Austin news

• PHOTOS: Burglar targeting car washes across a tri-city area

  27-06-2017 23:54 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Authorities need help identifying a man who is accused of breaking into car wash businesses in a tri-city area.
  The Round Rock Police Department says the suspect is responsible for at least 10 burglaries in Round Rock, Pflugerville and north Austin. Police say all the burglaries happened over a three-day period between June 24 and June 27.
  The suspect usually breaks into the store between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. and targets cash drawers and store safes. Surveillan
  
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• Mold found on hundreds of APD DNA samples

  27-06-2017 23:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s one step forward and two steps back for the Austin Police Department and its shuttered DNA lab. According to a new city memo, mold was recently discovered on DNA samples dating back to the 1990s and early 2000s.
  The department originally found out about the mold on April 25, 2017 when Signature Science, a lab that the city has contracted to conduct DNA analysis as its lab remains closed, notified them that at least one sexual assault kit sent to their lab seemed
  
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• 20-year-old swimmer who died at McKinney Falls identified

  27-06-2017 23:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Police have identified the man who died while swimming at McKinney Falls State Park last week.
  James Peng, 20, was swimming with friends in the park’s Upper Falls swimming hole when he went under and didn’t resurface.
  His friends searched for him in the water — 18 feet at its deepest — and called first responders to the scene at around 6:25 p.m. Friday, June 23. The fire department’s Water Rescue Task Force went into recovery mode and found his
  
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• Trump says US on brink of become net exporter of energy

  27-06-2017 22:53 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — With U.S. exports of oil and natural gas surging, President Donald Trump says the U.S. is on the brink of becoming a net exporter of oil, gas and other resources.
  Trump is highlighting what he calls “energy dominance” as the White House hosts a series of events focused on jobs and boosting U.S. global influence. The self-proclaimed “energy week” follows similar policy-themed weeks on infrastructure and jobs.
  Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Monday
  
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• Trump hails ‘energy revolution’ as exports surge

  27-06-2017 22:53 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed an energy revolution marked by surging U.S. exports of oil and natural gas.
  Trump cited a series of steps the administration has taken to boost energy production and remove government regulations that he argues prevent the United States from achieving “energy dominance” in the global market.
  “Together, we are going to start a new energy revolution — one that celebrates American production on American soil,&r
  
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• Students return to UT Dallas after being evacuated for ‘hoax’ bomb threat

  27-06-2017 22:41 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (KXAN) — Every building and parking garage on the University of Texas at Dallas campus was evacuated for around 45 minutes Tuesday after the campus received a bomb threat.
  Around 2:40 p.m., UT Dallas alerted its students and staff to immediately evacuate all buildings and stay away until further notice.
  University police then, at around 3:20 p.m., put out an all-clear to students, saying the threat was a hoax and that students could now return to campus.
  Officials have not said if a
  
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• Transgender women among those targeted by north Austin sex assault suspect

  27-06-2017 22:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Detectives are asking possible victims, or people who may know possible victims, of attempted sex assault and sexual assaults in the Georgian Drive area of north Austin to come forward. The department says two of the three known victims are members of the transgender community.
  Since October 2016, the department has received reports of the assaults around Georgian Drive, just off East Rundberg Lane and North Lamar Boulevard. The suspect, who is in custody, targeted women la
  
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• Man tracks down alleged thief who broke into truck, finds APD ‘top offender’

  27-06-2017 22:05 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man whose truck was broken into last week in a brazen midday burglary used surveillance footage to find the man police later arrested for the crime.
  According to an affidavit, the victim told police his truck was broken into at the Roaring Fork restaurant in north Austin on Friday afternoon around lunchtime. The thief took two luggage bags as well as a laptop, he said.
  The man police arrested for the crime, 30-year-old Jose Olvera, has a long list of arrests and conv
  
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• Man tracks down alleged thief who broke into his truck, finds APD ‘top offender’

