminate, overbooking — the selling of more tickets than there are seats on the plane.
  The airline made the promises Thursday as it released a report detailing mi
  
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• Trump: national monuments a ‘massive federal land grab’

  27-04-2017 13:22 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing his interior secretary to review the designation of dozens of national monuments on federal lands, calling the protection efforts “a massive federal land grab” by previous administrations.
  It was yet another executive action from a president trying to rack up accomplishments before his first 100 days in office, with Saturday marking that milestone. And it could upend protections put in place
  
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• After emotional debate, Texas House tentatively passes sanctuary legislation

  27-04-2017 12:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — After more than 16 hours of debate, the Texas House of Representatives early Thursday morning tentatively gave a nod to the latest version of a Senate bill that would ban “sanctuary” jurisdictions in Texas.
  The 93-54 vote on second reading fell along party lines and came after one of the slowest moving but most emotional legislative days at the state Capitol.
  The vote came at 3 a.m. after state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, successfully made what some
  
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• Spagnola joins More Than the Score to talk Cowboys draft

  27-04-2017 06:05 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The NFL draft begins on Thursday and goes through Saturday. The Cowboys hold the 28th pick in the first round and are expected to go heavy defense after re-shaping their offense in last year’s draft with Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott.
  Silver Star nation Cowboys insider Mickey Spagnola joined Roger Wallace on More Than the Score to talk about the Cowboys draft, some of the inner workings of the war room and more.
  
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• Historic Caswell Tennis Center continues to thrive

  27-04-2017 06:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Caswell Tennis Center, tucked in to West Campus in Austin, Texas is the oldest in the state.
  The facility has been a proving ground to grand slam champion Wilmer Allison who won the 1935 U.S. Open and a little more recently, Andy Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open and is going into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this summer.
  Caswell hosted University of Texas matches this spring as their new facility is under construction.
  But the facility is more about kids have a
  
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• Hendrickson softball playing for Woz

  27-04-2017 05:46 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hendrickson softball is in the midst of a dream season.
  “It’s kinda surreal,” Emily Klanika said. “We knew we could do it, but then it happened. It’s unbelievable”
  After struggling to just win games a few seasons ago, the Hawks tore through the regular season this year, losing just one game, and earning a national ranking in the USA Today Super 25.
  “I knew we were gonna do really well because the trend of improving, but it&rsqu
  
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• Woman hit by vehicle on southbound I-35 in downtown Austin

  27-04-2017 05:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman in her 40s was hit by a vehicle while in the southbound lanes of Interstate 35 in downtown Austin, Wednesday night. Just one southbound lane is open.
  Austin-Travis County EMS say they were called at 9:48 p.m. to the 1100 block of North I-35 southbound, near 11th Street. Medics say the woman has critical, life-threatening injuries.
  Five additional people — who are not pedestrians — were injured in the collision; two of them were taken to the hos
  
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• Livestrong revenue dropped again in 2015, trending up now

  27-04-2017 04:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN AP) — The Livestrong cancer charity saw a fundraising and contributions nosedive in 2015 for a third straight year after founder Lance Armstrong’s performance-enhancing drug scandal.
  Livestrong’s most recent federal financial disclosures obtained by The Associated Press show sharp declines in contributions, revenue and assets in in 2015. Contributions in 2015 fell to $3.7 million from $11.9 million the previous year. Total revenue fell to $6.2 million from $16.6 million
  
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• Judge orders Cross Creek Apartments to make necessary improvements

  27-04-2017 03:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — For more than a year now, some of the tenants at Cross Creek Apartments have been showering in portable units on the complex’s tennis court, just to get hot water. Owners say issues are fixed, but the city, tenants and their attorneys have a different story about Cross Creek, which remains on the city’s repeat offender list for code violations.
  On Wednesday, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which represents the tenants, asked the Travis County
  
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• Beaver nuggets making their way to Florida, Alabama

  27-04-2017 02:08 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The oh-so-popular Buc-ee’s is bringing its beaver nuggets and bathrooms to Florida and Alabama.
  The company says they expect to break ground in Daytona Beach, Fla. in 2018 — its first location outside of Texas. After Daytona Beach, Buc-ee’s will open new locations in Fort Myers, Fla. and Baldwin County, Ala. The company is also taking the motto of “everything is bigger in Texas” and turning it into a reality in Florida. Once the 50,000-square-f
  
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• Kids, parents rally for charter school funding

  27-04-2017 02:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Students, parents and teachers called on lawmakers to invest more money in public charter schools at the Texas State Capitol on Wednesday.
  The keynote speaker at the Texas Public Charter Schools Rally was Gov. Greg Abbott who believes there should be options when it comes to a child’s education. He told the crowds that there is no one size fits all for education and that parents, not zip codes, should decide the best school for their child.
  “No child should be f
  
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• Austin employers struggling to find workers who will take less than $15/hour

  27-04-2017 01:31 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Though unemployment in the Austin area has been slowly climbing the last few months, there are plenty of job openings, but not many takers.
  In an interesting shift in the labor landscape, employers can’t find workers. Like Susan Davis, owner of Counter Culture, a vegan restaurant on the east side.
  “I just had to stand back and be like, ‘OK, one day a week we can regroup,'” Davis said.
  She hit a hiring hurdle, and was forced to shut her door
  
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• Responding to wildfires from the ground and air, how Travis County prepares

  27-04-2017 01:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — On windy and dry days like we’ve seen recently, the concern for wildfire grows rapidly on minds of many in Central Texas. That’s why several Travis County agencies teamed together to show how to best respond to a wildfire situation, in a “Wildfire Response” demonstration.
  The purpose of Wednesday’s demonstration was to show how STAR Flight’s helicopters and ground firefighters work hand in hand to control an active fire. “Most
  
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• Texas Dental Board clears Austin dentist of any wrongdoing in toddler’s death

  27-04-2017 00:53 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The dentist who was treating a 14-month-old girl for cavities when she died while under anesthesia has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.
  Dr. Michael Melanson was working on Daisy Lynn Torres’ teeth at the Austin Children’s Dentist in northwest Austin on March 29, 2016 when she suffered complications and died. The child’s autopsy report ruled that anesthesia caused her death.
  There was an anesthesiologist on-s
  
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• Austin police officer in ’emotional distress’ has gone missing

  27-04-2017 00:21 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin police officer in emotional distress has been reported missing, the police department said they learned Tuesday.
  Due to his mental state, a statewide BOLO — “be on the lookout” — was issued for the officer’s vehicle, after family members and fellow officers were unable to find him. Wednesday, his truck was located on the border at Lake Amistad in Val Verde County, about 150 miles west of San Antonio.
  Local law enforcement agencies are
  
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