Austin news

• VIDEO: Houston Zoo’s Jaguar cubs Fitz and Emma make debut

  10-11-2017 23:02 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (KXAN) — The newest additions to the Houston Zoo have made their public debut.
  Four-month-old jaguar cubs Fitz and Emma cautiously crept around their exhibit Thursday, as seen in video released by the zoo.
  The cubs explored their home, but stayed close to mom. Fitz and Emma are the first jaguar cubs born at the zoo in 12 years.
  
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• Trump unaware as Abe falls in bunker during golf game

  10-11-2017 21:55 via kxan.com
  TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s prime minister said his round of golf with visiting President Donald Trump was a good chance to relax and discuss difficult issues.
  It also was an opportunity to display some nimble gymnastics, according to Japan’s TV Tokyo.
  The television network flew a helicopter over the Kasumigaseki Country Club on Sunday to capture the highly anticipated informal game.
  It broadcast a video showing a player identified as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe trying repeatedly to hi
  
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• Domain-style development headed to Round Rock

  10-11-2017 21:54 via kxan.com
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) –The renderings of what will be called The District, look similar to The Domain shopping area in north Austin, and it will the first of its kind in Round Rock.
  The Round Rock City Council unanimously approved the beginning phases of the project at Thursday’s meeting. Real estate firm Mark IV Capital plans to invest $200 million to build 1 million square feet of commercial and residential development.
  The development will be built on the 65 acres at the c
  
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• Pedestrian, bicycle improvements approved for cities around Austin

  10-11-2017 21:44 via kxan.com
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – The Texas Transportation Commission has approved more than $4.5 million in bicycle and pedestrian projects for three cities near the Austin-area. The city of San Marcos will see just under $3 million in improvements, Liberty Hill will receive $1.3 million and Dripping Springs $406,000.
  The funding from the federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA) Program supports cities where the population is less than 200,000 people. The program aims to enhance safe
  
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• Louis C.K. says he misused his power and ‘brought pain’

  10-11-2017 21:39 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — With his career imploding over allegations of sexual misconduct, comedian Louis C.K. confessed Friday to masturbating in front of women and expressed remorse for wielding his influence “irresponsibly.”
  The comedian said in a statement that the harassment claims by five women detailed in a New York Times report published Thursday “are true.”
  “I can hardly wrap my head around the scope of hurt I brought on them,” he said.
  “There is no
  
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• Risky Rides: Unscrupulous dealerships selling salvage vehicles to customers

  10-11-2017 21:00 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An old Nissan truck with a “Texas House of Representatives” tag in the rearview window is parked in a premier spot, just outside the west entrance to the Texas State Capitol. The front of the truck doesn’t have a license plate, but as the driver leaves, a paper tag with “55B9326” in bold letters is visible.
  Sgt. Joe Escribano, with Travis County Constable’s Precinct 3, has been watching the truck for months. He ran the paper plate and learned
  
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• WATCH: Driver in stolen vehicle leads Oklahoma police on 3-hour chase

  10-11-2017 20:25 via kxan.com
  OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KXAN) — A three-hour chase involving a suspect in a stolen pick-up truck was full of twists and turns and some very tense moments for officers Friday afternoon.
  KFOR reports the chase began Friday morning when police discovered the truck was stolen. The suspect led authorities through the Oklahoma City area for nearly three hours.
  The suspect didn’t stick to streets, though. He made his way through fields and bushes and whatever else was in his way to get away f
  
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• Wrong-way driver hits state trooper on SH 195

  10-11-2017 20:06 via kxan.com
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A wrong-way driver hit a state trooper on State Highway 195 near Ronald Reagan Boulevard just north of Georgetown Friday afternoon.
  The Williamson County Sheriff’s Department says the other driver was an elderly man who was headed north in the southbound lanes of SH 195. The man has possible major injuries, but the trooper has minor injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening.
  Sheriff Robert Chody tweeted that the highway is shut down and peop
  
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• Thieves ram SUV into Tulsa gun store, makes off with a dozen firearms

  10-11-2017 19:40 via kxan.com
  TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Police in Tulsa say about a dozen assault-style rifles were stolen from a gun store by men who used a sport utility vehicle to smash into the building.
  Cpl. Chris Butterfield says the SUV was driven into the wall of a south Tulsa shopping center about 4 a.m. Friday, through two offices, then through the wall of Action Arms. Police say the men then took 12 to 15 AR-15 rifles and drove out of the building.
  Butterfield says the SUV was found a few blocks away and had been
  
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• Austin agrees to $150,000 settlement in 2015 excessive force case