  27-06-2017 22:05 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man whose truck was broken into last week in a brazen midday burglary used surveillance footage to find the man police later arrested for the crime.
  According to an affidavit, the victim told police his truck was broken into at the Roaring Fork restaurant in north Austin on Friday afternoon around lunchtime. The thief took two luggage bags as well as a laptop, he said.
  The man police arrested for the crime, 30-year-old Jose Olvera, has a long list of arrests and conv
  
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• Alleged leader of Austin gambling operation faces up to life in prison

  27-06-2017 21:41 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A three-month long surveillance operation of a 53-year-old man suspected of running an illegal gambling ring in the Austin area culminated in his arrest by SWAT officers in Hutto on Monday.
  The Austin Police Department’s Human Trafficking/Vice Unit began their surveillance of Chong Pak in late January 2017 and, after several search warrants at various game rooms and the cooperation of people involved, detectives were able to identify Pak as the alleged owner of the op
  
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• TxDOT wants feedback on the best way to alert drivers about work zones

  27-06-2017 21:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — You’re driving on Interstate 35 and… it happens… you’re not moving. Construction has closed lanes. Your next thought is, how do I get out of this?
  In an effort to prevent this frustration, the Texas Department of Transportation is conducting a survey to find out the best way to get out information about construction updates. TxDOT spokesperson Diann Hodges says with the number of projects slated along the I-35 corridor, the agency wants to make sur
  
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• Belton couple accused of leaving adopted son in wooden shack

  27-06-2017 21:17 via kxan.com
  
  BELTON, Texas (KWKT) — A retired Temple special education teacher and her retired military husband have been arrested on charges of abandoning or endangering a child — criminal negligence, accused of leaving a 14-year-old boy in a shed in January.
  The Bell County Sheriff’s Department began their investigation into 62-year-old Warren Stadler and 58-year-old Suzanne Stadler after their adopted son made an outcry to his grandmother.
  An arrest affidavit states that the grandmother
  
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• Grease possible cause of 3-alarm fire at San Antonio mall

  27-06-2017 20:44 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KXAN) — Crews are battling an increasingly large fire at The Shops at Rivercenter Mall in San Antonio Tuesday afternoon.
  According to WOAI, authorities said the fire started around 11:30 a.m. at an unknown location in the mall. A spokesperson told mysanantonio.com crews are focusing on duct work near Tony Roma’s and Luciano’s. It’s possible grease is to blame.
  A tweet made around 11:55 a.m. shows smoke pouring out of a building.Something near the
  
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• New cyberattack wallops Europe; spreads more slowly in US

  27-06-2017 20:16 via kxan.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — A new and highly virulent outbreak of data-scrambling software caused disruption across the world Tuesday. Following a similar attack in May , the fresh assault paralyzed some hospitals, government offices and major multinational corporations in a dramatic demonstration of how easily malicious programs can bring daily life to a halt.
  Ukraine and other parts of Europe were hit particularly hard by the new strain of ransomware — malicious software that locks up computer fi
  
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• New cyberattack causes mass disruption globally

  27-06-2017 20:16 via kxan.com
  
  PARIS (AP) — A new and highly virulent outbreak of malicious data-scrambling software appears to be causing mass disruption across the world, hitting companies and governments in Europe especially hard.
  Officials in Ukraine reported serious intrusions of the country’s power grid as well as at banks and government offices, where one senior executive posted a photo of a darkened computer screen and the words, “the whole network is down.” The prime minister cautioned that th
  
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• Take a trip to the Dominican Republic with new ABIA flight

  27-06-2017 19:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Want to check out the Caribbean next summer? Austin Bergstrom International Airport has a flight for you.
  Vacation Express announced the non-stop flight Tuesday to Punta Cana International Airport will begin on May 28, 2018. Almost a year away, but tickets are already on sale.
  Flights on a 150 seat Swift Air plane will happen once a week on Mondays, departing at 7 a.m. with a 12:20 p.m. arrival in Punta Cana. Coming the opposite direction, flights will leave Punta Cana
  
