Austin news

• Texas attorney general’s wife announces run for state senate

  06-09-2017 23:45 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The wife of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is launching her own political career and running for a state senate seat once held by her husband.
  Angela Paxton made the announcement Wednesday. She was a guidance counselor at a Frisco private school and has never held elected office. But she’s been active in GOP politics and her announcement listed endorsements from more than a dozen state lawmakers.
  She won’t be the only familiar last name on the
  
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• Georgetown woman accused of leaving grandson in hot car

  06-09-2017 22:48 via kxan.com
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A Georgetown grandmother who police say left her 2-year-old grandson in a hot car for more than 20 minutes is now facing charges.
  According to an arrest affidavit, on Friday, Sept. 1, Leia Payne, 55, went into the Ross department store located at 1019 West University Ave. in Georgetown, but left her grandson strapped in a car seat. A witness who called 911 said the minivan only had one window down and the child was “crying out for help” and “swe
  
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• J.J. Watt Foundation gets $5M from H-E-B chairman for Harvey relief

  06-09-2017 22:42 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (KXAN) — J.J. Watt’s fundraising goals for Hurricane Harvey flood relief in Houston — already skyrocketing — got a major boost on Wednesday with a $5 million donation from the chairman and CEO of H-E-B, Charles Butt.
  Watt’s foundation has now raised more than $27 million. The Houston Texans football player accepted the check from H-E-B executives on behalf of Butt at NRG Stadium on Wednesday.
  “I want to commend and support the extraordinary relief effo
  
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• Austin currently only housing 250 Harvey evacuees

  06-09-2017 22:36 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — While Austin and Travis County are prepared to take in thousands of evacuees from the Gulf Coast region, there are currently less than 300 people staying at the mega shelter in southeast Austin.
  According to the Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center, as of Tuesday, Sept. 5, there were approximately 250 guests at the MetCenter shelter as well as 19 pets. But that number is shrinking since two dozen evacuees boarded a bus on Wednesday afternoon to head back to the
  
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• Man killed in crash with utility pole in northwest Austin identified

  06-09-2017 21:37 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The man killed in a crash with a utility pole this past weekend on a US 183 service road in northwest Austin has been identified by police.
  Officers say the crash happened in the intersection of the northbound service road of US 183 and Pecan Park Boulevard, just south of State Highway 45, at 2:22 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3.
  Spencer Bernard Johnson II, 33, was driving a 2007 Kia Spectra when he hit a steel utility pole in the northwest corner of the intersection, according to
  
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• Austin police chief to recommend eliminating juvenile curfew ordinance

  06-09-2017 21:32 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The head of the Austin Police Department will recommend later this month that the city’s juvenile curfew ordinance be eliminated when it comes up for a city council vote.
  The ordinance sets curfew hours for anyone under the age of 17 from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. State law requires the city council to renew the law every three years, or it expires automatically.
  Police Chief Brian Manley told the city’s Public Safety Commission Tuesday that after reviewing the d
  
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• Austin police chief recommends eliminating juvenile curfew ordinance

  06-09-2017 21:32 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The head of the Austin Police Department will recommend later this month that the city’s juvenile curfew ordinance be eliminated when it comes up for a city council vote.
  The ordinance sets curfew hours for anyone under the age of 17 from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. State law requires the city council to renew the law every three years, or it expires automatically.
  Police Chief Brian Manley told the city’s Public Safety Commission Tuesday that after reviewing the d
  
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• WATCH: Robert E. Lee statue being removed in Dallas

  06-09-2017 21:11 via kxan.com
  DALLAS (KXAN) — When the Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to take down the statue of Robert E. Lee from Lee Park, city crews immediately started setting up equipment for the removal.
  KXAS in Dallas reports the council voted 13-1 for the statue’s immediate removal. City crews arrived at Lee Park a short time later to prepare the statue for removal, though KXAS reports the city didn’t say where the statue will be taken.
  Dallas police officers in tactical gear are also at the
  
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• Robert E. Lee statue’s removal in Dallas blocked

  06-09-2017 21:11 via kxan.com
  DALLAS (KXAN) — When the Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to take down the statue of Robert E. Lee from Lee Park, city crews immediately started setting up equipment for the removal.
  But a last-minute court order has blocked the planned removal, the Associated Press is reporting. U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater granted the temporary restraining order by Hiram Patterson, a member of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans.
  KXAS in Dallas reports the council voted 13-1 for the statue&rs
  
