Austin news

• Two Subways near UT campus robbed within minutes of each other

  19-01-2018 23:35 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two Subway restaurants near the University of Texas at Austin campus were robbed within minutes of each other Friday, as officers searched for the suspect.
  The first robbery happened around 3:45 p.m. at the Subway at 2323 San Antonio St. in West Campus, followed by another robbery on The Drag at the Subway in the Dobie Mall at 2025 Guadalupe St. around 20 minutes later.
  UT police say the suspect is a black woman in her 30s or 40s wearing a black coat and black ski mask. The
  
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• Judge orders sweeping changes to Texas foster care system

  19-01-2018 22:26 via kxan.com
  DALLAS (AP) — A judge ordered Texas to make sweeping changes to its foster care system on Friday, two years after she found it unconstitutionally broken.
  U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack told the state the overhaul must include improvements in record keeping, caseworker visits and where children are placed. The changes were based on recommendations from experts the judge appointed to help craft a plan to improve the lives of children in long-term foster care.
  The judge appointed the t
  
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• Toddler dies after falling into septic tank; family cautions others

  19-01-2018 22:15 via kxan.com
  SAN JUAN COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – A New Mexico couple has to bury their 3-year-old son after a tragic accident. The boy fell into a septic tank and died.
  The couple says they never thought something like this could happen to their child. Now they want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else’s.
  It was a week ago that Cassandra Riaski and her family went over to her parents’ house near Farmington to plan a funeral for her mother.
  “My sister, myself and our children
  
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• Signal lights back on after crash at Lavaca and 15th in downtown

  19-01-2018 22:11 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A three-vehicle crash in downtown Austin causing signal lights to go out was fixed faster than expected Friday afternoon.
  The Department of Public Safety says the crash in the intersection at 15th and Lavaca Street — on the northwest side of the Texas Capitol complex — knocked out the main control box for the signal lights, shutting off the lights just before 1 p.m. The lights were returned to service around 4 p.m.
  Drivers were asked to avoid the area if they co
  
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• Crash shuts off signal lights at 15th & Lavaca, causing delays into rush hour

  19-01-2018 22:11 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A three-vehicle crash in downtown Austin is expected to cause delays for commuters through Friday’s evening rush hour.
  The Department of Public Safety says the crash in the intersection at 15th and Lavaca Street — on the northwest side of the Texas Capitol complex — knocked out the main control box for the signal lights, shutting off the lights just before 1 p.m.
  Repairs are expected to take several hours. Drivers should avoid the area if they can, and if
  
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• Bookkeeper for Georgetown Soccer Assoc. accused of pocketing nearly $82,000

  19-01-2018 21:25 via kxan.com
  GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — The bookkeeper for the Georgetown Soccer Association was recently arrested, accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the nonprofit.
  Georgetown police say Amy Ward, 42, pocketed approximately $82,000 from the group over a two-year period. Ward served as the group’s bookkeeper since 2013. The Georgetown Soccer Association organizes recreational level soccer for Georgetown children ages 4 through 18.
  In a letter dated Jan. 18. 2018, the Georgetown Soccer
  
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• WATCH: Deputy rescues injured dog from busy California freeway

  19-01-2018 19:56 via kxan.com
  PLACER COUNTY, Calif. (NBC News) — A dog that was struck by a car and ended up getting stuck underneath it is lucky to be alive.
  A Placer County Sheriff’s deputy was driving in his patrol car when he saw the Bloodhound trying to cross the freeway. He stopped and tried to coax the dog to the shoulder, but it ended up getting hit by a car.
  The dog’s paw then got caught underneath the tire. An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer stopped to help the deputy and they were able
  
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• Boy, 13, charged as adult in crossbow killing of 10-year-old

  19-01-2018 19:24 via kxan.com
  CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) — Prosecutors in Oklahoma have charged a 13-year-old boy with first-degree murder in the crossbow killing of a 10-year-old friend.
  The death happened last fall in the small town of Chandler, about 40 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. Authorities say 10-year-old Austin Almanza was fatally struck by an arrow, which traveled through his body and then pierced his 8-year-old brother in the arm.
  Prosecutors charged the 13-year-old boy as an adult, making him one of the young
  
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• Round Rock man was killed days before he was found on New Year’s Eve

