Austin news

• What we know about the University of Texas stabbing suspect

  01-05-2017 23:54 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Kendrex J. White, 21, is currently in custody accused of going on a deadly stabbing spree on the University of Texas at Austin campus Monday afternoon.
  This is what we know about White:
  He is a junior at UT where he’s majoring in Biology.
  His Facebook account shows he is from Killeen, where he graduated from Killeen High School in 2014.
  Travis County records show he was arrested and charged with DWI on April 4, 2017. According to an arrest affidavit, White got into a
  
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• Texas Senate extends easing testing for some high schoolers

  01-05-2017 22:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Senate has voted to extend a 2015 law designed to help high school seniors graduate on time despite failing standardized tests needed to earn a diploma.
  Amarillo Republican Sen. Kel Seliger’s bill passed 28-3 on Monday and now heads to the Texas House.
  It continues until September 2019 a program offering an alternative graduation plan for seniors who failed to pass up to two statewide exams in algebra I, biology, English I and II and U.S. history.
  The l
  
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• Texas Senate approves sweeping Houston pension funds fix

  01-05-2017 22:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Senate has approved a bill potentially cutting billions in future costs from Houston’s cash-strapped police and firefighter pension plans.
  Republican Sen. Joan Huffman’s proposal was approved Monday 23-5. She said it wasn’t perfect but still “critical” to America’s fourth largest city’s future.
  Plagued by investments that didn’t meet high return expectations set previously, Houston is facing about $8 billion in
  
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• Timeline: Austin police officer flees to Mexico after staging his death

  01-05-2017 22:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Coleman “Cole” Martin, an Austin police officer believed to have staged his suicide last week and fled to the interior of Mexico, has now been on the run for five days.
  The 29-year-old officer, who joined the Austin Police Department in 2011, was last seen late Tuesday night as he crossed into Mexico and boarded a bus for the interior of the country.
  Anyone with information on the location of Officer Martin is asked to call the Austin Police Department Homicide
  
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• Woman dies in crash with semi on Airport Blvd. at Manor Road

  01-05-2017 21:53 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman has died in a crash with a semi truck on Airport Boulevard near Manor Road, Monday afternoon.
  Police say the semi was stopped at a red light and an SUV appeared to be going at a high rate of speed, crashing into the back of the truck at around noon. The female driver of the SUV was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge where she was pronounced dead at 12:59 p.m.
  There were no other occupants in the SUV. The 18-wheeler driver was uninjured.
  Police say they
  
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• One dead in crash on Airport Blvd. at Manor Road

  01-05-2017 21:53 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A person has died in a crash on Airport Boulevard near Manor Road, Monday afternoon.
  Officers said at around 2 p.m. the northbound lanes and inside lane of southbound Airport are opened.
  KXAN will update this page as we get additional information from the scene. 
  
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• Stabbing spree on University of Texas campus kills 1, injures 3

  01-05-2017 21:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — One student is dead and three more were injured in a stabbing on the University of Texas at Austin campus Monday afternoon.
  Austin police say they were called to the scene to assist UT police just before 1:50 p.m. at 2101 Speedway, which is near Gregory Gym. UTPD Chief of Police David Carter says an officer arrived at the location in less than two minutes. When the officer arrived, he saw a suspect walking away from one of the stabbing victims.
  Harrison Brown (Via Facebook)
  
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• One student dead, 3 injured in University of Texas campus stabbing

  01-05-2017 21:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — One student is dead and three more were injured after a stabbing on the University of Texas at Austin campus Monday afternoon.
  Austin police say they were called to the scene to assist UT police just before 1:50 p.m. at 2101 Speedway, which is near Gregory Gym. UTPD Chief of Police David Carter says an officer arrived at the location in less than two minutes. When the officer arrived, he saw a suspect walking away from one of the stabbing victims.
  Austin and UT police say o
  
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• Suspect found dead after shooting, critically injuring Dallas paramedic

