Austin news

• Questions remain on who will be impacted by law capping toll fees

  26-02-2018 23:46 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — There are still questions surrounding who all will be impacted when a law capping fees for delinquent toll users goes into effect later this week.
  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion on Monday announcing that the portion of Senate Bill 312 which caps toll fees at $48 during a 12-month period will apply to all entities who contract with the Texas Department of Transportation.
  Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, who asked Paxton for the opinion on Sept. 11, 2017, sai
  
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• Despite AG’s opinion, toll agency says fee cap doesn’t apply to them

  26-02-2018 23:46 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — There’s still some questions surrounding who all will be impacted when a law capping fees for delinquent toll users goes into effect later this week.
  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion on Monday announcing that the portion of Senate Bill 312 which caps toll fees at $48 during a 12-month period will apply to all entities who contract with the Texas Department of Transportation.
  Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, who asked Paxton for the opinion on Sept. 11,
  
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• Texas State outlines steps to reinstate Greek activity after pledge’s death

  26-02-2018 23:29 via kxan.com
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — Almost three months after fraternity and sorority activities were suspended at Texas State University in San Marcos, the school has outlined steps the groups can take to return to normal operations.
  Matthew Ellis died on Nov. 13, 2017 after a fraternity event. (Courtesy: Ellis Family)
  The university’s president took the step shortly after Phi Kappa Psi fraternity pledge Matthew Ellis died in an off-campus apartment. Emergency crews found him unresponsi
  
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• MS-13 gang members arrested in Austin face attempted murder charges

  26-02-2018 23:24 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two documented MS-13 gang members wanted in Harris County on attempted murder charges were arrested in Austin last week, the U.S. Marshals Service said Monday.
  Bryan Funez, 17, was arrested on Feb. 21 in the 2700 block of East Seventh Street — near North Pleasant Valley Road — without incident and booked into the Travis County Jail where he awaits extradition.
  Jorge Alexander Cortez, 23, was found at a construction site at 625 Farm to Market 685 in Hutto last Th
  
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• Austin-area students continue to hold walkouts calling for gun control

  26-02-2018 22:44 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — “What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!” chanted students at Akins High School Monday afternoon, just before school let out.
  The students at the south Austin school, at 10701 S. First St., near Southpark Meadows, also chanted, “How many more? How many more?” almost two weeks after 17 students were killed in a South Florida school shooting. Last week numerous other Central Texas students also walked out of class. 
  The Akins High w
  
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• Teacher says she got fired because son’s cancer cost $1M

  26-02-2018 22:27 via kxan.com
  ANDOVER, Mass. (AP) — A teacher who says she was fired from a Massachusetts elementary school because of the high cost of her son’s cancer treatment has filed a discrimination complaint.
  Jacquelyn Silvani tells the Eagle-Tribune that her son’s treatment cost Andover Public Schools about $1 million before she lost her job at West Elementary School in 2016. Her son was 3 at the time.
  Silvani says she was told that federal funding for the position had been cut, but her complaint w
  
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• Driver in wreck checks on other victims, then kills himself

  26-02-2018 21:17 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (AP/KPRC) — Harris County sheriff’s deputies say a man responsible for a traffic wreck that involved multiple vehicles checked on people in damaged cars to make sure they were OK and then returned to his own vehicle where he shot and killed himself.
  Sheriff Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland says authorities are trying to determine why the man would “take his life on the scene for something as mundane as this four-car accident.”
  His name hasn’t been immediately
  
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• PHOTOS: Armed man at downtown DoubleTree in custody

  26-02-2018 20:53 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man with a gun was taken into custody at a downtown Austin hotel Monday morning.
  The Department of Public Safety says a man was on the fifth floor of the hotel at 303 W. 15th Street near Lavaca Street. A viewer sent in photos of what appears to be the suspect on a balcony, with negotiators talking to him below. Gunman reported at downtown DoubleTree hotelGunman reported at DoubleTree hotel in downtown Austin on Feb. 26, 2018. In this photo you can see a person with their
  
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• Man charged with deadly conduct after security scare at downtown hotel

