Austin news

• Texas AG sues Annunciation House, seeks to revoke its ability to operate in state

  22-02-2024 23:13 via kxan.com
  
  EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing El Paso's Annunciation House and is seeking to revoke its registration to operate in the state, according to the Attorney General's Office."The Office of the Attorney General reviewed significant public record information strongly suggesting Annunciation House is engaged in legal violations such as facilitating illegal entry to the United States, alien harboring, human smuggling, and operating a stash house," according to a news
  
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• Cooler air blows in following spring heat on Thursday

  22-02-2024 22:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Temperatures soared to their warmest levels of 2024 on Thursday afternoon with a high in Austin of 88º. A thermometer near Lake Austin reached a high of 89º.A weak Pacific cold front will arrive rain-free overnight, with cooler northerly breezes behind it dropping overnight lows into the upper 40s and lower 50s.Our streak of dry, abnormally warm February weather continues this weekend with high temperatures in the 70s to near 80 degrees. Did you feel it? Earthquake rum
  
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• Texas school legally punished Black student over hairstyle, judge says

  22-02-2024 22:18 via kxan.com
  
  ANAHUAC, Texas (AP) — A Black high school student’s monthslong punishment by his Texas school district for refusing to change his hairstyle does not violate a new state law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, a judge ruled on Thursday.Darryl George, 18, has not been in his regular Houston-area high school classes since Aug. 31 because the district, Barbers Hill, says the length of his hair violates its dress code.The district filed a lawsuit arguing George’s long hai
  
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• Austin Energy: Rate increasing 5% March 1

  22-02-2024 22:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Beginning March 1, Austin Energy (AE) said it would implement a 5% increase to the Power Supply Adjustment (PSA) rate.The impact is expected to be roughly a $2 monthly increase for the typical residential customer.The utility company most recently applied a 5% rate increase that began Jan. 1. PAST COVERAGE: Austin Energy: Rate increasing 5% beginning New Year's Day; future increases possiblePer Austin Energy’s policy, it can only adjust the PSA in increments of up to
  
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• APD has a new data dashboard - is it reliable?

  22-02-2024 21:24 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Now that the Austin Police Department (APD) has a new crime data dashboard, KXAN sat down with the person in charge of the portal to ask what goes into it, and how staff make sure the data is accurate.
  "In recent years we've seen an increased interest in being able to analyze our data," said Auzzie Krobatsch, APD's acting chief data officer.The new dashboard came to life as a result of a city council resolution calling for an easier way for the policy makers and the public to vi
  
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• Taylor reports its first traffic fatality of 2024

  22-02-2024 20:55 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Taylor said it had its first fatal collision of 2024 on Wednesday.Taylor police officers responded to reports of a reckless driver off South Main Street at approximately 2:30 p.m.According to the city, the driver, later identified as 71-year-old James Russell Grenwelge, was traveling north into oncoming southbound traffic.Officers attempted to make a traffic stop but were unsuccessful. The city said the vehicle then hit a tractor-trailer in a “head-on styl
  
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• Travis Letter to be on display at Alamo for only the 2nd time ever

  22-02-2024 20:54 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KXAN) -- The famous "Alamo letter," officially called the Travis Letter, will be on display at the Alamo for only the second time since the original battle in 1836.
  The letter is on loan to the Alamo from the Texas State Library and will be displayed at the historic site from Feb. 23 - March 24.
  The letter is addressed to the people of Texas and "all Americans in the world," and it contains William B. Travis' impassioned plea for aid to the Alamo garrison.
  The Travis Letter t
  
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• Waterloo Records looking to move to new location

  22-02-2024 19:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (ABJ) — Waterloo Records, a beloved bastion for record collectors, music fans and the artists they love, has weathered many challenges throughout its more than 40 years of doing business. From major shifts in consumer trends and media formats to ever-increasing real estate costs, the shop has been through it all.Now, Waterloo faces another hurdle — finding a new home for the years to come.Waterloo Records on North Lamar Boulevard in Austin, Texas. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)Water
  
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• Austin-based massage parlor operating 'illicit massage business;' Paxton files lawsuit

  22-02-2024 19:02 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he filed a lawsuit related to an Austin-based massage parlor for allegedly “operating an illicit massage business.”The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said Paxton filed a nuisance abatement lawsuit asking the Williamson County Courts to stop the massage parlor, which he said violated the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.“The lawsuit was filed after an investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General&r
  
