Austin news

• Small businesses in Austin expect to expand operations with new tax reform

  15-01-2018 23:40 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Some small business owners in Austin are confident their companies will see a boost from federal tax reform.
  “I think it’s just a big benefit on multiple levels for the business – growing, hiring people, expanding but also putting money back into the hands of people who work at ABC,” Bobby Jenkins of ABC Home & Commercial Services told Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, during a roundtable discussion at Wally’s Burger Express.
  President Donald Trum
  
  Read more

• San Marcos mother calls for help to enforce disabled parking rules

  15-01-2018 23:35 via kxan.com
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) – On Tuesday the city of San Marcos will be looking at a program that would allow citizens to pitch in and help enforce some parking laws. The program specifically focuses on people parking in handicapped spaces when they shouldn’t be.
  “People who are perfectly able don’t get what the differently abled have to go through on a regular basis,” said San Marcos resident Nicole Ashby.
  Ashby’s 8-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Spina Bif
  
  Read more

• Two Texans named to U.S. Olympic Men’s Bobsled Team

  15-01-2018 22:47 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two Texans will be competing for the U.S. Team in the Men’s Bobsled in PyeongChang next month.
  Former Rice University football player Sam McGuffie of Houston and Justin Olsen of San Antonio both qualified for the 13th Winter Olympic Games. McGuffie will represent the United States in both the two and four-man competitions.
  Olsen, 30, who has competed in bobsled since 2007, won Gold at the Vancouver Olympic Games in the four-man team. He will be one of three drive
  
  Read more

• Bill filed to require Bible elective to be offered in all West Virginia schools

  15-01-2018 22:08 via kxan.com
  CHARLESTON, W.V. (WOWK) — A bill requiring all schools in West Virginia to provide an elective course on Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament of the Bible, or the New Testament of the Bible has been introduced to the West Virginia Senate.
  Senate Bill 252 was submitted on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018, by Senator Mike Azinger, R-Wood, and Senator Sue Cline, R-Wyoming.
  The bill says that the purpose of the course is to, “Teach students knowledge of biblical content, characters, poetry, and n
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• School delays and closings for Tuesday, Jan. 16

  15-01-2018 21:21 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As school district officials monitor the weather situation, KXAN will update this story as schools make their decision on what to do for Tuesday. As of 3 p.m. Monday, only one school district has made a decision regarding Tuesday, however, there are some city/county offices that have.
  Districts Canceled:Dimebox ISD
  Giddings ISD
  Mason ISDOther:Burnet County offices will delay opening until 10 a.m.
  Dripping Springs City Hall will be closed
  
  Read more

• Car found with woman’s body inside in Round Rock retention pond

  15-01-2018 21:08 via kxan.com
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — A car with a woman’s body inside was found in a retention pond behind the Texas A&M Health Science Center Round Rock campus Monday morning.
  Round Rock police say they received a call around 10:30 a.m. about the car in the pond but they did not indicate how long the car had been there.
  KXAN spoke with the family of 56-year-Old Lessie Coleman who believes she is the person in the car. She was last seen Saturday night on her way home to Round Rock from a f
  
  Read more

• Car found with body inside in Round Rock retention pond

  15-01-2018 21:08 via kxan.com
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — A car with a body inside was found in a retention pond behind the Texas A&M Health Science Center Round Rock campus Monday morning.
  Round Rock police say they received a call around 10:30 a.m. about the car in the pond but they did not indicate how long the car had been there. Police have not indicated if the body is that of a man or a woman.
  KXAN will update this story as more information becomes available. 
   
  
  Read more

• How power companies are preparing for the winter storm

  15-01-2018 20:38 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As the winter storm makes it way through Texas in the next couple of days, ERCOT–the company that manages to flow of electric power to the state of Texas–is taking the necessary steps to make sure the state has enough power.
  ERCOT says it has generators to review current fuel supplies as well as implement winter weatherization procedures. The company is also working with transmission operators to minimize outages that could impact generation.
  With 75 percent of
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Dolores O’Riordan, voice of The Cranberries, dies at 46

  15-01-2018 19:11 via kxan.com
  LONDON (AP) — Dolores O’Riordan, whose urgent, powerful voice helped make Irish rock band The Cranberries a global success in the 1990s, died suddenly on Monday at a London hotel. She was 46.
  The singer-songwriter’s publicist, Lindsey Holmes, confirmed that O’Riordan died in London, where she was recording,
  “No further details are available at this time,” Holmes said, adding that O’Riordan’s family was “devastated” by the news.
  Her Cran
  
  Read more

• Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan dead at 46

  15-01-2018 19:11 via kxan.com
  LONDON (AP) — Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of Irish rock band The Cranberries, died suddenly on Monday. She was 46.
  O’Riordan died in London, where she was recording, publicist Lindsey Holmes said.
  “No further details are available at this time,” Holmes said, adding that the singer’s family was “devastated” by the news.
  Formed in Limerick, Ireland at the end of the 1980s, The Cranberries became international stars in the 90s with hits including &
  
