Austin news

• Another bout of rain engulfs much of Texas on heels of Cindy

  24-06-2017 23:25 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — Another round of rain is engulfing much of Texas, swelling rivers, flooding streets and bringing warnings of flash flooding in several areas.
  In Austin and Central Texas, rain was forecast to be most numerous through midday Saturday, with some drier time and lower chances of rain Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, the rain timing is expected to flip as a drier morning leads into a wetter afternoon and evening.
  Up to 5 inches of rain, more in isolated areas, fell Saturday in the
  
  Read more

• Road closures to watch out for during ‘Keep Austin Weird Festival and 5K’

  24-06-2017 20:42 via kxan.com
  
  The annual Keep Austin Weird Festival and 5K is back Saturday for it’s 15th year. The festival celebrates the spirit of the city and brings people together with food, music, costumes and a 5K marathon that has been dubbed “the slowest 5K you’ll ever run”.
  The celebration begins at 4 p.m. with the festival happening on Riverside Drive between Auditorium Shores and The Long Center for the Performing Arts. The festival is free and open to the public. Participants are encoura
  
  Read more

• Fest, 5k and costumed runners, walkers celebrate keeping Austin weird

  24-06-2017 20:42 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The annual Keep Austin Weird Festival and 5k was back Saturday for a 15th year. The annual festival celebrates the spirit of the city and brings people together with food, music, costumes and a 5k marathon  been dubbed “the slowest 5k you’ll ever run.”
  KXAN asked attendees what they’re doing to keep Austin weird. A few of their answers:
  “I just do whatever I want. I like that you can just be yourself and be weird if you want to be weird.&r
  
  Read more

• Microphone cut after Mormon girl reveals she’s gay at church

  24-06-2017 18:54 via kxan.com
  
  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A video of a young Mormon girl revealing to her congregation that she is lesbian and still loved by God — before her microphone is turned off by local church leaders — is sparking a new round of discussions about how the religion handles LGBT issues.
  Savannah, 13, spoke on May 7 in Eagle Mountain, Utah, about her belief that she is the child of heavenly parents who didn’t make any mistakes when she was created. Her comments came during a once-a-month
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Man, daughter hurt on Texas lake after being struck by boat

  24-06-2017 18:50 via kxan.com
  
  TEMPLE, Texas (AP) — A Central Texas man had his legs amputated and his young daughter suffered severe lacerations when they were struck by a boat.
  Temple police said in a statement that the 37-year-old man was attempting to rescue his 4-year-old daughter Friday evening after she was struck by the propeller of a craft described by authorities as a recreational house boat.
  The man suffered injuries that resulted in the loss of his legs. Police say he and his daughter were run over by the bo
  
  Read more

• Girl killed, father hurt when struck by boat on lake in Temple

  24-06-2017 18:50 via kxan.com
  
  TEMPLE, Texas (AP) — A young girl has died and her father had his legs amputated after they were struck by a boat on a Central Texas lake.
  Temple police said in a statement Saturday that 4-year-old Katlyn Oliver died about an hour after suffering severe lacerations from the propeller of a craft described by authorities as a recreational house boat.
  Police say the boat struck both Katlyn and her 37-year-old father Friday evening at Temple Lake Park.
  The unidentified father suffered his inju
  
  Read more

• Plane skids, crashes at Burnet Airport

  24-06-2017 18:18 via kxan.com
  
  (AUSTIN) KXAN — A small plane crashed Saturday morning after skidding off the runway at the Burnet Municipal Airport according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
  The crash happened at 7:31 a.m. As the plane was landing it began skidding to the left off the runway. While the aircraft, a small Cessna Bellanca Viking, remained upright on its belly, it did have a broken wing.
  The pilot was removed from the plane without any injuries according to DPS. The Federal Aviation Administration
  
  Read more

• Over 120 people buried by massive southwest China landslide

  24-06-2017 17:30 via kxan.com
  
  BEIJING (AP) — More than 120 people were buried by a landslide that caused huge rocks and a mass of earth to come crashing into their homes in a mountain village in southwestern China early Saturday, officials said.
  The landslide, which came from a mountain, engulfed a cluster of 62 homes and a hotel in the village of Xinmo in Mao County at about 6 a.m., the Sichuan provincial government said. Officials said 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) of road were buried in the disaster.
  “It’s the
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Fireworks go on sale, still illegal within Austin city limits

  24-06-2017 16:41 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN)– Fireworks go on sale today just in time for the Fourth of July holiday. But the Austin Fire Department wants to remind everyone that fireworks are illegal within the Austin city limits and within 5,000 feet outside the city limits.
  The fine for possessing fireworks within those limits is $568 and if your fireworks cause bodily harm or property damage, you will be charged with assault and/or arson which are both felonies. Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr says its just not wor
  
  Read more

• Texas mom charged in deaths of 2 children found in hot car

  24-06-2017 15:03 via kxan.com
  
  WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP) — Texas authorities say a 25-year-old woman has been charged in the deaths of her two children who were found inside a hot car last month outside the family’s home.
  Deputies in Parker County in North Texas say Cynthia Marie Randolph initially said her 2-year-old daughter and 16-month-old son locked themselves in the car, but acknowledged to investigators on Friday that she did so on May 26 to teach her daughter a lesson after she found the two playing in the v
  
  Read more

• North Texas mom charged in deaths of 2 children found in hot car

  24-06-2017 15:03 via kxan.com
  
  WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP) — Texas authorities say a 25-year-old woman has been charged in the deaths of her two children who were found inside a hot car last month outside the family’s home.
  Deputies in Parker County in North Texas say Cynthia Marie Randolph initially said her 2-year-old daughter and 16-month-old son locked themselves in the car, but acknowledged to investigators on Friday that she did so on May 26 to teach her daughter a lesson after she found the two playing in the v
  
