Austin news

• Record-breaking Astronaut Peggy Whitson returns to Earth

  03-09-2017 23:55 via kxan.com
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth late Saturday, wrapping up a record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for U.S. space endurance.
  Whitson’s 665 days off the planet — 288 days on this mission alone — exceeds that of any other American and any other woman worldwide.
  She checked out of the International Space Station just hours earlier, along with another American and a Russian. Their Soyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan sho
  
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• Controlled burn at chemical plant, power off in west Houston

  03-09-2017 23:45 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities started a controlled burn Sunday of highly unstable compounds at a Houston-area chemical plant that flooded because of Harvey. Utility crews went door-to-door to shut off power and warn those still at homes in the western reaches of the metro area that more flooding was possible.
  The Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office said in a statement Sunday the decision was made to take “proactive measures” to ignite the remaining trailers at the Arkema pla
  
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• Travis County Sheriff’s Office on how they comply with “Sandra Bland Act”

  03-09-2017 20:53 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN)– The Travis County Sheriff’s Office is hosted a town hall, Saturday to explain how they are complying with the “Sandra Bland Act.”
  The law is named after Sandra Bland- a woman who authorities say killed herself in jail in 2015 — a few days after being arrested.
  The act went into effect yesterday requiring jails to notify magistrate judges of inmates with mental illness within 12 hours — instead of the previous requirement of 72 hours. But th
  
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• Bastrop sisters raise money for Harvey victims with “Not Today Harvey” lemonade stand

  03-09-2017 20:00 via kxan.com
  BASTROP (KXAN)– When 8 year-old Adessa and 6 year-old Avalynn saw the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, they wanted to help. The girls opened a lemonade stand and called it the “Not Today Harvey Lemonade Stand”.
  With the help of their mom, the girls have raised $212 in three days to benefit the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
  If you too would like to help and be sure your money goes to the people who need it, you can do so. We have partnered with the Red Cross and Salvation Army
  
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• Trump raises stakes in escalating North Koreans nuke crisis

  03-09-2017 19:19 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump raised the stakes Sunday in an escalating crisis over North Korea’s nuclear threats, suggesting drastic economic measures against China and criticizing ally South Korea as he convened his national security team to consider the North’s latest provocation: its most powerful nuclear test.
  North Korea claimed “perfect success” in an underground test of what it called a hydrogen bomb — potentially vastly more destructive tha
  
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• Mattis: NKorea threat would bring massive military response

  03-09-2017 19:19 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday shot back at North Korea’s claimed test of a hydrogen bomb with a blunt threat, saying the U.S. will answer any threat from the North with a “massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.” Earlier, President Donald Trump threatened to halt all trade with countries doing business with the North, a veiled warning to China, and faulted South Korea for its “talk of appeasement.&rdqu
  
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• Carbon monoxide sends 14 evacuees in Bastrop to Austin hospitals

  03-09-2017 17:07 via kxan.com
  BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) – Exposure to carbon monoxide sent 14 people in Bastrop to Austin-area hospitals Saturday night, said Bastrop ESD No. 2 Assistant Chief Andreas Rosales.
  The 6 children and 8 adults are all members of a family that had evacuated from Houston due to flooding from Hurricane Harvey, he said. They were staying with relatives at a private residence – not at a shelter.
  It happened in the 100 block of Woodland Court south of SH 71 and east of Tahitian Drive.
  “We d
  
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• Carbon monoxide exposure sends 12 to hospital in Bastrop

  03-09-2017 17:07 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN)– At least 12 people were transported to area hospitals for carbon monoxide exposure Saturday night according to tweets by the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management.
  The incident happened at the 100 block of Woodland Court south of TX-71 in Bastrop.  Officials say fire crews who remained at the scene of the incident to investigate, determined the problem was caused by a gas water heater vent that was not working.  
  
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• Toxic waste sites flooded in Houston area

  03-09-2017 16:04 via kxan.com
  HIGHLANDS, Texas (AP) — As Dwight Chandler sipped beer and swept out the thick muck caked inside his devastated home, he worried whether Harvey’s floodwaters had also washed in pollution from the old acid pit just a couple blocks away.
  Long a center of the nation’s petrochemical industry, the Houston metro area has more than a dozen Superfund sites, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being among America’s most intensely contaminated places. Many are now
  
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• AP EXCLUSIVE: Toxic waste sites flooded in Houston area

  03-09-2017 16:04 via kxan.com
  HIGHLANDS, Texas (AP) — As Dwight Chandler sipped beer and swept out the thick muck caked inside his devastated home, he worried whether Harvey’s floodwaters had also washed in pollution from the old acid pit just a couple blocks away.
  Long a center of the nation’s petrochemical industry, the Houston metro area has more than a dozen Superfund sites, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being among America’s most intensely contaminated places. Many are now
  
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• Gov. Abbott to participate in Day of Prayer Service, Sunday

  03-09-2017 14:52 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN, (KXAN)– On Sunday morning as some of you head to church, so will Texas Governor Greg Abbott. He will be visiting Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin to participate in a National Day of Prayer service.
  On Thursday while visiting First Baptist Church in Rockport, Texas, with Vice President Mike Pence and Reverand Franklin Graham, the Governor issued a proclamation announcing Sept. 3, 2017 as a Day of Prayer in Texas.
  He urges Texans of all faith backgrounds to join together in praying
  
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• Gov. Abbott asks Texans of all faiths to pray for Harvey victims

