Austin news

• What is it? 'Mystery animal' pictured at Texas state park

  10-04-2023 23:20 via kxan.com
  
  TEXAS (KXAN) -- An unusual furry friend paid a visit to the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park last week and has perplexed visitors since.The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department posted a night camera shot of the critter on its Facebook page Thursday, which has since garnered traction online."We're scratching our heads trying to identify this elusive creature. Is it a new species? An escapee from a nearby zoo? Or just a park ranger in disguise?" park officials said in the tongue-in-cheek post.O
  
  Read more

• Pleasant temperatures with just a few isolated showers

  10-04-2023 22:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Comfortable spring temperatures and a few isolated rain showers continue on the backside of a stalled storm system over east Texas.A northerly component to the breeze keeps high temperatures in the 70s Tuesday and Wednesday, with cool mornings in the 50s.
  Temperatures Tuesday afternoon will again be in the 70sAs the east Texas storm system pulls slightly farther away each day, rain chances drop to 10% on Tuesday, then dry sunshine returns Wednesday and Thursday.Following a quiet
  
  Read more

• Daniel Perry: How long could the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles take to review case?

  10-04-2023 22:01 via kxan.com
  
  Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for April 10, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — This weekend, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles to expedite the review process of a pardon for Daniel Perry.On Friday, a jury found Perry guilty of murder in the deadly July 2020 shooting in downtown Austin of a former Air Force veteran and Black Lives Matter protester, Garrett Foster. Foster was armed at the time of the shooting. Perry, wh
  
  Read more

• 2-vehicle crash in south Austin leaves 1 hurt, causing traffic delays

  10-04-2023 22:01 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- One person was hurt after two vehicles collided in south Austin, Austin-Travis County EMS said in a tweet.Around 2:15 p.m. Monday, ATCEMS medics responded to 5510 Interstate 35 service road, near Battle Bend Boulevard, for the crash, the tweet said.
  Furthermore, medics said one vehicle was rolled on its side, with one adult trapped.Medics said the entrapped person was then extricated from the vehicle and taken to St. David's South with non-serious injuries.It was not immediately
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Austin FC grants 7-year-old's Make-A-Wish, signs him as honorary player

  10-04-2023 20:39 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A seven-year-old boy's dreams came true last month thanks to Austin FC, St. David's HealthCare and the Make-A-Wish Foundatin.
  Eli Saenz has been fighting an ongoing battle with cancer, which is currently in remission, and loves soccer, Austin FC and the color green. Those loves, plus the atmosphere at Q2 Stadium, motivated him to choose an experience with the Verde as his Make-A-Wish wish, an Austin FC release said.
  Eli went to an Austin FC training session, played soccer with h
  
  Read more

• How researchers use mushrooms to break down cigarette butts

  10-04-2023 20:36 via kxan.com
  
  Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for April 10, 2023.AUSTRALIA (KXAN) -- Researchers in Australia are tackling a major, continent-wide issue: littered cigarette butts.According to the World Wildlife Fund Australia, half of the roughly 18 billion cigarettes smoked a year end up in a landfill.The company taking the lead, Fungi Solutions, uses fungi to divert waste from landfills and create natural alternatives to plastics.
  Cigarette butts will be brok
  
  Read more

• Urban trail connecting Austin to Manor in the works

  10-04-2023 19:10 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Construction on a 2.9-mile section of a trail connecting Austin to Manor is set to begin this month.
  The project is part of the City of Austin's Urban Trails Program and it will create a 12-foot-wide concrete path that connects Austin's trail network to the city of Manor, according to Austin Public Works.Austin aims to address systemic racism, equity with new walk and bike trail plansAPW said when the trail is finished, it will be 5.5 miles long, beginning near Daffan Lane and e
  
  Read more

• State Rep. Bryan Slaton retains criminal defense lawyer in possible ethics investigation

  10-04-2023 18:10 via kxan.com
  
  Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for April 10, 2023.(Texas Tribune) — Texas State Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, has retained a criminal-defense attorney amid a potential ethics investigation by a House committee.The lawyer, Patrick Short, issued a statement Monday morning saying his firm “has been engaged by State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-TX 2) in a matter relating a possible complaint filed against him with the Texas House Ethics Commit
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Complaint alleges Rep. Bryan Slaton had “inappropriate relationship” with an intern

  10-04-2023 18:10 via kxan.com
  
  Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for April 10, 2023.(Texas Tribune) —
  An internal complaint filed against state Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, alleges that he was engaging in a potentially “inappropriate relationship” with an intern. The complaint came after an incident where Slaton and the staffer met up at his Austin apartment last weekend.The complaint, obtained by The Texas Tribune, was reported to the House General Investig
  
  Read more

• Ascension Seton invests $280M to revamp, expand Dell Seton Medical Center

  10-04-2023 17:32 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Ascension Seton is allocating $280 million to expand and revamp the Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas at Austin, hospital representatives announced in a release Monday.Currently, Dell Seton Medical Center serves as the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the region. Under the expansion, Ascension Seton officials said the center will add 150 beds and more than 160,000 square feet to the facility. Some key additions to come include:
  Six new operating rooms with p
  
