Austin news

• Millions of aging Americans vulnerable to breaking a bone

  06-05-2017 22:33 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Osteoporosis Awareness Month begins, Dr. Michele McDermott visited KXAN from the Austin Diagnostic Clinic to discuss bone health.
  Osteoporosis is a disease of the bone that makes a person’s bones weak and more likely to break.
  About 10 million Americans have osteoporosis and another 44 million have low bone density, putting them at risk.
  That means a total of 54 million Americans — or half of all adults age 50 and older — are at risk of breaking a bone
  
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• Texas House approves eliminating straight-ticket voting

  06-05-2017 21:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas House has approved a bill eliminating straight-ticket voting statewide.
  Sponsored by Carrollton Republican Rep. Ron Simmons, the measure passed Saturday despite objections from outnumbered Democrats. It now heads to the state Senate.
  The idea has been endorsed by House Speaker Joe Straus, who, before he was elected to his current post once filed legislation prohibiting voters from choosing a party’s full slate of candidates with just a single ballot mar
  
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• City spreads message on importance of flash-flood safety

  06-05-2017 21:21 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Emergency responders joined officials from the City of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department at Festival Beach Saturday for swift water rescue demonstrations and to announce the winners of a poster contest.
  It was part of the city’s campaign to spread the message: “Save yourself! Turn around, don’t drown.”
  Organizers want citizens to know that Austin and Central Texas are in the middle of what they call “Flash Flood Alley.” They
  
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• Soggy Kentucky Derby day doesn’t dampen party for some fans

  06-05-2017 20:05 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Danielle Bunker’s flowery hat drooped and rain dripped from her pink poncho as she settled into the waterlogged Churchill Downs infield, but she wasn’t going to let gloomy weather dampen her Kentucky Derby bachelorette party.
  “It’s all in the experience,” Bunker, 28, said Saturday as she munched on a pretzel and prepared for a daylong party with nine friends who set up lawn chairs near the giant videoboard. “We’re bummed but
  
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• Weekend Gardener: A way to fix cracked pottery

  06-05-2017 19:48 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Have you ever been sad about a cracked or broken pot? Especially if it’s a nice one … or an expensive or ornamental one?
  Gardener John Dromgoole offers up some advice on how to stitch cracked and broken pots back together.
  You’ll need a masonry drill and zip ties, copper wire or other material you can use to thread through some holes and secure the pieces back together. See how in the video above.
  
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• Texas adoption agencies could ban Jews, gays, Muslims

  06-05-2017 19:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Parents seeking to adopt children in Texas could soon be rejected by public or private agencies with religious objections to them being Jewish, Muslim, gay, single, or interfaith couples, under a proposal advancing in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
  Five other states have passed similar laws protecting faith-based adoption organizations that refuse to place children with gay parents or other households on religious grounds — but Texas’ rule extends t
  
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• City proclaims ‘Pecan Street Festival Day,’ calls it Austin’s ‘Heritage Event’

  06-05-2017 18:18 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In honor of the Pecan Street Festival’s 40th spring event, the City of Austin officially proclaimed May 6, 2017, as “Pecan Street Festival Day.”
  Austin Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo is visiting the Pecan Street Festival Saturday to announce the city’s proclamation. The city is also designating the annual festival, which it says is the largest music and arts festival in Texas, as Austin’s own “Heritage Event.”
  The fest runs from 11 a.m.
  
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• Barton Springs Bathhouse turns 70; 2 events planned to celebrate

  06-05-2017 17:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s going to be a hot weekend, and some Central Texans may go take a dip in Barton Springs to cool off.
  Next to the pool is the iconic Barton Springs Bathhouse, and J.J. Langston from the Barton Springs Conservancy stopped by KXAN to talk about how her group is celebrating the building’s 70th birthday.
  The bathhouse opened in 1947 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It also is a designated Historic Landmark by the City of Austin and State
  
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• Police officer free on bond in teen’s suburban Dallas death

  06-05-2017 16:45 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (AP) — A white Texas police officer is free on bond on a murder charge in the shooting of a black teenager who was inside a car leaving a party.
  Roy Oliver turned himself in Friday night just hours after an arrest warrant was issued. He was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department in suburban Dallas earlier this week.
  Oliver shot at a car full of teenagers leaving a party on April 29, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards.
  The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, which issued th
  
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• Experts: Convicting ex-officer in teen’s death will be tough

  06-05-2017 16:45 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities who’ve charged a white suburban Dallas police officer with murder in a black teenager’s death face a tough task in getting a conviction as few of these cases go to trial and, when they do, juries remain reluctant to second guess an officer’s decision to use deadly force, legal experts said Saturday.
  Roy Oliver is free on bond after being charged Friday in the death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Investigators say Oliver shot into a car of teenag
  
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• Capital Factory celebrates expansion with latest in VR technology

  06-05-2017 05:51 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Capital Factory celebrated its 9,500-square foot expansion Friday.
  The grand opening was complete with the latest virtual reality technology. Mayor Steve Adler and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett were there for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Mayor Adler even tried out the NBA VR free throw experience.
  From left, Joshua Baer, executive director of Capital Factory, Austin Mayor Steve Adler and U.S. Rep Lloyd Doggett (KXAN Photo/Paul Shelton)“Virtual reality is a really good fit f
  
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• More deputies patrolling US 290 in effort to reduce crashes

  06-05-2017 05:08 via kxan.com
  
  DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — The section of US Highway 290 that connects Dripping Springs to Austin has proven to be a deadly road time and time again. Now, state and local law enforcement agencies are ramping up patrols in hopes of cutting down the amount of crashes in the area.
  Many drivers in Dripping Springs have stories about almost being in a car crash along Highway 290.
  “More times than I care for, yes ma’am. In fact, just an hour ago I almost got in one just up the
  
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• Breaking down Ballpark Figures with Matthew Watkins

  06-05-2017 04:23 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Tribune’s Matthew Watkins joins More than the Score breaking down the big business of college athletics. Watkins interactive study takes an in-depth look at the eight public Texas universities and how much each spent on athletics during the 2015-16 school year.
  To browse through Watkins’ work, click here.
  
