Austin news

• Florida woman accused of shooting, killing boyfriend’s dog

  28-02-2018 23:50 via kxan.com
  TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. (WFLA) – Police say a Tarpon Springs, Florida woman shot and killed her fiance’s dog while they were arguing early Friday morning.
  Online records show Giselle Taylor, 21, was booked around 6:45 a.m. Friday for aggravated cruelty to animals.
  According to an affidavit, Taylor got into a verbal argument with her live-in boyfriend because he would not crack her back. To scare her fiance, police said Taylor walked into their garage, grabbed a loaded pistol, returned t
  
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• Police thwart woman’s alleged elementary school ax attack

  28-02-2018 23:41 via kxan.com
  LAS VEGAS (WFLA) — A Nevada woman is facing charges after police say she tried to bring an ax to an elementary school and threatened to kill people.
  The incident happened just before noon on Tuesday at Williams Elementary in North Las Vegas.
  Police say 33-year-old Kisstal Killough climbed the school’s chain link fence with an ax in her hand and screamed that she was going to murder everyone.
  The local NBC affiliate reports there were 200 kids on the playground when the incident
  
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• Westwood High adds new security measures following Florida shooting

  28-02-2018 23:39 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tracy Armstrong’s twins will be seniors at Westwood High next year — she counts on the school to keep them safe, but she has some concerns.
  “How do you realistically provide a secure environment that these kids need?” asked Armstrong. Similar questions from parents have prompted the school to put on a security forum.
  “To share with our community what procedures we already have in place, some things we’ve learned over the last two weeks th
  
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• Dozens of UT students displaced after water gushes through apartment building

  28-02-2018 23:32 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dozens of college students at a West Campus apartment complex were forced out of their units after water started gushing through the building Tuesday night.
  A spokesperson for the 26West Apartments located at 600 West 26th St. says an 8-inch main water pipe burst around 8 p.m. The leak caused flooding to 18 units, displacing 44 residents.
  Video posted on social media shows the water gushing out of a second-story apartment unit.
  The management team worked with affected resid
  
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• Local Cub Scout packs will begin accepting girls into the program

  28-02-2018 23:14 via kxan.com
  KYLE, Texas (KXAN) – The Cub Scouts are in the process of expanding their programs, and one way the organization is doing that is by accepting girls as members.
  Cub Scouts have always been an organization just for boys, but beginning this year local and national packs are welcoming girls. Pack 105 in Kyle says it has already been approved by its council to accept girls.
  “They will intermingle if you have a co-ed pack. When you have a pack meeting everybody is together, boys and girls
  
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• White House Communications Director Hope Hicks resigning

  28-02-2018 22:48 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — White House communications director Hope Hicks, one of the President Donald Trump’s most trusted and longest-serving aides, abruptly announced her resignation Wednesday, leaving a void around a president who values loyalty and affirmation.
  The departure of Hicks, who worked as a one-woman communications shop during his campaign, came as a surprise to most in the White House — and cast a pall over the West Wing at a trying time for the president. It leaves Trum
  
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• AP source: WH Communications Director Hope Hicks resigning

  28-02-2018 22:48 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s most loyal aides, is resigning.
  That’s according to a White House official briefed on her plans but not authorized to discuss them publicly.
  The news comes a day after Hicks was interviewed for nine hours by the panel investigating Russia interference in the 2016 election and contact between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
  She acknowledged to a House intelligence panel that she
  
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• Two Round Rock charter school students arrested on terroristic threat charges

  28-02-2018 22:34 via kxan.com
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Two juveniles were arrested on charges of making terroristic threats involving the Meridian World School, Round Rock police said.
  The school, which describes itself as a public, tuition-free charter school offering the International Baccalaureate program, became aware of two students having an “inappropriate” discussion about firearms on social media, Meridian said in a statement Wednesday.
  While the school says there was not a specific threat, offici
  
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• Engineers testing ceiling strength of Cambria Cavern

