Austin news

• Events you can participate in to honor MLK’s legacy

  12-01-2018 23:57 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — April 4, 2018 will mark 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing on the balcony of a Memphis motel.
  Today, his legacy continues through various events held across the country. In Central Texas, there are several events planned throughout the weekend leading up to MLK Jr. Day on Monday.
  Here’s how you can get involved:
  Saturday, Jan. 13
  United Way for Greater Austin is hosting several MLK Day of Service initiatives across the area, some
  
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• Events you can participate in this weekend to honor MLK’s legacy

  12-01-2018 23:57 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — April 4, 2018 will mark 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing on the balcony of a Memphis motel.
  Today, his legacy continues through various events held across the country. In Central Texas, there are several events planned throughout the weekend leading up to MLK Jr. Day on Monday.
  Here’s how you can get involved:
  Saturday, Jan. 13
  United Way for Greater Austin is hosting several MLK Day of Service initiatives across the area, some
  
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• Elderly man reported missing in east Austin

  12-01-2018 22:53 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police need help finding 86-year-old Cleo Perkins, who was last seen in east Austin Friday morning.
  Police issued the alert because Perkins has medical conditions that could be dangerous to his health. He was last seen on Kay Street, near the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Springdale Road, around 9:30 a.m.
  Perkins is described as a black man, 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds. He was last seen wearing a VA baseball cap, gray and black long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.
  
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• Elderly man missing in east Austin found safe

  12-01-2018 22:53 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police said 86-year-old Cleo Perkins has been found safe after going missing Friday morning.
  Police issued the alert because Perkins has medical conditions that could be dangerous to his health. He was seen on Kay Street, near the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Springdale Road, around 9:30 a.m., and is now back with his family.
  
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• Community activists rally around man punched by Austin police officers

  12-01-2018 22:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Community activists strongly criticized the Austin Police Department in a press conference Friday for what they called a “pervasive culture of anti-Blackness,” following the Dec. 12 arrest of a man in downtown Austin seen on a Facebook video watched by millions.
  In the video, Jason Donald, 37, was seen being led out of the Signature Austin gas station at 900 N. Interstate 35 in handcuffs by four Austin police officers — three with black balaclavas cov
  
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• Jury finds Austin man guilty of murdering florist delivery driver

  12-01-2018 22:44 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Travis County jury deliberated for less than three before they came to the decision to convict Dedric Dixon in the 2016 murder of Carlos Swist. 
  During the trial, which started on Tuesday, prosecutors said Swist was shot and killed stemming from an argument with Dixon over a $5 bill dropped inside a convenience store.
  Surveillance video from March 1, 2016 showed Dixon following Swist down Springdale Road. Police say Dixon shot at Swist’s work van numerous
  
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• Texas sets up donation page for Andrew Jones

  12-01-2018 22:19 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The University of Texas has set up a donation page for sophomore basketball player Andrew Jones. Jones was recently diagnosed with leukemia and donations are to assist the family.
  The university will cover most medical expenses, but the fundraiser is geared toward helping the family with other medical costs and or needs.
  The press release from UT states this is the only family-approved donation page. All donations are reviewed to coincide with NCAA rules.
  “We hope eve
  
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• White House doctor: Trump in ‘excellent health’

  12-01-2018 21:49 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s White House physician declared him in “excellent health” after the president received his first medical checkup at Walter Reed military hospital on Friday, undergoing a physical examination amid suggestions in a recent book and by his detractors that he’s mentally unfit.
  Dr. Ronny Jackson, in a statement released by the White House, said the examination “went exceptionally well. The President is in excellent health an
  
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• Trump gets 1st medical checkup since becoming president

  12-01-2018 21:49 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump received his first medical checkup as president at Walter Reed military hospital on Friday, undergoing a physical examination amid suggestions in a recent book and by his detractors that he’s mentally unfit.
  Trump boarded Marine One at the medical facility in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington, Friday afternoon after about three hours at the hospital. Trump shook hands with his physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, and then waved before boarding h
  
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• Supreme Court to hear appeal over Texas redistricting