  19-01-2018 19:02 via kxan.com
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) – Newly-released court records show a man who was found shot to death in his Round Rock home on New Year’s Eve had been dead for several days before his sister found him.
  Richard Acosta, 23, was arrested on Jan. 13 and charged with murder in the death of Joshua Armstrong, 37. His girlfriend, 20-year-old Vanessa Velasco, was arrested and charged with burglary of a habitation in connection with the case.
  According to an arrest affidavit, Armstrong’s body
  
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• Downtown Austin will be busy Saturday with multiple rallies

  19-01-2018 19:00 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three rallies are set for downtown Austin Saturday as people march for women’s empowerment, reproductive rights and in favor of impeaching the president. Many are calling it a “Day of Resistance.”
  One year ago, organizers across the country put together women’s marches on the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. In Austin alone, 50,000 people showed up to march.
  The 2018 version comes in the form of three rallies. The first sta
  
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• DPS graduates seven new K-9s

  19-01-2018 18:12 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Department of Public Safety graduated seven new troopers Friday. They aren’t donning the Texas Tan, but rather an array of colorful fur.
  Three of the new K-9s have been assigned to troopers who have also graduated the canine program. Three other K-9s are replacing retired dogs, while one is headed to a trooper in another part of the state.
  The canine teams had to complete an 8-week training course before they were able to graduate.
  DPS Trooper Luke Garza and
  
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• 3M Half Marathon on Sunday to close numerous streets

  19-01-2018 17:54 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — With nearly 7,000 runners taking to the streets on Sunday for the 3M Half Marathon, numerous roads throughout Austin will be closed for the race.
  The 13.-1-mile course starts at Capital of Texas Highway near North MoPac and makes it all the way south to downtown Austin. The race starts at 7:30 .m. and the first runner is expected to cross the finish line around an hour later.
  If you’re going to be out and about on Sunday, make sure you know about the various road clos
  
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• VIDEO: Firefighters battling massive apartment fire in Irving

  19-01-2018 17:34 via kxan.com
  IRVING, Texas (KXAN) — Firefighters in Irving are battling a large apartment fire Friday morning.
  The fire was reported in the 4500 block of West Pioneer Drive shortly after 9:30 a.m. KXAS has a helicopter over the scene of the fire.
  The fire was escalated to three alarms approximately 30 minutes after it started.
  There has been no word on injuries at this time.
   
  
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• LIVE: Firefighters battling massive apartment fire in Irving

  19-01-2018 17:34 via kxan.com
  IRVING, Texas (KXAN) — Firefighters in Irving are battling a large apartment fire Friday morning.
  The fire was reported in the 4500 block of West Pioneer Drive shortly after 9:30 a.m. KXAS has a helicopter over the scene of the fire.
  The fire was escalated to three alarms approximately 30 minutes after it started.
  There have been no word on injuries at this time.
   
  
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• Royal close shave: Prince William opts for dramatic buzz cut

  19-01-2018 17:08 via kxan.com
  LONDON (AP) — The hair on the heir is no longer quite so apparent.
  Prince William, whose hairline has been receding for years, has opted for a dramatic close-shaved new hairstyle.
  The buzz cut was captured by photographers as 35-year-old William, who is second in line to the British throne behind his father Prince Charles, visited a London children’s hospital on Thursday.The sweet story behind Prince Harry’s engagement ring for Meghan MarkleBritish bookmakers are looking to pro
  
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• VIDEO: $2M stolen in smash-and-grab jewelry heist

  19-01-2018 16:48 via kxan.com
  SUGAR LAND, Texas (KXAN) — Surveillance video caught the moment a man smashed jewelry display cases with a hammer so another man could reach in and grab what was inside. Sugar Land police say the suspects got away with $2 million in jewels.
  Police say the men were inside Hutton’s Jewelry and Gifts on Jan. 10. The first man spoke to an employee about an engagement ring, and the video shows a second man joining them a few minutes later. He then pulls out a hammer and smashes the glass
  
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• The work that won’t get done during a government shutdown

  19-01-2018 16:05 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of intelligence agency employees would be furloughed even as tension over North Korea’s nuclear program remains high. Important biomedical and public health research would be interrupted and possibly damaged. Military veterans would watch helplessly as the processing of their disability claims came to a halt.
  Although the government won’t actually close if Congress can’t pass a spending bill by Friday at midnight, there’s plenty that won&
  
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• Congestion pricing: Driving in Manhattan could cost $11.52

  19-01-2018 15:57 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Motorists would have to shell out $11.52 to drive into the busiest parts of Manhattan under a new proposal floated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ease traffic congestion and raise vital funds for mass transit.
  Trucks would pay even more — $25.34 — while taxi cabs, Uber rides and for-hire vehicles would be charged between $2 and $5 per ride. The pricing zone would cover Manhattan south of 60th Street.
  The idea, called “congestion pricing,” involves using ele
  
