Austin news

• Chicken wing prices won't be flying so high this weekend for Super Bowl

  10-02-2023 23:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Ahead of the Super Bowl LVII this Sunday, football and wing lovers can expect to purchase chicken wings for cheaper than they did last year. “Chicken products really across the board – if we look at wholesale prices – they are dramatically lower than they were a year ago,” said David Anderson, a professor and economist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. “Last year, chicken prices went to a record high,” Anderson said
  
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• What Texas' SEC football schedule may look like

  10-02-2023 23:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Since 1996, Texas has been in the Big 12 Conference. We now know the end of their storied run in the conference will come at the conclusion of the 2023-2024 athletic season.The Big 12 announced Thursday the conference came to an agreement with Texas and Oklahoma for the two schools to leave the conference one year earlier than the original plan of summer 2025. The agreement is subject to approval from the UT and OU governing boards. FULL SCHEDULE: Texas' final Big 12 scheduleThe
  
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• APD searching for suspect involved in 2 bank robberies

  10-02-2023 21:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department Robbery Unit is asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect involved in two bank robberies, according to a news release from APD.The first robbery occurred Jan. 26 at the Wells Fargo located at 501 S. Congress Ave. The second robbery occurred Feb. 6 at the Prosperity Bank located at 1610 W. North Loop Blvd., police said. Police searching for suspect of armed robbery at north Austin Taco CabanaAccording to police, the suspect entered bo
  
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• Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk is out, some city council members say

  10-02-2023 21:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin City Council members unanimously agreed to part ways with City Manager Spencer Cronk, two city council members told KXAN under the condition they not be named.The decision was made behind closed doors in executive session Thursday but has not been announced publicly yet. The city manager had no comment, a spokesperson said.
  Mayor Kirk Watson ultimately placed an item on Thursday’s agenda to "evaluate" the city manager's performance, with the backing of a handful of
  
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• Widespread freezes expected in most communities this weekend

  10-02-2023 21:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- In the wake of a recent cold front, blustery north winds are ushering in colder air as our weekend begins.Overnight, skies clear as low temperatures fall near or below freezing areawide. While forecast low temperatures in central Austin remain just above freezing, most other communities will freeze. Even colder temperatures are expected Sunday morning. Protect pets, pipes, plants and people -- especially in rural areas.Forecast low temperatures Saturday morningSaturday afternoon
  
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• Texas judge will make a ruling this month that could ban abortion pills nationwide

  10-02-2023 20:23 via kxan.com
  
  AMARILLO, Texas (KXAN) -- A decision on whether to reverse a Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, a pill used to end pregnancies, has been pushed back until at least Feb. 24. The decision, which some expected to come as soon as Friday, could affect access to the medication across the country. Approved by the FDA in 2000, the drug is available by mail, telemedicine and pharmacy pick-up. Mifepristone is one of two medications used to terminate pregnancies, and already over 2
  
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• Texas judge will make a ruling that could ban abortion pills nationwide

  10-02-2023 20:23 via kxan.com
  
  AMARILLO, Texas (KXAN) — A decision on whether to reverse a Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, a pill used to end pregnancies, has been pushed back until at least Feb. 24. The decision, which some previously expected to come as soon as Friday, could affect access to the medication across the country. Approved by the FDA in 2000, the drug is available by mail, telemedicine and pharmacy pickup. Mifepristone is one of two medications used to terminate pregnancies, and
  
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• Police investigating 'suspicious package' in downtown Austin, Congress Avenue bridge shut down

  10-02-2023 20:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department is investigating a "suspicious package" found in downtown Austin.
  Officers responded to 111 E. Caesar Chavez St., where The LINE is located, for a call about a suspicious package, according to a tweet from APD.Nearby roadways were shut down in the area as a precaution, police said.
  The Congress Avenue bridge is closed to all traffic from Cesar Chavez Street to Barton Springs Road.Suspicious package investigation shuts down Congress Avenue bridge at C
  
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• APD: No threat from reported 'suspicious package' downtown, Congress Bridge reopened

  10-02-2023 20:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department said a "suspicious package" reported in downtown Austin Friday is not a threat.
  Police said it found the reported device and there was "no known threat associated with it."Around 1 p.m., officers responded to 111 E. Caesar Chavez St., where The LINE is located, for a call about a suspicious package, according to a tweet from APD.Nearby roadways were shut down in the area as a precaution, police said.The Congress Avenue bridge, which was previously sh
  
