Austin news

• Former Austin mayor Bruce Todd dies at 72

  25-12-2021 22:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Former Austin mayor Bruce Todd died Christmas Day from complications of Lewy Body disease, according to a family spokesperson. He was 72 years old.Todd was a public servant in the Austin-Travis County area for much of his early career. From 1987 to 1991, Todd served on the Travis County Commissioners Court before throwing his hat in the ring for mayor of Austin and winning.
  As mayor for much of the 90's, Todd oversaw hot button issues like the airport relocation, early grow
  
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• Temperatures soaring into the 80s in some areas

  25-12-2021 22:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Santa needed a costume change as he flew through Texas overnight. Lows Christmas morning were warmer than our average afternoon highs this time of year.Highs in the lower 80s to near 90° in the Hill Country will be nearly 20+ degrees warmer than average for today. A forecast high of 82° in Austin will be the second-warmest Christmas on record.
  Put the coats and sweaters you got away for now, because this warmer than normal weather will only continue as we wrap up 20
  
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• Fifth warmest Christmas Day on record

  25-12-2021 22:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — High temperatures of 79° on Christmas Day at Camp Mabry made it Austin's fifth-warmest Christmas in 124 years of record. Both Dallas-Ft. Worth and Waco had their warmest Christmas Day on record with high temperatures reaching 82°.This stagnant weather pattern of near-record warmth, morning clouds and afternoon sun continues for the next several days.A pattern change takes place midweek as the high pressure system keeping us warm and dry departs to the east, opening
  
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• Central Texas family serves up BBQ to anyone needing a plate on Christmas

  25-12-2021 21:07 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A family in Austin spent its Christmas serving up home-cooked barbeque to anyone who needed a plate.
  Charles White, his son, and other members of the family's church were out Saturday giving away plates of sausage, ribs, potato salad — if it's associated with barbeque, it was being served. White said he's been cooking for more than 40 years. We can vouch, the man has barbeque on lock.'Have a Merry Christmas because this is not going to stop us': Austin church vandaliz
  
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• Think you have allergies? So do many people testing positive for COVID-19 in Central Texas

  25-12-2021 19:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin-Travis County health leaders say many of the people testing positive for COVID-19 right now thought they only had allergies.
  Janet Pichette, APH's chief epidemiologist, said local contact tracers are hearing from an overwhelming number of people that tested positive for COVID-19 before the holidays that they thought they were experiencing cedar fever or other seasonal allergies.
  Cedar counts have been very high in Austin-Travis County over the past few days.
  Without
  
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• Economy lot at ABIA full during busy holiday travel season

  25-12-2021 19:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As of Christmas morning, ABIA is reporting its economy parking lot and Blue Garage are full. According to AAA, holiday travel by air and by car was expected to rebound to near pre-pandemic levels this year.
  The automobile group predicted just under 350,000 people would be traveling in the area around Texas, a 177% jump from 2020.Austin airport reminds passengers how to properly pack, travel with firearmsABIA says the Red Garage still has spots for $27 a day. You can find or rese
  
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• Sweet repeat: Brothers regift same Christmas candy for decades

  25-12-2021 19:03 via kxan.com
  
  MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Two New Hampshire brothers have gotten their holiday regifting skills down to an art — they've been passing the same hard candy back and forth for more than 30 years.It started in 1987, when Ryan Wasson gave a 10-roll Frankford “Santa's Candy Book" with assorted fruit flavors to his brother, Eric Wasson, as a joke for Christmas, knowing that Eric wouldn't like it.“I didn't eat them," Eric Wasson told WMUR-TV. “And so the next year I
  
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• What's the deal with Biden's COVID-19 at home test giveaway?