  10-11-2017 19:22 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — City council members on Thursday approved a six-figure settlement in a lawsuit involving claims of use of excessive force by an Austin police officer.
  Adrian Aguado, 20, will receive $150,000 related to his April 2015 arrest, in which Austin Police Department Officer Eric Copeland tasered him twice and broke his nose. Then APD-Chief Art Acevedo suspended Copeland for 90 days.
  This is the third time Austin has wrapped up a lawsuit involving Copeland.
  In 2012 a grand jury cle
  
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• PHOTOS: Artwork on display at POP Austin this year

  10-11-2017 19:12 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Artwork from all over the world is on display at the Fair Market in east Austin as part of the fourth annual POP Austin showcase.
  The four-day event this weekend includes work from 43 artists, seven of whom are from Austin. If you like shiny objects, make sure you check out the feline that’s covered in Swarovski crystals. If you want the cat to adorn your house, it’ll cost you $56,000.
  If you’re interested in attending every day this weekend, you can purch
  
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• Man nearly drowns, airlifted from Hamilton Pool

  10-11-2017 18:19 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — First responders say a man nearly drowned at Hamilton Pool Preserve Friday morning.
  Austin-Travis County EMS says the call came in around 10:50 a.m. saying bystanders began performing CPR on the swimmer after he was pulled out of the water. Park employees say a bystander used the park’s life ring to pull him out, then two other people performed CPR.
  First responders say the man was breathing and conscious by the time they arrived. They were able to carry him up the tr
  
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• Man in his 30s pulled from Hamilton Pool

  10-11-2017 18:19 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — First responders are assisting with a man who was pulled from Hamilton Pool Friday morning.
  Austin-Travis County EMS says the call came in around 10:50 a.m. Initial information indicates a bystander started performing CPR on the swimmer after he was pulled out of the water.
  ATCEMS says the man, who is in his 30s, will be transported to the hospital via STAR Flight.
  Hamilton Pool reopened to swimmers in May after being closed for six months after two people drowned at the sw
  
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• Disney hopes for its next blockbuster in newest ‘Star Wars’

  10-11-2017 18:13 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Disney’s $4 billion deal for Lucasfilm and “Star Wars” just keeps getting better for the House of Mouse.
  The company is banking on the latest installments, “The Last Jedi” in December and a Han Solo movie in May, to drive people to theaters. But that’s far from the end of money-making opportunities from Han Solo, R2-D2, Kylo Ren and Rey. In fact, CEO Bob Iger said Thursday that the company is now planning a brand-new “Star Wars&rdqu
  
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• Del Valle High helps make El Paso-area teen’s wish come true

  10-11-2017 17:53 via kxan.com
  EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A 14-year-old boy with kidney failure got quite the surprise Thursday afternoon from a school and district he doesn’t belong to. It was a party that was part of his Make-A-Wish.
  Nathaniel Cortez, a student at Clint Middle School, played as a quarterback for the school until he was diagnosed with ANCA-Positive Vasculitis, an illness causing kidney failure.
  His wish is to see a Dallas Cowboys game live and meet Dak Prescott.
  “He is very full of energy and
  
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• Police: Suspect’s overwhelming gas shuts down interrogation

  10-11-2017 17:15 via kxan.com
  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A police interrogation of a Kansas City man charged with drug and gun offenses ended prematurely when an investigator was driven from the room by the suspect’s excessive flatulence.
  A detective reported that when asked for his address, 24-year-old Sean Sykes Jr. “leaned to one side of his chair and released a loud fart before answering.”
  The Kansas City Star reports that Sykes “continued to be flatulent” and the detective was forced to
  
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• Soldier surprises sons at Round Rock school assembly

  10-11-2017 17:09 via kxan.com
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — The boys squirmed in their seats, waiting for a Veterans Day school assembly to begin. One of them crawled into his mother’s lap as the crowd got settled for an evening of performances, speeches — and a surprise.
  Before the event began, Caldwell Heights Elementary School Principal Barbara Bergman asked people to sit down, and for the veterans and their families to take a seat in the front rows.
  “Oh, you know what? We missed one,” she told
  
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• Local high school marching band wins state title

  10-11-2017 16:15 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A local high school marching band is ending the week on a high note. Cedar Park High won this year’s UIL state marching band division 5 competition.
  The Timberwolves took the state title this week at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
  The high school band started to practice their winning routine 17 weeks ago. The team’s eight minute show is called ‘The Steadfast Tin Soldier.’
  Other high school bands took part in the same competition. Dripping Springs ISD
  
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• Clue, Wiffle Ball, paper airplane enter Toy Hall of Fame