  12-01-2018 21:10 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Texas’ appeal to preserve congressional and legislative districts that a lower court struck down as racially discriminatory.
  The justices said Friday they will review a lower-court ruling that found problems with two congressional districts and statehouse districts in four counties.
  The lower court had ordered the districts redrawn in time for the 2018 elections, but the Supreme Court blocked those orders last year.
  Primary elect
  
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• Second person dies from crash off I-35 bridge in Georgetown

  12-01-2018 20:25 via kxan.com
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A 28-year-old woman died two days after the car she was in plunged from an Interstate 35 bridge in Georgetown, Texas.
  Georgetown police said Kelisha Preece died Thursday night just after 10. The driver, Derrick Kennie, died at the scene of the crash Tuesday afternoon. The third passenger is still in “very critical” condition at Seton Williamson County Hospital.
  Investigators say the Toyota Camry the three were in was headed north around 4 p.m., but it
  
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• Father of Richardson girl who ‘choked on milk’ indicted on capital murder charge

  12-01-2018 20:01 via kxan.com
  RICHARDSON, Texas (KXAN) — A Dallas County grand jury handed down two indictments against Wesley Mathews, 37, the father of Sherin Mathews, who was found dead in a culvert near her Richardson home on Oct. 22.
  Mathews was indicted on a capital murder charge and a tampering with physical evidence charge. According to court records, Wesley Mathews, used a “deadly weapon” in the death of Sherin but the “exact nature and description” was not presented to the grand jury.&
  
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• Threat of snow/ice on Tuesday in Central Texas

  12-01-2018 19:45 via kxan.com
  We first warned you yesterday about the potential of a wintry weather setup next week… and now, we are getting more confident that it may actually happen.
  New information into the First Warning Weather center shows an even colder forecast with a Monday night arctic front, bringing the potential of subfreezing temperatures from Tuesday morning through midday Wednesday (more than 24 hours).
  Accompanying the front, at least three trusted computer models agree with high confidence that light
  
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• Man shot at after flipping off driver on FM 2244

  12-01-2018 19:38 via kxan.com
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A man was shot at after he said he flipped off another driver on the highway in Travis County, deputies say. Meanwhile, that suspect driver told them he believed he was allowed to fire a “warning shot.”
  The victim was driving east on Farm to Market Road 2244 (Bee Caves Road) just before 5 p.m. on Jan. 4 when he got into the left hand turn lane onto Capital of Texas Highway, according to an arrest affidavit. A red car driving next to him turned
  
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• Bertram man dies in crash on SH 29 near Georgetown

  12-01-2018 19:26 via kxan.com
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A 20-year-old Bertram man died early Friday morning when he crashed his pickup truck just east of Georgetown.
  The Texas Department of Public Safety says Paulino Luna, Jr. was driving westbound on State Highway 29 around 12:30 a.m. when he left the road and hit a tree. The truck then rolled. Luna, who authorities say was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from his truck.
  Luna died at the scene.
   
  
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• Texas Tech student gets flak from TSA for ‘Guns Up’ gesture at Houston airport

  12-01-2018 18:58 via kxan.com
  LUBBOCK, Texas (KLBK) — Texas Tech University sophomore Diana Durkin faced extra scrutiny from the Transportation Security Administration when she threw up the hand signal for “Guns Up” when she saw a fellow fan in the security checkpoint line at a Houston airport.
  “I see somebody wearing a Texas Tech hoodie,” Durkin said. “I love my school, I love Texas Tech. I’m so proud to be a Red Raider so I see it and I’m like, ‘Hey!’ [with a gun
  
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• Austin vying to host U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials

  12-01-2018 18:21 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin is one of four cities that has declared its intent to submit bids to host the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon.
  Houston hosted the trials in 2012 and more recently Los Angeles in 2016. Currently Atlanta, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Orlando, Florida; and Austin have declared their intent to bid — all four cities are new to the bidding process.
  “To have four new bidders for the Olympic Trials Marathon speaks to the attractiveness of the p
  
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• Arlington’s MLK parade canceled after funding pulled amid protest threat