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• Good dog, bad dog … Delta wants to know before you board

  19-01-2018 15:43 via kxan.com
  DALLAS (AP) — Delta Air Lines will soon require owners of service and support animals to provide more information before their animal can fly in the passenger cabin, including an assurance that it’s trained to behave itself.
  The airline says complaints about animals biting or urinating or defecating on planes have nearly doubled since 2016.
  Starting March 1, Delta will require owners to show proof of their animal’s health or vaccinations at least 48 hours before a flight.
  Owner
  
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• Delta wants to know if your dog can behave before it flies

  19-01-2018 15:43 via kxan.com
  DALLAS (AP) — Delta Air Lines says for safety reasons it will require owners to provide more information before their animal can fly in the passenger cabin, including an assurance that it’s trained to behave itself.
  The airline says complaints about animals biting or peeing and pooping have nearly doubled since 2016.
  Starting March 1, Delta will require owners to show proof of their animal’s health or vaccinations at least 48 hours before a flight.
  Owners of psychiatric service
  
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• Elementary student shares why fallen Officer Copeland was courageous

  19-01-2018 15:15 via kxan.com
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — It’s been more than a month since police Officer Kenneth Copeland died while serving a warrant on his day off, but his service is still being remembered in his community, including in an elementary school in San Marcos.
  The San Marcos Police Department posted a photo of a paper written by a student on Thursday. It was part of a display at Travis Elementary School that highlighted courage and asked students if they know someone who had displayed courage.
  Off
  
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• Dream job: Ireland vet clinic looking for a ‘cat cuddler’

  19-01-2018 14:29 via kxan.com
  DUBLIN (WFLA) — A company is looking to hire someone to shower little kittens with love and snuggles.
  The Just Cats Veterinary Clinic & Cattery in Dublin, Ireland is looking for a cat cuddler.
  The job description reads:
  The ideal candidate must have gentle hands capable of petting and stroking cats for long periods of time. They need to be softly spoke and capable of cat whispering to calm the nerves of some of our in patients. An ability to understand different types of purring i
  
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• Florida man arrested after mistaking bank for Taco Bell

  19-01-2018 13:24 via kxan.com
  SPRING HILL, FL (WCMH) – A Florida man was arrested Wednesday after deputies say he tried to order a burrito in the bank drive-thru.
  It happened at the Bank of America in Spring Hill, Florida, WFTS reported. The manager of the bank called the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office after finding a man unconscious behind the wheel of the car in the drive-thru.
  The manager said that he managed to wake the driver up after banging on the window for “some time.” When he wok
  
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• Fear the Reaper: Chili-eating contest this weekend raises money for five Austin charities

  19-01-2018 13:07 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texans love their spice, and this weekend a handful of people will prove just how much of it they can take in a pepper-eating contest to benefit local charities.
  The battle of wills and stomach linings, christened Chilis for Charity in its inaugural year, happens in south Austin Saturday at the Mama Fu’s restaurant at Southpark Meadows. The Austin-based restaurant chain is hosting the event and putting up $25,000 in possible winnings to five nonprofits.
  Each of the ch
  
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• Firefighters save Lubbock teen’s life, then help family with moving crisis

  19-01-2018 12:57 via kxan.com
  LUBBOCK, Texas (KLBK) — Lubbock firefighters responded to a different call of duty. After they rescued a teen from a heavily damaged car, they learned her family was in the middle of a problem of their own, so they stepped in to help.
  “There was so much going on, I didn’t feel like I was there,” Kali Merickle said. She was involved in a two-vehicle accident on 114th Street near University on Jan.8.
  “I feel like I was dreaming or somethi
  
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• How a government shutdown would impact Texas

  19-01-2018 12:25 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As of Friday morning, a government shutdown remains a possibility despite some movement inside Congress. The deadline for lawmakers to vote is midnight.
  The Senate will be back in session Friday, but has not scheduled a vote on the temporary bill the House passed Thursday night that would keep the government running for another month. The deal breaker for Democrats is an agreement on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, the program that helps protect undocumented i
  
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• Software glitch failed to show temperatures below 1º in Hill Country

