Austin news

• Stripper paid by student to perform at Round Rock ISD middle school

  01-02-2018 23:31 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A stripper was called to a job in northwest Austin, but much to her surprise it was at a middle school.
  A Round Rock Independent School District spokesperson says a student called the “entertainer” and paid for her by using his parent’s credit card. When she showed up the address on School House Lane Wednesday around 11:30 a.m., she quickly realized it was Grisham Middle School and called the front office, reporting the prank.
  The woman did not enter the s
  
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• Western African dance class takes off in area’s most-diverse suburb

  01-02-2018 23:11 via kxan.com
  PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) — The rhythm of Western African beats are pulsing through one Pflugerville dance studio.
  Dance Instructor Eva Ratti said the music and the moves take her back home to the Ivory Coast, Africa.
  “Give me some energy,” she said to a group of dancers, motivating them to move more at the Lonestar Dance Center.
  Ratti created the dance class called Ye Zi. It means “let’s dance” in the Nzima language.
  “When [participants] hear abou
  
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• Current and former Juvenile Justice Dept. employees arrested

  01-02-2018 22:05 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — After a month-long investigation into sexual misconduct involving state employees at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), Texas Rangers issued arrest warrants for five current or former employees of the agency.
  Four of the suspects were arrested Thursday, while one suspect remains at large and may be out of state. The suspects are accused of using excessive force against juveniles in state custody. Some of the suspects are also accused of falsifying entry for leave
  
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• What the UIL realignment means for high school football in Central Texas

  01-02-2018 21:23 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The University Interscholastic League released its new alignments Thursday morning, part of a bi-annual tradition that shuffles teams’ classification, districts and regions.
  The biggest shake-up in realignment for 6A is the fact that perennial state powers like Lake Travis and Westlake are now in the same district as Austin Independent School District schools like Austin High, Akins, Anderson and Bowie. Hays, Del Valle and Lehman round out District 25-6A.
  That means t
  
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• 6-year-old with epilepsy receives Texas’ first medical marijuana

  01-02-2018 20:53 via kxan.com
  SCHULENBURG, Texas (KXAN) — One of the three companies licensed to produce and sell low-level THC for epilepsy patients has delivered its first order to a 6-year-old girl.
  Knox Medical, which operates in Schulenburg, says it delivered the cannabis to the child on Thursday through the company’s direct-to-patient delivery service, becoming the first company to distribute medical marijuana in Texas. Knox Medical operates under the license Cansortium Texas, which it was granted by the st
  
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• FDA: Some drug users look to anti-diarrhea meds to get high

  01-02-2018 20:39 via kxan.com
  SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSTM) — The Food and Drug Administration is taking new steps to curb the abuse anti-diarrhea medication by asking manufacturers to change the way it’s packaged.
  Loperamide is an over-the-counter medication taken to ease the symptoms of diarrhea. The recommended dose is just four tablets per day, but Dr. Jeanna Marraffa at the Upstate New York Poison Center says some people are taking much more than that.
  “30, 40, even hundreds of pills…to get a high, or t
  
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• Fire spreads to three homes in Taylor

  01-02-2018 20:31 via kxan.com
  TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — Firefighters are responding to a fire in Williamson County Thursday afternoon that spread to two homes.
  The fire is in the 700 block of Washburn St. in Taylor, Texas. Video from KXAN viewer Peter Reinhardt shows flames coming from the structure as crews spray it with hoses. One house is completely destroyed, while the second has flames showing. A third home also suffered minor damage to the outside of the home.
  A person who lived at the home where the fire started wa
  
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• Man dies after falling into tire shredder at Houston-area plant

  01-02-2018 19:51 via kxan.com
  SHELDON, Texas (KXAN/CNN) — A man died last week after he fell into a tire shredder at a Houston-area recycling plant where he worked, according to his family’s attorney.
  Byron Jones, 26, had only been on the job at Genan, Inc. for four days when his co-workers reported him missing Friday. They later found him caught in a machine he hadn’t been able to get out of. His family’s attorney says they intend to file a lawsuit in his death.
  Genan, Inc. told CNN affiliate KTRK th
  
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• Austin mother accused of beating her 10-year-old daughter for years