  01-05-2017 19:16 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (KXAN/AP) — Two bodies have been found in a home, including a suspected active shooter, after a paramedic was shot and critically injured in Dallas on Monday.
  The city released a statement saying emergency responders were treating a civilian late Monday morning when another person approached, opened fired and critically injured the paramedic. According to KXAS, the shooting happened in the 3200 block of Reynolds Avenue in East Dallas.
  Dozens of police vehicles have sw
  
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• Shooter fires on Dallas paramedics, critically injures one

  01-05-2017 19:16 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (KXAN/AP) — Authorities are scouring a Dallas neighborhood for a suspect after a paramedic and a civilian were shot.
  The city released a statement saying emergency responders were treating the civilian late Monday morning when another person approached, opened fired and critically injured the paramedic. According to KXAS, the shooting happened in the 3200 block of Reynolds Avenue in East Dallas.
  Dozens of police vehicles have swarmed the largely residential area and blocked off
  
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• Trump on Civil War: Why couldn’t they have worked that out?

  01-05-2017 18:55 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. president had a historical question: Why did America’s Civil War happen? “Why could that one not have been worked out?”
  Remarks by Donald Trump, aired Monday, showed presidential uncertainty about the origin and necessity of the Civil War, a defining event in U.S. history with slavery at its core. Trump also declared that President Andrew Jackson was angry about “what was happening” with regard to the war, which started 16 years after
  
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• San Antonio army hospital curtails surgeries due to dirty instruments

  01-05-2017 18:43 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Commanders at the Army health system’s flagship Brooke Army Medical Center have shut more than half of the San Antonio hospital’s 28 operating rooms and curtailed elective surgeries because of a shortage of properly sterilized instruments.
  The San Antonio Express-News reports the hospital famous for treating victims in its burn ward found 73 cases of improperly sterilized instruments last month, including 16 where organic material like bone or skin fragments
  
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• Fallen officers honored with Capitol memorial service

  01-05-2017 18:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Fallen Texas law enforcement officers were being honored Monday morning at the State Capitol.
  Senior Austin Officer Amir Abdul-Khaliq, who died after being hit by a driver cutting through a funeral procession he was working, will be among those remembered.
  In total, 21 officers who died in the line of duty in 2016 will have their names engraved on the Texas Peace Officers’ Memorial.
  Twenty other Texas officers, discovered through historical research, will also be
  
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• Dive team recovers body from Lake Travis

  01-05-2017 18:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A body has been recovered from Lake Travis by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, Monday morning.
  Recovery teams were searching for a 21-year-old man who went missing from a party barge at 2:19 p.m. Sunday, but officials have not confirmed if the body recovered is the same missing person. They are waiting to receive confirmation from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office before releasing the swimmer’s identity.
  The sheriff’s office&rs
  
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• Body being recovered from Lake Travis by dive team

  01-05-2017 18:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A body has been recovered from Lake Travis by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, Monday morning.
  Recovery teams have been searching for a 21-year-old man who went missing from a party barge at 2:19 p.m. Sunday, but officials have not confirmed if the body recovered is the same missing person.
  KXAN has a crew on the way to the scene. We’ll update this page as we get additional information. 
  Officials say the man who went missing on Sunday was in t
  
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• Mile-wide path of destruction left by East Texas twister

  01-05-2017 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  FORT WORTH (KETK) — The National Weather Service has released a preliminary report on four tornadoes which touched down on Saturday in East Texas. One twister’s path of destruction was a mile wide.
  A National Weather Service survey team began to survey the damage associated with at least four tornadoes that occurred in Henderson, Van Zandt, Rains and Hopkins Counties.
  Four people died and dozens were injured by the severe storms and tornadoes. Fifty-six people were treated at th
  
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• AISD police chief moving to Houston-area’s Cypress-Fairbanks ISD