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• City of Austin waives permit fees for storm repairs, late fees for utility bills

  10-02-2023 19:52 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The city council of Austin passed an ordinance Thursday to waive permit and development fees for work to repair damage from last week's winter storm."The City has a health and safety interest in protecting its residents from the dangers posed by tree and structural damage. There is an immediate need to prevent these structures from becoming further damaged," the ordinance reads.The ordinance covers work to remove damaged trees and tree limbs, and work to repair or reconstruct ex
  
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• Leslie Jones, Jenny Slate among several comics added to Moontower Just For Laughs lineup

  10-02-2023 19:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Moontower Just For Laughs festival has added more talent to its lineup.
  The annual comedy festival takes place April 12-23 and will feature over 100 comics across more than 10 venues in Austin. Badges for the festival are on sale now.Trevor Noah and Seth Meyers were included in a previous announcement of the lineup, which event organizers said could expand in the future.Trevor Noah, Seth Meyers headed to Austin in 2023 for Moontower Just For LaughsExpand it did. Leslie Jone
  
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• Mother of man shot, killed by police pleads for City Council to address police violence

  10-02-2023 19:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The mother of a man shot and killed by Austin Police Department officers in November asked City Council to address police violence.
  The mother of Rajan Moonesinghe, who was shot and killed by officers outside of his south Austin home Nov. 15, made that plea before council members Thursday during their meeting.
  Moonesinghe was standing outside his home with a rifle when it happened. Video released by APD shows him shooting toward his house. Officer Daniel Sanchez got out of his u
  
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• ATCEMS C4 program 'creatively' helps patients during outages

  10-02-2023 19:11 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Collaborative Care Communication Center, known as "C4," at Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) came in handy during last week's ice storm and the extended power outages.The program caters to callers who need help but don't need to get taken to the emergency room in an ambulance. ATCEMS: 6% of med calls are life-threatening emergencies. How the agency adaptedOn Twitter, the agency posted about the long hours that medics worked over the course of the last week and a half. T
  
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• Texas AG settles with former aides who reported him to FBI

  10-02-2023 18:32 via kxan.com
  
  DALLAS (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to apologize and pay $3.3 million in taxpayer money to four former staffers who accused him of corruption in 2020, igniting an ongoing FBI investigation of the three-term Republican.Under terms of a preliminary lawsuit settlement filed Friday, Paxton made no admission of wrongdoing to accusations of bribery and abuse of office, which he has denied for years and called politically motivated.But Paxton did commit to making
  
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• It’s Valentines Season At Blue Starlite Drive-In

  10-02-2023 17:42 via kxan.com
  
  The Blue Starlite is excited to announce that they have recently launched RV: Rolling Video Store Art Gallery at Mueller. It is a RV converted into a video store where you can view and even buy customized VHS movies with covers designed by local artists! Another way to make a valentines date nights extra special and memorable. And then…It's VALENTINES AT THE DRIVE-IN! This valentines the Blue Starlite returns for its 13th annual valentines at the drive-in nights!Starting on Jan 20th throu
  
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• Austin has $29 million to improve roads, transportation department aiming at underserved areas

  10-02-2023 17:12 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A $23 million federal grant, plus $6 million from Austin tax payers approved bond money, means $29 million of improvements to make streets around Austin safer for all users. KXAN traffic anchor Erica Brennes sat down with the city to learn more where the money from the "Safe Streets and Roads For All" program will be used.Joel Meyer with the Vision Zero program in the city's transportation department explained the federal grant program and how it will affect Austin's roads.
  
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• Texas gives interim basketball coach Rodney Terry raise to $1.2 million

  10-02-2023 16:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (AP) — Texas officials have more than doubled interim coach Rodney Terry's salary to $1.2 million this season as he leads the No. 5 Longhorns after the midseason firing of former coach Chris Beard.Terry took over the team as acting head coach when Beard was initially suspended following his arrest on a felony domestic violence charge on allegations he choked, hit and bit his fiancée. Texas fires men’s basketball coach Chris Beard after arrest, domestic violence cha
  
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• Mental health screening service opens on ACC Eastview campus