  28-02-2018 21:44 via kxan.com
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Engineers are boring holes into a cave that opened up in a neighborhood west of Round Rock in an effort to determine the strength of the ceiling, but had to halt because of a leak in the equipment.
  Surveyors were also out at the site near Ephraim Road and Cambria Drive in the Brushy Creek neighborhood, working to georeference the underground cave map to locations above ground. That will help them determine what needs repairs.
  Crews have completed three of
  
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• CTRMA approves new contractor for toll bills, collections process

  28-02-2018 20:45 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority board voted on Wednesday to replace its current collections contract with a more affordable option that will require the new contractor to formally track customer service call wait and handle times.
  CTRMA’s current contract that allows Municipal Services Bureau to handle payment and customer service for toll roads, like U.S. 290 and 183A, ended in January but was renewed for an additional nine months in order to transition
  
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• Speeding driver fleeing Houston police dies after crash, explosion

  28-02-2018 19:52 via kxan.com
  HOUSTON (AP/KXAN) — The driver of a speeding car being chased by Houston police has been killed after his car caught fire, hit a highway wall, flew over a bridge, crashed into a bayou and then exploded.
  Police say the driver, who may have been intoxicated, sped through traffic signals and stop signs and ran other cars off the road during the 8-mile long chase Tuesday night.
  After the crash, police went into the bayou to try to rescue the driver but the car blew up.
  Family members told
  
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• Bus driver fired after video appears to show him lighting crack pipe

  28-02-2018 19:43 via kxan.com
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Video of a bus driver for AGE of Central Texas lighting up what appears to be a crack pipe is under review by police.
  A KXAN viewer recorded the video of the bus driver as he was waiting at a stop light at US 79 and Mays Street in Round Rock. In the video, you can see the bus driver holding the pipe and using a lighter to light it.
  As the person records the driver, the driver actually notices and makes eye contact with the camera as the light changes and the bus
  
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• Pizza Hut replaces Papa John’s as NFL’s pizza sponsor

  28-02-2018 19:42 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — So long Papa John’s, hello Pizza Hut.
  The NFL announced a multiyear marketing deal with Pizza Hut on Wednesday, one day after the league and Papa John’s said that they mutually agreed to cut ties. The league’s relationship with Papa John’s frayed last year when the pizza maker’s founder John Schnatter criticized NFL leadership over national anthem protests by players.
  The Louisville, Kentucky-based Papa John’s says it will remain in footb
  
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• Electric car foils would-be-thief’s plan to steal it

  28-02-2018 19:39 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man who allegedly tried to steal a driver’s car while he was at a stop sign was unable to drive away because he didn’t know how to work the electric vehicle.
  An officer showed up to the scene on Tom Kemp Drive and Gynerium Drive, just north of State Highway 45, around 11:10 a.m. Feb. 24 to find a man in the grass with “blood and scratches on this forehead,” according to an affidavit.
  The victim told the officer he was stopped when a man, later iden
  
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• Allstate releases list of Texas counties with the most hail, wind claims

  28-02-2018 18:05 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As severe spring weather approaches, Allstate is releasing its list of “stormiest” Texas counties of the last 10 years.
  It’s probably no surprise that the two counties that top the list are in North Texas. Allstate says wind and hail storms affected more Allstate insured homes in Collin County than any other part of the state over the past 10 years, followed by Denton County.
  In Central Texas, Bell County saw the eighth highest number of hail and wind clai
  
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• CUTE: River otter in Montana zoo gives birth to surprise pups

  28-02-2018 17:48 via kxan.com
  BILLINGS, Mont. (KXAN) — Tiny, furry otter pups were quite the surprise for a zoo in Montana. Staff there didn’t even realize one of the facility’s river otters was pregnant.
  She unexpectedly gave birth earlier this month to a litter of four, but unfortunately rejected them. So zoo staff stepped in to give them round-the-clock care, feeding them with syringes filled with food.
  Every day their chances for survival improve, a zoo spokesperson said.
   