  03-09-2017 14:52 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN, (KXAN) – Earlier this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation naming Sunday, Sept. 3, a Day of Prayer in Texas for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
  This morning, he attended the 11 a.m. service at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin and asked all Texans, regardless of beliefs or background, to take time and pray for those impacted and for the recovery efforts.
  And while he was there, he prayed himself.
  “Dear heavenly father, we come here to you today with aching hearts,
  
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• Seoul: N. Korea believed to have conducted 6th nuclear test

  03-09-2017 05:07 via kxan.com
  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea likely conducted its sixth nuclear test Sunday, South Korea’s military said after detecting a strong earthquake near the North’s main nuclear test site. Hours earlier, Pyongyang claimed its leader had inspected a hydrogen bomb meant for a new intercontinental ballistic missile.
  If the quake was indeed the result of a nuclear test, its magnitude indicates it may have been North Korea’s most powerful detonation yet. That could mean a si
  
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• North Korea conducts 6th nuclear test, says it was H-bomb

  03-09-2017 05:07 via kxan.com
  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said it set off a hydrogen bomb Sunday in its sixth nuclear test, which judging by the earthquake it set off appeared to be its most powerful explosion yet.
  South Korea’s weather agency estimated the nuclear blast yield of the presumed test was between 50 and 60 kilotons, or five to six times stronger than North Korea’s fifth test in September 2016. That would mark a significant step forward in the North’s quest for a viable nuclear m
  
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• Beaumont struggles to restore water service in Harvey aftermath

  03-09-2017 05:05 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas city that lost its drinking water system to Harvey struggled Saturday to restore service, and firefighters kept monitoring a crippled chemical plant that has twice been the scene of explosions and fires since the storm roared ashore and stalled over Texas more than a week ago.
  Officials in Beaumont, population almost 120,000, worked to repair their water treatment plant, which failed after the swollen Neches River inundated the main intake system and backup pumps fai
  
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• Death toll from Harvey reaches at least 44

  03-09-2017 04:59 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on Harvey and the storm’s aftermath (all times local):
  9:45 p.m.
  The death toll from Harvey has reached at least 44 after the medical examiner in the county that includes Houston confirmed another fatality.
  The latest death is a man who was found floating in Cypress Creek floodwaters. The addition to a list kept by the Harris County Institute for Forensic Sciences brings the total deaths in the county to 29.
  Also, the Houston Chronicle reports that fire offi
  
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• Boat traffic on Lake Travis for holiday weekend drops sharply in Harvey’s wake

  03-09-2017 04:29 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Lakes in the Austin area are feeling the lingering effects of Hurricane Harvey this Labor Day weekend, with just a fraction of the normal boat traffic hitting Lake Travis Saturday.
  Officials at Mansfield Dam Park, a popular spot for people to launch boats for the day, estimated they saw only about 25 percent of the typical boat traffic.
  For Michael Wall, it was a welcome surprise. The Lake Travis football coach took his pontoon boat out on the water one last time before ret
  
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• Worker who died in WilCo pipeline construction accident identified

  03-09-2017 03:45 via kxan.com
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – A Dallas-area man who died at a gas pipeline construction site west of Georgetown on Saturday evening has been identified by the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office.
  They said Jose de Jesus Diaz-Valenzuela, 38, is the man killed after he was struck by a construction machine.
  It happened at about 5 p.m. along the pipeline located two miles off of SH 29 halfway between Interstate 35 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard.
  Sheriff Chody said that about 20 workers w
  
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• Worker dies in accident along Williamson County pipeline

  03-09-2017 03:45 via kxan.com
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – A worker died in an accident at a site along a gas pipeline Saturday evening in Williamson County, said the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office.
  It happened at about 7 p.m. along the pipeline located two miles off of SH 29 halfway between Interstate 35 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard.
  A WCSO spokesperson said there were no details about the accident or what caused the person’s death.
  KXAN has a crew at the scene and will provide more information as
  
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• Worker dies after construction machine strikes him at Wilco pipeline site

  03-09-2017 03:45 via kxan.com
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – A Dallas-area man in his late 30s died at a gas pipeline construction site west of Georgetown on Saturday evening, said Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody.
  It happened at about 5 p.m. along the pipeline located two miles off of SH 29 halfway between Interstate 35 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard.
  Sheriff Chody said that about 20 workers with Pumpco Pipeline Construction out of Giddings were at the site when the accident occurred.
  The pipeline had been place
  
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• Private helicopter loses power, crashes south of Burnet

  03-09-2017 01:33 via kxan.com
  BURNET, Texas (KXAN) – A private helicopter crashed south of Burnet late Saturday afternoon, said the Federal Aviation Administration.
  FAA said the aircraft – a Hughes 369 A – lost power near Burnet Municipal Airport and crashed on US 281 while attempting to make an emergency landing.
  There were four people on board, said Burnet Police Chief Paul Nelson. He said two of them were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The other two people were uninju
  
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• Evacuees on President Trump’s Houston visit

  03-09-2017 00:35 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (KXAN) – During President Trump’s visit to Houston Saturday, many evacuees needed services and support.
  Tony Trenoff came down to the George R. Brown Convention Center to sit with his friend David Coyle, who’s been forced to stay there after the storm.
  “I’m a big Trump fan,” Trenoff said. “Him showing up a second time — he’s giving hope to a lot of people who are really down and out.”
  KXAN met them sitting along a bench wit
  
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