Austin news

• False alarm prompts brief evacuation at Austin airport

  13-07-2017 23:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was briefly evacuated Thursday afternoon.
  Austin police tell KXAN there was a false alarm and that passengers are being allowed back in the terminal.
  Twitter users reported the fire alarm was sounding in the terminal.
  Additional details weren’t immediately available. The lower levels of ABIA were evacuated when a cooler was found abandoned last week.
  Brief evacuation at Austin airport triggered by false alarm on July 13,
  
  Read more

• School bus and SUV crash in southeast Austin

  13-07-2017 23:18 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Del Valle ISD school bus crashed with an SUV in southeast Austin Thursday afternoon.
  Austin police were called to the 6200 block of East Stassney Lane, near Burleson Road, at 1:39 p.m. for the crash.
  Four students were on the bus. The bus driver and a student were evaluated by Austin-Travis County EMS, according to the school district.
  Eastbound Stassney Lane is closed while crews work to move the school bus, which came to rest on top of a barricade.
  
  Read more

• Residents call on San Marcos to take stance on sanctuary cities law

  13-07-2017 23:04 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – A group in San Marcos is calling for the city to take a stance on Senate Bill 4, a law that aims to crack down on illegal immigration.
  “Now more than ever, we need to gather voices and signatures and people to help fight this cause,” said Hays County resident Alicia Guerrero. “Austin is against SB4, so is San Antonio. We being between those cities with such a high Hispanic immigrant population should be on board as well.”
  Late last month G
  
  Read more

• El Paso officer accused of leaving baby alone in bath for 45 minutes

  13-07-2017 22:15 via kxan.com
  
  EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The off-duty El Paso police officer charged in the drowning of his son was arguing with his estranged wife and left his infant son in the bathtub for nearly 45 minutes while it overflowed, flooding the upstairs of his apartment, according to court documents.
  Raymond Licon Jr., 27, a two-year veteran of the El Paso Police Department, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of his 11-month old son, Azrael, on June 20.
  According to court docume
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 16 fallen service members in military plane crash escorted to airport

  13-07-2017 21:55 via kxan.com
  
  JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) — The bodies of the fallen service members who died in a plane crash earlier this week were escorted through the Metro by a motorcade Thursday.
  Local law enforcement escorted the 16 service members from the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Pearl to the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport.
  WJTV crews were there when they left the crime lab to go to the airport. There was a small group standing outside on Highway 80 as the motorcade passed.
  The group was ther
  
  Read more

• TABC manages to reduce label wait times for breweries

  13-07-2017 21:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — For a brewery, getting their product on store shelves in a quick and timely manner is just smart business. But the process of getting labels approved by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission was taking nearly 40 days at the beginning of this year.
  To address the backlog, TABC redirected resources and managed to reduce the overall wait time for all beverage times. In June, the processing time for label approval applications with no errors was 5.74 days.
  In April, KXAN repo
  
  Read more

• Silver Alert issued for missing Flower Mound man

  13-07-2017 20:42 via kxan.com
  
  FLOWER MOUND, Texas (KXAN) — A Silver Alert has been issued for an 85-year-old man who was last seen around 11 p.m. on Wednesday in Flower Mound.
  The Flower Mount Police Department says Charles Edward Skinner has a cognitive impairment and they believe he poses a credible threat to his own health and safety.
  Skinner has a black 2011 Honda CRV with Texas License Plate DF3L914. He is 5-foot-9, 200 pounds, has white hair and brown eyes.
  If you have any information regarding this missing senio
  
  Read more

• Missing Flower Mound man found

  13-07-2017 20:42 via kxan.com
  
  FLOWER MOUND, Texas (KXAN) — A Silver Alert issued for an 85-year-old man on Wednesday in Flower Mound has been discontinued.
  The Flower Mount Police Department says Charles Edward Skinner has a cognitive impairment and they believe he posed a credible threat to his own health and safety.
  Skinner has a black 2011 Honda CRV with Texas License Plate DF3L914. He is 5-foot-9, 200 pounds, has white hair and brown eyes.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Two Austin psychologists indicted in Medicaid kickback scheme

