Austin news

• Free COVID-19 vaccine clinics in Austin-Travis County now through Monday

  17-12-2021 23:24 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — More free COVID-19 vaccine clinics are planned in Austin-Travis County from Friday through Monday.
  Austin Public Health and Travis County are teaming up with local organizations to make it happen. Clinics are open to all eligible individuals, including kids who are of age, no appointment or registration needed. It’s been a year since COVID-19 vaccines began to be administeredRemember to bring your CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card if you're getting a second or thir
  
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• Warmest December on record interrupted by sleet, subfreezing wind chills

  17-12-2021 23:23 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — For an unheard of third time in a week, Camp Mabry's morning low temperature today only dropped to 71 degrees -- tying the all-time record for the warmest December low temperature in Austin history (records extend back to 1897). This will hold as long as Austin's temperature does not drop cooler than 71 before midnight tonight.Mainly cloudy skies, muggy weather, and a few light rain showers continue through the evening with temperatures hovering in the 70s. Allergy count: W
  
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• Alligators involved in reported dog attack in Del Valle to be relocated

  17-12-2021 22:22 via kxan.com
  
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is making plans to relocate alligators that reportedly attacked and killed a dog in a Del Valle neighborhood earlier this month.
  The attack took place Dec. 2 near Berdoll Farms Park, the Austin Fire Department told KXAN at the time. AFD said the area is a former alligator sanctuary, and TPWD said they live in the retention pond in the park.AFD: 3 alligators attack, kill dog in Del Valle neighborhoodAfter working with Del Val
  
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• LIVE: 2nd-highest year of past 5 for assaults, burglaries in West Campus

  17-12-2021 22:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Whenever UT Austin student Lily Thorpe walked back to her West Campus apartment at night, she always took multiple precautions. Armed with pepper spray in her purse, Thorpe would call or FaceTime a friend. She said taking those steps used to make her feel safe in West Campus."I never felt unsafe walking down [Rio Grande Street]," Thorpe said. "There were other streets that 100 percent, I would expect something like this to happen."Back in early August, Thorpe and a friend t
  
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• 2nd-highest year of past 5 for assaults, burglaries in West Campus

  17-12-2021 22:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Whenever UT Austin student Lily Thorpe walked back to her West Campus apartment at night, she always took multiple precautions. Armed with pepper spray in her purse, Thorpe would call or FaceTime a friend. She said taking those steps used to make her feel safe in West Campus."I never felt unsafe walking down [Rio Grande Street]," Thorpe said. "There were other streets that 100 percent, I would expect something like this to happen."Back in early August, Thorpe and a friend t
  
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• Red River Street bar closes temporarily amid spread of omicron variant

  17-12-2021 21:52 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — One downtown Austin club and venue is making the decision to close for more than a week amid the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19.
  Cheer Up Charlies off Red River Street made the announcement on its Instagram Thursday, saying it would close through Sunday, Dec. 26 "to protect our communities."
  The omicron variant was first detected in Travis County earlier this week. The variant was found in three people at the University of Texas at Austin. PAST STORY: Omicron var
  
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• From all-time December record warmth to a wintry mix this weekend

  17-12-2021 21:23 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — For an unheard of third time in a week, Camp Mabry's morning low temperature today only dropped to 71 degrees -- again tying the all-time record for the warmest December low temperature in Austin history. Records extend back to 1897. This will hold as long as Austin's temperature does not drop cooler than 71 before midnight tonight.Mainly cloudy skies and a few pockets of light rain/drizzle are likely through the day today. Afternoon highs will near current records as Austi
  
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• It's been a year since COVID-19 vaccines began to be administered

  17-12-2021 21:14 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A year ago this week trucks filled with the first authorized COVID-19 vaccines carefully traveled all over the country with hopes the shots would end the pandemic.One year later, the virus continues to spread, and 30% of adults have yet to get a single dose of the vaccine, according to the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project, a national group made up, in part, of health care leaders and scientists. Unvaccinated Austin residents can make up to $800 in new research
  
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• Here's what to expect if you're flying through AUS this holiday season

  17-12-2021 20:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you're traveling for the holiday season, Austin Bergstrom International Airport is recommending to arrive for your flight with a lot of time to spare.
  The airport says Christmas is not as busy for ABIA as Thanksgiving, but recommend travelers arrive two hours prior to their domestic flight departure and at least three hours prior to their international flight.TSA expects these 4 days to be the busiest travel dates of the holiday seasonABIA says that peak travel is expect
  
