Austin news

• Unattended candle ignites house fire in north Austin, does $30k damage

  11-06-2017 23:44 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Fire investigators say a candle ignited a house fire in north Austin Sunday afternoon.
  The call for the fire came in at about 3:20 p.m. in the 3400 block of Ambleside Drive between Mopac and Amherst Drive south of Parmer Lane, said the Austin Fire Department.
  Firefighters said they attacked the fire aggressively and managed to confine it to a single bedroom. That’s where they said the candle was left unattended and caused the fire, which investigators ruled as acciden
  
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• LGBTQ advocates march at State Capitol for equal rights

  11-06-2017 20:47 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Activists across the state gathered at the State Capitol Sunday for the Texas Equality March.
  The march took place one day before the anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., where 49 people were killed and 58 other were wounded.
  To raise awareness about inequality and the LGBTQ community, Queer Rights ATX organized the Texas Equality March at the south steps of the Capitol. Activists and leaders from across Texas participated, including the former mayo
  
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• Feared removal of Texas hero’s statue prompts armed protest

  11-06-2017 16:01 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — Hundreds of individuals, some armed, gathered at a Houston park to protest what they believe are efforts to remove a statue of Texas hero Sam Houston because he owned slaves.
  There hasn’t been any organized effort to remove Houston’s statue, which has stood near a city park since 1925.
  Protesters, some who carried Confederate flags, said Saturday they’re concerned local activists have been calling for the statue’s removal.
  But it’s not clear any
  
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• Western Michigan city breaks sand angel world record

  11-06-2017 15:32 via kxan.com
  
  LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan city has broken a mark set by the Guinness World Records for the most people simultaneously making sand angels at a beach.
  The Ludington Daily News and The Muskegon Chronicle report 1,387 people angelically assembled on a Lake Michigan beachfront in Ludington on Saturday and worked their magic for 30 seconds. That far surpasses the roughly 350 who made sand angels for 15 seconds two years ago in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
  A Guinness judge verified the
  
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• Man killed, one injured in north Austin crash

  11-06-2017 14:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man is dead and another person is injured after a crash in north Austin Saturday night.
  It happened at the 1300 block of West Anderson Lane near Tisdale Drive just before 10:30 p.m.
  According to police, a truck and a a Honda Civic collided with each other.
  When Austin-Travis County EMS arrived, they pronounced the driver of the Honda dead at the scene. One person in the truck was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
  The crash is currently under investigation. Police
  
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• ROT Rally organizers credit safety campaign for drop-off in biker deaths

  11-06-2017 05:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A wreck Saturday afternoon between a motorcycle and a truck that left a man dead and a woman critically injured is the first fatal crash involving a biker during the Republic of Texas Biker Rally since 2013.
  Organizers say that’s not by accident.
  As the ROT Rally rolled into its final big night over the weekend, Justin Boatner rolled into town for his first rally. The ride in from Weatherford in north Texas on a borrowed motorcycle was smooth, he said, but he’s
  
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• Thieves in Midland stealing oil with tanker trucks

  11-06-2017 04:28 via kxan.com
  
  MIDLAND, Texas (KMID) – Authorities in Midland say as more oil workers flock to the area they’re seeing a rise in an unusual crime.
  The Midland County Sheriff’s Office says hundreds of barrels of oil are being stolen from oil fields.
  Officials say the thieves are using tanker trucks and pumping more than a thousand gallons of oil into them.
  That’s causing oil companies to lose thousands of dollars.
  “There’s more people moving into the area and we are getting m
  
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• Parrots: Friends of pirates … and bikers?