  Read more

• 5 things you may not know about Austin's historic The Driskill Hotel

  10-04-2023 17:23 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For as long as you've been in Austin, The Driskill Hotel has been here too.
  But just how much do you know about this enduring and thriving testament to Austin's past?The 137-year-old hotel wants to help you expand your knowledge by offering daily tours at 4 p.m.The tours are free to guests, and $10 for the public.
  Along the tour, led by Tour Guide Audrey Acosta, visitors will learn some pretty interesting facts about the hotel's history.Portraits of Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bi
  
  Read more

• Suspect in Louisville bank shooting that killed 4, injured 9, was employee: police

  10-04-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A 23-year-old used a rifle to kill four people — including a close friend of the governor — Monday at the Louisville bank where he was an employee, authorities said.The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) to the south. That state's governor and his wife
  
  Read more

• Louisville bank employee who killed 5, injured 8 livestreamed mass shooting: police

  10-04-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace Monday morning, killing five people — including a close friend of Kentucky's governor — while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said.Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside Old National Bank and killed the shooter in an exchange of gunfire, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said. The city's mayor, Craig Greenberg, call
  
  Read more

• Louisville bank employee who killed 4, injured 9 livestreamed mass shooting: police

  10-04-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A 23-year-old bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his Louisville workplace Monday morning, killing four people — including a close friend of the governor — while livestreaming the attack, authorities said.“Let’s be clear about what this was,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “This was an evil act of targeted violence.”The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two week
  
  Read more

• At least 4 killed, 9 injured in shooting at Louisville bank building

  10-04-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A shooter at a bank in downtown Louisville killed at least four people — including two friends of the governor — and wounded at least nine others Monday, authorities said. The suspect also was dead.The shooting, the 15th mass killing in the country this year, comes just two weeks after a former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) to the south. T
  
  Read more

• At least 4 killed, 8 injured in shooting at Louisville bank building

  10-04-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A shooting Monday at a bank in downtown Louisville killed at least four people and wounded at least eight others, police said. The suspected lone shooter was also dead.Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters officers who arrived on the scene “encountered active gunshots still being fired inside the location at that time.”Officers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who appeared to be a former employee of the bank, but
  
  Read more

• 5th person dies after Louisville bank shooting: police

  10-04-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Louisville bank employee armed with a rifle opened fire at his workplace Monday morning, killing five people — including a close friend of Kentucky's governor — while livestreaming the attack on Instagram, authorities said.Police arrived as shots were still being fired inside Old National Bank and killed the shooter in an exchange of gunfire, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said. The city's mayor, Craig Greenberg, call
  
  Read more

• 5 killed in shooting at Louisville bank building: police

  10-04-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Five people were killed and six others hospitalized in a shooting at a bank building Monday morning in downtown Louisville, police said.Louisville Metro Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey told reporters officers who arrived on the scene “encountered active gunshots still being fired inside the location at that time.” Does your state allow teachers to carry a gun?“The shooter was confirmed to be dead on the scene,” Humphrey said. &ldq
  
  Read more

• Texas No. 1 state for severe weather insurance claims

  10-04-2023 14:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Now that we're a fourth of the way through 2023, insurance companies have been able to gather data on claims for 2022. The data is not good news for Texas; we were the No. 1 state for severe weather insurance claims in the country.KXAN Meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with Chris Lewis from Allstate Insurance Company about new data on severe weather claims here locally.Meteorologist Nick Bannin:Chris, you have some new data about just how much severe weather we had in Texas, and c
  
  Read more

• Texas is growing fast. How often are city limit population signs updated?

  10-04-2023 14:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas is home to some of the fastest-growing cities in the country. So, how often are the populations updated on city limit signs?The Texas Department of Transportation, responsible for installing city limit signs, can update city populations every two years at the most.RELATED: New population estimates reveal fastest-growing cities in TexasThe TxDOT online manual says the signs are updated at the city's request, and the department does not initiate these revisions.
  While c
  
  Read more

• 'An investment in the music community': $3.5 million in grants available for Austin musicians

  10-04-2023 13:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Musicians, bands and promoters within the Austin-area can now apply for up to $10,000 in grant support through the Live Music Event Program.Based on the results of the 2022 Greater Austin Music Census, it’s become clear that artists within the music industry are struggling to keep pace with the cost of living.Many are moving farther away from Downtown Austin and into cities such as San Marcos, Pflugerville and Manor.To lend a helping hand, The City of Austin Economic
  
  Read more

• 'Hunger is a bipartisan issue': New law would make it easier for incarcerated people to access SNAP benefits

  10-04-2023 13:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – Two bills have been filed in the Texas House and Senate that would make it easier for incarcerated people leaving the criminal justice system to access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits upon release. SB 727, filed by Democratic Senator Royce West, and HB 1743, filed by Republican House Rep. Jeff Leach, both have the same aim – to set people leaving the criminal justice system up for success by having access to food.  MORE: Over 3 m
  