  10-02-2023 15:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A new resource to help those facing mental health challenges celebrated its grand opening Thursday.
  The Amplify Center at the Austin Community College Eastview campus just started a two-year pilot program with UT Dell Medical Center.ACC ranks in top 10 best Texas community collegesThe project aims to improve quality of life for those experiencing mental health distress by helping them obtain support grounded in their personal interests and lives — including work,
  
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• Thousands of children injured in furniture-related tip-overs, new report shows

  10-02-2023 15:16 via kxan.com
  
  (KXAN) — The Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning people to secure their televisions and furniture to avoid a tragedy.“Over the past decade or so, we've seen about 600 deaths due to tip-over incidents. Sadly and tragically, about 88% of those deaths are children under five,” said Karla Crosswhite with CPSC.The CPSC yearly report found an estimated annual average of 19,400 emergency department visits for tip-over-related injuries from 2019-2021.The commission is using S
  
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• Cat dies in southwest Austin duplex fire

  10-02-2023 14:31 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Fire Department says a cat is dead after a electrical fire burned a duplex in southwest Austin Thursday night.According to AFD, the cause of the fire just before 10 p.m. on Leafield Drive near Brodie Lane was accidental.Leafield DriveAustin Travis County EMS says one adult at the scene had minor smoke inhalation but AFD later said that person was not taken to the hospital.
  AFD said the cat was found dead inside the duplex.
  
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• Duran Duran coming to Moody Center in June

  10-02-2023 14:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Duran Duran is coming to Austin this June.
  The British rock band announced Wednesday it would perform at the Moody Center on June 6 as part of its North American Future Past Arena Tour. Other Texas stops include The Woodlands on June 9 and Dallas on June 10.Bastille and Nile Rodgers & CHIC will join Duran Duran on the tour.Ticketmaster will selling the tickets for Moody Center performance. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 10 a.m.
  
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• Report: You'd need five minimum wage jobs to afford a typical apartment in Austin

  10-02-2023 13:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new report reveals just how unaffordable several of Texas' largest cities have become for those making minimum wage.Property website Zillow looked at typical rental prices in the 50 largest cities nationwide and compared those to the minimum wage in each city. Zillow says Austin’s housing market is now ‘ice cold,’ Austin Board of Realtors says no wayIn Austin, for example, rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment is about $1,764 a month. It would take 5.
  
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• Thousands lose power again Friday morning, Austin Energy says 'isolated incident' caused by circuit lockout

  10-02-2023 13:46 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Nearly 7,500 Austin Energy customers lost power Friday morning. Austin Energy said the cause was a circuit lockout.Austin Energy said a circuit lockout is like a safety switch. The utility said the trigger of the lockout was unknown but tweeted that crews were on site making necessary repairs.
  The outage last close to an hour and a half. It was reported close to the intersection of Meadow Lea Drive and Bill Hughes Road -- near William Cannon Drive and South 1st Street -- and sta
  
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• Ice storm brings brief NOAA Weather Radio outage just before tornado season

  10-02-2023 13:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The historic ice storm last week did not just take down trees and power lines; it also damaged critical broadcast equipment. This includes equipment used for weather radios, an essential tool used by many during severe weather season.During last week’s historic ice storm, heavy ice accumulated not only on power lines and trees, but also on the massive broadcast transmission towers in Westlake. Weighty ice on one of the towers and the guy-wires supporting it caused the towe
  
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• Austin to open cold weather shelters Friday night

  10-02-2023 13:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Public Health said Friday morning it would open cold weather shelters overnight Friday.
  According to an APH tweet, people can go to One Texas Center at 505 Barton Springs Rd. from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to register for overnight shelter.
  One Texas CenterCold Weather Shelter Activation Thresholds: 
  32 degrees or colder overnight  35 degrees, with rain/wet  35 degrees, with wind chill of 32 or colder
  As of Friday morning, the KXAN First Warning Weather te
  
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• Motorcyclist crashes into building on 6th street

  10-02-2023 12:49 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Police say a motorcyclist crashed into a building on East 6th Street early Friday morning.
  According to the APD, the motorcyclist hit a glass wall at the building at 611 E. 6th St. around 2:30 a.m.
  APD says the motorcyclist was taken to the hospital but did not know their condition.
  KXAN reached out Austin Travis County EMS requesting additional information. We will update this story when we receive a response.611 E 6th St. was the Austin claim center for the Texas Lotter
  
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• We Are Blood making big push to replenish blood donor supply after winter storm