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• Dallas County looking into voter fraud complaints

  06-05-2017 03:48 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (AP) — Dozens of ballots in bright green envelopes have showed up at homes in West Dallas and Grand Prairie in the past few weeks, confusing the residents who say they hadn’t requested mail-in ballots for Saturday’s municipal elections.
  The Dallas Morning News reports that more than 100 voters of retirement age have reported complaints to the Dallas County Elections Department in recent weeks. Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole tells the newspaper that’s th
  
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• Critics question cost of expanding Austin Convention Center

  06-05-2017 03:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Convention Center. A hub meant to harness visitor spending and boost the local economy. But industry leaders say they're actually missing out on a lot of money because the center is too small. The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau say last year alone, 130 groups decided to not hold their events in Austin because of a lack of room or availability at the center. It meant the city lost out on a $481 million economic impact.
  That's why those leaders are pushing for an
  
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• Loretta Lynn expected to recover after having a stroke

  06-05-2017 02:33 via kxan.com
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country music legend Loretta Lynn has been hospitalized after having a stroke, her publicist said Friday.
  Maria Malta, a publicist for Sony Music, confirmed that the 85-year-old singer and songwriter was admitted into a Nashville hospital Thursday night after suffering the stroke at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.
  Lynn’s website says she is responsive and expected to make a full recovery.
  It says Lynn has been advised by doctors to stay off the road wh
  
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• Parque Zaragoza in east Austin designated Lone Star Legacy Park

  06-05-2017 01:54 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin park got a special designation on Friday.
  Parque Zaragoza on Gonzales Street in east Austin has officially been designated a Lone Star Legacy Park by the Texas Recreation and Parks Society. To qualify for the designation, a park must hold special prominence in the local community and the state of Texas. Nominated parks must be at least 50 years old.
  Parque Zaragoza is named after General Ignacio Zaragoza. He commanded the Mexican forces beating the French Army on
  
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• Texans with disabilities worry about repeal and replace Medicaid cuts

  06-05-2017 01:51 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Disability advocates worry the Congressional plan to repeal and replace Obamacare will strangle health care for Texans with disabilities.
  Medicaid dollars from the federal government make up about one-fifth of the entire budget for the state of Texas.
  That’s about $20 billion a year to take care of four categories of Texans pregnant women, poor children, poor elderly and people with disabilities. The American Health Care Act caps Medicaid payments at a “per
  
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• West Campus rape suspect accused of drugging victim’s drink

  06-05-2017 01:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The suspect in the rape of a woman earlier this year in a West Campus neighborhood has been charged with sexual assault by police.
  The woman met with detectives for an interview on Jan. 20, saying she and her two friends had gone out to Tap 24, at 1004 W. 24th St., on Jan. 15 for drinks.
  While there, they met two men, Hank Dickerson, 22, and his roommate. While talking, the victim said she learned that Dickerson was a former student of Westlake High School and that they had
  
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• Voters weigh pros and cons of $572 million RRISD bond package

  06-05-2017 01:12 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Voters will head to the polls Saturday and decide the fate of a $572.1 million bond package for the Round Rock Independent School District.
  Parents on both sides of the debate made a last-ditch effort Friday to stand up for their children and their pocket book ahead of Election Day, by spreading the message to vote.
  Michelle Sage has three children who attend schools in the district. She says she voted “yes” on the bond.
  “Round Rock is one of th
  
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• North Texas officer faces murder charge in teen’s death

  06-05-2017 01:01 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (AP) – A North Texas officer has been charged with murder in the shooting of a black 15-year-old who was inside a car leaving a party. An arrest warrant was issued Friday for Roy Oliver, who has been fired from the Balch Springs Police Department in suburban Dallas since the shooting last weekend. Oliver fired a rifle at a car of teenagers leaving a party April 29, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards.
  Records show Oliver was briefly suspended in 2013 following a complaint about his c
  
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• Police: Son shot and killed 82-year-old father before turning gun on himself

  06-05-2017 00:51 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The deaths of a father and son in south Austin on Wednesday have been ruled a murder-suicide, Austin police say.
  Officers were called to the house in the 7600 block of West Gate Boulevard — just south of William Cannon Drive — at 12:51 p.m. for the report of a deceased person. Officers found Jimmy Kollman, 82, dead on his bed from a gunshot wound.
  Kollman’s son, 54-year-old Joseph Kollman, was found dead inside a shed in the backyard. After interviewing fa
  
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• Texas bill would require students to pass citizenship test to graduate

  06-05-2017 00:50 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texas high school students may be required to pass a U.S. citizenship test in order to graduate.
  On Thursday, the House Public Education Committee approved House Bill 1776, which would replace a U.S. history course that students take at the end of a semester with a test that people take to get their U.S. citizenship.
  “The content of the United States citizenship exam is content that every U.S. citizen needs to know,” Joni Rodela, a Social Studies teacher at L
  
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• Free legal clinic puts cancer patients’ fears to rest

  06-05-2017 00:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Every day Michael Kryszak goes to work as an elementary school teacher, it is one day away from his stage-three colon cancer diagnosis, which came in the middle of the 2015 school year.
  “Suddenly when all of that information hits, it’s an avalanche,” he said. “There are so many questions and so many things to worry about.”
  But Kryszak, 29, was armed with a medical power of attorney and a cache of other legal documents that put his mind at
  
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