  13-07-2017 20:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSITN (KXAN) — Two Austin psychologists and a Cedar Park correctional consultant have been indicted in the largest coordinated health care fraud enforcement action to date.
  The U.S. Department of Justice says 72-year-old Dr. William Joseph Dubin and his 32-year-old son, Dr. David Fox Dubin, are accused of conspiring with Glen Elwood McKenzie Jr., 67, in an elaborate kickback scheme to defraud Medicaid.
  According to the indictment, the Dubins’ owned and operated Psychological A.R.T.S
  
  Read more

• New Senate GOP health care bill teeters on the brink

  13-07-2017 18:36 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders unveiled a new health care bill Thursday in their increasingly desperate effort to deliver on seven years of promises to repeal and replace “Obamacare.” They immediately lost two key votes, leaving none to spare as the party’s own divisions put its top campaign pledge in serious jeopardy.
  President Donald Trump declared a day earlier that failure would make him “very angry” and that he would blame Majority Leader Mitch McCo
  
  Read more

• McConnell reveals new health bill; will his GOP support it?

  13-07-2017 18:36 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell released his new but still-reeling health care bill Thursday, bidding for conservative support by letting insurers sell low-cost, skimpy policies and reaching for moderates with added billions to combat opioid abuse and help states rein in consumers’ skyrocketing insurance costs.
  However, allowing insurers to offer bare-bones plans threatens to alienate moderates and perhaps other conservatives. And the measure retains cuts i
  
  Read more

• Two dead in Tyler plane crash

  13-07-2017 18:14 via kxan.com
  
  TYLER, Texas (KXAN) — Two people are dead after a two-engine plane crashed near Tyler Pounds Regional Airport Thursday morning, KETK reports.
  The Piper PA-31 Navajo crashed shortly after takeoff and was located around 8 a.m. in a grassy area nearby.
  The victims’ identity has not been released.
  The Department of Public Safety and the FAA are investigating the crash.
   
   
  
  Read more

• Pastor identified as one of two killed in Tyler plane crash

  13-07-2017 18:14 via kxan.com
  
  TYLER, Texas (KXAN) — Two people are dead after a two-engine plane crashed near Tyler Pounds Regional Airport Thursday morning, KETK reports.
  The Piper PA-31 Navajo crashed shortly after takeoff and was located around 8 a.m. in a grassy area nearby.
  One of the victims has been identified as Trevor Morris, the pastor at Union Hill Baptist Church in Brownsboro, Associate Pastor Aaron Greenwood confirmed to KETK. The other victim has not been identified at this time.
  The Department of Pu
  
  Read more

• Construction crews strike gas line in Lockhart

  13-07-2017 18:07 via kxan.com
  
  CALDWELL COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Texas Gas is working on repairing a gas leak in Lockhart after a construction crew struck the line Thursday morning.
  The Caldwell County Office of Emergency Management says the leak occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Medina Street near Bowie Street. Residents in the 900-1000 block of Medina Street were asked to shelter in place for a short period of time before crews were able to cap the leak around 11:30 a.m.
  Medina Street will remain blocked to traffic as repair
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Chance the Rapper, Snoop Dogg are Emmy nominees

  13-07-2017 17:47 via kxan.com
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the 69th annual Primetime Emmy nominations announced Thursday in Los Angeles by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (all times local):
  9:30 a.m.
  Chance the Rapper, Common, Snoop Dogg and LL Cool J are among the musicians nominated for Emmy Awards this year.
  Chance the Rapper, who won three Grammys this year, is nominated for outstanding original music and lyrics for “Last Christmas” from “Saturday Night Live.” Common, a Gramm
  
  Read more

• Man trapped in ATM slips notes to customers begging for help

  13-07-2017 17:03 via kxan.com
  
  CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Police say a Texas man who became trapped inside an ATM slipped notes to customers via the receipt slot pleading for them to help him escape.
  Corpus Christi police Lt. Chris Hooper says the contractor became stuck Wednesday when he was changing a lock to a Bank of America room that leads to the ATM. The unidentified contractor, who had left his cellphone in his truck, encountered a problem with the lock.
  He passed notes through the ATM receipt slot to customers
  