  
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• Some return to Dallas homes after leaks led to evacuations

  28-02-2018 16:37 via kxan.com
  DALLAS (AP) — Gas is being restored to a few dozen homes in Dallas as hundreds of others are complying with an evacuation order following a house explosion last week that killed a 12-year-old girl.
  Atmos Energy was notifying some residents Tuesday in north Dallas that gas service had been restored and they were safe to return to their homes.
  The deadly explosion Friday that knocked a home off its foundation led to the evacuation of an elementary school and nearby homes.
  People were allowed
  
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• PHOTOS: Students return to their Florida school two weeks after shooting

  28-02-2018 16:21 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (KXAN) — Although some visited their school last week, Wednesday was the first day of classes back at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It had been two weeks since a former student opened fire there, killing 17 people including both teachers and students.
  Dozens of police officers were on campus to provide extra security, while members of the community gathered with signs to show their support for the teens as they headed back to class. The actual bu
  
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• Popular Alaska peak weighs new rules for climbers’ poop

  28-02-2018 16:01 via kxan.com
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Climbers on North America’s tallest mountain may have to start packing out more of their poop after a researcher determined a glacier in which much of it has been dumped over the past decade probably is not decomposing the human waste.
  Michael Loso, a glacier geologist, calculates that 36,000 climbers between 1951 and 2012 deposited 152,000 to 215,000 pounds (69 to 97 metric tons) of feces onto Kahiltna Glacier, part of the most popular route to Denali’
  
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• Agency rethinks how climbers dispose of poop on Alaska peak

  28-02-2018 16:01 via kxan.com
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Climbers on North America’s tallest mountain may have to start packing out more of their poop after a researcher determined a glacier in which much of it has been dumped over the past decade probably is not decomposing the human waste.
  Michael Loso, a glacier geologist, calculates that 36,000 climbers between 1951 and 2012 deposited 152,000 to 215,000 pounds (69 to 97 metric tons) of feces onto Kahiltna Glacier, part of the most popular route to Denali’
  
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• WATCH: Billy Graham will lie in honor Wednesday at US Capitol

  28-02-2018 15:38 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Rev. Billy Graham will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol in one of the nation’s highest distinctions.
  Graham’s body will arrive at the Capitol on Wednesday morning, and his family will attend a private ceremony with members of Congress. The public will be invited into the Capitol Rotunda from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. He will lie in honor in the Rotunda for one day.
  Graham, known as “America’s Pastor,” will be the first private citizen to receive
  
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• Billy Graham will lie in honor Wednesday at US Capitol

  28-02-2018 15:38 via kxan.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Rev. Billy Graham will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol in one of the nation’s highest distinctions.
  Graham’s body will arrive at the Capitol on Wednesday morning, and his family will attend a private ceremony with members of Congress. The public will be invited into the Capitol Rotunda from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. He will lie in honor in the Rotunda for one day.
  Graham, known as “America’s Pastor,” will be the first private citizen to receive t
  
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• Hugs, tears and police: High school reopens after shooting

  28-02-2018 15:13 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Students and teachers hugged and cried Wednesday as they returned under heavy police guard to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High for the first time since a teenager with an assault rifle killed 17 people and thrust the huge Florida school into the center of a renewed national gun debate.
  The half-day began with fourth period so that the nearly 3,300 students could first be with the people they were with during the shooting two weeks ago.
  “In the beginning, everyone w
  
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• Florida students return to ‘picture of education in fear’

  28-02-2018 15:13 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Students and teachers passed through tight security cordons of dozens of officers as classes resumed Wednesday for the first time since a troubled teenager with an AR-15 killed 17 people, thrusting them into the center of the nation’s gun debate.
  The armed police, designed to make Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School feel secure, were accompanied by comfort animals including a donkey and horses. One of the horses had “eagle pride” painted on its side
  
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• Florida high school gingerly resumes classes after shooting