  10-11-2017 15:33 via kxan.com
  The board game Clue. In the National Toy Hall of Fame. With the Wiffle Ball and paper airplane.
  The mystery of which toys earned the status of toy superstardom was solved Thursday with the announcement of the hall of fame’s Class of 2017.
  The whodunit game Clue, where players also must name the crime scene and murder weapon, continues to sell millions of copies each year since being patented by a British couple during World War II.
  “Clue has also had its own movie, been featured in n
  
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• Suspects rob doughnut shop, hand out pastries to victims

  10-11-2017 15:20 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (KPRC/KXAN) — Robbery suspects did more than just hold up a doughnut shop in Houston — police say they also handed out doughnuts to customers in the store.
  Houston police released surveillance video inside a Shipley Do-Nuts on Oct. 16. In it, three people can be seen entering the store, with one of them holding a gun.
  One jumped the counter and demanded cash out of the register, while police say another took customers’ cell phones and then handed them doughnuts from beh
  
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• Sandra Bullock to star as Texas Sen. Wendy Davis in upcoming movie

  10-11-2017 14:37 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Former Austin resident and actress Sandra Bullock will play a filibustering Texas senator in an upcoming movie, Variety reported Thursday.
  The film is called “Let Her Speak” and chronicles Texas Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis’ 11-hour filibuster of a bill that would create some of the nation’s toughest abortion regulations.
  “(It’s) overwhelming to see how many people were willing to be civically engaged in a way that is respectful of civil d
  
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• H-E-B app provides option to donate to Sutherland Springs

  10-11-2017 13:51 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A grocery store well known for collecting donations for those in a time of need is doing it again. H-E-B is encouraging customers to support the community of Sutherland Springs following a church shooting there that left dozens dead. It’s considered to be the worst mass shooting in modern Texas history.
  H-E-B says it will donate $150,000 and 100 percent of the funds customers donate to support the First Baptist Church victims and their families. In all, 26 people died
  
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• Council votes to identify city-owned site possibilities for MLS

  10-11-2017 13:20 via kxan.com
  AUSTN (KXAN) — The Austin City Council approved a resolution to identify city-owned sites that could become a home for a Major League Soccer team. The move comes less than a month after the Columbus Crew Soccer Club announced it’s considering a move to the live music capital.
  Thursday night, Council decided to expand the search from the downtown area to the entire city. Even though this is still early on in the process, dozens of MLS fans rallied together on the steps of Ci
  
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• Veteran business owner says entrepreneurship gives vets new ‘purpose’

  10-11-2017 12:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The transition back to civilian life can be a tough one for soldiers; shifting from a highly structured, goal-oriented routine to college or a job can take its toll.
  But veterans advocates at St. Edward’s University in Austin — and vet students who went through programs there — say entrepreneurship can help make the transition easier. “Sometimes when you come out of the military you kind of lose your purpose,” Shea Henning said.
  He started
  
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• How veterans are finding new purpose after serving in the military

  10-11-2017 12:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The transition back to civilian life can be a tough one for soldiers; shifting from a highly structured, goal-oriented routine to college or a job can take its toll.
  But veterans advocates at St. Edward’s University in Austin — and vet students who went through programs there — say entrepreneurship can help make the transition easier. “Sometimes when you come out of the military you kind of lose your purpose,” Shea Henning said.
  He started
  
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• Woman who stabbed victim 21 times in Hyde Park denied parole

  10-11-2017 12:46 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman who was convicted of stabbing another woman 21 times in a random attack in Hyde Park two years ago was denied parole Thursday.
  Pearl Moen, 20, was sentenced in January to 15 years in prison for attempted murder. Because that charge is not a “3G offense” — unlike murder, which does fall under that category — she only had to serve one-fourth of her sentence plus good conduct to be eligible for parole. KXAN reported in September that Moen was up
  
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• Report: 5 women accuse Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct

  10-11-2017 12:17 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Comedian Louis C.K. has been accused of sexual misconduct toward several women, including masturbating in front of them to their horror and embarrassment, according to a report in The New York Times.
  Comedians Dana Min Goodman, Abby Schachner, Julia Wolov, Rebecca Corry allege the Emmy-winning star of FX’s “Louie” either pleasured himself in front of them, asked to do it or did so over the phone. A fifth woman detailed her allegations against C.K. to the p
  
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• Austin hurricane evacuee to hold donation drive for USVI

  10-11-2017 10:07 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hurricane evacuees here in Austin and across the country are banding together for a nationwide donation drive to benefit the U.S. Virgin Islands.
  Two Category Five storms — first Irma, and then Maria — devastated the USVI in September. Like Puerto Rico, electrical power is still not restored for most of the islands’ 105,000 residents.
  Many like Clare Sheehan evacuated to the U.S. and are now scattered across the country. Sheehan relocated to Austin.
  &ldquo
  