  26-02-2018 19:57 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Department of Public Safety says 61-year-old Stanley Price was arrested and charged with deadly conduct following reports of a gunman on the fifth floor of the DoubleTree hotel in downtown Austin. There were no injuries reported.
  Troopers responded to the hotel, located at 15th St. and Lavaca, right around 12:20 p.m. Monday afternoon after receiving a call of a man with a gun at the hotel.
  DPS says its troopers initially called Price over the phone and asked him to
  
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• Man arrested after security scare at downtown DoubleTree hotel

  26-02-2018 19:57 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Department of Public Safety says a man is in custody following reports of a gunman on the fifth floor of the DoubleTree hotel in downtown Austin. There were no injuries reported.
  A DoubleTree manager says there were reports of a drunk person in the hotel at 303 W. 15th Street near Lavaca Street. Police responded to the area around 12:40 p.m. While guests did not evacuate the hotel, they were told to avoid doors and windows.
  According to students who go to Austin Communi
  
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• Armed man at DoubleTree hotel in downtown Austin arrested

  26-02-2018 19:57 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Department of Public Safety says a man is in custody following reports of a gunman on the fifth floor of the DoubleTree hotel in downtown Austin. There were no injuries reported.
  A DoubleTree manager says there were reports of a drunk person in the hotel near 303 W. 15th Street near Lavaca Street. Police responded to the area around 12:40 p.m. While people did not evacuate the hotel, they were told to avoid doors and windows.
  According to students who go to Austin Commu
  
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• Heather Locklear arrested, accused of assaulting boyfriend

  26-02-2018 19:50 via kxan.com
  THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Heather Locklear was arrested, accused of domestic violence and fighting with sheriff’s deputies at her California home, authorities said Monday.
  Ventura County sheriff’s Capt. Garo Kuredjian said deputies responded to a domestic disturbance around 10 p.m. Sunday in Thousand Oaks, west of Los Angeles.
  The victim of the alleged domestic violence was a boyfriend who had a physical injury which makes the offense a felony, Kuredjian said. He did not kno
  
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• UT-Austin President Greg Fenves broke school rules by flying on ‘premium airfare’ tickets, audit find

  26-02-2018 19:14 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) — University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves and his wife violated school policy by flying first or business class “multiple times” without a regularly-approved reason why, a UT System audit says.
  After the audit recommended that the president’s office stop “purchasing premium airfare,” the school promised that Fenves and his wife would comply with the rules going forward. A university spokesman also told The Texas Tribune on Mo
  
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• PHOTOS: ABC Kite Fest through the years

  26-02-2018 19:12 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The 89th annual ABC Kite Fest will take flight on Sunday, March 4th.
  Before thousands of kites fill Zilker Park for the beloved festival, we’re taking a look back at previous events. The first Kite Festival in Austin took place in 1929 when it was known as the Kite Tournament.
  The photos below showcase the ABC Kite Fest through the years. All photos are courtesy of the Austin History Center. PHOTOS: History of ABC Kite FestivalKite Tournament at Lamar Park in 1929 (PI
  
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• Plains Capital Bank in north Austin robbed

  26-02-2018 19:02 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police officers are working the eleventh bank robbery this year.
  The most recent robbery happened at the Plains Capital Bank located along the northbound frontage of North MoPac Expressway near Parmer Lane around 9:45 a.m. Monday. Police say a white man in his 50s came into the bank, displayed a weapon and left with an undisclosed amount of money.
  A person who ran away from the bank was taken into custody shortly after the robbery. He was wearing a black hoodie with
  
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• UT Austin student dies after falling from 4-story balcony

  26-02-2018 18:27 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A University of Texas at Austin student fell from a four-story balcony in West Campus Saturday and died shortly after, according to Austin police.
  Police are investigating the incident at 2505 San Gabriel St. as an accidental death. That address shows up in Google Maps as the Texan Tower, which has six floors. The man fell from the balcony before 10:12 p.m. and was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he died. Police say no one else was hurt and it’s not known if
  
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• WATCH: Time-lapse of dense fog blanketing downtown Austin

  26-02-2018 18:19 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dense fog hovered over downtown Austin Monday morning.
  KXAN’s Austonian Camera captured the view from the tallest building downtown over a two-hour time span. Visibility was down to less than one-third of a mile Monday morning in some parts of Austin.
   