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• 2 men rushed to the hospital after suffering nearly 100 bee stings

  06-09-2017 20:22 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two men were taken to the hospital after they were each stung nearly 100 times by bees in northwest Austin Wednesday.
  Austin-Travis County EMS says the call came in around 12:30 p.m. at Evangeline Trail near Magnolia Mount Rail in the Millwood neighborhood. ATCEMS says the men suffered somewhere between 50-100 bee stings.
  A bee keeper tells KXAN the two men were doing landscape work around a house when they disturbed two bee hives, one in a tree and the second underneath th
  
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• Rabies alert issued for the city of Buda

  06-09-2017 20:14 via kxan.com
  BUDA, Texas (KXAN) — Officials in Buda are issuing a rabies alert out of an abundance of caution after finding a dead bat inside a senior living building.
  Someone found the dead bat around 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 31, inside building 2 of the Creekside Villas Senior Village at 590 Farm to Market Road 967, according to police. Officials could not test the bat for rabies because it was so decomposed, but as a precaution the state treats situations like this as positive rabies cases.
  Anyone who may
  
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• Gap to close about 200 stores in the next three years

  06-09-2017 20:03 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Gap Inc. plans to shift its focus to its growing Old Navy and Athleta stores, and away from the Gap and Banana Republic brands.
  The company said Wednesday it will close about 200 Gap and Banana Republic stores in the next three years and open about 270 Old Navy and Athleta locations during the same period.
  Lower-priced Old Navy has been a bright spot for the clothing retailer, posting rising sales even as they fell at the Gap and Banana Republic.
  The San Francisco-based com
  
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• Car gets lodged under 18-wheeler in East Texas

  06-09-2017 19:55 via kxan.com
  LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) — Police say there were no injuries after a car became lodged underneath an 18-wheeler in Longview Wednesday morning.
  An oil oil tanker owned by Buteo Enterprises Oil Wells and Leases in Longview drove over a vehicle, causing the car to become stuck.
  The incident occurred at the intersection of Highway 80 and Enterprise Street.
  Gregg County Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Tim Bryan says the crash happened when the truck turned in a way that its trailer went over the top
  
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• Uncertainty, disapproval from Texas universities over decision to rescind DACA

  06-09-2017 19:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After the Trump Administration announced a plan to phase-out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on Tuesday, many Texas universities are addressing this announcement publicly, and some higher education leaders are expressing disappointment with it.
  Texas has played a large role in the conversation about DACA as it is the state with the second largest number of DACA recipients (more than 120,000). Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also led the charge&nb
  
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• Trail of Lights kicks off Dec. 9

  06-09-2017 19:09 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 53rd annual Trail of Lights has announced dates for this upcoming holiday season.
  This year’s grand opening is slated for Saturday, Dec. 9 and the event will run through Saturday, Dec. 23. The event at Zilker Park attracts more than 400,000 people every year.
  General admission gates open at 7 p.m. every evening. There will be a general admission fee of $3 on seven of the 14 nights of the event.
  Prior to the Trail of Lights opening, the annual Zilker Tree
  
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• Thieves try to use stolen forklift to steal ATM

  06-09-2017 19:09 via kxan.com
  BUDA, Texas (KXAN) — Buda police are searching for a thief or thieves who stole a forklift and then tried to steal an ATM, but ran away without any cash.
  Around 3:50 a.m. Wednesday officers found the construction equipment wedged in the drive through of the First State Bank Central Texas on Main Street. They also found a U-Haul truck behind the building which was still running.
  The Skytrack Loader forklift had been stolen from the new city of Buda Municipal Building site off Main Street, a
  
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• NFL star Michael Bennett claims Vegas officers used excessive force

  06-09-2017 18:51 via kxan.com
  LAS VEGAS, Nev. (KXAN) — Seattle Seahawks defensive end and Houston native, Michael Bennett, posted an open letter on Twitter Wednesday morning saying officers in Las Vegas used excessive force on him for “just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
  Bennett says he was in Vegas on Saturday, Aug. 26 for the Mayweather-McGregor fight. After the fight, he said he was headed back to his hotel when people started hearing what they thought were gun shots. Bennett said he ran a
  
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• Study: income could influence physical activity

  06-09-2017 18:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Your income may be tied to how much physical activity you get, according to a study from the Dell Center for Healthy Living.
  The study showed those making more than $75,000 a year exercised moderately to vigorously for 4.6 more minutes a day than people making less than $20,000 a year.
  