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• Two Pflugerville home burglary spree suspects arrested

  10-11-2017 05:46 via kxan.com
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Two suspects accused of breaking into houses on Broken Feather Trail in Pflugerville have been arrested.
  Christian Espinosa, 20, has been charged with burglary of a habitation, possession of a controlled substance and felony possession of stolen property, police said. A juvenile was also arrested and charged with burglary of a habitation.
  Officers were called to a burglary in progress call at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday and found Espinosa and the juvenile in a nearby h
  
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• UIL bumps minimum pay for high school football officials to fight shortage

  10-11-2017 04:28 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Changes are coming under the Friday night lights for the most crucial team on the field — the officials.
  A shortage is leading to a bump in pay, for some, and the University Interscholastic League is about to simplify the entire mileage reimbursement system.
  It’s complex, and has taken two years to change. Two factors go into a football officials paycheck: a percentage of ticket sales at the gate, and money for travel.
  The UIL is raising the minimum am
  
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• Fake landlord gained access to south Austin rental, tricking couple out of $2K

  10-11-2017 02:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – A Hays County couple is out $2,000 after finding a house on Craigslist in south Austin before realizing the deal was too good to be true. Police are now investigating how a person was able to pretend to be the landlord and gain the code to an electronic lockbox for the keys.
  “This guy knew everything, had all the right answers, had all the right everything,” said Jason Erickson, who says he and his wife had good luck in the past finding property on Craigslist, a
  
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• ‘Troops to Teachers’ wants to help veterans find new careers in the classroom

  10-11-2017 02:23 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Troops to Teachers sees an opportunity to fill two needs at once – help veterans find jobs after they leave the military and fill a teaching shortage.
  “There’s such a high demand for veterans as teachers because so many administrators have used veterans before and they’re so impressed by what they’ve had,” Ronald Holmes, program specialist for Troops to Teachers, said.
  The Texas chapter of Troops to Teachers joined other organizations Thu
  
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• Chicago carpenter creates crosses for Texas church shooting victims

  10-11-2017 02:05 via kxan.com
  SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — After a gunman killed 26 people during a church service on Nov. 5, Greg Zanis packed up his truck and drove to Texas. He installed a cross for each victim in the massacre, with a bright red heart and photo affixed to each one.
  Retired Chicago carpenter Greg Zanis installed 26 crosses outside the church where 26 people were killed by a gunman on Nov. 5, 2017. Photo: Nov. 8, 2017. (Nexstar Photo/Wes Rapaport)“I’m really kind of feeling like I&rs
  
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• Jail time for unpaid traffic tickets can now be waived by Austin judges

  10-11-2017 01:11 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thursday, the Austin City Council unanimously approved new guidelines for municipal judges that will encourage them to keep people out of jail for unpaid traffic fines.
  Supporters of the ordinance, which was sponsored by Council Member Delia Garza of District 2, say it would ensure judges follow state law and not jail someone just because they’re poor or homeless. It would allow a judge to waive payment of all or part of a fine if the defendant is homeless or doe
  
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• Austin judges can now waive jail time for unpaid traffic tickets

  10-11-2017 01:11 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thursday, the Austin City Council unanimously approved new guidelines for municipal judges that will encourage them to keep people out of jail for unpaid traffic fines.
  Supporters of the ordinance, which was sponsored by Council Member Delia Garza of District 2, say it would ensure judges follow state law and not jail someone just because they’re poor or homeless. It would allow a judge to waive payment of all or part of a fine if the defendant is homeless or doe
  
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• Texas family’s dwarf pony ‘Chicken Nugget’ shot in the head

  10-11-2017 00:54 via kxan.com
  LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas (KPRC) — Before the Brett family had any children, they had Chicken Nugget: A pony with dwarfism.
  He stood 25 inches tall and weighed no more than 80 pounds. But for eight years, he was the perfect companion, and larger than life.
  “Local celebrity, local favorite, people came and took their pictures with him,” Kylee Brett said. “And he would just hang out with us! I’m serious, he would just lay down and watch TV.”
  Dripping Springs horse g
  
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• Man who confronted church shooter says he’s a survivor, not a hero

  10-11-2017 00:22 via kxan.com
  SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — The NRA instructor who confronted the shooter in front of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Sunday says he’s not a hero, but rather a survivor.
  In a statement issued on Thursday, Stephen Willeford says the events that unfolded that morning were like “a slow motion movie.” The gunman, Devin Kelley, shot and killed 26 people and injured another 20.
  When Willeford heard the gunshots from his nearby home, he grabbed his own A
  
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