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• Lockdown lifted at Alabama military post after possible active shooter

  27-06-2017 18:34 via kxan.com
  
  HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP/WXDZ) — Alabama military post lifted its lockdown after reports of a possible active shooter Tuesday morning.
  According to KXAN’s sister station in Huntsville, the situation happened at the Redstone Arsenal by Marshall Space Flight Center Emergency Management. The activity was reported to be at the RSA Sparkman Center.
  At 10:33 a.m., MSFC EM announced that MSFC and RSA were in a lockdown status.
  About two hours into the incident, Redstone Arsenal spokesman Christ
  
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• Houston motorcycle theft ring targeted Austin’s MotoGP, ROT Rally

  27-06-2017 18:25 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police working with Houston police intercepted a sophisticated motorcycle theft ring during ROT Rally weekend.
  Detectives started looking at the case during MotoGP weekend when victims at two different hotels along Interstate 35 in Austin reported their motorcycles were stolen from the hotel parking lot. The first theft happened at the Wyndham Hotel on April 22 around 3:27 a.m. Hotel surveillance video showed a black Ford F-150 enter the lot and then, a few minutes l
  
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• Hot sauce classified as ‘deadly weapon’ in karaoke brawl

  27-06-2017 18:25 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A bottle of Valentina hot sauce came between two women arguing about singing at an Austin restaurant’s karaoke night last Thursday.
  According to an Austin police affidavit, officers responded to La Catedral del Marisco restaurant at 1605 East Oltorf St. around 11:11 p.m. on June 22 after reports of a disturbance. Upon arriving, they found a woman holding bloody napkins against the left side of her face. Several people pointed out Elsa Martin Garcia, 52, who told
  
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• Texas inmate, on death row for 25 years, gets new life sentence

  27-06-2017 17:06 via kxan.com
  
  HOUSTON (AP) — A man condemned nearly 25 years ago for abducting and killing a Houston bank teller is being spared from execution as a judge reduces his sentence to life in prison after prosecutors and his attorneys agreed his mental impairment should keep him from being put to death.
  A new sentencing has been set for Tuesday in a state court in Harris County for 44-year-old Robert James Campbell.
  Campbell was 18 in January 1991 when authorities say he abducted 20-year-old Alexandra Rendon
  
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• US to Syria: ‘Heavy price’ awaits any chemical weapons use

  27-06-2017 17:03 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration threatened Tuesday that Syria will pay “a heavy price” if it follows through on what the U.S. says are preparations for another chemical weapons attack — warning of action that could plunge America deeper into a civil war alongside the fight against Islamic State militants.
  The chemical threat and sudden White House warning illustrate the challenging complexities of the fighting in Syria, a country whose territory was used by IS
  
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• US cites preparations for chemical weapons attack in Syria

  27-06-2017 17:03 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Tuesday it has detected “active preparations” by Syria for a chemical attack and threatened to retaliate — warning of action that could plunge America deeper into a civil war alongside the fight against Islamic State militants.
  The chemical threat and sudden White House warning illustrate the challenging complexities of the fighting in Syria, a country whose territory was used by IS to march into Iraq in 2014 and prompt a U.
  
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• Pentagon: ‘active preparations’ by Syria for chemical attack

  27-06-2017 17:03 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Tuesday said it detected “active preparations” by Syria for a chemical weapons attack, giving weight to a White House statement hours earlier that the Syrian government would “pay a heavy price” if it carried out such an attack.
  The U.S. accusation and ominous warning marked a further escalation of tensions in a country where the U.S. is using Syria Arab and Kurdish proxy soldiers to combat the Islamic State group in its remaining s
  
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• Lake Travis ‘infested’ with invasive, damaging zebra mussels

  27-06-2017 16:32 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Zebra mussels, the invasive species that could cause major economic and environmental damage to a waterway have now been found in Lake Travis, less than two weeks after they were found in Canyon Lake.
  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department made the announcement Tuesday after a staff member at an unnamed local marina reported seeing a single zebra mussel attached to the outboard motor of a boat that was tied up on the lake on June 22. Biologists responded and found mus
  