  19-01-2018 06:14 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It was even colder than we thought. The KXAN First Warning Weather team reported Wednesday that Central Texas had just experienced the coldest morning in seven years, with a record low of 15º at ABIA, and that dozens of locations in the Hill Country recorded single digit low temperatures.
  The coldest temperatures were reported to have been 1º above zero at two locations in San Saba County. However, in analyzing the temperature data from its Hydromet Network, the L
  
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• Austin High students filmed using racial slur on MLK Day apologize

  19-01-2018 05:01 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two Austin High School students apologized for social media posts made on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that showed the students saying, “It’s N—– Day.”
  Austin High administrators say they became aware of the Facebook videos, one of which has been taken down, on Monday.
  School staff said they immediately took action, addressing the posts with the students involved, their families and the student body. All students will be participating in a &ldquo
  
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• Dash cam: Trooper, tow truck driver dodge being hit by car on icy road

  19-01-2018 03:29 via kxan.com
  DETROIT (WDIV) — Michigan State Police reminded motorists to slow down in bad weather Thursday with a video showing a crash in Detroit.
  The crash happened Wednesday on the ramp from southbound M-39 to eastbound I-96.
  It shows a tow truck operator clearing a previous crash scene when a speeding car slams into the ramp of his rollback truck, into the previously wrecked car and over the truck driver’s head.
  Read the full story at ClickonDetroit.com.
  
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• Now you can enroll in a monthly Oreo subscription

  19-01-2018 03:08 via kxan.com
  EAST HANOVER, N.J. (WCMH) — Oreo lovers rejoice! You can now enroll in an Oreo subscription club to have the cookie delivered to your home once a month.
  Sold through by Cyber Sweetz through Amazon, the Oreo Cooke Club Subscription offers an Oreo gift box once a month.
  Each box contains two Oreo flavors, an Oreo inspired gift and a recipe card, all shipped in an artistically designed Oreo box.
  The subscriptions are set at three months for $59.97, six months for $119.94 or a year f
  
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• Does Austin have the employees, training to fill 50,000 Amazon jobs?

  19-01-2018 02:53 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tech giant Amazon announced Thursday Austin made the “short list” of the top 20 potential cities to house the company’s second headquarters (HQ2). If Amazon came to Austin, where would the people who fill those new jobs come from?
  Amazon says it will invest $5 billion in constructing the headquarters and create around 50,000 jobs, which will have an average salary of $100,000. At Amazon’s original headquarters in Seattle, the company says they create
  
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• Austin would need to recruit talent if Amazon HQ were to open here

  19-01-2018 02:53 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tech giant Amazon announced Thursday Austin made the “short list” of the top 20 potential cities to house the company’s second headquarters (HQ2). If Amazon came to Austin, where would the people who fill those new jobs come from?
  Amazon says it will invest $5 billion in constructing the headquarters and create around 50,000 jobs, which will have an average salary of $100,000. At Amazon’s original headquarters in Seattle, the company says they create
  
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• Austin’s first ‘Hi, How Are You’ Day will promote mental health conversations

  19-01-2018 02:23 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The famous piece of artwork on the corner of Guadalupe and 21st Street in Austin is inspiring a new mission to open up about mental health.
  Daniel Johnston, a musician with a lot of influence on Austin’s music culture, painted Jeremiah the Innocent, the iconic “Hi, How Are You” frog.
  “The frog has been here for 25 years and I don’t know if we’ve all thought about what it actually does mean,” Courtney Blanton, co-founder of the &ldqu
  
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• Love in the air: Pope marries flight attendants on papal plane

  19-01-2018 01:34 via kxan.com
  IQUIQUE, Chile (AP) — It was all in a day’s work for the ever-unpredictable Pope Francis.
  First he celebrated the first-ever airborne papal wedding, marrying two flight attendants from Chile’s flagship airline at 36,000 feet during a flight on Thursday to this northern Chilean beachside town.
  Then after landing, Francis came to the rescue of a policewoman who was thrown from her rearing horse as his popemobile passed by.
  In between, he did what he actually came to do: celebrate
  
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• House votes to avert federal shutdown, Senate chances dim

  19-01-2018 01:26 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided House on Thursday passed an eleventh-hour plan to keep the government running. But the GOP-written measure faced gloomy prospects in the Senate, and it remained unclear whether lawmakers would be able to find a way to keep federal offices open past a Friday night deadline.
  The House voted by a near party-line 230-197 vote to approve the legislation, which would keep agency doors open and hundreds of thousands of federal employees at work through Feb. 16. The mea
  
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• House set to vote to avert shutdown, Senate chances dim