  01-02-2018 19:23 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A 10-year-old girl who showed up to her school’s nurse’s office with a black eye and numerous bruises and scars told authorities she had been “beaten” by her mother for the past three years, according to court records.
  When a Child Protective Services investigator was called to the school on Jan. 19, the victim told the investigator her mother, identified as Eunice Alvarez Augusto, 30, would beat her with a stick, a cable and extension cord, police s
  
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• Austin City Council considers stance against border wall companies

  01-02-2018 19:16 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Four Austin council members and Mayor Steve Adler are proposing a resolution to stop the city from working with any company that designs, builds, or finances President Donald Trump’s $25 billion proposed border wall between Texas and Mexico.
  The proposal needs one more supporter to pass city council.
  “In Austin we build bridges, not walls,” said Mayor Steve Adler at a press conference on Thursday morning.
  Council Member Sabino “Pio” Renteria to
  
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• Austin City Council considers boycott against border wall companies

  01-02-2018 19:16 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In a 10-1 vote, the Austin City Council took the first step toward a boycott of any company that designs, builds or finances President Donald Trump’s $25 billion proposed border wall between Texas and Mexico.
  “This wall is not a way that we should be treating our friends,” said Mayor Adler at a press conference Thursday morning. Council Member Ellen Troxclair, whose District 8 covers much of southwest Austin, was the lone no vote.
  Four companies already ha
  
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• Another round: American whiskey makers toast strong sales

  01-02-2018 18:57 via kxan.com
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — American whiskey makers are toasting another round of robust sales in 2017. A report shows the growth was stirred by a thirst for the priciest spirits, in cocktails or sipped straight up.
  The Distilled Spirits Council said Thursday that demand grew in the U.S. and overseas as the spirits industry gained market share in the crowded domestic adult beverage sector.
  It says combined U.S. revenues for bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey rose 8.1 percent to $3.4 bil
  
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• Buy a shirt, get pot ‘gift’: Companies exploit law loophole

  01-02-2018 18:52 via kxan.com
  BOSTON (AP) — That ordinary bottle of juice delivered to your doorstep will set you back at least $55. But the bag of marijuana that comes with it? On the house.
  Retail marijuana stores are months away from opening in Massachusetts, but some companies have been quietly operating for more than a year, selling and delivering marijuana via a legal loophole that exists in nearly every state that has legalized recreational marijuana use.
  Companies like HighSpeed, which describes itself as a jui
  
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• 2 victims in shooting at Los Angeles school, student arrested

  01-02-2018 18:40 via kxan.com
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two students were shot and wounded, one critically, inside a Los Angeles middle school classroom Thursday morning and police took female student suspect into custody, authorities said.
  A 15-year-old boy hit in the head was transported to a trauma center in critical but stable condition, according to fire department spokesman Erik Scott. A 15-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to the wrist was taken to a hospital in fair condition, Scott said.
  Three other people, ranging
  
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• Construction worker in San Marcos injured after getting pinned by beam

  01-02-2018 18:17 via kxan.com
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — Emergency crews in San Marcos worked quickly to free a construction worker who was pinned underneath a beam.
  San Marcos police say the construction accident happened in the area of Post Road and Aquarena Springs Drive just before 11 a.m. The Texas Department of Transportation confirms the person injured is a contractor’s employee on a state project.
  STAR Flight landed at Bobcat Stadium and transported the person to a hospital with undisclosed injuries.
  Road
  
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• Del Valle High School under shelter-in-place

  01-02-2018 17:11 via kxan.com
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — Students at Del Valle High School are sheltering in place Thursday morning.
  The cause of the order is being investigated and it is not yet clear why they are sheltering.
  This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
  
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• All clear given at Del Valle High School after threat

  01-02-2018 17:11 via kxan.com
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — Students at Del Valle High School had to shelter in place for several hours Thursday morning.
  A spokesperson with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office says the shelter-in-place stemmed from a report they received that a student might have brought a weapon to school. 
  The Del Valle Independent School District said authorities deemed the campus safe but did not indicate if a weapon was found. “We take all reports seriously and safety remains a top pri
  
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• UIL changes Central Texas football conferences