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• New Rodney Reed case appeal: Attorneys say prosecution had evidence of Stites relationship

  17-12-2021 19:47 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Less than two months after a district judge recommended death row inmate Rodney Reed should not get a new trial, Reed's attorneys filed another appeal. Reed has spent more than two decades behind bars, convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County.  Death row inmate Rodney Reed shouldn’t get new trial in death of Stacey Stites, Bastrop Co. judge saysOver a two-week evidentiary hearing this summer, his defense team brought new witnesses
  
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• 'Before it becomes a California sized problem': PEC reduces incentives for solar customers

  17-12-2021 18:39 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Despite heated public comment surrounding incentives for solar customers, Pedernales Electric Cooperative will nearly cut in half the amount of money paid back to customers who produce energy for the grid.Randy Kruger, chief financial officer for PEC, pointed to recent changes to the solar energy buyback system in California and said PEC is trying to get ahead of the issue before it "becomes a California sized problem."
  The issue, according to Kruger, is that through solar
  
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• TSA expects these 4 days to be the busiest travel dates of the holiday season

  17-12-2021 18:31 via kxan.com
  
  (NEXSTAR) — It’s the most wonderful time of the year, at least for those of us who aren’t stuck in line at a TSA checkpoint.With the holidays just around the corner, the Transportation Security Administration is expecting some of the busiest travel days of the season in the coming weeks. Specifically, the TSA anticipates Wednesday, Dec. 22, and Thursday, Dec. 23, to be the busiest pre-holiday dates for national and local travel, while Sunday, Jan. 2, and Monday, Jan. 3, are ant
  
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• Armadillo Christmas Bazaar returns to in-person event

  17-12-2021 18:28 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar is a holiday tradition for many, but last year the in-person event was canceled because of the pandemic."We really rely on these events," said David Bergeron who has sold his woodwork at the event in the past. "Events across the board took a major hit."Daryl Howard, known for her Japanese woodblock prints, says many shows she was getting ready for last year canceled as well. She has been selling her art at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar for ma
  
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• Why the shortest day of the year on the Winter Solstice does NOT line up with our earliest sunset

  17-12-2021 17:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — We all know that the Winter Solstice typically falls on December 21st, including this year, and it's the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight. In Austin, on that day we only receive roughly 10hrs and 11 minutes of daylight.With that said, our shortest day of the year is not when we experience our earliest sunset, nor is it when we experience our latest sunrise. If you look at the sunrise and sunset times for any city in the northern hemisphere around this time you
  
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• Sunset gets later before winter's shortest day: the time paradox explained

  17-12-2021 17:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — We all know that the Winter Solstice typically falls on December 21st, including this year, and it's the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight. In Austin, on that day we only receive roughly 10hrs and 11 minutes of daylight.With that said, our shortest day of the year is not when we experience our earliest sunset, nor is it when we experience our latest sunrise. If you look at the sunrise and sunset times for any city in the northern hemisphere around this time you
  
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• Texas high school football live blog: LBJ's nightmare start has Jags trailing Stephenville 24-7 at halftime

  17-12-2021 17:55 via kxan.com
  
  ARLINGTON, Texas (KXAN) — For the first time since 1973, an Austin Independent School District school is playing for a Texas football state championship Friday.The LBJ Jaguars can make school history with its first-ever state championship if they take down Stephenville at 11 a.m. inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington. A win would give the team a perfect 16-0 season. LBJ earns trip to the state championship game for the first time in school historyThe Jags outlasted Tyler Chapel Hill 38-35 i
  
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• Texas high school football live blog: LBJ needs some late-game magic, trails Stephenville 31-14 after 3rd quarter

  17-12-2021 17:55 via kxan.com
  
  ARLINGTON, Texas (KXAN) — For the first time since 1973, an Austin Independent School District school is playing for a Texas football state championship Friday.The LBJ Jaguars can make school history with its first-ever state championship if they take down Stephenville at 11 a.m. inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington. A win would give the team a perfect 16-0 season. LBJ earns trip to the state championship game for the first time in school historyThe Jags outlasted Tyler Chapel Hill 38-35 i
  
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• Texas high school football live blog: LBJ loses 4 fumbles, trails Stephenville 17-0 after 1st quarter