   
  
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• Two arrested in fatal collision east of Austin

  26-02-2018 18:11 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person died following a collision Friday night east of Austin in which multiple people were pinned in their car.
  Austin-Travis County EMS tweeted it was responding to the collision on the 6200 block of Decker Lane, just south of the intersection where Loyola Lane becomes Decker Lake Road, around 10:32 p.m. Four people were injured and declared trauma alerts. One of them later died, said Austin police.
  Police say at least two vehicles were involved in the collision, and
  
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• Bond restrictions placed on ex-student accused of threatening Akins High

  26-02-2018 17:56 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The teenager who was released on a $15,000 bond last week after police say he brought ammunition and loaded magazines to Akins High School now has conditions placed on his bond.
  Ex-Akins High student Ariel Alex Ramirez-Navarro is charged with making a terroristic threat, which is a third-degree felony.
  According to his initial affidavit paperwork, there were no restrictions placed on the suspect when he posted bond Friday. Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said
  
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• Man killed in crash on RM 620 near Mansfield Dam identified

  26-02-2018 17:20 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man who died in a two-vehicle crash on Ranch to Market 620 near Mansfield Dam last Thursday has been identified as 54-year-old Franklin Daniels.
  The Texas Department of Public Safety says Daniels was driving his Ford Ranger northbound on RM 620 when he lost control and slid into oncoming traffic and slammed into a Hyundai Sonota.
  Daniels died at the scene. The driver of the Hyundai, a man in his 60s, was taken to the hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries, says
  
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• Supreme Court declines to decide fate of ‘Dreamers’ just yet

  26-02-2018 16:09 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s highly unusual bid to bypass a federals appeals court and get the justices to intervene in the fate of a program that protects hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation.
  The decision affecting “Dreamers” means the case will almost certainly have to work its way through the lower courts before any Supreme Court ruling is possible. And because that could take weeks or months,
  
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• Kelly Clarkson joins ‘The Voice’ tonight

  26-02-2018 15:41 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Now that the Olympic Games are over, the competition at home is heating up on NBC.
  Kicking off Monday night is the season premiere of The Voice, with its newest coach and Texas sweetheart Kelly Clarkson.
  Even though Clarkson is the original American Idol, she isn’t a stranger to The Voice since she’s performed on it several times. However, being a guest on the show is different than sitting on the red swivel chair.
  “It was so difficult, because you th
  
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• Students resolute as they re-enter school shooting site

  26-02-2018 15:21 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The line of students and their parents wrapped around Stoneman Douglas High School, several thousand people entering the campus for the first time since a gunman took 17 lives nearly two weeks ago.
  They walked solemnly but resolutely Sunday through gates that had been locked to all but law enforcement and school officials since the Valentine’s Day shooting, set to collect backpacks and other belongings left behind as they fled the massacre. To enter, they passed
  
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• Student wounded in school shooting says she’s recovering

  26-02-2018 15:21 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A tearful student who was wounded in the shooting rampage at a Florida high school thanked the doctors and first responders who helped her and said Monday she is making a full recovery.
  Speaking at a hospital news conference, Maddy Wilford, 17, said “it’s times like these when I know that we need to stick together.”
  When rescuers first found Wilford inside the school, they thought she was dead. She was pale and unresponsive, bleeding heavily from bul
  
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• Attorney: Deputy thought gunfire was from outside school

  26-02-2018 15:21 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The sheriff’s deputy assigned to guard the Florida high school that was the scene of a mass shooting never entered the building to confront the suspect because he believed the gunfire was coming from outside, his attorney said Monday.
  Scot Peterson has been called a coward and worse for failing to stop the massacre that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The criticism intensified Monday as President Donald Trump blasted the deputy and othe
  
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• Passenger opens emergency exit, uses slide to get off plane at Newark