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• Warrant: Texas man person of interest in 1988 death of teens

  27-06-2017 15:50 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — Investigators say a man recently arrested on a drug charge is a person of interest in the 1988 shooting deaths of two West Texas teenagers.
  A search warrant obtained by the San Angelo Standard-Times says hair, fingernails and other items found in the San Angelo home of 47-year-old John Cyrus Gilbreath link him to the teens.
  Personal writings also were found that include the names of Sally McNelly and Shane Stewart.
  The two went missing after attending a fireworks d
  
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• Family speaks about Temple boating accident that killed 4-year-old girl

  27-06-2017 15:12 via kxan.com
  
  TEMPLE, Texas (KWKT) — New details have been released about a boating accident that left one child dead and one man in serious condition.
  After an arrest affidavit released Monday, witnesses say they told 47-year-old Jason Bernal, who was driving his houseboat, to stop reversing his boat because there were children in the water.
  The accident happened Friday in Temple Lake Park when Patrick Oliver was swimming with his 4-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn.
  Bernal told police he didn’t se
  
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• Police: Father killed missing son, 5, after Disneyland trip

  27-06-2017 14:43 via kxan.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators suspect the father of a 5-year-old California boy who has been missing for two months killed the child after a family outing at Disneyland in a plot to get back at his estranged wife during a bitter separation, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said Monday.
  The body of Aramazd Andressian Jr. has not been found and investigators would not release specific details of what led to the filing of the murder charge, but said there is strong circumstanti
  
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• Technology of tomorrow on display at Smart Cities Conference

  27-06-2017 13:57 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) —  The 2017 Smart Cities Connect Conference & Expo, coinciding with the U.S. Ignite Application Summit, is underway. Companies from all over the world are showing off their latest technology while city leaders from throughout the country discuss ways to use that tech in their towns.
  “It’s about connecting the dots – how do we connect these technologies to needs that people have,” said Austin’s Chief Innovation Officer Kerry O’Conno
  
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• Advocacy groups, legal clinics see rise in questions related to SB4

  27-06-2017 13:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Senate Bill 4, the newly passed Texas immigration law, heads to court for a preliminary injunction hearing, organizations back in Austin say they’re seeing a rise in legal and immigration-related questions related to this law.
  Robert Painter with Austin Gateways, a group that works with low-income, Central Texas immigrants, explained that his organization has seen an influx of people applying for services and asking about what changes to immigration law and policy
  
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• Cleared in arrest of Miss Black Texas, police chief quits

  27-06-2017 12:59 via kxan.com
  
  COMMERCE, Texas (AP) — An East Texas police chief has resigned almost two weeks after he was cleared of wrongdoing in the May 20 arrest of Miss Black Texas 2016.
  In a statement read to the Commerce City Council, Kerry Crews said he was resigning because of the stress and burden of the job since Carmen Ponder’s arrest. KDFW-TV of Dallas and Fort Worth reported that Crews did not attend the Monday night meeting.
  An evading arrest charge against Ponder, a 23-year-old college student, wa
  
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• 2nd city official resigns over clash with Texas beauty queen

  27-06-2017 12:59 via kxan.com
  
  COMMERCE, Texas (AP) — A Northeast Texas school board member has resigned a day after a police chief stepped down following a confrontation the two had with a woman who was Miss Black Texas 2016.
  Commerce board member Michael Beane resigned Tuesday, citing a backlash and threats against him for his role in the May clash with Carmen Ponder.
  An evading arrest charge against Ponder, a 23-year-old college student, was dropped for what prosecutors say was lack of evidence. She initially had sai
  
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• Google hit with record fine by EU, told to change its ways

