Austin news

• Austin ISD sets eyes on southside building for new headquarters

  27-11-2017 23:27 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — With the sale of the Austin Independent School District’s downtown headquarters nearing completion, the district says it’s looking to the Southfield Building at the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and East Ben White Boulevard as its “new” location.
  The district says it is negotiating a deal to buy the building, which isn’t on the market, for $28.3 million. The district is selling its existing headquarters, the Carruth Administration Center, f
  
  Read more

• Austin ISD gets green light to sell five properties, including headquarters

  27-11-2017 23:27 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Independent School District trustees cleared the way for the district to move forward with the sale of five properties including its downtown headquarters.
  The district says it’s looking to the Southfield Building at the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and East Ben White Boulevard as its “new” location.
  AISD is negotiating a deal to buy the building, which isn’t on the market, for $28.3 million. The district is selling its existing headquart
  
  Read more

• Got gas? New restaurants in downtown Georgetown can’t open without it

  27-11-2017 22:50 via kxan.com
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — As cities across Central Texas continue to expand, new restaurants and existing establishments looking to expand in Georgetown, are on hold in a part of downtown.
  The affected area is the block along Austin Avenue between Seventh and Eighth streets. The city says the high-pressure natural gas line is maxed out, meaning no full-menu restaurants can set up until the problem is fixed.
  “Everything on the square, because of the historic nature, is buried undergr
  
  Read more

• Johnson City police chief promises to file lawsuit if he’s fired

  27-11-2017 22:34 via kxan.com
  JOHNSON CITY, Texas (KXAN) — The chief of police in Johnson City has issued a public statement ahead of a city council special session regarding his employment.
  According to Monday’s agenda, the council will conduct a hearing on Police Chief Randall Holland and then convene in a closed session to discuss his position. The council then could make a decision about Holland’s future with the Johnson City Police Department.
  Holland, who has been employed with JCPD since 2008, was su
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Johnson City police chief fires back against possible termination

  27-11-2017 22:34 via kxan.com
  JOHNSON CITY, Texas (KXAN) — The chief of police in Johnson City has issued a public statement ahead of a city council special session regarding his employment.
  According to Monday’s agenda, the council will conduct a hearing on Police Chief Randall Holland and then convene in a closed session to discuss his position. The council then could make a decision about Holland’s future with the Johnson City Police Department.
  Holland, who has been employed with JCPD since 2008, was su
  
  Read more

• In agreement with council, Johnson City police chief will step down next year

  27-11-2017 22:34 via kxan.com
  JOHNSON CITY, Texas (KXAN) — The City Council in Johnson City reached an agreement with suspended Police Chief Randy Holland that will see him go on administrative leave and then retire from the Police Department next year.
  The council held a hearing on Holland Monday evening, then convened in a closed session to discuss his position. After nearly four hours, council members came back out and had an attorney announce to the public that Holland would voluntarily separate from the police dep
  
  Read more

• Wimberley shooter had lengthy criminal past

  27-11-2017 22:27 via kxan.com
  WIMBERLEY, Texas (KXAN) – The man responsible for shooting and injuring a Hays County Constable deputy Friday morning had a long criminal history in the county.
  According to public records, Rocky West, 26, had been in and out of the Hays County Jail since 2008. Many of the charges involve drugs or alcohol, but also include a felony theft charge in 2016 and an assault earlier this year.
  According to court documents West got into a fist fight with his cousin in January. West’s cousin t
  
  Read more

• Austin teacher charged with sexual abuse of child, relationship with student

  27-11-2017 22:18 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A teacher at a northeast Austin middle school has been arrested on charges of an improper relationship with a student and continuous sexual abuse of a young child.
  In an email to parents, Dobie Middle School Principal Jesse De La Huerta said the accused teacher has been on paid administrative leave since Oct. 31, the day the school became aware of the allegations.
  The principal says the male teacher, identified in court records as 30-year-old Pedro Rosas-Martinez, has been
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• PHOTOS: How Amazon orders go from online requests to your doorstep

  27-11-2017 22:08 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Cyber Monday is one of the busiest days of the year for online retail giant Amazon — but, besides adding additional workers, the process to get orders from your computer to your doorstep are the same.
  Orders are processed in real-time, so when you click “buy,” it’s sent to an Amazon fulfillment center like the one in San Marcos. A “picker” sales associate calls up an order and requests that item from one of the hundreds of shelves in the
  
  Read more

• Report: $67K a year salary needed to buy a house in Austin

  27-11-2017 21:58 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Texan needs to make $67,440 a year in order to afford the median priced home in Austin according to a new report from a mortgage resource company.
  HSH.com released the report Monday comparing the 50 largest metro areas in the country.
  The company listed what someone would need to earn in order to afford the principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments on a median-priced home on their website.
  This report comes out the same week the city of Austin was to release its f
  