  01-05-2017 16:23 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Independent School District’s police chief is officially moving east after news of his resignation was made public on Friday.
  Cypress-Fairbanks ISD posted an announcement on their website Monday stating that Chief Eric Mendez will begin as the chief of the district’s police the week of June 19. Mendez replaces Chief Alan Bragg, who is retiring after 45 years in law enforcement. The school district, which covers northwest Harris County, has&n
  
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• Hidden horror of sex assaults by K-12 students revealed

  01-05-2017 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — Chaz Wing was 12 when they came after him. The classmates who tormented him were children, too, entering the age of pimples and cracking voices.
  Eventually, he swore under oath, the boys raped him and left him bleeding, the culmination of a year of harassment. Though Chaz repeatedly told teachers and administrators about insults and physical attacks, he didn’t report being sexually assaulted until a year later, launching a long legal fight over whether his sch
  
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• Houston gunman fatally shoots girlfriend in front of child

  01-05-2017 15:37 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities say a man fatally shot his girlfriend in Houston, firing at her repeatedly while at least one of her children watched.
  Harris County sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Pinkins says the shooting Sunday caused other nearby children to flee, running “out of their shoes.”
  Pinkins says the 32-year-old woman, who KPRC has identified as Ashanti Hunter, 32, was arguing with Albee Lewis, 31, in an apartment before she left, taking her three children.
  She was in the pas
  
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• Good Samaritan loses legs helping crash victim

  01-05-2017 15:08 via kxan.com
  
  LEE COUNTY, Florida (WBBH) — A Florida mother of five faces a tough new reality after stopping to help when she saw an accident on the interstate.
  Early Sunday morning, Dani Hagmann was driving home alone on I-75 in Fort Myers.
  “I was tired, and I thought did that really just happen?” she recalls.
  The only other car on the road in front of her lost control and crashed. Hagmann knew she had to stop and help.
  “So I pulled up and ran over to her. She was crying and upset,&rd
  
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• ‘My scars don’t define me,’- Girl continues to recover after carnival ride rips scalp off

  01-05-2017 14:39 via kxan.com
  
  OMAHA, NE (WOWT) — It was her very first carnival ride. A young girl, with bright red hair, was smiling.
  That ride quickly turned to terror. Elizabeth “Lulu” Gilreath’s hair got caught on the King’s Crown ride. It ripped her scalp off her head.
  “I can’t believe it’s almost a year now,” Lulu says.
  Since that day, Lulu has had two head surgeries, three skin grafts, one eye surgery, and 28 blood transfusions.
  She remembers sliding down in h
  
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• As bill to reduce standardized tests is debated, STAAR testing begins

  01-05-2017 13:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Monday kicks off another round of The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness with the Austin Independent School District.
  The state standardized tests are required for students in order to asses their skills and knowledge.
  A bill making its way through the Capitol is calling for fewer standardized tests. Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, filed House Bill 1333 earlier this year. The bill is known as the Teaching Over Testing Act — It&n
  
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• Local church group helps East Texas tornado victims

  01-05-2017 07:20 via kxan.com
  
  VAN ZANDT COUNTY (KXAN) — A local church group wasted no time getting a team together to help people in Canton and the surrounding area in East Texas that was hit by tornadoes.
  Four volunteers from Rockpointe Church in Leander hit the road at 6 a.m. Sunday, hours after the destruction, to offer helping hands and connect people with resources.
  “What we try to do is find the outlying areas and help people try to get connected with local churches here, so that they can get the serv
  
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• Tryouts begin for new FC Barcelona soccer school in Austin

  01-05-2017 05:44 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Sunday around 750 kids between the ages of six and sixteen packed the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex for a chance to play with the newly announced Futbol Club Barcelona soccer school in Austin. An additional 500 kids are expected to try out in May, and the finalists from those tryouts will compete for the 350 to 450 spots in the inaugural class at the soccer school, known as Austin’s FCBEscola Soccer School.
  The school will be housed at the Circuit of the
  
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• VFW nominates Austin officer as Policeman of the Year