  26-02-2018 15:19 via kxan.com
  TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A plane bound for Tampa was delayed for five hours after a man opened the emergency exit and used the inflatable slide to get off the aircraft.
  The United Airlines plane was sitting on the tarmac at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday night.
  When officers got to the scene, the panicked passenger was yelling that he didn’t belong on the plane because it was the wrong flight.
  Video shot by another passenger shows the man being led off the tarmac and ar
  
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• Director Kevin Smith suffers massive heart attack

  26-02-2018 15:04 via kxan.com
  GLENDALE, Calif. (KXAN) — The director behind pop culture favorites Clerks and Mallrats suffered a “massive heart attack” Sunday night.
  Late Sunday night, Kevin Smith tweeted a selfie of himself lying on a hospital bed. He said the heart attack happened just after his first show in Glendale, Calif. According to Entertainment Weekly, Smith was scheduled to perform a pair of stand-up comedy shows at the Alex Theatre that night.
  Smith, 47, tweeted that the doctor told him his left
  
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• First week of early voting shows dismal numbers in Travis County

  26-02-2018 13:58 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In the first six days of early voting in the Texas Primary Election, only 4 percent of registered voters in Travis County have cast their ballots.
  Data from the Travis County Clerk’s Office shows 30,845 people have voted thus far since early voting started on Tuesday, Feb. 20. At that rate, approximately 60,000 will vote early–with early voting ending on Friday, March 2.
  Of the people who have voted in Travis County, 3 percent have voted in the Democratic p
  
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• VIDEO: 16-foot great white shark caught off Hilton Head

  26-02-2018 13:06 via kxan.com
  HILTON HEAD, S.C. (WSAV) – As the waters off Hilton Head Island warm up, charters aren’t just spotting more sharks — they’re seeing some of the rarest.
  This week charter Captain Chip Michalove caught something you only see on Shark Week — a 3,000-pound 16-foot great white.
  “There’s nothing like it. I mean jumping out of an airplane, bungee jumping, the adrenaline rush, it’s amazing,” Michalove said.
  Michalove owns Outcast Sport Fishing,
  
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• New Samsung phone: Nicer camera, static design, higher price

  26-02-2018 12:56 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Samsung unveiled new smartphones with largely unchanged designs and incremental improvements such as a better camera — accompanied by a second annual price increase for many customers.
  The static design of the new Galaxy S9 underscores both the slowing pace of smartphone innovation and the extent to which other manufacturers, particularly Apple, have caught up with Samsung features that once stood out. That includes everything from edge-to-edge screens to facial recog
  
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• Congress returns amid pressure to act on gun violence

  26-02-2018 12:53 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — After a 10-day break, members of Congress are returning to work under hefty pressure to respond to the outcry over gun violence. But no plan appears ready to take off despite a long list of proposals, including many from President Donald Trump.
  Republican leaders have kept quiet for days as Trump tossed out ideas, including raising the minimum age to purchase assault-style weapons and arming teachers, though on Saturday the president tweeted that the latter was “Up
  
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• Board set to decide Monday night on AISD school name changes

  26-02-2018 12:34 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees will decide Monday night whether to move forward with changing the names of five schools.
  The schools are named for those with ties to the Confederacy:John T. Allan Facility, named for a Confederate Army officer who was also a lawyer, justice of the peace and state treasurer
  Zachary Taylor Fulmore Middle School, named for a Confederate army private and Travis County judge
  Sidney Lanier Early College High School, named
  
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• AISD trustees vote to take down remaining Confederate school names

  26-02-2018 12:34 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 7-2 Monday night to move forward with changing the names of five schools.
  The schools are named for those with ties to the Confederacy:John T. Allan Facility, named for a Confederate Army officer who was also a lawyer, justice of the peace and state treasurer
  Zachary Taylor Fulmore Middle School, named for a Confederate army private and Travis County judge
  Sidney Lanier Early College High School, named for a man
  
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• 5 AISD schools with names tied to the Confederacy will be renamed

  26-02-2018 12:34 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 7-2 Monday night to move forward with changing the names of five schools.
  The schools are named for those with ties to the Confederacy:John T. Allan Facility, named for a Confederate Army officer who was also a lawyer, justice of the peace and state treasurer
  Zachary Taylor Fulmore Middle School, named for a Confederate army private and Travis County judge
  Sidney Lanier Early College High School, named for a man
  