  25-12-2021 18:23 via kxan.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the federal government will buy half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and distribute them free of charge to people to use at home.
  The administration is still working on details for how the program will work, but here's what we know right now.
  Does the government have the tests?
  Not yet. As of this week, the departments of Defense and Health and Human Services were “executing on what's called an ‘accelerated emergency contract,'" Whi
  
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• Flight cancellations snarl holiday plans for thousands

  25-12-2021 17:53 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Airlines continued to cancelhundreds of flights Saturday because of staffing issues tied toCOVID-19, disrupting holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
  FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted nearly 1,000 canceled flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. Saturday, up from 690 flights scrapped on Friday. Over 250 more flights were already canceled for Sunday. FlightAware does not say why flights are canceled.
  Delta, United and JetBl
  
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• Flight cancellations drag on as airlines short-staffed

  25-12-2021 17:53 via kxan.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights Saturday as staffing issues tied to COVID-19 disrupted holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
  FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted 888 flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. canceled Saturday, up from 690 Friday. About 200 more flights were already canceled for Sunday.
  Delta, United and JetBlue on Friday had all said the omicron variant was causing staffing problems leading to
  
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• "Have a Merry Christmas because this is not going to stop us": Austin church vandalized

  25-12-2021 17:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A business administrator showed up to Our Savior Lutheran Church in north Austin on Christmas Eve and found the church had been vandalized, according to the church's pastor.Windows, some at the entrance of the building and some stained glass surrounding the church, were broken. The church had to call on the community to help sweep up glass before having a Christmas Eve service Friday evening.
  "They broke them about all the way around," Pastor Eric Borchers said in a Facebook vid
  
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• Swap the hot cocoa for iced tea - 2nd warmest Christmas Day in your forecast

  25-12-2021 13:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Santa needed a costume change as he flew through Texas overnight. Lows were near our seasonal HIGHS for Christmas morning. Low clouds and patchy areas of fog will make for a gray start, but give way to afternoon sunshine.Highs in the mid 80s (to near 90° in the Hill Country) will be nearly 20+ degrees warmer than average for today. A forecast high of 84° in Austin will be the 2nd warmest on record.
  Put the coats and sweaters you got away for now, because this warmer
  
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• Austin Police investigate officer-involved shooting Christmas Eve

  25-12-2021 11:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) - A man is recovering in the hospital after an Austin Police officer shot him in northeast Austin late Friday night.Police said it all started at around 10:30 p.m. at the intersection of Cameron Rd. and Highway 183. A call came in about a crash involving two vehicles, where a man was said to be bleeding from his face.
  APD is working an Officer-Involved Shooting (OIS). The initial call came in around 10:38 p.m. — PIO is en route. Media: Stage at Frost Bank (2315 E Anderson). M
  
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• NASA space telescope launching Christmas Day looks to tell us more about our Milky Way

  25-12-2021 01:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — There's a new space mission launching on Christmas Day.
  NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope is going up into space in less than 24 hours, and two University of Texas at Austin astronomers are heading the research projects for the mission.
  "Humans have always been innately curious about the world around them. How did our earth come to be? How did our sun come to be?" said Steve Finkelstein, an associate astronomy professor at UT. "What we're trying to understand is how did
  
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• CDC shortens quarantine time for health care workers as omicron cases rise

  25-12-2021 01:21 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) —The CDC is shortening the COVID-19 isolation period for health care workers as cases continue to rise around the nation.The new recommended guidance from the CDC cuts the quarantine time for healthcare workers from 10 days to seven.Health care workers with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic can now return to work after seven days if they receive a negative test, and that isolation time can be cut shorter if there are staffing emergencies.Also, those who have received all C
  
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• Second-warmest Christmas Day in your forecast

  25-12-2021 00:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Temperatures climbed to 78° today in Austin -- a tie for the sixth-warmest Christmas Day on record in Austin. Temperatures get even warmer area wide on Christmas Day.Consider leaving Santa a glass of ice water as warm conditions continue overnight. A low of 62° in Austin would make it the third-warmest Christmas Eve on record. Low clouds and isolated areas of fog build in again.While Christmas morning will again be gray and cool, more sunshine and gusty southwest wi
  
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