  17-12-2021 17:55 via kxan.com
  
  ARLINGTON, Texas (KXAN) — For the first time since 1973, an Austin Independent School District school is playing for a Texas football state championship Friday.The LBJ Jaguars can make school history with its first-ever state championship if they take down Stephenville at 11 a.m. inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington. A win would give the team a perfect 16-0 season. LBJ earns trip to the state championship game for the first time in school historyThe Jags outlasted Tyler Chapel Hill 38-35 i
  
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• Texas high school football live blog: LBJ aims for 1st state title against Stephenville

  17-12-2021 17:55 via kxan.com
  
  ARLINGTON, Texas (KXAN) — For the first time since 1973, an Austin Independent School District school is playing for a Texas football state championship Friday.The LBJ Jaguars can make school history with its first-ever state championship if they take down Stephenville at 11 a.m. inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington. A win would give the team a perfect 16-0 season. LBJ earns trip to the state championship game for the first time in school historyThe Jags outlasted Tyler Chapel Hill 38-35 i
  
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• Texas high school football: LBJ's dream season ends in 4A DI title game loss, 38-21 to Stephenville

  17-12-2021 17:55 via kxan.com
  
  ARLINGTON, Texas (KXAN) — Fumbles on the first four possessions put the LBJ Jaguars behind early and they just couldn't recover in a 38-21 loss to Stephenville in the Class 4A Division 1 football championship game at AT&T Stadium.Call it nerves or a hard-hitting Yellowjackets defense, but the Jaguars couldn't secure the football at all in the first quarter and lost all four of their fumbles to give Stephenville a short field basically the entire opening frame. Stephenville capitalized
  
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• COVID-19 test site opens at Lakeline Mall, other options available

  17-12-2021 16:26 via kxan.com
  
  CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — Anew site that opened this week in Cedar Park will help people get tested for COVID-19 before they travel to their holiday destination.
  Curative announced Lakeline Mall, located at 11200 Lakeline Mall Drive, is now serving as the company's latest location where people can go and receive a PCR nasal swab test. The site is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Patients should have no out-of-pocket costs to get tested, Curative noted.
  People can register
  
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• Austin home sales cool off in November; record year still in sight for market

  17-12-2021 16:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Despite the area's housing market record pace, home sales in Austin-Round Rock dropped in November, the Austin Board of Realtors said in its monthly report Thursday.The ABoR said sales in November dropped nearly 5% from October, but the market is still ahead of where it was at this time last year by more than 3%.Housing stats for November 2021 from the Austin Board of RealtorsView the entire Central Texas Housing Report hereDownloadAnother interesting finding in the report
  
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• What's behind a pattern of homelessness among Texas State University students?

  17-12-2021 14:27 via kxan.com
  
  SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — As Texas State University students head into winter break, dozens still don't have the home they signed up for.The View on the Square, a new student apartment complex under construction, promised a move-in date for their "current lease term" before classes started in August. A spokesperson tells KXAN News their first advertised move-in date was in August of 2019.PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 35 prospective tenants sue over unfinished student housing complex in San MarcosBut
  
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• Austin's top-10 requests to 311 reshaped by disasters, COVID-19

  17-12-2021 14:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Trends in requests to Austin 311, the city's hub for services, have risen and fallen in new ways over the past two years. While some types of requests have ballooned, others have deflated in tandem with the changing needs of a city enduring crises like COVID-19 and February’s winter storm.When the pandemic hit, Austin saw a downshift in requests for traffic signal maintenance, as fewer people took to the road. KXAN obtained the 311 information through the city’s
  
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• LIVE: Heavy rain, subfreezing wind chills this weekend

  17-12-2021 03:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Today marks the last day of this week's near-record warmth... and in her typical savage fashion, Mother Nature will give us a brutal reminder this weekend that "yes, it is December".Mainly cloudy skies and a few pockets of light rain/drizzle are likely through the day today. Afternoon highs will near current records as Austin approaches 80 degrees (record: 82 degrees, last set in 1990). Allergy count: Wind causes cedar pollen to spikeIN-DEPTH: Data from Bob Rose/LCRA is sho
  
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• Heavy rain, subfreezing wind chills this weekend