  12-01-2018 18:18 via kxan.com
  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Officials in North Texas have denied a permit for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade because they say organizers fell short on funding for security and traffic management.
  The parade planned for Arlington had drawn threats of protests and boycotts after it was announced Gov. Greg Abbott would serve as honorary grand marshal.
  Event spokeswoman Winsor Barbee told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the parade costs about $250,000 and organizers fell short by about $60,
  
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• Gun owner imprisoned after toddler shoots out daughter’s eye

  12-01-2018 17:20 via kxan.com
  OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been sent to prison after a toddler found the man’s loaded weapon and shot his 18-month-old daughter in the face.
  The Omaha World-Herald reports that 22-year-old Marquell Buie was sentenced to 18 months on Thursday.
  Prosecutors say Buie was smoking marijuana and watching a movie at his apartment in April while the toddlers played nearby. He placed his loaded gun on a counter. The boy grabbed the weapon and shot Buie’s daughter, who lost an ey
  
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• One person treated for smoke inhalation in southeast Austin house fire

  12-01-2018 17:00 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Fire crews battled a “heavily involved” house fire in southeast Austin Friday morning.
  Video from the scene shows flames engulfing the two-story house and the surrounding yard, leaving charred fence and grass on the property of 6401 Spring Fever Trail.The Austin Fire Department received a call about the fire around 9:20 a.m. As of 10 a.m., AFD said they were fighting the fire defensively. Fire investigators ruled the cause of the fire “undetermined.”
  
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• AFD fighting ‘heavily involved’ fire in southeast Austin

  12-01-2018 17:00 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Fire crews battled a “heavily involved” house fire in southeast Austin Friday morning.
  Video from the scene shows flames engulfing the two-story house and the surrounding yard, leaving charred fence and grass on the property of 6401 Spring Fever Trail.The Austin Fire Department received a call about the fire around 9:20 a.m. As of 10 a.m., AFD said they were fighting the fire defensively.
  One person was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, Austin-Travis C
  
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• Alaska population falls for first time in 29 years

  12-01-2018 16:37 via kxan.com
  JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s population has fallen for the first time in 29 years as the state’s oil-driven recession continues.
  The Juneau Empire reports that state figures released on Wednesday show the state’s population is 737,080. That’s down 2,629 from 2016 and is the first decrease since 1988.
  The number of people moving out was only partially balanced by the number of new births.
  Preliminary figures from the state Department of Labor show Alaska lost 3,600
  
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• El Chilito hosting ‘Bidi Bidi Brunch Brunch’ in honor of Selena

  12-01-2018 16:27 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Selena (and taco) fans rejoice — you can combine two of your favorite things this weekend at a brunch at El Chilito.
  The restaurant has been periodically holding what it’s calling “Bidi Bidi Brunch Brunch,” a themed event celebrating all things Selena Quintanilla. Its next one is Sunday, Jan. 14 at 2219 Manor Rd. starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m.
  “If you feel so inclined, bring your amigos and come dressed asLA REINA , Selena Quinta
  
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• From smart toilets to self-driving luggage, gadgets get weird at CES

  12-01-2018 15:46 via kxan.com
  LAS VEGAS (NBC News) — Between smart running shoes, a smart fragrance machine and even a smart toilet, there was no shortage of new and somewhat wacky devices at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
  “This year at CES if you didn’t put Alexa in your light switch or toilet or mirror maybe you wish you had” says CNET’s Lindsey Turrentine. In fact, for six thousand dollars, you can get Alexa to flush the toliet for you!
  Other gadgets include self driving luggage
  
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• Texas dad shot in deadly plot seeks to halt son’s execution

  12-01-2018 15:20 via kxan.com
  HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The father of a 38-year-old suburban Houston man on Texas death row is seeking clemency for his son who is set to die next month for arranging the shooting deaths of his mother and brother.
  Kent Whitaker also was shot in the 2003 attack at the family’s home in Sugar Land that evidence showed was organized by his son, Thomas “Bart” Whitaker, so he could collect a $1 million inheritance.
  Thomas Whitaker’s execution is set for Feb. 22.
  In a pet
  