  Read more

• UT All-American Connor Williams to enter NFL Draft

  27-11-2017 21:23 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The University of Texas has announced that junior All-American offensive tackle Connor Williams will skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft. Williams will not play in UT’s bowl game.
  Here is William’s statement on the decision.
  “I consider myself extremely fortunate to have spent the past three years at The University of Texas. The array of emotions and experiences through my years on the 40 Acres has been nothing short of amazing. The relationship
  
  Read more

• Woman identified in deadly crash on E. MLK Jr. Boulevard

  27-11-2017 21:20 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman who died in a crash on Thanksgiving night in east Austin has been identified as 27-year-old Miranda Ashley Stark.
  Austin police say Stark was driving westbound on East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just past Springdale Road around 10:39 p.m. at a high rate of speed when, for unknown reasons, she drove off the road and onto the grassy shoulder. Stark then made it back to the road but crossed both westbound lanes and struck a vehicle in the eastbound lanes.
  St
  
  Read more

• California mother, baby die after crashing into bear

  27-11-2017 20:29 via kxan.com
  CALAVERAS COUNTY, Calif. (KCRA) A mother and her baby were killed Thanksgiving night when their vehicle hit a bear in Northern California, according to the Calaveras County coroner.
  Sarah Rohde, 27, was driving just after 6 p.m. Thursday when the crash happened. Rohde and her 19-month-old daughter, Ariana, were killed in the crash, said family members.
  Rhode’s 4-year-old son, Julian, was also in the car. He survived the crash and was taken to UC Medical Center.
  The bear also died.
  “S
  
  Read more

• Former President Obama spotted on Oahu during Thanksgiving weekend

  27-11-2017 20:27 via kxan.com
  HONOLULU, Hawaii (KHON) — Former President Barack Obama is back in the islands.
  There were rumors that he would be in town, and on Saturday night, a sushi restaurant near the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport posted a photo of Obama on their Facebook page.
  Mitch’s Sushi Bar said the former president dined at their restaurant Saturday night and was not sure who was with him.On Sunday, Mid-Pacific Country Club posted a photo of the former president golfing.
  Obama made an unan
  
  Read more

• Wild day of coaching moves with hirings, firings, protests

  27-11-2017 20:04 via kxan.com
  Florida and its athletic director reached into their pasts to find a new coach, and two more schools fired coaches even though their teams are heading to bowl games.
  Mississippi stayed in-house to fill its coaching vacancy. And, in the strangest part of a wild day of hirings and firings, Tennessee’s search hit a bizarre snag.
  It’s still early in the silly season, but a lot has gone on.
  The action began Sunday morning with Arizona State dismissing Todd Graham after six seasons and end
  
  Read more

• Georgetown ISD opens its newest middle school

  27-11-2017 19:19 via kxan.com
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — Students at Georgetown Independent School District’s Wagner Middle School finally got to move into their new school after the Thanksgiving weekend.
  The new school, located at 1621 Rockridge Ln., was slated to open in August but construction delays forced the open date back to the end of November. Since the start of the school year, the middle school students were housed at the WIlliams Elementary campus since the building was vacant.
  On Monday morning, stud
  
  Read more

• Bond reduced for Richardson mother accused of leaving child found dead

  27-11-2017 18:48 via kxan.com
  DALLAS (AP) — A judge has reduced the bond on a child abandonment charge for the mother of a 3-year-old girl adopted from India who was found dead last month in a suburban Dallas culvert.
  The bond for Sini Mathews, originally set at $250,000, was reduced Monday to $100,000. If Mathews posts bond she’ll be on house arrest while wearing an ankle monitor. Her passport has been taken. She remained jailed Monday morning.
  Sherin Mathews, whose body was found Oct. 22, was reported missing O
  
  Read more

• Man accused of trying to push Austin police officer into traffic

  27-11-2017 18:30 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin police officer who was working a traffic crash on Black Friday was worried he was going to get pushed into traffic by a suspect, according to an arrest affidavit.
  Around 9:30 p.m., two officers responded to the minor crash along Capital of Texas Highway near Walsh Tarleton Lane in southwest Austin. As they were trying to move one of the damaged vehicles onto the grassy shoulder one of the men involved, identified as Southern Longoria, 23, “just stood there i
  
  Read more

• Driver fires gun during road rage incident on US 290 near Dripping Springs

  27-11-2017 17:56 via kxan.com
  HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Authorities in Hays County are searching for a driver who they say pulled a gun on another driver during a road rage incident along US 290 east of Dripping Springs last week.
  On Tuesday, Nov. 21, just before 9 a.m., deputies with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office responded to a road rage incident near US 290 and Canyonwood Drive, which is about 4 miles east of Dripping Springs. During the altercation, the victim said the suspect, who was driving a red Jeep
  