  17-12-2021 03:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Today marks the last day of this week's near-record warmth... and in her typical savage fashion, Mother Nature will give us a brutal reminder that "yes, it is December".Mainly cloudy skies and a few pockets of light rain/drizzle are likely through the day. Allergy count: Wind causes cedar pollen to spikeData from Bob Rose/LCRA is showing that Austin is currently in the midst of its warmest first half of December on record, with temperatures day and night running an unbeliev
  
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• Confederate monument removed from outside Caldwell County courthouse

  17-12-2021 03:32 via kxan.com
  
  LOCKHART, Texas (KXAN) —A Confederate monument that stood near the Caldwell County courthouse for nearly a century was relocated to the county museum after locals raised $29,600 to cover removal costs, according to the county judge.BACKGROUND: Advocates raise enough money to relocate controversial Confederate monument in Caldwell CountyCaldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden said the granite obelisk, dedicated to Civil War soldiers in 1923, was moved "to the lawn of the county museum a block and
  
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• Snow on Christmas Day in Austin? It's happened before

  17-12-2021 03:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — With such warm weather so far this December, it may be hard to think about the possibility of snow on Christmas Day in Austin. Record-breaking December heat could have a huge impact on local wildlifeSnow measured on Christmas DayBack on Dec. 25, 1939 a trace of snowfall was measured in Austin. That is the only day a trace or more of snow has been reported as falling in Austin on Christmas Day since snowfall measurements began in 1898.On that Christmas Day in 1939, it was ha
  
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• UT Austin tracks uptick in COVID-19 cases at the start of winter break

  17-12-2021 02:16 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Winter break officially started for many University of Texas students with the closing of residence halls, but the campus is tracking an uptick in COVID-19 cases.
  As of Wednesday, there were 137 active cases on campus, with 48 new cases just reported on that day. KXAN spoke with Dell Medical School's Chief Clinical Officer Amy Young about how those new cases were identified.Omicron variant cases in Travis County found at UT Austin"This disease now really reflects what we're
  
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• Omicron could lead to 'largest healthcare surge to date,' UT modelers project

  17-12-2021 01:03 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — "Omicron could lead to the largest healthcare surge to date, unless measures are taken to slow spread."That's the new warning from the UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. In a report published Thursday, the researchers simulated the spread of the variant in the U.S. in a range of scenarios."Many of omicron's epidemiological characteristics remain uncertain, including its intrinsic transmissibility, ability to evade vaccine-acquired and infection-acquired immunity, and severity
  
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• PUC moves forward with plans to change how Texas' electric market functions

  17-12-2021 00:59 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) — On Thursday, the Public Utilities Commission voted to move forward with more changes to improve the reliability of Texas' power grid.
  While much of the focus in recent months has been around weatherization requirements to make sure our infrastructure would be ready ahead of this winter, Thursday's decision impacts how the electric market operates.
  Ahead of the public meeting, protesters gathered at the Capitol before marching a petition with more than 3,500 signatures to
  
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• Hays County students use $27K grant to create adaptive toys for students with special needs, disabilities

  17-12-2021 00:40 via kxan.com
  
  HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A nearly $30,000 grant that has been sitting dormant for two years is now being put to use.
  Two years ago, Brooke Borreson, who is a teacher at Ralph Pfluger Elementary School in Buda, was granted $27,000 dollars in 2019 from Voya Financial, a retirement, investment and insurance company.
  The teacher was granted the money to create adaptive toys for students with special needs and disabilities.Due to COVID-19, the project and money were set aside. Now the team i
  
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• Liberty Hill neighbors push for change on Hwy. 29 after 5 crashes, 2 deadly in one week

  17-12-2021 00:30 via kxan.com
  
  LIBERTY HILL, TEXAS (KXAN) — There are growing traffic concerns in Liberty Hill off of Highway 29 after a series of car accidents have happened in the last month.
  Along a strip of Highway 29 are a series of new neighborhood developments that have popped up over the past few years.
  KXAN gathered the most recent traffic accidents from the Liberty Hill Police Department and there have been five traffic incidents along the 10000 block and 12000 block of Highway 29 since Dec. 6. Two of which we
  
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• Court blocks vaccine mandate for employees of Medicaid, Medicare providers in Texas

  17-12-2021 00:10 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A federal court in Texas granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday, blocking the Biden administration from enforcing vaccine mandates for employees of Medicaid and Medicare providers and suppliers in Texas.
  The order was signed by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk and stands "pending a trial on the merits of this action or until further order of this Court."“This is a win for liberty. The federal government does not have the ability to make health de
  
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