  Read more

• Ruptured crude oil line forces evacuations in Bastrop County

  13-07-2017 16:37 via kxan.com
  
  BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — People who live within a mile of a crude oil spill in Bastrop County are being asked to evacuate.
  The Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management says the rupture was reported around 9:20 a.m. at 417 Farm to Market 20 near Shiloh Road, which is just a few miles southwest of the city of Bastrop. FM 20 is closed at this time.
  Originally, emergency crews sent out messages asking people who live within a 2-mile radius to shelter in place. But at 11:05 a.m., Bas
  
  Read more

• Crude oil line spill evacuations lifted in Bastrop County

  13-07-2017 16:37 via kxan.com
  
  BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — People who live within a mile of a crude oil spill in Bastrop County can return to their homes after an evacuation Thursday.
  The Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management says the rupture was reported around 9:20 a.m. at 417 Farm to Market 20 near Shiloh Road, which is just a few miles southwest of the city of Bastrop. FM 20 is closed and is expected to remain closed until Friday morning.
  Originally, emergency crews sent out messages asking people who liv
  
  Read more

• Car plunges from 7th floor of downtown Austin parking garage

  13-07-2017 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman was taken to the hospital after she drove her car off a parking garage Thursday morning in downtown Austin.
  Austin police say just before 8:30 a.m. the woman drove her BMW sedan off the 7th floor of the Littlefield parking garage and fell into an alley on Brazos Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets. The crash ruptured a gas line, but crews have been able to turn off the gas. The garage has nine levels.
  Drivers should avoid the area since two eastbound lanes of Si
  
  Read more

• Kid Rock hints at potential US Senate run in Michigan

  13-07-2017 15:51 via kxan.com
  
  LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Kid Rock for U.S. Senate?
  The musician from suburban Detroit is teasing his potential 2018 candidacy, though it is news to Michigan Republicans.
  Kid Rock, who was born Robert Ritchie, said Wednesday that a website hinting at his campaign — http://www.kidrockforsenate.com — is legit.
  “I have had a ton of emails and texts asking me if this website is real,” he said on Facebook and Twitter. “The answer is an absolute YES. Stay tuned, I will
  
  Read more

• New law will allow open carry of knives, swords in Texas

  13-07-2017 15:37 via kxan.com
  
  TYLER, Texas (KETK) — Texans will be able to open carry Bowie knives, swords, daggers and spears starting September 1.“Push daggers and double sided knives are probably going be more popular with the general public for self defense,” Austin Rohr, owner of Superior Firearms in Tyler says. “People could always buy them, own them, and collect them. We actually saw, even for years, people would still carry these knives. I think it was almost unknown to the public that [they w
  
  Read more

• The story behind new Willie Nelson mural in Dallas

  13-07-2017 15:34 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS, Texas (KXAN) — Growing up in Communist-controlled Romania in the 1980s, Dan Colcer, was only exposed to only limited amounts of music and entertainment, but he vividly remembers one Texan that left an indelible mark on his life: Willie Nelson.
  “He had long hair and blue jeans, and it was like ‘ka-boom,'” Colcer told KXAS in Dallas. “If you were like that over in Romania you’d be getting in big trouble.”
  Three decades later, Colcer is an arti
  
  Read more

• Long-awaited panda cub celebrates first month of life

  13-07-2017 15:14 via kxan.com
  
  TOKYO, Japan (WFLA/NBC) – A panda cub celebrated its first month of life in good health at a Tokyo Zoo on Wednesday.
  The female cub was given a physical exam by zookeepers.
  Though she was tiny at birth, the panda cub is now big enough that zookeepers have to hold her with two hands.
  She was born to giant panda Shin-Shin at the zoo last month.
  The zoo reports the panda is eleven and a half inches long and weighs two and a half pounds, which is eight times her birth weight.
  The zoo will cont
  