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• Community bids fond farewell to HOPE Outdoor Gallery

  26-02-2018 04:33 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dozens of people gathered to say goodbye to Austin’s famous HOPE Outdoor Gallery Sunday.
  Local artists created mosaic murals for people to take home and remember the outdoor gallery.
  Money raised from the event will go toward supporting the homeless.
  The Historical Landmark Commission approved a permit to demolish the gallery last month.
  A date for that has not been set.
  The gallery will relocate to a six-acre spot in the city’s Carson Creek Ranch area sometime
  
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• Tears of happiness, joyful wagging of tails as Puerto Rican pets reunite with owners in Austin

  26-02-2018 04:32 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – There were tears of happiness as dozens of animals separated from their families during Hurricane Maria were reunited with their owners in Austin Sunday months after they had been left behind.
  The Austin Humane Society joined forces with Puerto Rico Animal Unite to make the reunion possible.
  Volunteers flew 30 cats and dogs from the island to Austin at no cost to the families.
  We spoke to one man who says the best part of getting their lab, “Mia,” back was going
  
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• DA seeks restrictions on suspect who threatened to ‘shoot and blow up’ Akins HS

  26-02-2018 03:41 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Travis county prosecutors Sunday said they are looking to add restrictions to a former Akins High Student who is out of jail on bond after threatening to “shoot and blow up” the school.
  District Attorney Margaret Moore said she “was appalled to learn” that 17-year-old Ariel Alex Ramirez-Navarro was out on bond without restrictions.
  He’s facing charges for making a terroristic threat.
  School leaders kicked him out of Akins High for missing too m
  
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• Akins High will have more officers on hand Monday as suspect remains out on bond

  26-02-2018 03:41 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Travis County prosecutors Sunday said they are looking to add restrictions to a former Akins High Student who is out of jail on bond after police say he threatened to “shoot and blow up” the school.
  District Attorney Margaret Moore said she “was appalled to learn” that 17-year-old Ariel Alex Ramirez-Navarro was out on a $15,000 bond without restrictions–which he posted within a day of being arrested. He’s charged with making a terroristic
  
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• Input wanted on how to make Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt more accessible, popular

  26-02-2018 02:07 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — At a meeting Sunday, citizens got to weigh in for the first time as the community officially begins an effort to make people aware of the Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt and to create a master plan for future improvements.
  The Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt, which covers 206 acres of mostly undeveloped land near the intersection of 51st Street and US 183 in east Austin, is the second largest park in the city of Austin, only smaller than Zilker Park.
  “It’s just incr
  
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• Community seeks to make east Austin greenbelt more accessible, more popular

  26-02-2018 02:07 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — At a meeting Sunday, citizens got to weigh in for the first time as the community officially begins an effort to make people aware of the Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt and to create a master plan for future improvements.
  Officials from City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, and Capital Metro were present Sunday, fielding questions from neighbors and Austinites about the s
  
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• Statue honoring eccentric Austin icon Leslie Cochran one step closer to reality

  26-02-2018 00:13 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A bench downtown could soon pay tribute to the beloved homeless, cross-dressing Austinite Leslie Cochran, who died in 2012.
  He was also a peace activist and was often seen wearing women’s clothing around town. His most famous outfit: A thong and high heels.
  Cochran’s life on the streets drove him to run for mayor three times … without any luck.
  Local filmmaker Spencer Nutting was so inspired by Cochran he decided to make a film about his life. And he is a
  
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• Statue honoring eccentric Austin icon Leslie Cochran a step closer to reality, still needs funding

  26-02-2018 00:13 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A bench downtown could soon pay tribute to the beloved homeless, cross-dressing Austinite Leslie Cochran, who died in 2012.
  He was an Austin fixture for more than two decades. For years, he patrolled the area of Congress Avenue and Sixth Street, often pushing an oversized cart containing his belongings and adorned with hand-crafted signs and slogans.
  He bounced around the country for several years before settling in Austin, where he became known simply as “L
  
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