  28-02-2018 15:13 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Students and teachers hugged and cried Wednesday as they returned under heavy police guard to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since a teenager with an assault rifle killed 17 people and thrust the huge Florida school into the center of a renewed national gun debate.
  The half-day schedule began with fourth period so that the nearly 3,300 students could first be with the people they were with during the shooting.
  “In the beginning, everyone
  
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• Teen has critical injuries after being hit by car in southeast Austin

  28-02-2018 14:29 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A teen was hit by a car in southeast Austin and rushed to the hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.
  The crash happened at 6:36 a.m. on the 700 block of East Slaughter Lane. The boy was taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center.
  The driver stayed on the scene and all westbound lanes of Slaughter Lane are blocked as Austin police investigate. Traffic is being rerouted south onto Brandt Road. All but the right-most eastbo
  
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• Boy has critical injuries after being hit by car in southeast Austin

  28-02-2018 14:29 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A boy was hit by a car in southeast Austin and rushed to the hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.
  The crash happened at 6:36 a.m. on the 800 block of East Slaughter Lane. The boy was taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center and was in surgery.
  Austin police say the child and his family were crossing at the intersection when the car hit the boy. Officer Demitro Hobbs said there are no lights at the intersection.
  &ldqu
  
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• Dick’s ends sales of assault-style rifles in stores

  28-02-2018 14:22 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Dick’s Sporting Goods will immediately halt sales of assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines at all of its stores and ban the sale of all guns to anyone under 21.
  The announcement Wednesday comes as students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, return to class for the first time since a troubled teenager killed 17 students and educators two weeks ago with an AR-15.
  “When we saw what the kids were going through and the grief of t
  
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• Dick’s cuts off sales of assault-style rifles in stores

  28-02-2018 14:22 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Dick’s Sporting Goods will immediately end sales of assault-style rifles and high capacity magazines at all of its stores and ban the sale of all guns to anyone under 21 years old.
  The announcement Wednesday comes two weeks after the school massacre in Parkland, Florida.
  “When we saw what the kids were going through and the grief of the parents and the kids who were killed in Parkland, we felt we needed to do something,” Chairman and CEO Edward Stack said
  
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• Defying the NRA, Dick’s takes a harder line against guns

  28-02-2018 14:22 via kxan.com
  NEW YORK (AP) — Dick’s Sporting Goods will immediately stop selling assault-style rifles and ban the sale of all guns to anyone under 21, the company said Wednesday, as its CEO took on the National Rifle Association by demanding tougher gun laws after the massacre in Florida.
  The strongly worded announcement from the nationwide store chain came as students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, returned to class for the first time since a teenager killed 17 stu
  
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• The Latest: Superintendent says most students returned

  28-02-2018 13:43 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the return of students and teachers to classes following the killings of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School(all times local):
  1:20 p.m.
  Broward County Schools superintendent Robert Runcie said about 95 percent of the student body of 3,293 has returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, two weeks after a mass shooting killed 17 people.
  He called Wednesday’s attendance “outstanding.” Runcie added that there were about
  
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• The Latest: Students leave after 1st back at school

  28-02-2018 13:43 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the return of students and teachers to classes following the killings of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School(all times local):
  12 p.m.
  Students who returned to school two weeks after 17 people were killed at their Florida school are leaving the campus after a half day.
  The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students were greeted Wednesday morning by police officers carrying military style rifles and an array of counselors and therapy dogs
  
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• The Latest: Sports store will no longer sell assault rifles

  28-02-2018 13:43 via kxan.com
  PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the return of students and teachers to classes following the killings of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School(all times local):
  8:30 a.m.
  Dick’s Sporting Goods will immediately end sales of assault-style rifles in its stores and won’t sell guns to anyone under 21 years old following the school massacre in Parkland, Florida.
  Dick’s Chairman and CEO Edward Stack said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednes
  
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• UT grad student’s struggle leads to public advocacy for eating disorder awareness