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• Moonshot to economic growth: Odysseus lander sets stage for lunar economy

  22-02-2024 18:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – For the first time in fifty years, Americans are returning to the moon.At 4:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday, a commercially operated lunar lander named Odysseus will step upon the lunar shore. With the completion of this mission, a new economy could spring forth, one that will have a direct impact on Central Texas.“It's going to help economically for jobs, for our supply chain, for these companies that are now in the space game,” said Angela Melito, Program Executive with
  
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• You can still call 911 despite AT&T outage

  22-02-2024 17:46 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tens of thousands of AT&T customers are without cell service Thursday as a nationwide outage is impacting their signal. Some T-Mobile and Verizon customers have also reported signal outages, but impacts aren't as widespread as AT&T's.READ MORE: AT&T users report signal outagesKXAN reached out to AT&T to find out what was going on. An AT&T spokesperson said in a statement the company is "working urgently to restore service to [impacted customers]. We
  
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• Weekend Watch: Austin FC opener, Ryan Rodeo & more

  22-02-2024 16:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — So many fun things happen each weekend throughout Central Texas, so KXAN would like to narrow down the list for anyone looking for something to do.Meteorologist Nick Bannin joins KXAN Live anchor Will DuPree to talk through a few events they found on the calendar that people might like to attend. FORECAST: Warmest temperatures of the year so farThursday
  It's National Margarita Day, and a number of restaurants and bars throughout the city are offering specials.Saturday
  Ryan
  
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• LIVE: Weekend Watch: Austin FC opener, Ryan Rodeo & more

  22-02-2024 16:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — So many fun things happen each weekend throughout Central Texas, so KXAN would like to narrow down the list for anyone looking for something to do.Meteorologist Nick Bannin joins KXAN Live anchor Will DuPree to talk through a few events they found on the calendar that people might like to attend. FORECAST: Warmest temperatures of the year so farThursday
  It's National Margarita Day, and a number of restaurants and bars throughout the city are offering specials.Saturday
  Ryan
  
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• Downtown Austin Alliance hosting Spring Festival preview ahead of SXSW

  22-02-2024 14:36 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Downtown Austin Alliance will host an information session Thursday afternoon covering several festivals this spring.According to the Alliance, the Spring Festival Forum will discuss items including schedules, traffic issues, security and parking involving the 2024 South by Southwest Conference and Festivals, SXSW EDU and the CMT Country Music Awards.People from those events and the Austin Police Department and Capital Metro will be at the Feb. 22 forum, the Alliance sai
  
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• Del Valle ISD board president resigns over reinstatement of other board member

  22-02-2024 14:23 via kxan.com
  
  DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) -- Del Valle Independent School District Board President Rebecca Birch resigned from her position at Tuesday night's board meeting.
  The announcement of her resignation preceded the board's reinstatement of trustee member Damian Pantoja after he previously had vacated his seat due to filing homestead tax exemption paperwork in another district last year. DVISD board member out after homestead exemption filing ‘error’Birch's announcement came at the start o
  
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• Austin ISD recalculating high school seniors' GPA and rank after discovering inconsistencies

  22-02-2024 13:53 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Independent School District is recalculating the GPA and class rank for hundreds of high school seniors after discovering inconsistencies in its ranking process. The review of grades has already changed the rank of some students in the top 15 percent of their high school class. The issue dates back to a pandemic-era policy to mark students as pass or incomplete rather than provide a numerical grade. The practice was only used during the Spring 2020 semester, but acco
  
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• AT&T users report signal outages

  22-02-2024 12:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – AT&T and other cellular customers may experience trouble with their phone Thursday morning.According to the tracking website Downdector.com, the number of AT&T outage reports jumped significantly overnight.24 at 2:35 AM Central Time32,653 at 3:35 AM Central Time25,047 at 4:35 AM Central Time
  Verizon and T-Mobile users also reported outages.
  KXAN staff, along with many others online, report a loss of cellular signal – seeing an SOS message instead of bars.KXAN
  
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• AT&T: Systems back online after widespread signal outages

  22-02-2024 12:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) – AT&T and other cellular customers may have experienced trouble with their phones Thursday morning.According to the tracking website Downdetector.com, the number of AT&T outage reports jumped significantly overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.24 at 2:35 a.m. Central Time32,653 at 3:35 a.m. Central Time25,047 at 4:35 a.m. Central Time
  By 8 a.m., there were more than 70,000 outage reports. The number of outages dropped by noon to around 12,000.RELATED: You can sti
  