  01-02-2018 16:47 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Some schools in Central Texas are seeing sports division shifts for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years, some of which pit them against different teams. The University Interscholastic League revealed the changes Thursday morning. They are the result of their reclassification and realignment process, which happens every two years.
  Here are major changes to conferences:Austin High School moves from 5A to 6A
  Austin Ann Richards is moving from 5A to 6A
  Leander Glenn m
  
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• Council to tackle Great Hills zoning, city manager compensation and border wall

  01-02-2018 16:33 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thursday marks the Austin City Council’s first full council meeting after a holiday break. Arguably the biggest item on deck is moving forward to fulfill the city’s biggest opening – the city manager position, which has been vacant for more than a year. It’s a huge decision heading into the rest of 2018 and beyond and council members, feel like they have their guy.
  Keep in mind, filling other positions, like a permanent Austin police chief, has been
  
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• Sec. of State Rex Tillerson to outline Latin America policy priorities at UT Austin

  01-02-2018 15:51 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The University of Texas at Austin will host alumnus and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Thursday for a speech ahead of his five-country trip to Latin America.
  Tillerson will discuss the Trump Administration’s Western Hemisphere policy priorities, including democratization and human rights, economic growth and security issues in the region The event, which will be held in the Blanton Auditorium, is co-hosted by the Clements Center for National Security and the Ro
  
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• Sec. of State Rex Tillerson outlines Latin America policy priorities at UT Austin

  01-02-2018 15:51 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) — The University of Texas at Austin hosted alumnus and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Thursday for a speech ahead of his five-country trip to Latin America.
  Tillerson discussed the Trump Administration’s Western Hemisphere policy priorities, including democratization and human rights, economic growth and security issues in the region The event, which was held in the Blanton Auditorium, is co-hosted by the Clements Center for National Security and the Robert St
  
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• Bigger American Airlines planes have tinier bathrooms

  01-02-2018 15:37 via kxan.com
  SEATTLE (KING) — Cramped quarters in some new Boeing 737 MAX plane bathrooms are drawing complaints from customers and flight attendants.
  Specifically, the smaller lavatories are confined to American Airlines’ newer jets. American is one of just a few carriers flying the new 737 MAX. The bathrooms were built to the airline’s specifications.
  The new bathrooms are 24.5 inches wide. That’s ten inches more narrow than the airline’s older 737 models. The smaller bat
  
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• ‘Devastated’: NBA saddened by death of Rasual Butler

  01-02-2018 14:31 via kxan.com
  MIAMI (AP) — The first time Dwyane Wade was supposed to make a public appearance on behalf of the Miami Heat back in 2003, he found himself paralyzed by nervousness.
  So Rasual Butler jumped into action, joining his teammate for the event solely to keep him calm.
  “That’s who he was,” Wade said. “A great individual that was always there for people when they needed him.”
  Tributes like that were offered all over the basketball landscape in honor of Butler, a longt
  
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• Young Justin Timberlake fan implores star for ticket, says ‘I’ll pay you back’

  01-02-2018 13:53 via kxan.com
  GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) – A young Central Ohio Justin Timberlake fan is asking the pop star to spot him a ticket to his upcoming concert.
  Sam Kurilko shared a video with NBC4 showing her four-year-old son Rocco trying to explain to Timberlake why he needs tickets to the May 7 concert at Nationwide Arena.
  Kurilko wrote:
  This morning I had to explain to Rocco that to go to concerts you have to buy tickets, he told me he wanted to buy tickets to Justin Timberlake’s concert in May, her
  
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• Super Mario to star in Nintendo film

  01-02-2018 13:28 via kxan.com
  TOKYO (AP) — Mario is getting together with the Minions.
  Japanese video-game company Nintendo Co. says a movie starring the plumber in the Super Mario franchise is in the works, co-produced with Chris Meledandri, the chief executive of Illumination Entertainment, the U.S. animation studio behind the popular “Despicable Me” series.
  Nintendo’s star game designer Shigeru Miyamoto told reporters Thursday the script is mostly finished. He’s promising a “fun”
  
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• Austin considers ‘dockless’ bike share pilot program