  Read more

• How this storm will compare to previous winter storms

  15-01-2018 18:40 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — While the freezing rain, sleet, snow mix expected early Tuesday may cause more disruption than the Austin metro area has seen from a winter storm in several years, it likely won’t be one for the record books.
  The approaching system has the potential to be the most impactful in seven years, creating just enough icing Tuesday morning to create dangerous driving conditions on many roads, not just a few bridges and flyovers.
  In this scenario, the storm will potentially sh
  
  Read more

• Texas towns hit hard by Hurricane Harvey work to recover

  15-01-2018 18:30 via kxan.com
  ROCKPORT, Texas (AP) — Some Texas coastal towns where Hurricane Harvey made landfall are working to restore tourism and other economic attractions nearly five months after the storm.
  The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports hundreds of businesses in Rockport and Fulton are now open amid recovery efforts assisted by Aransas (uh-RAN’-sus) County and other government officials.
  Harvey made landfall Aug. 25, leaving behind destroyed homes, businesses and infrastructure in Rockport, with a
  
  Read more

• Texas 6-year-old girl hallucinates after taking common flu medicine

  15-01-2018 18:09 via kxan.com
  ALLEN, Texas (KXAN) — A 6-year-old girl in North Texas is recovering from nervous system problems after taking a flu medicine. Doctors say it’s a very rare side effect of Tamiflu.
  The little girl, whose family wanted to remain anonymous, was diagnosed with the flu. She took the commonly-used medicine, but the family says she started hallucinating, running away from school and tried to hurt herself.
  “The second story window was open, which is in her bedroom, and she used her des
  
  Read more

• Parents angry after 6th graders given drug use, gender identity survey

  15-01-2018 17:27 via kxan.com
  ST. LOUIS (WFLA) — Some parents in Missouri are outraged after sixth-grade students were given a survey with questions on drug use, sexual orientation, suicide and gender identity.
  Students at Bourbon Middle School were given the survey on Thursday. The State Department of Mental Health gives the survey every other year to learn more about teenage behavior.
  It helps the department tailor prevention programs, but parents say the students are too young for such personal questions.
  &ldqu
  
  Read more

• Woman dies after fire on casino boat off Florida’s coast

  15-01-2018 16:57 via kxan.com
  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A female passenger has died hours after a casino boat caught fire off Florida’s Gulf Coast, forcing her and about 50 other passengers and crew to jump into the chilly waters to escape.
  Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point spokesman Kurt Conover said Monday that the woman died late Sunday, shortly after she arrived at the hospital’s emergency room at 10 p.m. He said she had apparently gone home after the fire but became ill.
  Pasco County Sheriff’s Offic
  
  Read more

• Semi-truck and freight train collide in Hutto

  15-01-2018 16:52 via kxan.com
  HUTTO, Texas (KXAN) — Officers are investigating a collision between a freight train and a semi-truck in Hutto Monday morning.
  Hutto police say no one was hurt and there is no danger to the public. It posted about the wreck on Facebook shortly after 9 a.m., and said the collision happened at a private rail crossing along US Highway 79 west of State Highway 130.
  Photos show the storage area of the semi smashed in the middle and spilling its contents. It’s sitting at an angle perpendic
  
  Read more

• Austin woman’s dog missing for two years found in Nebraska

  15-01-2018 15:08 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Bowser the St. Bernard is happy to be back with his owner after two long years away. And Robin, his owner, was so excited he’d finally been found, she drove immediately from Austin to Omaha to see him.
  The Nebraska Humane Society posted the photos, some of which include the very large Bowser sitting on his owner’s lap. The organization said someone brought the dog in, and when they scanned his microchip, they found contact information from Austin, Texas.
  “
  
  Read more

• Storm blew historic building to Canada; Maine wants it back

  15-01-2018 14:26 via kxan.com
  LUBEC, Maine (AP) — A fishing-industry building on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places is half-submerged in waters near a Canadian island, and conservationists fear it could disintegrate before legal tangles are resolved.
  The Jan. 4 blizzard tore the brine shed from its mooring at McCurdy’s Smokehouse off Lubec, Maine, and it was blown to nearby Campobello Island in New Brunswick, the Bangor Daily News reported .
  The shed is among five buildings that comprise the last tradi
  
  Read more

• African-Americans are moving to Austin again, but many don’t feel welcome

  15-01-2018 13:18 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Monday’s celebration of the life and achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr., comes as the city of Austin faces an ongoing struggle to keep African-American families from moving and convincing prospective black residents that the city is as welcoming as it says.
  Numbers released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau show the total number of African-Americans in the city is on the rise, but the percentage of the population that is black continues to fall, down to 7.6 pe
  
  Read more

• My guns or my ganja? Firearm-owning pot fans face a choice

  15-01-2018 12:18 via kxan.com
  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The federal government says grass and guns don’t mix, and that is putting gun owners who use marijuana — and the strongly pro-gun-rights administration of President Donald Trump — in a potentially uncomfortable position.
  As gun-loving Pennsylvania becomes the latest state to operate a medical marijuana program, with the first dispensary on track to begin sales next month, authorities are warning patients that federal law bars marijuana users from ha
  