  19-01-2018 01:26 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The House was on track to approve a bill Thursday preventing a weekend government shutdown after an eleventh-hour deal with Republican leaders brought conservatives aboard. But the measure faced gloomy prospects in the Senate, and it remained unclear how or if lawmakers could find a way to keep federal offices open and avert an election-year backlash with uncertain political consequences.
  House passage seemed assured after leaders of the House Freedom Caucus said their ha
  
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• VIDEO: Powerful gale lashes Europe, 7 dead amid traffic chaos

  19-01-2018 01:03 via kxan.com
  THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A powerful storm pummeled Europe with high winds and snow Thursday, killing at least seven people in three countries, grounding flights, halting trains, ripping roofs off buildings and flipping over trucks.
  The Dutch national weather service recorded wind gusts of up to 140 kph (87 mph) in the southern port of Hook of Holland as the storm passed over.
  Amsterdam’s Schiphol briefly halted flights for an hour in the morning, and airline KLM scrapped more th
  
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• Austin’s public toilets solving public urination, bacteria problem

  19-01-2018 00:59 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin city leaders didn’t know if it would work. A free public toilet strategically placed around Austin.
  The months-long pilot project which launched last fall would give them better insight into where public restrooms were needed most. Early numbers are in and the city says the 24-hour portable powder room is doing the job.
  “The highest user day, [we tracked] over 150 users in that day,” said Downtown Austin Alliance vice president of operations Bill Br
  
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• Prosecutor: Parents who tortured children were ‘depraved’

  19-01-2018 00:38 via kxan.com
  RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California couple tortured a dozen of their children for years, starving them to the point that their growth was stunted, chaining them to their beds for months at a time and forbidding them from showering more than once a year or using the toilet, a prosecutor said Thursday.
  “The victimization appeared to intensify over time,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in announcing charges. “What started out as neglect became severe,
  
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• Abuse in house of torture was ‘severe, pervasive, prolonged’

  19-01-2018 00:38 via kxan.com
  RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California couple tortured a dozen of their children for years, starving them to the point that their growth was stunted, chaining them to their beds for up to months, preventing them from using the toilet at times and forbidding them from showering more than once a year, a prosecutor said Thursday.
  “The victimization appeared to intensify over time,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in announcing charges. “What started out a
  
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• 2 Texans, Zimbabwean opposition leader killed in New Mexico helicopter crash

  19-01-2018 00:36 via kxan.com
  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A fiery helicopter crash killed key Zimbabwean opposition leader Roy Bennett while on holiday in a remote part of the U.S. state of New Mexico and four others aboard, friends and authorities said.
  State Police Lt. Elizabeth Armijo confirmed Bennett’s death Thursday, a day after a helicopter carrying him and five others went down in a mountainous rural area of northern New Mexico. One person survived the crash, whose cause was not yet known.
  Obert Gutu, spokes
  
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• WATCH: Drone drops life raft to swimmers in distress

  19-01-2018 00:04 via kxan.com
  LENNOX HEAD, Australia (NBC News) — A drone helped save two teenage swimmers who got caught in a rip current along the Australian coastline Thursday.
  Authorities said a 16 and 17-year old boy were spotted by someone on the beach who realized they were struggling in a rough area off Lennox Head, a beach just south of Brisbane popular with surfers.
  A Westpac Little Ripper Lifesaver drone was quickly launched and when it reached the teenagers’ location, it dropped a life raft, which was
  
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• Deaths of woman, 8-month-old in Taylor home not considered suspicious

  19-01-2018 00:04 via kxan.com
  TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — Police are now saying the deaths of a Taylor woman and her 8-month-old daughter appears to be accidental after indicating it had been suspicious Thursday night.
  Taylor firefighters discovered the bodies of Amy Baylor, 30, and Aleigha Seely, as they were putting out a fire at the their home in the 2000 block of Brewers Place just before 2 p.m. Thursday. The firefighters were on their way to a medical call when they saw smoke coming from the home.
  After makin
  
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• Deaths of woman, 8-month-old in Taylor home investigated as suspicious

  19-01-2018 00:04 via kxan.com
  TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — A woman and 8-month-old girl were found dead in a home that caught fire in Taylor, Thursday, in what is being investigated as a suspicious incident.
  First reported by The Taylor Press, firefighters were on their way to a medical call when they saw smoke coming from the home, located in the 2000 block of Brewers Place, and found the woman and baby after forcing their way into the home.
  Amy Baylor, 30, and her 8-month-old daughter Aleigha Sealey were found by the firef
  
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