  01-02-2018 13:09 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin City Council will consider a resolution Thursday to start a pilot program for dockless bike shares, which rely on GPS, automatic locks, and apps to connect riders with short-term bike rentals.
  The Austin Transportation Department is proposing the pilot, which would potentially bring several dockless bike companies to the city, to help work out a management system and fix any problems that may arise from an arrangement that has caused headaches in other big cities.
  Au
  
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• Robbery near UT charter school in east Austin

  01-02-2018 12:49 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man told police he was robbed at gunpoint in east Austin, and they are working to find the suspect.
  The UT Police Department issued a notification around 3:30 a.m. Thursday because the incident happened at 2205 E. 7th Street near the UT Charter School. It was not near the main campus.
  The victim said the suspect was a heavyset black man, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-7. He was wearing a black and red hat, black clothing, Jordan shoes, a grill mouthpiece and had a mustache/g
  
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• Central Texas man indicted in slaying of woman, toddler

  01-02-2018 12:24 via kxan.com
  WACO, Texas (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a Central Texas man on a capital murder charge in the fatal November shooting of a toddler believed to be his daughter and the child’s mother.
  The McLennan County grand jury in Waco, Texas, on Wednesday indicted Christopher Paul Weiss in the shooting deaths of 24-year-old Valarie Martinez and her 1-year-old daughter, Azariah. Their bodies were found Nov. 5 near at Tradinghouse Reservoir near Waco.
  Investigators say the 26-year-old Temple,
  
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• Texas’ comeback falls short, Tech wins in OT buzzer-beater

  01-02-2018 06:31 via kxan.com
  LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Keenan Evans scored a career-high 38 points, including the winning jumper to beat the buzzer in overtime, and No. 10 Texas Tech beat Texas 73-71 on Wednesday night.
  After missing a potential winning free throw with 3.4 seconds left in regulation, Evans scored six points in overtime. His winning 18-foot jumper from atop the key came after the Longhorns tied the game on a banked 3-pointer by Kerwin Roach.
  Evans put the Red Raiders (18-4, 6-3 Big 12)
  
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• Former Westlake coach Derek Long talks about coaching Eagles QB Nick Foles

  01-02-2018 06:29 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Nick Foles’ high school coach, Derek Long, looks back on the Eagles’ quarterback’s high school days.
  
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• Derek Long joins MTTS to talk Nick Foles

  01-02-2018 06:29 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Nick Foles’ high school coach, Derek Long, looks back on the Eagles’ quarterback’s high school days.
  
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• APD officer fired for lying about using force files appeal

  01-02-2018 05:57 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Bryan Richter is appealing his firing from the Austin Police Department.
  Interim Chief of Police Brian Manley fired the officer, along with a detective, Steven McCurley, for allegedly lying about using force during an arrest in July 2017.
  Richter filed the appeal last Friday, a city of Austin spokesperson said. Chief Manley decided to fire the two officers after helicopter video showed them taking down a suspect, revealing inconsistencies in their version of events.
  The dis
  
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• Wearing a face mask may not help prevent the flu

  01-02-2018 04:39 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As one of the worst flu outbreaks in recent years continues, pharmacies say many people have rushed in to buy medical masks, in hopes that wearing one will prevent them from catching the virus.
  As a result, pharmacists say there’s a nationwide shortage of masks, making it hard for them to get any from their suppliers for the past several weeks.
  East Austin Medicine Shop pharmacist Chris Perling says the three big wholesalers that provide pharmacy supplies to most shop
  
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• Man killed in shooting in Manor neighborhood near US 290

  01-02-2018 04:22 via kxan.com
  MANOR, Texas (KXAN) — A man in his 40s has been killed in a shooting in Manor, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.
  The shooting happened on William Harrison Street in a neighborhood next to Presidential Meadows Elementary School and US 290 — about a mile east of downtown Manor. Medics were called to the scene at 8:41 p.m. Wednesday.
  KXAN has a crew at the scene. We’ll update this story as we get additional information. 
  
