Austin news

• Where to park, how to get to University of Texas at Austin graduation ceremonies

  01-05-2023 22:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tens of thousands of guests are expected to flood to the Forty Acres this week for the University of Texas at Austin's commencement ceremonies. Here's your guide on where to park and how to get to and from college-specific and university-wide graduation ceremonies.College, school ceremonies parking optionsWednesday, May 3On Wednesday, a select number of parking garages will be available for use ahead of commencement ceremonies.
  Brazos Garage: Located at 210 E. Martin Luther
  
  Read more

• Warm, dry weather as we await a Thursday storm chance

  01-05-2023 21:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- May, typically our stormiest month of the year, is starting off on a quiet and warm note this week with morning clouds and afternoon sun.
  High temperatures remain in the 80s through Wednesday with dry weather expected.We are tracking a shortwave disturbance forecast to bring a chance of severe thunderstorms locally Thursday evening and night -- what could be the beginning of an extended wetter weather pattern.The NOAA Storm Prediction Center already has parts of Central Texas hi
  
  Read more

• The Arctic is becoming foggy as sea ice melts

  01-05-2023 21:17 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — For decades now, sea ice in the Arctic continues to melt as our climate continues to warm from greenhouse gas emissions. As sea ice and snow melt, less solar radiation is being reflected back into space and is instead now absorbed at the surface.This is called a 'Positive Feedback Loop' where warming causes ice to melt and then that melting causes further warming. Because of this, the Arctic is actually warming roughly two times faster than the rest of the globe.One "benefi
  
  Read more

• 'We simply have no more shelters:' Lightfoot implores Abbott to stop sending migrants

  01-05-2023 21:06 via kxan.com
  
  CHICAGO (WGN) — More migrants are set to arrive in Chicago from Texas on Monday, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot is asking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop."We simply have no more shelters, spaces, or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level," a letter penned by Lightfoot reads, in part.More than 8,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since last August, with Lightfoot saying many of those who have been bussed or flown in are in dire need of basic resources.Her letter
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Dripping Springs ISD launches temporary transfer program amid campus growth surge

  01-05-2023 20:43 via kxan.com
  
  DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) -- With surging growth happening at three of its campuses, Dripping Springs ISD officials announced late last week it would launch a temporary transfer program. The initiative will allow a select number of students to transfer from those campuses during the 2023-24 school year.Dripping Springs Elementary, Walnut Springs Elementary and Sycamore Springs Middle School have each seen substantial student population booms in recent years. As a result, all three campuses
  
  Read more

• Frank Erwin Center demolition expected by end of 2024

  01-05-2023 19:25 via kxan.com
  
  Editor’s Note: The video above shows KXAN News Today’s top headlines for May 1, 2023.AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center's final days are numbered.
  The Erwin Center last opened its doors to crowds in April 2022 for a Harlem Globetrotters event. The new $375 million Moody Center opened in April 2022 as the Erwin Center's replacement.Frank Erwin Center: Memories from a place ‘more than concrete and steel’The UT System Board of Regents will meet this week and
  
  Read more

• 'Monster' striped bass caught in Lady Bird Lake

  01-05-2023 18:32 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — You never know what you might come across on Lady Bird Lake in Austin.
  A "monster" 31.5-pound was caught recently in the lake, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said on Twitter.
  Fisher Theo Koulianos told KXAN the fish was caught April 19 near Red Bud Isle.
  A "monster" 31.5-pound was caught on Lady Bird Lake recently, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said on Twitter. (Courtesy @fishboyllc on Instagram)A "monster" 31.5-pound was caught on Lady Bird Lake recently, Te
  
  Read more

• Texas ranks No. 1 in heat-related pet deaths

  01-05-2023 16:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Averaging 15 days of 100° or hotter a year, Austin is no stranger to dangerous heat. In fact, 90° weather typically begins at the end of May, marking the start of a long three-plus months of uncomfortable heat.Now while humans can be proactive in staying cool when the thermometers rise, pets rely on their owners for safety in extreme heat.Meteorologist Kristen Currie spoke with Lily Velez with Veterinarians.org to discuss some of the reasons Texas sees more heat-related
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• New parking meters, price increase in effect at Zilker Park

  01-05-2023 16:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It's going to cost you more to visit one of the most popular parks in Austin.The last couple of free parking lots within Zilker Park will soon have parking meters. Some of the lots have already charged people to park. PAST COVERAGE: Zilker Park adding new pay stations, increasing prices for parkingNew parking meters are up near Stratford Drive, north of Zilker Botanical Garden, and in the south Barton Springs Pool lot near Azie Morton Road.Another big change is the cost. The pri
  
  Read more

• Air quality awareness: Austin's problem pollutants

  01-05-2023 15:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- May 1 marks the beginning of National Air Quality Awareness Week, a collaborative effort between federal, state and local agencies to promote the importance of clean air.Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to review and regulate specific pollutants in outdoor air, pollutants that are known to be harmful to humans and the environment. These pollution standards are known as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).Meteorologist Kriste
  
  Read more

• What's the origin behind the 'Keep Austin Weird' slogan?