  Read more

• WATCH: Mudslide envelops drivers in China

  13-07-2017 14:24 via kxan.com
  
  SANJIANG DONG AUTONOMOUS COUNTY, China (KXAN) — Sixteen drivers got caught in a mudslide that swept their vehicles off the road in south China Wednesday.
  A dash camera captured the moment the wall of mud came rolling down a busy road. Officials said the mudslide was the result of persistent rain in the area.
  One driver described the mud hitting him on the head and overturning his car. In all, 16 drivers and passengers were caught up in the scary scene.
  No major injuries were reported.
  &nbs
  
  Read more

• As overdose deaths continue to rise, experts look at ways to tackle problem

  13-07-2017 14:10 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (NBC News) — Public health experts were on Capitol Hill Wednesday to address the country’s current opioid overdose epidemic.
  Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under age 50, with 52,000 dying in 2015. Of those overdose deaths, 33,000 were from opioids, and more than half of those involved prescription drugs.
  Experts say the epidemic is escalating because the cheaper, more powerful synthetic opioid Fentanyl is finding its way to addicts.
  &ldqu
  
  Read more

• Human remains found in search for missing men, 1 victim ID’d

  13-07-2017 13:40 via kxan.com
  
  NEW HOPE, Pa. (AP) — Investigators found the body of one of four missing young men Wednesday night, along with other human remains, buried deep in a common grave on a Pennsylvania farm. They vowed to “bring each and every one of these lost boys home to their families, one way or another.”
  Hours before the announced discovery, police arrested a young man whose parents own the farm on a charge tying him to one of the missing men. But little has been said about how all are connect
  
  Read more

• Disappearance of 4 Philadelphia-area men takes grisly turn

  13-07-2017 13:40 via kxan.com
  
  DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The mystery that has transfixed the Philadelphia area over the past week — the disappearance of four young men — took a grisly turn when human remains were discovered in a 12½-foot-deep grave on a farm. But exactly what sort of evil befell them, and why, remained shrouded in secrecy.
  The prosecutor who has held twice-daily briefings made it clear Thursday he knows a lot more than he is saying, citing the need to protect the investigation. That has
  
  Read more

• Digging resumes at site where remains found in search for 4

  13-07-2017 13:40 via kxan.com
  
  Police on Thursday returned to a large Pennsylvania farm to resume digging and sifting through a deep common grave where multiple remains were discovered, including one identified as one of four men missing since last week. The prosecutor also issued a fresh appeal for more help from the public in trying to solve the case.
  “They are down 12 foot deep in a hole that is getting deeper by the minute,” District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said.
  Weintraub held a dramatic midnight news conf
  
  Read more

• Blue Bell launches new Sweet ‘n Salty Crunch ice cream

  13-07-2017 13:39 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sweet ‘n Salty Crunch. That’s Blue Bell’s newest flavor.
  The company says the new flavor is being revealed in celebration of National Ice Cream Day on July 16. The new flavor is the company’s original vanilla ice cream loaded with chocolate-coated pretzel bites, chopped roasted almonds and milk chocolate chunks. 
  “Our new flavor was inspired by the popular snack mixes that combine sweet and salty foods,” said Wayne Hugo, vice preside
  
  Read more

• Williamson County looks to improve, expand US 183 in rural area

  13-07-2017 13:30 via kxan.com
  
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Williamson County is asking for public input on how to transform US 183 from a rural highway to a highway that will be able to accommodate the growth in the area.
  The proposed Corridor F/US 183 improvements looks at providing controlled access to the highway from State Highway 29 to the northern Williamson County line. Currently, US 183 in the area is a four-lane highway without a median.
  “We are talking about a limited access roadway, with on ramps
  
  Read more

• Couple burned by flaming cocktail at Dallas-area tavern

  13-07-2017 12:52 via kxan.com
  
  HIGHLAND VILLAGE, Texas (AP) — A man and a woman were airlifted to a Dallas hospital’s burn unit after they were severely burned by a flaming cocktail at a suburban Dallas tavern.
  A city statement says emergency units were dispatched to the tavern in Highland Village about 4 p.m. after flaming alcohol shattered a liquor bottle and splashed all over the couple. Tavern employees quickly suffocated the flames.
  The couple was burned over the upper half of their bodies, but officials say
  