  Read more

• First Lady Melania Trump unveils White House Christmas decorations

  27-11-2017 17:38 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (KXAN) — It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the White House. On Monday, First Lady Melania Trump unveiled the beautiful decorations that are currently decking the halls.
  This is President Donald Trump’s first Christmas in the White House and the theme for this year is “Time-Honored Traditions,” which was designed by First Lady Melania Trump to pay respect to 200 years of holiday traditions at the White House.
  The East Wing is hosting the Gold
  
  Read more

• Dictionary.com chooses ‘complicit’ as its word of the year

  27-11-2017 17:08 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Russian election influence, the ever-widening sexual harassment scandal, mass shootings and the opioid epidemic helped elevate the word “complicit” as Dictionary.com’s word of the year for 2017.
  Look-ups of the word increased nearly 300 percent over last year as “complicit” hit just about every hot button from politics to natural disasters, lexicographer Jane Solomon told The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s formal announcement of the s
  
  Read more

• Meredith buying Time Inc. for about $1.8 billion

  27-11-2017 16:55 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Magazine and broadcasting company Meredith is buying magazine publisher Time for about $1.8 billion to bulk up on readers as the publishing industry navigates the difficult transition to digital from print.
  Iowa-based Meredith Corp. owns 17 TV stations that reach 12 million U.S. households. Its women- and lifestyle-focused magazines and websites include Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle and Allrecipes. Time Inc., based in New York, has publications including Time, S
  
  Read more

• PHOTOS: Check out Prince Harry’s fiancée’s engagement ring

  27-11-2017 16:40 via kxan.com
  LONDON (AP) — Appearing on the grounds of Kensington Palace Monday morning, Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle showed off her engagement ring.
  Britain’s royal palace says Prince Harry and Markle will marry in the spring of 2018. Prince Harry proposes to actress Meghan Markle Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle pose for photographers during a photocall in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London, Monday Nov. 27, 2017. Britain's royal palace s
  
  Read more

• After Thanksgiving, families fill Elgin Christmas Tree Farm

  27-11-2017 16:23 via kxan.com
  ELGIN, Texas (KXAN) — While some people turn to fake Christmas trees for the ease and practicality, for some families, it’s all about the real tree.
  In Central Texas, many people head to Elgin to stroll through the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm and pick out the perfect Christmas tree. The business opened in 1984 and since then families have made it a point to visit the farm located just off of US 290.
  There were some concerns about Hurricane Harvey this summer, but the business owners sa
  
  Read more

• 1 dead in car surfing accident in Oklahoma

  27-11-2017 15:59 via kxan.com
  PICHER, Okla. (AP) – One man has died and 11 others were injured after a Jeep Cherokee with three people car surfing on the roof swerved off an Oklahoma road and crashed.
  The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 27-year-old Bryan Mitchel McGuirk of Miami, Oklahoma, died Saturday evening in Tulsa of injuries sustained in the accident Friday. He was riding on the roof and was ejected 20 feet.
  Also on the roof were 27-year-old Adrian Diane Ellison and 20-year-old Brandon Carter, both from Columbus, K
  
  Read more

• Navy will require new running test ahead of boot camp

  27-11-2017 15:30 via kxan.com
  NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The U.S. Navy will soon require a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) running test for recruits to pass before they start boot camp.
  The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk reported Sunday that men will have to complete the run in a little more than 16 minutes. Women will have a little more than 18 minutes.
  As many as 70 percent of recruits fail to pass their first physical readiness test during the first week of boot camp. Navy officials say that takes time away from focusing on other cri
  
  Read more

• ALDI holds job fair for new Pflugerville store

  27-11-2017 14:48 via kxan.com
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Pflugerville’s newest grocery store is hiring. Monday, ALDI is holding an all-day job fair to try to fill its store associate positions.
  The event goes from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the store at 1415 Farm to Market 685. According to a release, its store associate positions pay about $12.35 an hour to start, and people have to be at least 18 years old to apply.
  The ALDI store opened at the beginning of November. The German-based company operates more than 1,600
  
  Read more

• Fire-damaged Cedar Park Walmart to partially reopen Monday

  27-11-2017 13:43 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Walmart in Cedar Park will reopen part of its store Monday as it recovers from two fires investigators believe were intentionally lit inside last week.
  The Walmart will open only its grocery side at 8 a.m., according to an employee who answered the phone there Monday morning. It was shut for one of the company’s biggest days of the year, Black Friday, after the flames were discovered Wednesday around 1:44 a.m. at the store on 201 Walton Way.
  A customer videoed the f
  