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• Austin police arrest 216 for DWI in weeks before Labor Day

  06-09-2017 18:46 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hundreds of people were arrested on charges of Driving While Intoxicated during a special enforcement period that lasted more than two weeks leading up to Labor Day.
  In all, Austin police made 216 DWI arrests during the No Refusal Initiative period from 10 p.m. Aug. 18 through 5 a.m. Sept. 5.
  Of those, 78 had enhanced misdemeanor or felony charges. One person had a child passenger, while 15 had two or more prior convictions and 23 had one prior conviction. The majority of t
  
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• Cowboys' Prescott, Elliott on to Year 2 as suspension looms

  06-09-2017 18:43 via kxan.com
  FRISCO, Texas(AP) Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott have quite a first act to follow as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and league rushing leader for the team that finished with the best record in the NFC.
  Losing to Green Bay in their playoff debut makes it easy for the quarterback-running back duo of the Dallas Cowboys to say they’re looking for more in the 15th season for tight end Jason Witten, following receiver Dez Bryant’s first full offseason since his All-Pro year of 201
  
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• Tiger found running loose near Atlanta shot, killed

  06-09-2017 17:06 via kxan.com
  STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) — Police have confirmed that a tiger that was running loose on a Georgia highway was shot and killed.
  Henry County Police Department Capt. Joey Smith tells local news outlets that drivers reported seeing a tiger early Wednesday on the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 in Stockbridge — about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta. Crews blocked off four lanes as they looked for the big cat.
  Police responded to a nearby neighborhood shortly after 6 a.m. whe
  
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• House rushes to vote first billions for Harvey relief

  06-09-2017 16:56 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday moved swiftly toward approving $7.9 billion in Harvey disaster relief as Republicans and Democrats united, if only for a moment, to proclaim Congress’ support for victims of the storm while a new hurricane bore down on Florida.
  “Nothing can capture how big and wide this devastation is,” Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters ahead of an expected resounding vote.
  But politics quickly intruded as Democratic leaders insisted they w
  
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• House overwhelmingly passes $7.9 billion Harvey aid bill

  06-09-2017 16:56 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed $7.9 billion in Hurricane Harvey disaster relief as warring Republicans and Democrats united behind help for victims of that storm as an ever more powerful new hurricane bore down on Florida.
  The 419-3 vote sent the aid package — likely the first of several — to the Senate in hopes of sending the bill to President Donald Trump before dwindling federal disaster reserves run out at the end of this week.
  “Help is
  
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• How Hurricane Harvey affected dove hunting season

  06-09-2017 16:09 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It’s a somewhat unexpected effect from Hurricane Harvey on Central Texas, and something many families see as a time-honored tradition: dove hunting.
  The dove hunting season began Sept. 1, but participation in its first week, typically the busiest time of the dove season, is nowhere close to normal.
  “Dove hunting is just a family activity where you go with friends and family, and so a lot of folks didn’t get that opportunity this year,” said Shau
  
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• Woman slips out of handcuffs, takes police cruiser for joy ride

  06-09-2017 15:34 via kxan.com
  LUFKIN, Texas (KXAN/NBC News) — Police in East Texas released dash cam video that shows a woman slipping out of her handcuffs and stealing one of their cruisers.
  Officers originally arrested Toscha Sponsler for shoplifting in Lufkin, Texas. Now she faces escape causing serious bodily injury, aggravated assault against a public servant, evading arrest with a vehicle, unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a controlled substance charges.
  After police put her in the back of one of th
  
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• Authorities put up drug dealer’s sneaker collection for sale

  06-09-2017 14:49 via kxan.com
  NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — A central Ohio county is selling off an assortment of collectible sneakers seized from a convicted drug dealer.
  The Columbus Dispatch reports there are 67 boxes of confiscated footwear up for sale by Licking County officials. Bids will be accepted through Sept. 15 on the website GovDeals.com. Proceeds will be used to fund drug investigations by the Licking County law enforcement task force that found the sneakers.
  The name-brand shoes range in size from 10 to 12.
  The 48
  
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• Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show donates $1M to Harvey relief