  28-02-2018 13:25 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Not long ago, Niki DuBois came across a journal she kept as a child for a school assignment.
  One line she had written all those years ago stuck out to her: “My least favorite part about me was my body. And reading that was so heartbreaking to think of a 7-year-old little girl writing that in a school journal.”
  DuBois, now a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, continued to struggle with body image through her adolescence.
  “I started
  
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• UT grad student spreads awareness of eating disorders after battling it herself

  28-02-2018 13:25 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Not long ago, Niki DuBois came across a journal she kept as a child for a school assignment.
  One line she had written all those years ago stuck out to her: “My least favorite part about me was my body. And reading that was so heartbreaking to think of a 7-year-old little girl writing that in a school journal.”
  DuBois, now a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, continued to struggle with body image through her adolescence.
  “I started
  
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• Car wedged underneath semi on I-35 in north Austin after collision

  28-02-2018 12:42 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A car became lodged under an 18-wheeler on Interstate 35 in north Austin Wednesday morning after a collision.
  It happened at 5:18 a.m. on southbound I-35 between East Braker Lane and the West Yager Lane/Tech Ridge Boulevard exit.
  One person was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Austin-Travis County EMS said. The right lane of southbound I-35 was closed near the wreck while it was cleared, and has since reopened.
  Southbound I-35 traffic backed up
  
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• School kids rule: Digital designs are 2020 Olympic mascots

  28-02-2018 12:22 via kxan.com
  TOKYO (AP) — The schoolchildren have had their say: A pair of futuristic digital characters will be the mascots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
  Organizers unveiled the winning designs at a school in Tokyo on Wednesday.
  A total of 205,755 classes at 16,769 elementary schools took part in selecting three short-listed designs, with their classes casting a single vote.
  The winning pair, clad in the ‘ichimatsu” checkered pattern of the Games’ official logo, receiv
  
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• Truck crashes into northwest Austin home, critically injuring driver

  28-02-2018 05:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A pickup truck driver crashed into a home in northwest Austin Tuesday night, critically injuring a man in his 40s.
  Austin-Travis County EMS medics were called to the 5200 block of Wind River Road — near US 183 and Braker Lane — at 9:52 p.m.
  The man was initially trapped inside the truck, but was rescued and taken to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
  Austin firefighters are assessing the integrity of the structure after t
  
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• Truck crashes into northwest Austin building, critically injuring driver

  28-02-2018 05:48 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A pickup truck driver crashed into a building in northwest Austin Tuesday night, critically injuring a man in his 40s.
  Austin-Travis County EMS medics were called to the 5200 block of Wind River Road — near US 183 and Braker Lane — at 9:52 p.m.
  The man was initially trapped inside the truck, but was rescued and taken to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
  Austin firefighters are assessing the integrity of the structure aft
  
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• Which Central Texas schools have SROs and which ones have marshals

  28-02-2018 05:39 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – In the wake of school shootings across the country, including the most recent tragedy in Parkland, Florida, districts across the nation are working to increase safety and security measures on school campuses — and the idea of arming school employees is gaining a lot of attention from the White House.
  In expressing his support for arming teachers, during a meeting with governors Monday, President Donald Trump called on Gov. Greg Abbott, to talk about the state’s
  
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• Arming teachers and staff gets Trump’s attention, opposition from Democrats

  28-02-2018 05:39 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – In the wake of school shootings across the country, including the most recent tragedy in Parkland, Florida, districts across the nation are working to increase safety and security measures on school campuses — and the idea of arming school employees is gaining a lot of attention from the White House.
  In expressing his support for arming teachers, during a meeting with governors Monday, President Donald Trump called on Gov. Greg Abbott, to talk about the state’s
  
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• Photographer spots rare yellow cardinal

  28-02-2018 05:15 via kxan.com
  ALABASTER, AL (WIAT) — A rare bird has been spotted in Alabama.
  Chances are you’ve seen the typical red cardinal before, but what about a yellow cardinal?
  A wildlife photographer lucked out and captured a beautiful image of the unexpected.
  Charlie Stephenson lives in a quaint neighborhood near the new Thompson High School and Alabaster Intermediate School.
  Stephenson spotted the yellow feathered cardinal in her backyard. She reached out to Auburn University biologist Geoffrey Hi
  