  27-06-2017 12:11 via kxan.com
  
  BRUSSELS (AP) — After a seven-year legal battle, European authorities came down hard on Google on Tuesday for taking advantage of its dominance in online searches to direct customers to its own businesses, fining the tech giant a record 2.42 billion euros ($2.72 billion) and raising the prospect of more.
  A years-long analysis of Google’s online search results showed that the company lists links to its own online shopping services above those of rivals, European regulators said. On av
  
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• EU fines Google a record 2.4 billion euros in antitrust case

  27-06-2017 12:11 via kxan.com
  
  BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union slapped a record 2.42 billion-euro ($2.72 billion) fine on internet giant Google on Tuesday for taking advantage of its dominance in online searches to direct customers to its own online shopping business.
  European regulators gave the company based in Mountain View, California, 90 days to stop or face more fines of up to 5 percent of the average daily worldwide revenue of parent company Alphabet.
  Google says it is considering an appeal.
  The European Commi
  
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• Down 7 runs, Indians rally to top Texas 15-9

  27-06-2017 05:35 via kxan.com
  
  CLEVELAND (AP) — Francisco Lindor, Lonnie Chisenhall and Carlos Santana each had three RBIs to help the Cleveland Indians rally from a seven-run deficit and beat the Texas Rangers 15-9 on Monday night after manager Terry Francona left the game because he wasn’t feeling well.
  The Indians came back after trailing 9-2 in the fourth inning to avoid their first four-game losing streak since 2015.
  Cleveland did not provide any other details about Francona, who presented Rangers first
  
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• BEPI Park, Austin’s newest pedestrian island, open for business

  27-06-2017 05:21 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In the grand spirit of Austin’s “Keeping it Weird,” the city’s newest park aims to do just that.
  Just on the edge of downtown at the Baylor, Enfield, Parkway Intersection, you’ll find the appropriately named BEPI Park.
  Organizers held a cocktail hour celebration for the Pedestrian Island on Monday.
  “Oddly enough, it sort of classed up the place,” neighbor and organizer Gary Schumann said. “If you notice there’s now graff
  
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• 20-pound live lobster found in luggage at Boston airport

  27-06-2017 04:28 via kxan.com
  
  BOSTON (AP) — The Transportation Security Administration says a 20-pound (9-kilogram) live lobster has been spotted in a passenger’s luggage at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
  TSA spokesman Michael McCarthy says the lobster found Sunday in the passenger’s checked luggage at the airport’s Terminal C is the “largest” he’s ever seen.
  McCarthy says the TSA doesn’t prohibit transporting lobsters. The TSA website says a live lobster is allowe
  
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• Father of cyclist killed wants bicycle safety plan in Georgetown

  27-06-2017 04:11 via kxan.com
  
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — Tom Ketterhagen visits his son’s memorial on Patriot Way several times a week. “Of course there’s a heaviness, sadness about it but this is where Tommy spent his last seconds.”
  Tommy Ketterhagen was riding his bicycle the evening of Jan. 20, when Aaron Davison crashed into him. A witness said Davison drove into the wrong lane and hit Tommy. Davison took off, but turned himself in four days later.
  Tommy’s memorial is a reminder of a h
  
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• Fish killed after train derails, spills ice cream into Texas creek

  27-06-2017 02:27 via kxan.com
  
  MITCHELL COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) — Hundreds of fish were killed after a train carrying ice cream derailed in Mitchell County, Friday night.
  This is according to radio station KVMC, who reports the ice cream leaked into a creek that empties into Lake Champion following the derailment caused by high winds in between Loraine and Colorado City.
  Lake Champion officials posted the following message to social media to let visitors know their lake is not affected by the spill:
  Just to put everyo
  
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• On heels of voting machine problems, Hays County moves toward paperless

  27-06-2017 02:05 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — Hays County is looking to change the way people will be voting, and some aren’t so pleased with the decision. The county could be making a move towards everything being electronic.
  Last Tuesday, the Hays County Elections Advisory Committee presented new voting machines as options for future elections. The committee narrowed the field of vendors to Hart and ES&S. Both vendors presented their equipment to the public and answered questions.
  On Wednesday, t
  