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• Pflugerville PD has largest cadet class ever as chief finishes first year

  12-01-2018 14:39 via kxan.com
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — Nine officers are set to join the ranks of the Pflugerville Police Department Friday evening, the largest cadet class the agency has ever graduated.
  After getting their badges, the men will spend three months paired up with experienced officers to learn the ropes and to get a feel for the community relationships Chief Jessica Robledo wants them to cultivate.
  Robledo, just finishing up her first full year on the job, said she’s seen a fair amount of growth
  
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• RECALL ALERT: Ice cream bars could be contaminated with listeria

  12-01-2018 14:04 via kxan.com
  DUNKIRK, N.Y. (WCMH) — Fieldbrook Foods is recalling several varieties of ice cream bars sold under as a number of store brands.
  Fieldbrook Foods is recalling all orange ice cream bars and chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bars manufactured in 2017 on the company’s Hoyer 1 line in Dunkirk New York (plant code 362677).
  Both products are being recalled due to the possibility that they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and someti
  
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• What will the #MeToo movement mean for Cosby’s next trial?

  12-01-2018 13:14 via kxan.com
  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jurors couldn’t agree the first time around whether to accept a woman’s story that “America’s Dad,” Bill Cosby, sexually assaulted her over a decade ago. Now he faces a retrial in less than 90 days in a vastly different cultural climate, one in which powerful men from Hollywood to the U.S. Senate are being toppled by allegations of sexual misconduct.
  The jury in Cosby’s case was deadlocked on charges he drugged and molested a woman in
  
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• Bill Cosby’s next trial will carry weight of #MeToo movement

  12-01-2018 13:14 via kxan.com
  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jurors couldn’t agree the first time around whether to accept a woman’s story that “America’s Dad,” Bill Cosby, sexually assaulted her over a decade ago. Now he faces a retrial in less than 90 days in a vastly different cultural climate, one in which powerful men from Hollywood to the U.S. Senate are being toppled by allegations of sexual misconduct.
  The jury in Cosby’s case was hopelessly deadlocked on charges he drugged and molested
  
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• Man aids hospital patient discharged in gown in frigid temperatures

  12-01-2018 12:15 via kxan.com
  BALTIMORE (AP) — The man who said he came to the aid of a woman discharged from a Baltimore hospital wearing only a gown and socks on a cold winter’s night, says he was left outraged and stunned at how she was treated.
  Imamu Baraka, identified in local reports as the person who sought to help the woman, told The Associated Press he was so angry he decided to record Tuesday night’s events on cellphone video, fearing no one would believe him if he reported a woman being left at a
  
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• Lawsuit: Former AISD TA threw trash can at special needs child’s face

  12-01-2018 10:50 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas schools must get their act together — and fast. The directive came out Thursday,  after federal investigators confirmed at least tens of thousands of Texas students were denied Special Education programs.
  Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos says every child with a need must have access to services that meet his or her unique needs. Governor Greg Abbott went a step further, saying not only did school districts fail in their duty, but the Texas Education
  
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• Family back in their once flooded home thanks to Habitat for Humanity

  12-01-2018 05:42 via kxan.com
  TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — A family is back in their home more than two years after it was destroyed by the Memorial Day weekend floods.
  The Velazquez home on West Sixth Street in Taylor was pushed off its foundation by the floodwaters in 2015, and Habitat for Humanity helped rebuild it.
  When the build was almost done in November, a trailer full of project equipment was stolen and found days later — all of its contents gone. 
  The family says they are ready to start over. &ldquo
  
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• VIDEO: Texas native escapes California mudslide in Prius

  12-01-2018 03:03 via kxan.com
  BURBANK, Calif. (KXAN) — A  man from Dallas incredibly escaped a mudslide chasing him and his girlfriend down a hill in Burbank, California on Thursday.
  Video taken by Burbank firefighters showed the Prius — as some put it — “bobsledding” down the hill, riding the wave of mud.
  Desionne Franklin told local news affiliate KTLA that conditions quickly got worse when they began evacuating. “I ran back in the house and said, ‘Hey, we don’t have tim
  
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• Hopes of finding survivors drop after California mudslides