  01-05-2023 13:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- You've seen it on bumper car stickers and t-shirts, and maybe even mentioned out loud. But how did the slogan "Keep Austin Weird" come to be?The phrase dates back to Red Wassenich, an Austin Community College librarian who mentioned the phrase back in 2000 while calling in a donation to KOOP Radio, per Austin History Center archives. The weekly "The Lounge Show" would play "offbeat music," the inspiration behind Wassenich's contributions, according to a 2002 New York Times inter
  
  Read more

• Amazon funding computer science education for over 3,000 students in Austin area

  01-05-2023 13:44 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As the school year comes to a close, Amazon has made a major commitment to students throughout the Austin area.The company will provide funding for computer science education for over 3,000 Austin area students."In Austin specifically, we think there's an immense opportunity to increase access to computer science education and careers for young people,” Victor Reinoso, Amazon Future Engineer global director of education philanthropy, said.Amazon’s overall goal i
  
  Read more

• How severe maternal mortality affects the surviving family

  01-05-2023 13:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — When a mother dies from pregnancy or in the year post-partum, the effect this has on the family often goes untold.Clinical social worker and therapist Tesleigh Eure said it is possible children who lose their mothers at birth may struggle psychologically later in life.According to Eure, there’s research to show that the bond between the mother and child begins during pregnancy. The strength of that attachment to the parent in utero and after-birth can affect the
  
  Read more

• How can Texas take better care of its Black mothers?

  01-05-2023 13:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Patrice Lott felt her appointments were rushed whenever she went in for her prenatal visits. She had deliberately chosen a doctor of color, following a Facebook group recommendation and her own research, and so this was not the experience she was expecting.“They let me know my appointments coincided with when she got called into the hospital, so we switched it up,” Lott said. “After that, I definitely felt taken care of from top to bottom.”Black moth
  
  Read more

• Bills in the 88th Legislative Session addressing maternal mortality

  01-05-2023 13:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — At the last legislative session, Texas failed to pass several bills aimed at positively impacting the maternal mortality rate in the state. Most of these bills have been presented again in this session along with new ones echoing some of the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee's (MMMRC) recommendations.“As we talk about educating those who care for all women in general, but Black women in particular, efforts around training for cultural competence,
  
  Read more

• APD: Car pulled from Lady Bird Lake Monday

  01-05-2023 13:10 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A dive team was out at Lady Bird Lake Monday morning trying to figure out how a car ended up in the water overnight, according to Austin Police.
  The Austin Police Department said around 2 a.m. Monday, it received a call of gunshots near the Festival Beach Boat Ramp. When officers arrived, they found a car in the water, APD said.
  Austin Police said a car was found in Lady Bird Lake overnight May 1, 2023. (KXAN Photo/Christian Marcelli)Austin Police said a car was found in Lady Bi
  
  Read more

• APD: Car found in Lady Bird Lake overnight

  01-05-2023 13:10 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A dive team will be out at Lady Bird Lake Monday morning to try to figure out how a car ended up in the water overnight, according to Austin Police.
  The Austin Police Department said around 2 a.m. Monday, it received a call of gunshots near the Festival Beach Boat Ramp. When officers arrived, they found a car in the water, APD said.
  APD said first responders didn’t find anyone hurt when they arrived, but it’s unclear if anyone is in the car in the water.Police are ho
  
  Read more

• Week starts with sunshine, ends with storms

  01-05-2023 12:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After not one but three severe weather events last week, this week will start much quieter (& warmer!)We start the new work week with afternoon highs in the mid-80s under a mainly sunny sky. Humidity will gradually begin to increase as our winds spin more out of the southeast, but dry skies can be expected areawide.Tuesday and Wednesday will be one in the same - partly sunny, warm and muggy. It's possible we see fog developing in the morning hours, but temperatures will stil
  
  Read more

• Staying dry for a few days

  01-05-2023 12:45 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The beautiful weather weekend Central Texas had continues to start May. The upper-level flow coming from the west will lead to an increase in fair-weather clouds during the afternoon.This morning was comfortable with most lows in the middle to upper 50s. Camp Mabry's low was 58°, five degrees shy of normal.The increase in clouds we'll see today will keep temperatures a little lower than Sunday with most highs in the middle 80s.
  A seasonably mild afternoonTuesday morning will
  
  Read more

• 'It hit me pretty hard': Austin neighborhood has 3 house fires in nine months

  01-05-2023 04:07 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — According to a new report, more fires are happening in people's homes.
  Residential fires have gone up 42% in the past three years based on the 2023 Fire Index from Austin-based ESO."ESO is a provider of records, management system and data support for fire, EMS, hospitals, state and federal partners that we have," said ESO Senior Director of Fire Bill Gardner.
  'We've actually lost four or three neighbors in fires'The Milwood neighborhood is one area in Austin that's experien
  
  Read more

• Thankful for April showers but not the hail

  01-05-2023 03:03 via kxan.com
  
  It's always a plus when we report a month with above-normal rainfall because there haven't been too many of them. That's what happened in April.
  Normally Austin's 10th wettest month with just 2.42", this April did much better with 4.18". Rain was measured (.01" or more) seven days. In fact, 2.43" of that 4.18" was measured on April 6 and 7, putting Austin over the normal total very early in the month.
  It's the most rain measured in April since a most-welcomed 7.28" in 2019.April 2023 is the firs
  
  Read more

• Pitching, defense lead Longhorns to much-needed series win over TCU

  01-05-2023 02:42 via kxan.com
  
  FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAN) — A double play with an outfield assist for the final two outs secured a 3-2 win for the Texas Longhorns and a big series win on the road Sunday against TCU.Texas followed up an 8-4 win on Saturday with the series clincher and can now go for a road sweep of the Horned Frogs on Monday. The series was moved back a day due to severe weather in the Fort Worth area Friday.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than th
  
  Read more

• 2-year-old daughter of NFL linebacker drowns after falling into pool, police say

  01-05-2023 00:43 via kxan.com
  
  TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The youngest daughter of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquil Barrett drowned after falling into a pool in Tampa Sunday morning, authorities confirmed.
  According to the Tampa Police Department, the incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. at a home in the Beach Park area. Police said Barrett's daughter, 2-year-old Arrayah, was transported to a nearby hospital.
  The police department said that despite emergency efforts, Arrayah died a short time later.
  While police said thi
  
  Read more

Follow @Austin_News_US on Twitter!