  Read more

• Needles in, stress out: Travis County deputies turning to acupuncture

  13-07-2017 12:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — There’s a common phrase among corrections officers: The stress behind the fence.
  “You do not know what you’re going to get into every day and also the stress of us being the academy. We have five hours of the academy and then eight hours of work after that every day,” said Travis County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Officer Katelyn Faulkner.
  Now one day a week, it’s needles in, stress out.
  “Having this to relieve some of that st
  
  Read more

• Austin issues burn ban at city parks due to dry conditions

  13-07-2017 12:31 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Even a small piece of burning charcoal can start a large brush fire—as evident by the 200-acre brush fire in Blanco County earlier this week. With that in mind, the city of Austin is temporarily banning the building of fires and grilling in all city parks, greenbelts and preserves.
  The city says due to dangerous fire conditions, the use of wood or charcoal BBQ pits/grills/smokers are prohibited. However, propane stoves are allowed in designated picnic areas. Smoking i
  
  Read more

• Austin senior citizens learning to write their life stories

  13-07-2017 06:03 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Residents of the Buckner Villas senior living community in north Austin packed into a workshop Wednesday on how to become the authors of their own stories. The workshop gave attendees tools to get started chronicling their life memories.
  The Buckner Villas residents are preparing to write stories about their parents for an entire issue of the community’s magazine, the Green Ridge Gazette. Many of the attendees said they had tried to write memoirs or records of family
  
  Read more

• Moreland talks baseball on More Than the Score

  13-07-2017 05:47 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Former major leaguer and Longhorn great stopped by More Than the Score to talk baseball on Wednesday.  Moreland gives his insight into the rise of the Astros and his unique perspective after being in Chicago to see the how bad things were for the Cubs just years before winning the 2016 World Series.
  
  Read more

• Federal cuts to teen pregnancy prevention hit local organizations

  13-07-2017 05:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Millions of dollars in federal funding cut from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program is impacting organizations like EngenderHealth, based in Austin. In Travis County, the teen pregnancy rate exceeds the state’s.
  KXAN met with the organization to learn what toll this will take on its sexual health programs.
  “We’ve never seen this happen before,” Jenifer DeAtley, the country director for EngenderHealth‘s U.S. Programs Office told KXAN, say
  
  Read more

• Students spend summer working toward an ‘out of this world’ opportunity

  13-07-2017 05:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Several high school and college freshmen are competing for the unique opportunity to have their work sent to the International Space Station.
  “Go-For-Launch!” is a the three-day camp taking place at St. Edward’s University this week for students interested in science, technology, engineering and math. Students get to spend time with a former astronaut and other mentors, designing an experiment that will be judged, compete with other “Go for Launch&rd
  
  Read more

• Austin ADA attorney Omar Rosales suspended from federal court

  13-07-2017 05:08 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Local attorney Omar Weaver Rosales, who filed hundreds of lawsuits against local small businesses alleging technical violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, has been suspended from practicing law in the Federal Western District for three years, according to an order filed Tuesday.
  The court order appears to be the bookend to a saga of ADA lawsuits and litigation brought by Rosales and a single client, John Deutsch, who uses a wheelchair. The duo began filing laws
  
  Read more

• Single-engine sea plane crashes into Lake Travis; no injuries

  13-07-2017 03:21 via kxan.com
  
  LAKE TRAVIS, Texas (KXAN) — A single-engine sea plane crashed into Lake Travis Wednesday evening, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.
  A pilot, described as a man in his 40s by EMS, was not injured. He was the only person on board the plane.
  Firefighters were called to 2011 N. Pace Bend Rd. at around 8 p.m. Lynn Lunsford, an FAA spokesperson, says the small amphibious plane flipped over while landing in the lake.
  The Pedernales Fire Department said the pilot was sitting on the wing of th
  
  Read more

• Plane crash reported in Lake Travis; no injuries

  13-07-2017 03:21 via kxan.com
  
  LAKE TRAVIS, Texas (KXAN) — A plane has reportedly crashed into Lake Travis, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.
  A pilot, the only person on board, is not reporting any injuries.
  Multiple agencies are responding to Pace Bend. Firefighters have been called to 2011 N. Pace Bend Rd.
  KXAN will update this page as we get additional information. 
  