  10-02-2023 12:39 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The recent winter storm in Austin not only knocked down our tree branches and power, but also lowered the central Texas blood supply to dangerously small amounts.
  "The situation actually got pretty scary last week," Nick Canedo, a spokesman for We Are Blood explained.
  We Are Blood is the sole provider of blood donations to 50 hospitals across 10 different counties in central Texas. During the winter storm, it had to stop donations for a couple of days.
  Canedo said on a typical d
  
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• Leander ISD board approves worker pay for days missed due to ice storm

  10-02-2023 10:15 via kxan.com
  
  LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) -- Leander ISD says its workers will get paid despite the district being closed during the February ice storm.
  The district said the Leander ISD school board Thursday night approved worker pay for the days missed.
  According to a Leander ISD tweet, the board also "approved double pay for auxiliary employees who were required to work & time and half for employees who worked over 40 hours."
  According to the Leander ISD website, this was the schedule of the week of Jan. 30
  
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• Cool, dry weekend ahead of next rain maker

  10-02-2023 04:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- In typical Central Texas fashion, we follow yesterday's 70s & sunshine with 50s & a wind chill today.Gusty north winds can be expected through the day with winds likely to peak late morning. Gusts up to 35-40 mph could blow around loose patio furniture & broken tree limbs.Afternoon highs will get stuck in the 40s and 50s under that stout north wind, but morning clouds will eventually clear to afternoon sunshine. Dry skies are expected overnight.Gusty winds expected t
  
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• 1 arrested after driving onto Texas State Capitol grounds Thursday

  10-02-2023 04:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person was arrested after driving onto the Texas State Capitol grounds in downtown Austin Thursday, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper on the scene.Austin-Travis County EMS said it was called to the area of 11th Street and Congress Avenue at approximately 6:45 p.m. but were canceled before it made contact with any patients.According to DPS, the person driving was arrested and there were no injuries reported.It was not immediately clear what led to
  
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• 1 arrested after driving onto Capitol grounds Thursday

  10-02-2023 04:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — One person was arrested after driving onto the Capitol grounds in downtown Austin Thursday, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper on the scene.Austin-Travis County EMS said they were called to the area of 11th Street and Congress Avenue at approximately 6:45 p.m. but were canceled before it made contact with any patients.According to DPS, the person driving was arrested and there were no injuries reported.It was not immediately clear what led to the incid
  
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• Texas, OU moving to SEC after 2023-24 season, one year earlier than original plan

  10-02-2023 02:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN)-- The 2023-2024 school year will be the final one in the Big 12 for the University of Texas. The Big 12 announced on Thursday the Conference has agreed in principle for both Texas and Oklahoma to leave the conference following the 2023-2024 athletic year, one year earlier than originally announced, subject to approval from the UT and OU governing Boards.The schools will owe a total of $100 million in revenue which will be partially offset with future revenues. READ: Texas' final Bi
  
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• Austin zoo anticipates months of cleanup after ice storm

  10-02-2023 01:37 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin Zoo said it was hit hard by the recent ice storm with the number of trees and limbs down being worse than it has ever seen.“We have taken great efforts to remove all dangerous limbs that could potentially be in the path of people and animals, but the clean up is immense,” the zoo said.Officials said the zoo remains open to visitors, and it has cleared safe pathways throughout but anticipated it could take months to clean up the debris.“As people
  
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• Austin Energy: Roughly 200 customers need electrical equipment repairs

  10-02-2023 01:13 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin Energy is reporting nearly all of its customers have power. As of Thursday evening, their outage map reported 99.91% have electrcity.
  Still, there are a few hundred left in the dark. They said some of them have electrical repairs preventing them from turning their power on.Araceli Hernandez is one of them.
  "It's been hectic...crazy. We've been without power for over a week now," Hernandez said. "The rest needed to be handled by us hiring an electrician. Hiring somebody to
  
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• How to avoid traffic, closures for 2023 Austin Marathon

  10-02-2023 01:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN)-- The time is almost here for the Austin Marathon. As the event gets closer, here is what you'll need to know if you plan on being in downtown or central Austin, as there will be multiple closures the entire weekend.The annual race kicks off at 9 a.m., Feb. 19. However, closures will begin starting Feb. 17.Street closuresThe first closure begins at 9 a.m. on East Ninth Street, between Congress Avenue and Brazos Street. Congress Avenue, between Ninth and 10th Streets will start at 4
  
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