  Read more

• AISD, Seton hire nurses for campuses; parents hold out hope for nurses at every school

  15-01-2018 06:42 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After an “enormous amount” of parent feedback, Austin Independent School District and Seton Healthcare are filling the nursing positions they announced during the fall of 2017. Many AISD parents are hopeful that AISD and Seton will be able to bring registered nurses to every AISD campus.
  Seton provides nurses for AISD, and last fall they announced they’d be replacing some nurses on campuses with School Health Assistants who can teleconference with licensed
  
  Read more

• AISD, Seton close to hiring all the nurses needed for schools

  15-01-2018 06:42 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After an “enormous amount” of parent feedback, Austin Independent School District and Seton Healthcare are filling the nursing positions they announced during the fall of 2017. Many AISD parents are hopeful that AISD and Seton will be able to bring registered nurses to every AISD campus.
  Seton provides nurses for AISD, and last fall they announced they’d be replacing some nurses on campuses with School Health Assistants who can teleconference with licensed
  
  Read more

• Mayor Steve Adler launches re-election campaign

  15-01-2018 04:16 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Mayor Steve Adler officially kicked off his re-election campaign on Sunday.
  Voters first elected him to the office in January 2015.
  He says one of his greatest accomplishments was passing the city’s largest mobility bond.
  And Adler said he will continue fighting for Austin.
  “Austin is a magical city. If we have to fight to preserve what it is that special about the spirit and soul of this community, that means managing and planning for growth in a way tha
  
  Read more

• South Korean children’s choir visits Texas in wake of Sutherland Springs

  15-01-2018 04:13 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two months after the deadly Sutherland Springs church shooting, a children’s choir visited Texas from South Korea to honor the victims.
  The choir performed two songs Sunday at Hyde Park Baptist Church.
  “The first place they wanted to go was the church in Sutherland Springs where the tragedy occurred,” said Senior Pastor Kie Bowman. “They went there just to pray. And while they were there, people came out from everywhere because they saw this little c
  
  Read more

• Vikings win on last second miracle

  15-01-2018 03:58 via kxan.com
  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — There wasn’t much left for Case Keenum to do but to fling the ball deep and hope for a miracle.
  Miracle answered.
  Keenum completed a last-ditch heave near the sideline Sunday on the game’s final play, and Stefon Diggs slithered away for a 61-yard touchdown to give Minnesota a 29-24 victory over New Orleans and send the Vikings to the NFC championship game, with one more win needed to become a first-time Super Bowl host.
  Drew Brees had driven the Saints in pos
  
  Read more

• First group of protesters welcome new security changes at Capitol

  15-01-2018 03:55 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Chanting echoed across the Texas Capitol as a group of Iranian-Americans gathered there and demanded peace.
  “This government of Iran is really not legitimate,” said activist Bijan Afkami. “It’s not the will of the people. It’s not elected by the people and it’s ruling by iron fists.”
  Afkami is an activist who has organized protests at the Capitol year after year. “We definitely support peaceful demonstrations and definitely no
  
  Read more

• Car wedged into second floor of building after going airborne

  15-01-2018 02:06 via kxan.com
  SANTA ANA, Calif. (KXAN) – It’s something you must see to believe: A car hanging from the second floor of a building in Santa Ana, Calif.
  Police said the driver was speeding and hit a center median.
  That’s when it went airborne and ended up in the second story of a dentist’s office.
  Two people were inside the car but surprisingly only had minor injuries.
  
  Read more

• Austin pools get jumpstart on hiring staff

  15-01-2018 01:09 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It might not feel like swimming weather right now, but the Austin Parks and Recreation Department is getting a head start on recruiting aquatics workers.
  It held its first hiring fair today.
  The event lets people interested in becoming a lifeguard, pool attendant, cashier, swim instructor or swim coach get ready.
  They go through an interview and sign up for any training needed.
  Officials said there are some big benefits to signing up now.
  “The importance of coming in
  
  Read more

• Austin pools get jump start on hiring staff

  15-01-2018 01:09 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It might not feel like swimming weather right now, but the Austin Parks and Recreation Department is getting a head start on recruiting aquatics workers. It held its first hiring fair Sunday.
  The event lets people interested in becoming a lifeguard, pool attendant, cashier, swim instructor or swim coach get ready. They go through an interview and sign up for any training needed.
  Officials said there are some big benefits to signing up now.
  “The importance of coming in
  
  Read more

• Iranian-Americans protest Iran’s government in rally at Capitol

  15-01-2018 00:50 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Iranian-Americans chanted for peace at the Texas Capitol Sunday afternoon.
  The group that gathered there today say it’s time for democracy in Iran.
  Among the crowd was a woman who said she survived torture. She blames official corruption.
  The group says this government needs to be overthrown.
  “This government does not represent the will of people,” said activist Bijan Afkami. “Iranian people are peace-loving people. But the government in Iran today i
  
  Read more

Follow @Austin_News_US on Twitter!