  Read more

• First woman with Down syndrome competes in Miss USA State pageant

  27-11-2017 13:37 via kxan.com
  BURNSVILLE, Minn. (WFLA) — A Minnesota woman with down syndrome is being called a trailblazer after a pageant this weekend.
  Saturday night, 22-year-old Mikayla Holmgren competed in the Miss Minnesota Pageant.
  Pageant officials believe she is the first person with Down syndrome in the country to compete in a Miss USA state pageant.
  Texas boy with Down syndrome sings Whitney Houston, melts millions of hearts
  Holmgren is a student at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she&rsquo
  
  Read more

• Peek inside the San Marcos Amazon fulfillment center on Cyber Monday

  27-11-2017 12:44 via kxan.com
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN/AP) — More and more people are turning to Cyber Monday to snag online deals, and online retail giant Amazon is busy churning out packages to ship to those customers.
  People are expected to spend about $6.6 billion on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Digital Insights. That’s a 16 percent increase from last year. Amazon alone sold 64 million items worldwide last year, and expects to top that number this year, according to spokeswoman Laura Gunning.
  About 2,
  
  Read more

• Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle to wed next year

  27-11-2017 12:11 via kxan.com
  LONDON (AP) — Actress, humanitarian campaigner, lifestyle blogger — and, next spring, a royal.
  Palace officials announced Monday that Prince Harry is engaged to Meghan Markle, confirming months of rumors that the couple was close to tying the knot.
  Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his pregnant wife Kate welcomed Markle to the royal family.
  “We are very excited for Harry and Meghan,” they said in a statement. “It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan an
  
  Read more

• Prince Harry, actress Meghan Markle to wed next year

  27-11-2017 12:11 via kxan.com
  LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry, fifth in line to the British throne, will marry American actress Meghan Markle in the spring, palace officials announced Monday, confirming months of speculation.
  Markle, a humanitarian campaigner and lifestyle blogger who succeeded in show business before falling for Harry, will become a senior member of the royal family as the wife of one of the monarchy’s most popular figures.
  Harry, a bad-boy-made-good by his tireless devotion to wounded veterans and h
  
  Read more

• No chaos at Austin Bergstrom on post-thanksgiving travel day

  27-11-2017 06:19 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Sunday after Thanksgiving is typically a busy day at the airport, as travellers head back home from their holiday destinations.
  Thankfully this year there were no big storms that impacted flights.
  Lindy Jordan who was picking up her daughter from the airport says their post-Thanksgiving travel experience has been stress free. “It’s been smooth for us, and from what I can tell smooth for her too,” Jordan said. She got right through customs without any p
  
  Read more

• Stolen Habitat for Humanity trailer a setback in restoring flood victim’s home

  27-11-2017 05:38 via kxan.com
  TAYLOR, TX (KXAN) — Wednesday, Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County found that one of their trailers full of equipment at a project site had been stolen. Now they need to have either the trailer itself returned, or the supplies inside replaced to move forward with that project.
  Jose Velazquez lived in his home on West 6th Street in Taylor for 30 years– that is until the Memorial Day floods of 2015 swept it off the foundation.
  “A lot of water got under the house and it fell
  
  Read more

• AFD knocked out two fires back-to-back Sunday

  27-11-2017 04:19 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Fire Department has identified an extension cord failure as the cause of a garage fire Sunday morning.
  AFD tweeted that they were responding to a house fire around 1 p.m. on Whitestone Drive in south Austin. They were able to contain the fire to the garage, and keep it from spreading.
  Officials said no one was injured in the fire, but two adults were displaced and are staying with friends.
  Two hours earlier, around 11 a.m., firefighters responded to a shed t
  
  Read more

• Police: Officer shoots theft suspect inside Texas mall

  27-11-2017 03:07 via kxan.com
  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Police say an officer shot a suspected shoplifter near the food court at a busy Dallas-area shopping mall.
  Arlington police spokesman Lt. Christopher Cook says the incident occurred Sunday afternoon after a theft was reported at a store inside The Parks at Arlington mall. Police say the suspect attempted to flee from security before going up an escalator toward the food court.
  Cook says the male suspect then pulled a replica handgun from his waistband and was shot b
  
  Read more

• Police: Off-duty officer shoots theft suspect at Texas mall

  27-11-2017 03:07 via kxan.com
  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Police say an off-duty officer shot a suspected shoplifter near the food court at a busy Dallas-area shopping mall.
  Arlington police spokesman Lt. Christopher Cook tells WFAA-TV the incident occurred late Sunday afternoon after a theft was reported at a store inside The Parks at Arlington mall.
  Cook says the male suspect produced a replica handgun and was shot by an officer who thought the weapon was real. The unidentified suspect was taken to an area hospital. His
  
  Read more

Follow @Austin_News_US on Twitter!