  Read more

• Spotty rain to start the work week

  10-04-2023 12:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Spotty showers and storms are possible for some today, but warm temperatures can be expected for all.A few isolated showers are possible this morning as a decaying complex of storms approaches the Hill Country. More scattered storms and showers are possible late afternoon into the evening, but even then, coverage looks to top out at 30%.Rain chances thin overnight into Tuesday with only a few lingering showers/storms. We'll likely stay dry through midweek ahead of our next cold
  
  Read more

• A little rain before two days of a bright sky

  10-04-2023 12:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A few small showers were over the western Hill Country to start the day. Late-morning showers and thundershowers fell over the western half of Gillespie County.
  The rest of the day will be overcast with a chance of seeing additional showers and thunderstorms mostly in the Hill Country. Any rain would end during the evening leaving the area dry overnight. This forecast repeats tomorrow. The rain chances both days are low.The Hill Country gets a little more rain late this afternoo
  
  Read more

• Four people brought to hospital after 9-car crash on E Anderson Ln.

  10-04-2023 05:12 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin-Travis County EMS took four people to Dell Seton Medical Center Sunday night after a nine car crash in the 1400 to 2100 block of E Anderson Ln., according to a tweet from the agency.Two of those transported by ATCEMS are teenagers, and the other two are adults. ATCEMS said that all four have non-life-threatening injuries.In total, 22 people were in the involved vehicles.
  Drivers should avoid the area while responders work to clear vehicles and reopen the road.
  
  Read more

• Future Longhorns Holland, Booker lead Team USA to wins in Nike Hoop Summit

  10-04-2023 03:15 via kxan.com
  
  PORTLAND, Ore (KXAN) — Texas Longhorns basketball pledge Ron Holland scored 15 points to help lead Team USA to a 90-84 win over the World team Saturday in the Nike Hoop Summit at Moda Center.Holland stuffed the stat sheet for Team USA. In addition to his team-high point total, he also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds with six assists. He was a menace on the defensive end as well with six steals, helping Team USA force 26 turnovers by the World team.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on
  
  Read more

• 'Justice delayed': Hays County has backlog of +5K unfiled criminal cases

  10-04-2023 02:32 via kxan.com
  
  HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Newly elected Hays County District Attorney Kelly Higgins said they are dealing with a backlog of more than 5,000 unfiled criminal cases. He said some of those cases date back to the second half of 2021."From, you know, murderers, to smoking a joint, right, I mean, the whole range," Higgins said.
  How did we get here?Higgins said the cases were so backed up because of the office's intake process from previous administrations.
  "There's either a warrant or a field
  
  Read more

• 'Justice delayed': Hays County has backlog of 5,000+ unfiled criminal cases

  10-04-2023 02:32 via kxan.com
  
  HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Newly elected Hays County District Attorney Kelly Higgins said they are dealing with a backlog of more than 5,000 unfiled criminal cases. He said some of those cases date back to the second half of 2021."From, you know, murderers, to smoking a joint, right, I mean, the whole range," Higgins said.
  How did we get here?Higgins said the cases were so backed up because of the office's intake process from previous administrations.
  "There's either a warrant or a field
  
  Read more

• Despite two ejections, No. 21 Longhorns top Kansas State 8-2 to win Big 12 series

  10-04-2023 01:13 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas came up big when they needed to, scoring seven of their eight runs with two outs in an 8-2 win over Kansas State on Easter at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.The No. 21 Longhorns hit .429, 6-for-14, with two outs coming off Saturday's loss in which the Wildcats came back from a 5-2 deficit to beat Texas 6-5. The Longhorns pushed two runs across each in the first two innings, claiming a 4-1 lead early and holding it.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like the
  
  Read more

• Travis County DA Garza responds to Abbott's pardon promise for convicted murderer Daniel Perry

  10-04-2023 00:46 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Austin (KXAN) — Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza called Gov. Greg Abbott's promise to pardon convicted murderer Daniel Perry "deeply troubling" in a statement Sunday.On Friday, a jury found Perry guilty of murdering Garrett Foster during a July 2020 protest in Austin. The jury found him not guilty of an aggravated assault charge.
  Perry has not yet been sentenced for the conviction.But by Saturday afternoon, Abbott declared on social media that he would sign a pardo
  
  Read more

• Round Rock ISD student named to 2023 U.S. Youth Ambassadors Program

  10-04-2023 00:01 via kxan.com
  
  ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — A Round Rock ISD student has a new title to add to her resume after she was named a participant in the 2023 U.S. Youth Ambassadors Program. Round Rock High School sophomore Anagha Deepak will participate in the program in Ecuador, per a news release.Deepak is one of 18 students selected to visit Ecuador as part of the program, among thousands of applicants from 26 countries.
  "The Youth Ambassadors Program aims to develop a network of young adults with a strong se
  
  Read more

Follow @Austin_News_US on Twitter!