  11-06-2017 04:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — The Republic of Texas Biker Rally is in full swing with lots to see and do at the Travis County Expo Center.
  And it’s not just bikes, but some interesting riding partners.
  David Orr, a 22-year ROT Biker Rally veteran, introduced KXAN to his riding companion, the parrot Maxi.
  She replaced a beautiful bird that passed away about two years ago. Her name was Harley, and she rode on his handlebars for 23 years and 50,000 miles.
  It just so happens that Maxi is also a
  
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• Several injured in Fredericksburg church bus crash

  11-06-2017 04:06 via kxan.com
  
  FREDERICKSBURG, Texas (KXAN) — A Fredericksburg church member is recovering after a crash in the Hill Country.
  Fredericksburg’s First Baptist Church said one of their vans was hit after leaving a camp in northern Burnet County on Friday.
  Several members were taken to local hospitals.
  One had to be flown to Saint David’s Round Rock Medical Center, where she is recovering.
  KXAN has reached out to the church and the Texas Department of Safety to learn more, but we haven’t he
  
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• Small plane lands in field east of San Marcos Regional Airport

  11-06-2017 04:02 via kxan.com
  
  MAXWELL, Texas (KXAN) — Officials say no one was hurt after a small plane landed in a field east of San Marcos.
  It landed in Maxwell, a small town east of the San Marcos Regional Airport.
  Video posted by the Caldwell County Office of Emergency Management shows firefighters and other first responders in the field.
  KXAN has reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Federal Aviation Administration to see if they are investigating.
  
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• Warship USS Gabrielle Giffords commissioned in Texas

  11-06-2017 03:14 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — A new warship named after former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded during a deadly 2011 shooting, has been put into active service following a commissioning ceremony in Texas.
  During Saturday’s ceremony in the Gulf Coast city of Galveston, Giffords told a crowd she was honored the ship will carry her name and the vessel is “strong and tough, just like her crew.”
  Various speakers, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, s
  
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• Fort Worth shooting leaves 2 dead, 5 injured

  11-06-2017 03:12 via kxan.com
  
  FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Police in North Texas are investigating a shooting that left two people dead and injured five others.
  Fort Worth police say the shooting took place around 11 p.m. Friday as several unidentified individuals in a small black car opened fire as the vehicle traveled down a neighborhood street.
  It was not immediately known how many shooters were involved. Witnesses say they heard dozens of shots being fired.
  The Fort Worth Police Department’s gang unit was investi
  
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• Partisans pick on each other in front of Texas Capitol

  11-06-2017 02:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – More than two dozen rallies across the country from Connecticut to Seattle were held to denounce Sharia law, which organizers say poses a threat to American freedom. Texans, and Americans as a whole, do not live under Sharia law. The protest in Austin Saturday morning ended peacefully but was tense at several moments.
  The “ACT for America” protest against Sharia law was met by anti-fascist protesters, called Antifa.
  The Texas Department of Public Safety and
  
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• Police charge man with intoxication manslaughter in fatal Travis Co. motorcycle crash

  11-06-2017 00:00 via kxan.com
  
  EAST TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A man died and an injured pregnant woman lost her baby when a motorcycle they were riding collided with a truck in east Travis County Saturday afternoon, said a spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Both people are in their 20s.
  It happened at about 4:15 p.m. in the 3500 block of South FM 973 just south of FM 969 while the ROT Biker Rally was going on nearby at the Travis County Expo Center.
  According to the Texas Department of Public
  
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• Man killed, woman critically injured when motorcycle, truck collide in E. Travis Co.

  11-06-2017 00:00 via kxan.com
  
  EAST TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A man died and a woman was critically injured when a motorcycle they were riding collided with a truck in east Travis County Saturday afternoon, said a spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Both people are in their 20s.
  It happened in the 3500 block of South FM 973 just south of FM 969 while the ROT Biker Rally was going on nearby at the Travis County Expo Center.
  Austin-Travis County EMS said the man was pronounced dead at the scene,
  
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• Man killed, pregnant woman loses child when motorcycle, truck collide in E. Travis Co.

  11-06-2017 00:00 via kxan.com
  
  EAST TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A man died and an injured pregnant woman lost her baby when a motorcycle they were riding collided with a truck in east Travis County Saturday afternoon, said a spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Both people are in their 20s.
  It happened at about 4:15 p.m. in the 3500 block of South FM 973 just south of FM 969 while the ROT Biker Rally was going on nearby at the Travis County Expo Center.
  According to the Texas Department of Public
  
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