  06-09-2017 14:20 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK CITY (KXAN) — J.J. Watt’s Harvey relief fund grew by $1 million Tuesday night, after Jimmy Fallon announced the Tonight Show would be donating to help those recover from the disaster.
  The Houston Texans’ defensive end started the fund shortly after Harvey made landfall, with an initial goal of $200,000. Now, that fund through YouCaring reached another milestone Tuesday of $20 million, and it reached $21.6 million as of Wednesday morning.
  “Every single day since t
  
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• Man arrested after Lady Bird Lake water rescue

  06-09-2017 13:08 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man was rescued and then arrested after the car he was in ended up in Lady Bird Lake early Wednesday morning.
  Officials were alerted to the need for a water rescue shortly after 12:30 a.m. A car was partially submerged in the lake near West Cesar Chavez Street and B. R. Reynolds Drive, near the Lamar Boulevard bridge.
  Austin Fire Department tweeted that one man was out of the car but he told them someone else was inside it. Searchers broke out the window of the car, but d
  
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• Former Austin, Round Rock and Eanes ISD principal arrested, accused of luring girls online

  06-09-2017 12:40 via kxan.com
  PHOENIX (KXAN) — A former principal that worked at numerous school districts in Central Texas was arrested in Arizona for allegedly trying to lure teenage girls online. Karl Waggoner, 59, was taken into custody Tuesday in Phoenix, where he is currently an elementary school principal.
  Authorities in Phoenix say Waggoner posted an online ad for teenage girls to come out for a skinny dipping party at a pool in Scottsdale, Ariz. An undercover sheriff’s deputy responded to the ad, posing
  
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• Former Austin, Eanes & Round Rock ISD principal arrested

  06-09-2017 12:40 via kxan.com
  PHOENIX (KXAN) — A former principal at Eanes, Austin and Round Rock ISDs was arrested in Arizona for allegedly trying to lure teenage girls online. Karl Waggoner, 59, was taken into custody in Phoenix, where he is currently an elementary school principal.
  Authorities in Phoenix say Waggoner posted an online ad for teenage girls to come out for a skinny dipping party at a pool in Scottsdale, Ariz. An undercover sheriff’s deputy responded to the ad, posing as a 14-year-old girl.
  &ldquo
  
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• Dreamers worry they won’t be able to work legally with DACA phase-out

  06-09-2017 06:23 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After the Trump Administration’s announcement Tuesday that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program would be phased out over the next six months, the recipients of that program are left with many questions about how they will be able to work and continue with the lives they’ve established in the U.S.
  The administration said Tuesday that the program is unconstitutional and goes against the their efforts to cut down on illegal immigration in the U
  
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• UT Volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott on More Than the Score

  06-09-2017 05:54 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 5th ranked UT volleyball is home for the first time Thursday and Friday when they host the American Campus Classic tournament at Gregory Gym.Friday night Texas will host #1 ranked Minnesota.Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott was a recent guest on More Than the Score.
  
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• Non-profits facing too many of some donations, not enough of others after Harvey

  06-09-2017 05:47 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In Central Texas, donations have been pouring in from people who want to help those hit by Hurricane Harvey. In Austin, non-profits say they’ve been inundated with donations. Those relief groups say while the generosity is needed, some donations can hinder efforts to help.
  Daniel Geraci, executive director of the Austin Disaster Relief Network says the network of churches is at capacity for clothing donations.
  “We have mounds and mounds and mounds that are being
  
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• VIDEO: Suspect steals parts from Pflugerville Kwik Kar Lube

  06-09-2017 05:29 via kxan.com
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Police have released surveillance video of a burglary of the Kwik Kar Lube in Pflugerville last month.
  In the video, a man is seen moving quickly and ducking low as he piles car parts and tools into a case. Pflugerville police said in a Facebook post Tuesday that the burglary happened at 1705 W. Pecan St. on Aug. 17 at 1:45 a.m.
  Anyone with information on the burglary is asked to contact Detective Campana at 512-990-6733 or email at [email protected].
  