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• Warmest temperatures of the year so far

  22-02-2024 12:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- You'd never know it's February walking out the door today. Or tomorrow. Or for the next seven days, really.Warm, humid air coming in along south winds this morning will be the foundation for our warm afternoon. An incoming dryline will only enhance today's warm up as west winds behind the boundary boost temperatures well into the 80s.
  IN-DEPTH: a dryline is a boundary between humid air and relatively drier air.Gusty winds likely ThursdayA weak Pacific cold front will arrive late
  
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• Amber Alert issued for abducted teen out of Harris County

  22-02-2024 12:15 via kxan.com
  
  HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Public Safety issued an Amber Alert early Thursday morning for a 13-year-old that authorities say was abducted from the Houston area.According to the alert, the Harris County Sheriff's Office is looking for Cecilia Alvarado. She is 5 feet, 5 inches tall. She weighs 130 pounds. Cecilia has black hair and brown eyes. The alert says she was last seen wearing a gray shirt and black pants.Cecilia Alvarado (Texas DPS)
  Cecilia was last seen at
  
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• Abducted teen out of Harris County found safe

  22-02-2024 12:15 via kxan.com
  
  HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Public Safety issued an Amber Alert early Thursday morning for a 13-year-old authorities said was abducted from the Houston area.Harris County officials later said the child was located and was safePreviously, the child was last seen at 1 a.m. on Wednesday in Sheldon which is northeast of Houston.Law enforcement officials said they believed the child was in “grave or immediate” danger.
  
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• Police conducting homicide investigation in northwest Austin

  22-02-2024 05:12 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department is investigating a homicide in northwest Austin Wednesday night.
  Around 9:30 p.m., APD said on social media that media briefing would be held at 12989 North U.S. Highway 183 service road northbound.Austin-Travis County EMS told KXAN they responded to a call at that location at 5:02 p.m. Sources tell KXAN it was a reported stabbing. ATCEMS medics arrived at the scene at 5:11 p.m. and found an adult who had died.APD would not provide further details ab
  
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• Public safety takes center stage in Democratic primary fight for Travis County District Attorney

  22-02-2024 04:53 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As early voting in the 2024 March primary begins, Travis County has its eyes on the race for its next top prosecutor.Incumbent District Attorney José Garza faces a Democratic challenger, Jeremy Sylestine -- an Austin defense attorney who filed to run against Garza on the last day of filing in December. Sylestine spent 15 years as a prosecutor in the Travis County DA's office, before leaving shortly after Garza took office in 2021.
  In the three years since his election, Ga
  
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• 'HOME' rollout starts slow, homebuilders point to city's previous legal challenges

  22-02-2024 04:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The City of Austin has a turbulent relationship with its Land Development Code -- a set of rules that govern what can be built in our city, how and where.
  City leaders have for years pointed to fixing that Land Development Code (LDC) as one of the major keys to allowing more affordable housing to be built. But changes leaders have made to the code have regularly succumbed to lawsuits.
  "It's really frustrating. And because we've had so many lawsuits, there's a lot of builders I k
  
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• Austin AI company mapping out homeless camps, hopes to help with findings

  22-02-2024 04:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Austin's population continues to increase the city is also seeing more and more people who are experiencing homelessness.According to Echo, an organization who helps track the number of people experiencing homelessness in Austin, there are an estimated 6,683 people who experienced homelessness in Austin or Travis County on a single day in October 2023.This number combines both unsheltered homelessness (people sleeping in tents, cars, abandoned buildings, and other places
  
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• Austin AI company mapping out homeless camps, hopes to help connect people with resources

  22-02-2024 04:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — As Austin's population continues to increase the city is also seeing more and more people who are experiencing homelessness.According to Echo, an organization who helps track the number of people experiencing homelessness in Austin, there are an estimated 6,683 people who experienced homelessness in Austin or Travis County on a single day in October 2023.This number combines both unsheltered homelessness (people sleeping in tents, cars, abandoned buildings, and other places
  
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• No Black jurors selected for trial in Javier Ambler case, sources say

  22-02-2024 03:45 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- Sources confirmed to KXAN on Wednesday that no Black jurors were selected to serve in the trial for two former Williamson County deputies in the death of Javier Ambler.
  Sources said there is one alternate juror who is Black, and another potential juror who is also Black was excluded due to criminal history.
  KXAN requested comment from Judge Karen Sage, however a coordinator for the 299th District Court said Wednesday that she could not provide comment nor confirm.
  