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• Sheriff: Man killed missing son, 5, after Disneyland trip

  27-06-2017 01:24 via kxan.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Investigators suspect the father of a 5-year-old California boy who has been missing for two months killed the child after a family outing at Disneyland in a plot to get back at his estranged wife during a bitter separation, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said Monday.
  The body of Aramazd Andressian Jr. has not been found and investigators would not release specific details of what led to the filing of the murder charge, but said there is strong circumstanti
  
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• Facebook helps celebrate 20 years of Harry Potter

  27-06-2017 01:09 via kxan.com
  
  LONDON (AP/WCMH) — Author J.K. Rowling’s first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was published in Britain on June 26, 1997.
  Since then, it has sold more than 450 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 79 languages. The books’ magical world has inspired multiple films, spinoffs, memorabilia and amusement park attractions. The White Elephant Cafe, the Edinburgh spot where Rowling wrote the first book, has become an international tourist destina
  
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• Baylor confirms NCAA investigation after sex abuse scandal

  27-06-2017 01:04 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The NCAA is conducting an “ongoing, pending investigation” into Baylor University in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that led to the firing of football coach Art Briles and the departure of the school president, the school’s lawyers confirmed in a federal court filing.
  Baylor officials acknowledged the investigation while asking a judge to protect the school’s communications with the NCAA from attorneys for several women who have sued the n
  
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• Pharmacy boss blamed for meningitis outbreak gets 9 years

  27-06-2017 00:49 via kxan.com
  
  BOSTON (AP) — The co-owner of a pharmacy deemed responsible for the deaths of 76 people in a national meningitis outbreak tearfully apologized to the victims on Monday and was sentenced to nine years in prison, far less than the victims had wanted.
  “I’m sorry for your extraordinary losses,” Barry Cadden said, wiping his eyes.
  A dozen victims who were sickened or lost loved ones asked the judge to give Cadden the harshest penalty allowed under the law for the deadly 2012 n
  
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• AISD approves $1.05 billion bond election for November

  27-06-2017 00:49 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin ISD school board approved a $1.05 billion bond election set for November at a special board meeting Monday night.
  As of 9:05 p.m., trustees went into executive session to discuss the bond language, and decided on calling a $1.05 billion November bond election.
  The bond total increased from $990 million last week, with the addition of building a future middle school for northeast Austin in the Mueller development.
  The district says even with the additional $61 mil
  
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• AISD adds future Mueller MS to bond project list; total hits $1 billion

  27-06-2017 00:49 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The bond project list has grown ahead of the special Austin ISD school board meeting Monday night, where trustees are expected to call a $1 billion November bond election.
  The bond total has gone up to $1.05 billion, with the addition of building a future middle school for northeast Austin in the Mueller development.
  The district says even with the additional $61 million school, there will be no increase to the property tax rate.
  Click here for the updated bond project
  
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• South Lakeshore Boulevard to close to traffic for several days

  27-06-2017 00:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A portion of South Lakeshore Boulevard will be closed to traffic this week so crews can work on making a crosswalk compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  Starting Tuesday, June 27, traffic will be detoured to Tinnin Ford Road and then back on to East Riverside Drive. The detour is expected to remain in effect through Friday, June 30.
  The work is part of the larger East Riverside Corridor Improvements Project, which is aimed at transforming the corridor into a p
  
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• Long-separated families meet in the riverbed of the Rio Grande

  27-06-2017 00:03 via kxan.com
  
  EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — On Saturday, hundreds of families separated by the U.S.-Mexico border were reunited during a special event in the Rio Grande near downtown El Paso.
  Hugs Not Walls tried to reconnect family members separated by the border or immigration policies.
  Maria Rocha Vega traveled from Denver to see her family and told NewsChannel 9, “My parents brought me here when I was seven years old and ever since then I haven’t seen my dad.”
  Vega said she qualifies for
  
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