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• Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension upheld

  06-09-2017 04:26 via kxan.com
  SHERMAN, Texas (AP) — An arbitrator denied Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott’s appeal of a six-game suspension in a domestic violence case Tuesday, but the 2016 NFL rushing champion will play in the opener because of the timing of the decision.
  Elliott attorney Jeffrey Kessler told the judge near the end of a nearly 2 1/2-hour hearing in federal court that Elliott’s suspension was sustained by arbitrator Harold Henderson.
  At the start of the hearing, NFL attorney Daniel Nash
  
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• Released by court, semitrailer survivors could be deported

  06-09-2017 03:52 via kxan.com
  SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Authorities say 22 survivors of a semitrailer that was loaded with people in Texas including 10 who died are no longer needed to testify and are being turned over to immigration authorities.
  The passengers were being transported in an alleged human smuggling operation.
  The U.S. attorney’s office said Tuesday it was canceling depositions that were scheduled for the 22 people in the case against semitrailer driver James Matthew Bradley Jr. He was arrested after San A
  
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• Woman killed in crash with fence on US 183 in southeast Austin

  06-09-2017 03:15 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman in her 30s has been killed in a crash on US 183 southbound near Burleson Road.
  Austin-Travis County EMS medics were called to the scene of the crash in the 4500 block of US 183 at 7:16 p.m. Tuesday.
  Austin police say the car left the road before hitting a fence. No one else was injured in the crash.
  Drivers are urged to avoid the area. All of southbound US 183 is closed.
  KXAN has a crew on the way to the scene. We’ll update the story as we get additional infor
  
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• Walmart reopens stores in Harvey-ravaged areas

  06-09-2017 02:00 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Walmart says all of its stores in the Gulf region, with the exception of its Rockport and Aransas Pass location, are back open.
  Walmart says they are working to reopen the stores where Hurricane Harvey made landfall as soon as possible.
  To help Harvey survivors, the store is waiving money transfer service fees for customers who use the Walmart2Walmart service through the Walmart Express Money Services feature on the Walmart app.
  Drivers whose cars were damaged by Harvey can
  
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• Police officer who arrested Utah nurse fired from medic job

  06-09-2017 01:35 via kxan.com
  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah police officer seen on video roughly arresting a nurse who refused to draw blood from a patient was fired Tuesday from his part-time paramedic job.
  Salt Lake City Detective Jeff Payne’s termination came after he said on the video that he’d bring transient patients to the hospital and take the “good patients” elsewhere to retaliate against nurse Alex Wubbels.
  Those remarks were concerning for Gold Cross Ambulance President Mike Moffitt, w
  
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• New Jersey town raises $56,000 for Harvey-hit Rockport

  06-09-2017 01:06 via kxan.com
  BELMAR, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey shore town has raised more than $50,000 for a Texas community that received catastrophic damage during Hurricane Harvey.
  Belmar suspended beach access and parking fees on Labor Day and instead asked beachgoers to donate money for the coastal Texas town of Rockport, which is similar in size to Belmar. Collection boxes were set up at beach access points.
  Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty has said there are parallels to the damage sustained by Belmar during Superstorm
  
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• Chipotle announces nationwide release date for queso dip

  06-09-2017 00:37 via kxan.com
  (WCMH) — After several months of testing, Chipotle has announced a nationwide release date for its new queso dip.
  Queso will be a part of the menu at Chipotle restaurants nationwide beginning Tuesday, Sept. 12.
  “Although queso was the number one requested menu item, we never added it to our menu before now because we wouldn’t use the industrial additives used in most quesos,” said Chipotle CEO Steve Ells in a statement.
  “Additives make typical queso very consistent
  
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• Wimberley woman assaulted as unknown man forces way into home

  06-09-2017 00:33 via kxan.com
  WIMBERLEY, Texas (KXAN) — An unknown man forced his way into a home in Wimberley and assaulted the female homeowner, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office said in a warning to neighbors in the Woodcreek North subdivision.
  Deputies said the break-in happened around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1 near Woodacre Drive and Happy Hollow Lane, just south of the popular swimming hole Jacob’s Well.
  The suspect is described as a white man in his teens or early 20s, deputies said, noting that was
  
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• Police ‘terrified’ by red ‘It’ balloons tied to grates

  06-09-2017 00:31 via kxan.com
  LITITZ, Pa. (AP) — Police officers in a small Pennsylvania town are evidently afraid of a certain homicidal clown.
  The Lititz police department posted photos Tuesday of red balloons that a prankster had tied to a pair of sewer grates. A red balloon is the calling card of Pennywise, the sewer-dwelling, child-eating clown in Stephen King’s horror novel “It.” The hotly anticipated movie version opens in theaters Friday.
  In a playful Facebook post, police wrote that while the
  
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