  12-01-2018 02:47 via kxan.com
  MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — More than two full days after mudslides ravaged the coastal town of Montecito, the search for the missing became an increasingly desperate exercise Thursday, with growing doubts about whether anyone would be found alive. Seventeen people from ages 3 to 89 were confirmed dead, and eight others were unaccounted for.
  “They’re not going to find survivors anymore. They’re going to find bodies in the mud,” said David Weinert, who feared two of his
  
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• Texas’ two highest courts begin addressing mental health challenges

  12-01-2018 01:52 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Two of the highest courts in Texas say mental health challenges are taking a toll on the judicial system.
  Numbers from the Meadows Mental Health Public Policy Institute show the state spends around $1.4 billion in emergency room costs and $650 million in local judicial expenses to deal with mental illnesses.
  Reasons like that motivated the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to collaborate and form the Judicial Commission Mental Health. Both courts h
  
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• Feds grant $88 million to combat homelessness in Texas

  12-01-2018 01:39 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texans experiencing homelessness will receive millions of dollars in grant money from the Trump administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday.
  HUD Secretary Ben Carson made the announcement in a conference call with reporters, in which the department said it would commit a record $2 billion to help “tens of thousands of our most vulnerable neighbors” in the United States.
  The recipients are thousands of homeless assistance pr
  
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• VIDEO: Semi truck rolled onto its side, possibly from strong winds

  12-01-2018 01:22 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A semi truck rolled over onto its side in southeast Austin, possibly due to the strong winds whipping Central Texas reaching up to 45 mph.
  Sam Riojas sent video of the semi leaning against the guardrail on Metropolis Drive, just north of Burleson Road, around 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
  The driver, who did not appear to be injured, was seen taking pictures of the damage as firefighters and police arrived.
  While Austin police could not confirm the initial crash was caused by wind, a
  
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• FULL VIDEO: 6-year-old Sutherland Springs shooting survivor finally goes home

  12-01-2018 01:14 via kxan.com
  SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — Ryland Ward received the best seat a child could ask for on his much-anticipated 30-mile drive home from San Antonio to Sutherland Springs. Seated in the front passenger seat of a fire truck, Ward waved at well-wishers who lined the route.
  Ward, 6, is the youngest survivor of the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Nov. 5, 2017. Ward’s stepmother and two stepsisters died in the attack. 
  The boy, who was shot
  
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• Cedar Park intersection where 2 boys died scrutinized over speed, turn arrows

  12-01-2018 00:59 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Business owners in Cedar Park were not surprised a major crash happened at the intersection of Walton Way and West Whitestone Boulevard, saying crashes happen there quite often.
  Wednesday, a pickup truck and an SUV wrecked, killing 1-year-old Daniel Chaudhary and 8-year-old Elijah Chaudhary. They were being driven by a 31-year-old woman who remains in critical condition.
  Cedar Park police are still trying to figure out what caused the crash.
  “You couldn’t even r
  
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• Family of pilot missing in Gulf fundraises for private search mission

  12-01-2018 00:10 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After the Coast Guard ended its search for a missing pilot heading to Georgetown, and last seen flying unconscious over the Gulf of Mexico, the pilot’s family is fundraising for a private search mission.
  Bill Kinsinger, 55, of Oklahoma City, was flying a Cirrus S22T single-engine plane from Oklahoma to Central Texas when he was last seen on radar at 15,000 feet going into the Gulf of Mexico on Jan. 3.
  The family’s GoFundMe page has raised around $15,000 of its $
  
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• Ford says some Rangers should be parked due to air bag death

  12-01-2018 00:02 via kxan.com
  DETROIT (AP) — Ford is telling owners of about 2,900 Ranger small pickup trucks not to drive them after finding out that an exploding Takata air bag inflator killed a driver in West Virginia.
  Steve Mollohan, 56, of the Hedgesville, West Virginia, area died July 1 in nearby Martinsburg, about 80 miles northeast of Washington, D.C., according to a Pittsburgh-based lawyer for the firm representing the family, Rob Peirce III.
  Ford said it was notified of the accident in December. After some in
  
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