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• The March primary in Texas is often more important than the November general election

  22-02-2024 01:32 via kxan.com
  
  As campaign season nears, politicians are turning up the volume on campaign rhetoric. To cut through the noise, we’re launching Campaign Context, a weekly series providing clarity on the messages you’re hearing from candidates on the campaign trail. We’re digging past the politics and into the facts to provide you with the transparent, spin-free information you need to make informed decisions this election season.AUSTIN (KXAN) — Early voting is now underway for the Texas
  
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• VIDEO: Otter spotted swimming near Luling Dam in San Marcos

  22-02-2024 01:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Monday, a KXAN viewer took a video of an otter swimming in the San Marcos River.Allora Deese was near the Luling Dam when the otter appeared."We were fishing and this Otter kept swimming around us. It was a beautiful moment. I haven't seen an Otter in the San Marcos River in a couple years!!" Deese said.This story came from a ReportIt story tip. Send your own story ideas to [email protected] or through KXAN's contact page.
  
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• Trumps join Paxton's push to defeat some of Texas' top conservative judges

  22-02-2024 01:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- Sharon Keller is no liberal. After 24 years presiding over Texas' highest criminal court, she has earned a reputation as a tough-on-crime Conservative -- a staunch supporter of the death penalty who has earned consistent endorsements from every big-city police association. And yet, she and two other conservative judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals are the latest targets of Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Trump family."Texas is under attack by activist judges like Shar
  
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• 'State of Black Austin': Has the city implemented near-decade changes to improve quality of life?

  22-02-2024 01:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN)—It's been nearly a decade since the City of Austin committed to improving quality of life for Black Austinites.This was a result of data collected that showed greater disparities compared to other groups.Now, some Black community activists and leaders feel promises have gone unfulfilled."You [City of Austin] want us to believe that you actually care about us," Chas Moore with the Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) said. "At what point do we get serious."He said he's outraged and
  
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• Several Central Texas communities going to once-a-week watering restrictions in May

  22-02-2024 01:10 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Several Central Texas areas will soon be limited to outdoor watering no more than once a week, according to a news release from the Lower Colorado River Authority.The new restriction comes due to "serious drought" in Central Texas, according to LCRA. LIST: What are the current watering restrictions in your city?“We don’t know when this drought will end, and we need to cut discretionary water use to help protect and extend our water supplies," LCRA Executive Vice
  
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• Search warrant issued for victim's phone data in attempt to find suspects in car show shooting

  22-02-2024 00:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department has issued a search warrant to Apple Inc. in an attempt to identify more suspects involved in the shooting of a man who was killed at a car show in east Austin earlier this month and the robbery that preceded it, according to an affidavit obtained by KXAN.Police identify man killed in shooting at east Austin car club meetingThe affidavit shows that APD issued the warrant to Apple on Feb. 20 to seize data from accounts linked to Christian Loredo, who
  
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• APD issues search warrant to Apple for phone data of shooting victim in attempt to find suspects

  22-02-2024 00:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department has issued a search warrant to Apple Inc. in an attempt to identify more suspects involved in the shooting of a man who was killed at a car show in east Austin earlier this month and the robbery that preceded it, according to an affidavit obtained by KXAN.Police identify man killed in shooting at east Austin car club meetingThe affidavit shows that APD issued the warrant to Apple on Feb. 20 to seize data from accounts linked to Christian Loredo, who
  
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• Dripping Springs cancels May 4 city election

  22-02-2024 00:27 via kxan.com
  
  DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — On Wednesday, the City of Dripping Springs announced it would be canceling the 2024 municipal elections for mayor, council member place 2 and council member place 4.The city said each candidate was unopposed, and the mayor and city council seats would remain the same.“Per the Texas Election Code, the following candidates have been certified as unopposed and are elected as follows: Mayor, Bill Foulds, Jr. Council Member Place 2, Wade King Council Membe
  
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• Williamson County looks to bring in more Korean businesses, already sees huge economic impact

  22-02-2024 00:23 via kxan.com
  
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A recent visit to South Korea by Williamson County and City of Taylor leaders highlighted ongoing efforts to bring in a variety of businesses including support industries to Samsung's Semiconductor plant in Taylor."While we were there we called on 27 companies in total and we came back with a number of good leads," said Dave Porter, executive director of the Williamson County Economic Development Partnership.Porter was among leaders who traveled to Korea l
  
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