Austin news

• Mental illness, understaffing challenge Texas jails

  10-05-2024 19:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — When Amy Ortiz stepped up to the microphone at a packed Capitol hearing of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, she had one message to the board members: Please keep my brother alive.Ortiz recounted how her family called a crisis line to get help for her mentally ill brother. Instead, the police arrested him and put him in Smith County jail in January 2024. By February’s hearing, Ortiz said her brother’s physical condition was so deteriorated she feared
  
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• 'He wasn't performing': Austin FC sporting director explains Rigoni's buyout, release

  24-05-2024 05:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin FC sporting director Rodolfo Borrell explained Thursday why he decided to waive designated player Emiliano Rigoni and buy out his multi-million dollar contract, and at its core, the decision was simple.Rigoni wasn't performing at the level Borrell expects a Major League Soccer designated player to.
  VERDE LIGHTS: It's back for another season! Tune in at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturdays on CW Austin throughout the season."That's the end of it," Borrell said. "He's a great
  
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• Investigation underway after Travis County inmate dies in custody

  24-05-2024 03:45 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — An investigation is underway after an inmate died at the Travis County Correctional Complex.According to the Travis County Sheriff's Office, Robert Valentina Munguia, 63, was found unresponsive in his unit at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. CPR was administered, but Munguia was later pronounced dead, according to a press release from TCSO.Munguia had been booked into custody on Nov. 26, 2023, on a charge of Injury to a Child/Elderly.The investigation is being conducted
  
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• KIPP students jump in to help during two medical emergencies

  24-05-2024 02:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two students from KIPP Austin Collegiate are being praised after they jumped into action to help their teachers during two separate medical emergencies.The school offers a number of pathways for students, like business or robotics, but it's the lessons that Brittani Love is teaching that are credited with saving two lives."Currently we are doing compressions," said junior Everardo Tovar, as he demonstrated how to perform CPR.Students learn a number of different lessons, lik
  
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• CapTex Tri race organizers prepare for heat, medics on standby

  24-05-2024 02:39 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Along with triple digit heat expected this weekend, there's a triathlon planned on Memorial Day as well.
  The heat has already impacted people in our area. Austin-Travis County EMS told KXAN they have responded to 75 heat-related calls since the start of last month.
  "Five of those were yesterday and we've had three so far today," ATCEMS Captain Christa Stedman said. "It is clear that it's getting warm."Medics on the groundRace organizers said they're ready to handle the heat.
  "Th
  
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• Longhorns, Aggies downplay Lone Star Showdown rivalry headed into softball super regional

  24-05-2024 02:15 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The storied rivalry between Texas and Texas A&M gets another life when the Longhorns rejoin the Aggies in the Southeastern Conference next season, but as far as Texas head softball coach Mike White is concerned, the upcoming super regional series simply pits two great programs against each other, no matter what history says."For us to win the national championship, we have to play everybody and beat good teams," he said during a press conference Thursday. "This is just
  
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• APD searches for 'habitual offender' in series of commercial burglaries

  24-05-2024 01:31 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Thursday, the Austin Police Department requested help finding a suspect in connection with a series of commercial burglaries.APD said beginning in April, there were several reports of business burglaries along US Highway 183 between Interstate 35 to Farm-to-Market 620.Police said the reports each had a “distinct modus operandi (MO) and suspect description,” which detectives used to identify 32-year-old Jose Vega-Martinez as the primary suspect. Police also sa
  
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• Man sentenced following crash that caused San Marcos officer to lose her leg

  24-05-2024 00:59 via kxan.com
  
  HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A San Marcos man was sentenced May 16 following a 2019 crash that led to a San Marcos police officer losing her leg.According to Hays County court documents, 63-year-old Neil Sheehan was charged with failure to slow or vacate lane causing bodily injury, a class B misdemeanor. PAST COVERAGE: San Marcos officer struck by suspected drunk driverFollowing a plea deal, Sheehan received a sentence of 12 months of community supervision.During the supervision, he must co
  
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• Group files lawsuit against City of Austin over Statesman PUD

  24-05-2024 00:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Save Our Springs (SOS) Alliance filed another lawsuit aimed at the City of Austin's proposed use of property just south of the river from downtown, this time targeting the Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the former Statesman property.
  The Statesman PUD was approved by Austin City Council in December 2022.
  Plans for the area include a 275-room high-rise hotel, offices and residential units spread throughout six towers and just under 1,400 living units. It also includes aff
  
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• U-Haul offers a month of free self storage to Temple tornado victims

  24-05-2024 00:22 via kxan.com
  
  TEMPLE, Texas (KXAN) — U-Haul is offering 30 days of free self storage and U-Box container usage to people impacted by the tornado which hit Temple Wednesday night.The National Weather Service gave the tornado a preliminary rating of EF-2, with maximum winds of 120 mph. Additional storm damage surveys are ongoing.In a press release Thursday, the company said access to dry and secure self-storage and portable storage containers was "essential during the recovery process after natural disast
  
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• Houston to host World Baseball Classic rounds in 2026

  23-05-2024 23:10 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In 2026, Houston will have the eyes of the entire sports world on it and not just for the FIFA World Cup.Minute Maid Park and the Houston Astros were selected Thursday as hosts for the opening round and the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. It's the first time in WBC history that games will be held in Houston, and it's one of two US cities to host games with Miami as the other. Opening round games will also be in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Toyko, Japan.MORE
  