  Read more

• City moves forward to establish a ‘one-stop shop’ Veterans Resource Center

  24-06-2017 05:47 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin is moving forward with the establishment of a Veterans Resource Center. Think of it as a one-stop shop where service providers will have representatives to help veterans and their families.
  Jackson Stewart is transitioning out of the military after serving for more than a decade.
  “My journey I guess started, you know, 10-and-a-half years ago when I was 17 and joined the Marine Corps,” he said.
  Stewart’s journey took him from serving as a
  
  Read more

• State clears path for three new charter schools to open in Austin

  24-06-2017 04:25 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Friday, the State Board of Education cleared the way for a new charter school operator to open three new campuses in Austin over the next five years.
  Valor Public Schools plans to open its first Austin campus by August of 2018, and serve at least 500 students in grades K-9. They hope to open two more campuses by the 2023-2024 school year and serve a total of 4,200 students in grades K-12.
  “We’ve chosen these areas as potential school locations because of the str
  
  Read more

• Year of free cupcakes offered as reward for arrest of suspect using fake money

  24-06-2017 04:05 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — The owner of two cupcake stores in Williamson County is pulling out the big guns in response to a man using fake $50 bills at area businesses, including his.
  No, not actual big guns — just the response from the community you might get when offering a year of free cupcakes as a reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
  The last time the suspect used fake bills was at around 6:30 p.m. on June 16 at Gigi’s Cupcakes’ location in
  
  Read more

• APD hiring new officers to fill gaps, but command wants hundreds more

  24-06-2017 02:49 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department grew by 70 officers Friday, as members of the 136th cadet class graduated and received their badges.
  The cadets, who recently completed their 30-week training course, walked across the stage at the AISD Performing Arts Center in front of friends and family members, shaking hands with Chief Brian Manley and command staff.
  The new officers help fill 109 positions vacant within the department, according to the APD recruitment divison’s number
  
  Read more

• Body of 20-year-old swimmer recovered at McKinney Falls

  24-06-2017 01:52 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Fire Department’s Water Rescue Task Force was activated Friday evening to search for a missing swimmer in McKinney Falls State Park.
  The body of the man, identified only as a 20-year-old man, has been found. Friends of the victim said they saw him go under and never resurface.
  At around 7 p.m., the task force went into recovery mode, due to the amount of time the victim is believed to have been in the water.
  Austin-Travis County EMS medics were called to th
  
  Read more

• Finding a cheaper home in Williamson County keeps getting harder

  24-06-2017 01:28 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Dustin Hall and his family have never seriously considered moving to Austin because of the higher cost of homes. They’re in the process of moving from Kyle to Round Rock, where they’ll rent a house. They also rented in Kyle after owning several homes.
  “[We] bought another house, the value went down dramatically and then kind of suffered the consequences of that and decided we’d like to try renting for a little while,” explains Hall.
  
  Read more

• Ex-NBA player Marcus Camby sued over drowning of nephew near Houston

  24-06-2017 01:11 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — Former NBA player Marcus Camby has been named defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit over the drowning of his 9-year-old autistic nephew in a pond on Camby’s Houston-area property last Thanksgiving.
  The federal lawsuit, filed Thursday by the boy’s father, Marcus Kendall McGhee, alleges that Camby was aware of the limitations of his nephew, Marcus Carter McGhee, but failed to supervise the child and used no protective measures to keep him away from the pond.
  The bo
  
  Read more

• Texas fires back on California’s new travel ban to Lone Star State

  24-06-2017 00:51 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texas’ Attorney General was one of many state leaders to respond to California’s travel ban announced this week.
  The ban, issued by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, “will prohibit state-funded and state-sponsored travel to Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota and Texas based on discriminatory legislation enacted in each state,” his office said in a press release.
  Becerra cited Texas HB 3859, enacted on June 15. Becerra claimed it &ldquo
  
  Read more

• Why Walmart might make a push for Whole Foods

  24-06-2017 00:42 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Could Walmart scoop in and snatch Whole Foods out of Amazon’s claws? It could happen, according to JPMorgan.
  Business Insider reports as Whole Foods’ stock is rising since the announcement of the Amazon deal, investors believe the price for Whole Foods could continue to increase. JPMorgan says Walmart would be likely to consider Whole Foods to add new, wealthier customers.
  What Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods means for shoppers
  “I think there cer
  
  Read more

• ‘You’re my butter half’ becomes latest Austin mural to get tagged

  24-06-2017 00:37 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The “You’re My Butter Half” mural in east Austin was vandalized Friday, becoming the latest vvandalism of a mural around town.
  The mural, located at 2000 E. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., joins other murals around Austin in being a popular place to take photos and selfies with friends and family visiting from out of town.
  In March, the “I Love You So Much” mural on the side of Jo’s Coffee Shop on South Congress Avenue was tagged by a vand
  
  Read more

• Two people injured in 3-vehicle crash on SH 29 near Liberty Hill

  24-06-2017 00:12 via kxan.com
  
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A three-vehicle crash had parts of State Highway 29 blocked in between Liberty Hill and Bertram, Friday afternoon.
  The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened just before 3 p.m. on SH 29 near Old Highway 29. Two people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
  A KXAN viewer sent a photo of the crash that showed a boat on the side of the highway, but it’s not clear if the boat was being towed or not.
  Boat
  
  Read more

Follow @Austin_News_US on Twitter!