  01-05-2017 05:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin police officer received a big honor Sunday — the Veterans of Foreign Wars nominated Senior Officer Adam Krueger the Policeman of the Year.
  A ceremony took place at VFW post 8787.
  Officer Krueger works in APD’s recruiting unit, which has had a stellar year.
  He said more people have applied to become an APD officer this year than ever before and because of that, APD had to close applications just to get caught up.
  “I’m being honored by those
  
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• Houston-to-Austin bike ride raises $15 million for MS research

  01-05-2017 05:18 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Despite encountering storms last night, cyclists wrapped up the 33rd Annual BP MS 150 Bike Ride this afternoon in Austin.
  It’s the largest charity bike ride in the United States.
  This year, riders raised more than $15 million to support research and programs for multiple sclerosis.
  People from across the nation and even some from other countries came to Texas to participate in the Houston-to-Austin bike ride.
  This included cyclists who say they pedaled to support rela
  
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• Arson suspected in fire that destroys east Austin school’s playscape

  01-05-2017 05:17 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Students at Oak Springs Elementary School in east Austin are without a playground after police said someone set it on fire.
  The Austin Fire Department and Austin Independent School District Police said evidence shows the fire was no accident.
  It caused $20,000 in damage, investigators said.
  Firefighters said no one was hurt and that the school building itself was not affected.
  
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• Astros close strong April with a win

  01-05-2017 05:05 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — Dallas Keuchel completed one of the best months of his career with arguably his best start of the season.
  Keuchel threw 7 2/3 solid innings, Marwin Gonzalez hit a three-run home run and the Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 7-2 on Sunday.
  Keuchel (5-0) struck out nine, while allowing one run on three hits and two walks.
  “I don’t know about best stuff, but that’s probably the best command I have had in awhile,” Keuchel said. “I’m go
  
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• 2 dead as chartered bus with El Paso school athletes crashes

  01-05-2017 04:14 via kxan.com
  
  DELL CITY, Texas (AP) — Texas Department of Public Safety authorities say two people are dead after a head-on crash involving a pickup truck and a chartered bus carrying 34 coaches and athletes from seven El Paso high schools returning home from a regional track meet in Lubbock.
  El Paso Independent School District officials identified one of the victims as a coach, 48-year-old Arcadio Duran Jr., from Irvin High School. Seventeen others aboard the bus were hospitalized with injuries conside
  
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• Tornado destroys Canton venue hours before HS prom

  01-05-2017 03:51 via kxan.com
  
  CANTON, Texas (KETK) — An evening meant to be spent in celebration turned into chaos as a tornado ripped through a prom venue in Canton.
  Reagan Sumner, owner of the Rustic Barn venue off of FM 1255 in Canton, said two tornadoes hit his property at about 4:45 p.m. Saturday evening.
  “I own about 400 acres,” he explained. “And you can tell where it all went through.”
  He was at his home just a few hundred yards away from the venue, when a tornado tore through his g
  
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• Rollover crash critically injures 2, closes SB lanes of SH 130 in Pflugerville

  01-05-2017 01:15 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — A pickup truck with two people inside flipped Sunday afternoon in Pflugerville, sending both of them to the hospital, said a spokesperson for the Pflugerville Police Department.
  It happened at about 3:30 p.m. on SH 130 near the Kelly Lane exit, when the pickup rolled over in the middle of the highway, ejecting at least one of the people from the truck, police said.
  Medics transported one man and one woman with critical, life-threatening injuries to Seton Medica
  
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• Rollover accident critically injures 2, closes SB lanes of SH 130 in Pflugerville

  01-05-2017 01:15 via kxan.com
  
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — A pickup truck with two people inside flipped Sunday afternoon in Pflugerville, sending both of them to the hospital, said a spokesperson for the Pflugerville Police Department.
  It happened at about 3:30 p.m. on SH 130 near the Kelly Lane exit, when the pickup rolled over in the middle of the highway, ejecting at least one of the people from the truck, police said.
  Medics transported one man and one woman with critical, life-threatening injuries to Seton Medica
  
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