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• Father of three gunned down in driveway of his Manor home

  01-02-2018 04:22 via kxan.com
  MANOR, Texas (KXAN) — A 39-year-old man was killed in the driveway of his Manor home Wednesday night after he was shot multiple times.
  The Travis County Sheriff’s Office says deputies are actively searching for the person who killed Pedro Gomez and are asking people in the neighborhood to not open their doors to strangers.
  KXAN’s Jacqulyn Powell spoke to Gomez’s wife, who said her husband leaves behind a 1 and 3-year-old son, as well as a 12-year-old son from a previous m
  
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• Splash pad, amphitheater headed to downtown Taylor

  01-02-2018 03:35 via kxan.com
  TAYLOR, Texas (KXAN) — The Heritage Square sign and pillars have stood at the corner of Main and Fourth streets since 1986, and the entrance will soon look a lot different.
  On Monday, Taylor City Council finally approved funding for renovations to Heritage Square. The $3.4 million makeover includes a splash pad, an amphitheater, a children’s play area, as well as space for a farmers market.
  “This is going to be an attraction, we see this as something that’s going to draw
  
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• Strangers pitch in to help stop Wimberley’s brush fire

  01-02-2018 02:28 via kxan.com
  WIMBERLEY, Texas (KXAN) – Jesse Darnall was doing work for one of his clients in Wimberley Tuesday afternoon when he saw a fire spreading in a field.
  “I was over here when I first noticed the fire over there,” he said motioning toward Farm to Market 2325. With the help of a friend, Darnall jumped the fence and used a fire extinguisher on the flames.
  “One minute I could get real close to the fire, the next minute I would get hit in the face with it,” said the me
  
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• Llano police chief, three officers indicted on charges

  01-02-2018 01:35 via kxan.com
  LLANO, Texas (KXAN) — The Llano police chief along with two of his officers have all been indicted on official oppression charges.
  The Llano County District Attorney’s Office says Chief Kevin Ratliff, Ofc. Aimee Shannon and Sgt. Jared Latta were all suspended on Jan. 12 as part of the ongoing investigation. Ofc. Grant Harden, who was already indicted in December on six separate counts, was indicted on two new counts of official oppression and tampering with a government record.
  
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• Artist, her emotional support peacock denied entry on flight

  01-02-2018 01:18 via kxan.com
  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A United Airlines passenger who tried to take her emotional support peacock with her on a cross-country flight has had the bird turned away by the airline because of health and safety concerns.
  New York City-based photographer and performance artist Ventiko says she bought a ticket for her peacock, Dexter, so he would have his own seat on Sunday’s flight from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport to Los Angeles.
  A spokeswoman for Chicago-based Un
  
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• Restaurant owner busted after woman finds cocaine in her cheese stick order

  01-02-2018 00:42 via kxan.com
  GRIFFITH, Ind. (KRON) — An Indiana business owner is facing felony charges after a customer found cocaine in her cheese stick order.
  Surveillance video at the restaurant, Broad Street Gyros, shows the customer paying and picking up the order, according to CNN affiliate WGN.
  Police say the cashier mistakenly handed her the food order with cocaine.
  A few minutes later, a man walks in and starts to count cash.
  Behind the counter, the owner, 50-year-old Carrie Demoff is shown getting upse
  
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• Steakout! Deputy finds $100 in stolen H-E-B beef during traffic stop

  01-02-2018 00:18 via kxan.com
  FAYETTE COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Don’t mess with Texas, yes — but almost just as importantly, don’t mess with H-E-B steak.
  That message was reiterated Tuesday to two men found with $100 worth of stolen steaks during a traffic stop on US 77 in Fayette County.
  The suspects, 61-year-old Ronny Kneip, of Warrenton, and 57-year-old Kennan Tyler, of La Grange, were driving on the highway around 7:19 p.m. when they were pulled over by a Fayette County narcotics deputy near Roc
  
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• Traffic stop in Kyle leads to Mexican man’s arrest, ICE detainer

  01-02-2018 00:17 via kxan.com
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — Family and friends of a 46-year-old Mexican man are holding a rally for him at the Hays County Jail Wednesday evening after they said he was arrested by local authorities for a traffic violation and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
  The Hays County Sheriff’s Office says on Jan. 30 just before 5 a.m., Victor Alejandro Avendano-Ramirez was pulled over for a traffic violation in the city of Kyle. Avendano-Ramirez’s family says he failed
  
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