  Read more

• Amphibious plane crashes into Lake Travis

  13-07-2017 03:21 via kxan.com
  
  LAKE TRAVIS, Texas (KXAN) — A single-engine sea plane crashed into Lake Travis Wednesday evening, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.
  A pilot, described as a man in his 40s by EMS, was not injured. He was the only person on board the plane.
  Firefighters were called to 2011 N. Pace Bend Rd. at around 8 p.m. Lynn Lunsford, an FAA spokesperson, says the small amphibious plane flipped over while landing in the lake.
  The Pedernales Fire Department said the pilot was sitting on the wing of th
  
  Read more

• Accidentally starting a brush fire could lead to fines or criminal charges

  13-07-2017 03:05 via kxan.com
  
  JOHNSON CITY, Texas (KXAN) — Firefighters say the wildfire that ripped through 206 acres in Blanco County was a complete accident. In some cases, even accidental fires can lead to fines or charges for the person responsible, but Johnson City fire officials say that won’t be the case this time.
  Johnson City Fire Captain Michael Guthrie, the incident commander for Tuesday’s wildfire, says it was sparked by one coal that the wind blew out of a Johnson City homeowner’s barbec
  
  Read more

• Report: Energy costs in Texas are at a 10-year low for some

  13-07-2017 02:07 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Despite the sticker shock some Texans expect on their electric bills each month, electricity costs over a recent 10-year period are down for thousands of residents, according to a new report.
  That report, released by the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power, indicated that “average residential electricity prices in areas of Texas with retail electric competition have declined during a recent 10-year period, while average prices have increased during that same perio
  
  Read more

• Kevin Sumlin answers ‘hot seat’ questions

  13-07-2017 01:17 via kxan.com
  
  HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Gus Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin got their Southeastern Conference head coaching tenures off to blazing starts.
  They’re both facing a different kind of heat now.
  Auburn’s Malzahn and Texas A&M’s Sumlin enter this season on likely needing to show some improvement to ensure their job security. Mississippi’s Hugh Freeze could find his job on the line for a different reason, depending on the outcome of an NCAA investigat
  
  Read more

• Does ‘packing and cracking’ tip the scales to Republican congressmen

  13-07-2017 01:07 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A three-judge panel in San Antonio continues to look into whether the state of Texas purposely took power away from African-Americans and Hispanics when they drew Congressional district lines.
  They’re taking a close look at Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s District 35. He’s the lone Democrat in Washington, D.C. from Central Texas. His district goes from Austin all the way down to San Antonio, and plaintiffs say those lines were drawn to hurt minorities in Texas.
  If Da
  
  Read more

• Callers frustrated over lack of phone service in Burnet County area

  13-07-2017 00:33 via kxan.com
  
  BURNET COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — “Telephone service is one of those critical, basic functions that we have.” When Lonnie Bear couldn’t use his cell phone most of Tuesday, he was frustrated, especially with his wife at home sick, unable to reach him. “It’s a big public safety issue, if you can’t get a signal on your cell phone, you can’t even place a call.”
  The problem stems from AT&T lines. The company says the outage that happened Tuesday w
  
  Read more

• Suspect arrested in murder of man answering Backpage ad

  13-07-2017 00:12 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police have arrested a suspect in the murder of 43-year-old Dunieski Castillo Leyva in southeast Austin on Sunday. 
  Investigators determined Levya and two friends were responding to what police describe as a sexually-oriented ad on Backpage.com. They drove to an apartment at 2501 Anken Dr., near the intersection of East Oltorf Street and South Pleasant Valley Road, around 1:12 a.m. on July 9.
  Police say an argument began when certain services were not received a
  
  Read more

• Security lapse leaks data from millions of Verizon customers

  13-07-2017 00:00 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — A security researcher says a lapse has exposed data from millions of Verizon customers, leaking names, addresses and personal identification numbers, or PINs.
  Verizon Wireless says 6 million customers were affected, but the company says that none of the information made it into the wrong hands. The company saysthe only person who got access to the data was the researcher who brought the leak to its attention.
  The security firm, UpGuard, says the problem stemm
  
  Read more

Follow @Austin_News_US on Twitter!