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• Finding an MLS stadium site in Austin could get a little harder

  28-02-2018 04:59 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Parks and Recreation Department board passed a resolution Tuesday night recommending Austin City Council members remove east Austin’s Roy G. Guerrero Park from the list of possible sites for a Major League Soccer stadium.
  The move makes finding a spot for the stadium a little more challenging for Precourt Sports Ventures, which hoped to bring the Columbus, Ohio-based Columbus Crew team to a stadium in the “urban core” of Austin, ideally on the s
  
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• UT mental health programs getting a major funding boost

  28-02-2018 04:27 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — With a bigger focus on mental illness following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, we’re seeing more schools invest in mental health services here in Texas.
  Tuesday, the UT System Board of Regents announced they’ll set aside more than $7 million to improve mental health programs. The board told KXAN in a news release this is “part of The University of Texas System’s continued commitment to support student
  
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• City shares plan to protect homes at risk of flooding in northwest Austin

  28-02-2018 04:13 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — At a community meeting Tuesday night, the city of Austin presented their plan to improve flood control for the Oak Knoll neighborhood in northwest Austin.
  Austin’s Watershed Protection Department said that 18 buildings in the area are at risk of flooding and of most of those are homes. They believe the problem is that the drainage pipes created in the 1970s in the neighborhood are not up to current standards.
  “What this project is going to bring are pipes, inlet
  
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• Warriors tour African-American History museum instead of White House

  28-02-2018 03:00 via kxan.com
  SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The Golden State Warriors are touring the National Museum of African American History Tuesday instead of visiting the White House.
  The traditional champions’ invitation was never granted from President Donald Trump — and it appeared the Warriors might have declined it, anyway — so they planned to spend their day in the city with local children Tuesday.
  The Warriors and students from Kevin Durant’s hometown of Seat Pleasant, Maryland, will tour
  
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• Judge who set Akins High suspect’s original bond defends her decision

  28-02-2018 02:34 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The municipal court judge who set the original $15,000 bond with no restrictions for the ex-Akins High School student accused of threatening to blow and shoot up the school is defending her decision.
  When the case was presented to Judge Celeste Villarreal Thursday night by the arresting officer, she decided to set his bond at $15,000, which she says is “fairly high” since Ariel Ramirez-Navarro, 17, is a first-time offender with no criminal history and had no his
  
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• Texas lawmakers, judges, attorneys owe $1.3 million in unpaid ethics fines

  28-02-2018 02:00 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Texas Ethics Commission is now complying with a state law that requires the agency to tell prosecutors when someone fails to file campaign finance records. Our analysis of years worth of candidate filings shows the commission can't provide records to show it's held hundreds of candidates accountable.
  That's helped to contribute to nearly $2 million in unpaid ethics fines, owed by current and former candidates, as well as, dozens of lobbyists.
  In Texas, lawmakers and lobbyist
  
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• SH 71 reopens after crash sends four to the hospital

  28-02-2018 01:03 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three vehicles were involved in a crash that trapped two people on State Highway 71 near Burleson Road, shutting down all of the westbound lanes and most eastbound traffic for hours.
  Medics with Austin-Travis County EMS were called to the 2300 block of the highway around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. ATCEMS says there are four total patients. A man in his 50s was taken to the hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries.
  A second patient in his 20s was taken to the hospital with
  
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• LIVE: Crash shuts down most of SH 71 east of Interstate 35

  28-02-2018 01:03 via kxan.com
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three vehicles are possibly involved in a crash that trapped two people on State Highway 71 near Burleson Road, shutting down all of the westbound lanes and most of eastbound traffic.
  Medics with Austin-Travis County EMS were called to the 2300 block of the highway around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. ATCEMS says there are four total patients. A man in his 50s was taken to the hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries.
  A second patient in his 20s was taken to the hospital wit
  
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