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• Texas DPS radio traffic captures clash between law enforcement and protesters on UT campus

  23-05-2024 22:03 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's Note: The above video contains all the radio traffic records from April 24 that KXAN obtained through a public information request to Texas DPS. The photos do not directly correspond with the audio.
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Radio traffic from the Texas Department of Public Safety captured the clash between law enforcement and Pro-Palestinian protesters on the University of Texas campus on April 24. The day marked the first of several days of demonstrations and, ultimately, over 100 arrests
  
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• Concerns addressed at homelessness community meeting in south Austin

  23-05-2024 21:42 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — City and community leaders hosted a "Community Homelessness Meeting" Thursday morning at Woodlawn Baptist Church in south Austin.
  Council members, Austin's Homeless Strategy Officers, and the executive director of Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center on Menchaca Road addressed the challenge of balancing public safety with providing important resources to the homeless community. Crime Imprints: City looks at solutions as concerns grow over homeless activity near elementary sch
  
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• Concerns address at homelessness community meeting in south Austin

  23-05-2024 21:42 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- City and community leaders hosted a "Community Homelessness Meeting" Thursday morning at Woodlawn Baptist Church in south Austin.
  Council members, Austin's Homeless Strategy Officers, and the executive director of Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center on Menchaca Road addressed the challenge of balancing public safety with providing important resources to the homeless community. Crime Imprints: City looks at solutions as concerns grow over homeless activity near elementary schoolMo
  
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• Gravel on your Austin neighborhood street? Here's why

  23-05-2024 21:09 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you've ever came home after a day of work and noticed there's new gravel on the ground, it's probably a temporary, albeit cost effective, road repair known as Sealcoat.KXAN Traffic Anchor Erica Brennes spoke with Jermaine Bunton, division manager of pavement operations with the City of Austin, as workers put down Sealcoat in a northeast Austin neighborhood. Below is a transcript of their discussion, edited for clarity.
  Bunton: "What you see here is our Sealcoat process.
  
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• Travis County District Attorney's Office warns of fraudulent callers posing as office representatives

  23-05-2024 20:57 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Travis County District Attorney's Office is warning people of fraudulent calls being reported in which a person claims to be a staff member with the office.The DA's office said there have been at least two calls reported in the last week in which the caller claimed to be with the DA's office and said the receiver of the call needed to pay a fine.
  In one of the instances, the caller used the correct name of a TCDA staff member and made it seem like they were calling from the
  
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• Report: Nearly 200 people killed in Travis County crashes in 2023

  23-05-2024 20:30 via kxan.com
  
  TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- The Travis County Medical Examiner's Office reported nearly 200 people died in the county from motor vehicle-related deaths in 2023, according to the latest 2023 medical examiner report.The vast majority of those deaths involved automobile fatalities, with 97 people killed in 2023. Following automobile deaths were pedestrian traffic-related fatalities, with 57 killed last year.There were 28 motorcyclists killed, eight cyclists killed, four killed in unknown circums
  
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• Wheatsville Co-op to close Guadalupe store amid Project Connect light rail plans

  23-05-2024 20:29 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Wheatsville Food Co-op's General Manager Bill Bickford confirmed the grocer is planning to move from its Guadalupe flagship location amid Project Connect's planned light rail route.Bickford announced the impending move in a special edition Wheatsville newsletter published online. In an interview with KXAN Thursday, Bickford stressed Wheatsville leaders support expanded public transit services in Austin, referring to the impact to their Guadalupe storefront as part of the "uninte
  
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• Rockdale's 'slow burn' growth accelerates as first subdivision in 40 years moves forward

  23-05-2024 19:20 via kxan.com
  
  ROCKDALE, Texas (Austin Business Journal) -- The effect of the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. factory rising in Taylor has been felt all over the Austin metro, from Bastrop to Buda to Cedar Park. Another city about 30 miles east in Milam County can be added to that list.Rockdale officials are starting to see the first signs of slow-burning growth for the city of 5,588 people for the first time since the height of the Alcoa Corp. aluminum plant decades ago. That growth is trickling out, b
  
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• Leander ISD employee on leave following 'inappropriate' behavior during 8th-grade field trip

  23-05-2024 18:44 via kxan.com
  
  CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — On Wednesday, Cedar Park Middle School sent a notice to the parents of eighth-grade students regarding inappropriate behavior from a Leander ISD employee.The school said there was an incident during a field trip where students reported the alleged inappropriate use of technology by a district employee.“We acted immediately to remove this employee from the location, and they have been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation,” CPMS
  
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• Summer outlook: How a flip to La Niña could stir the Gulf, affect Central Texas

  23-05-2024 17:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- While June 1 marks the beginning of meteorological summer, it also signifies the start of Atlantic Hurricane Season. A number of factors suggest that we could be in for a very busy few months ahead in the tropical Atlantic.El Niño out, La Niña soon to take overAlthough a winter El Niño brought wetter-than-normal conditions to much of Central Texas, it didn't bring enough rain to the Hill Country. Now El Niño is in the process of wrapping up quickly as
  
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• PHOTOS: Buildings destroyed, debris scattered after tornado hits Bell County, Temple

  23-05-2024 17:34 via kxan.com
  
  TEMPLE, Texas (KXAN) — Severe damage was reported after a tornado moved through Bell County Wednesday evening.The City of Temple issued an emergency declaration following the severe weather. RELATED | Tornado hits Temple, Bell County areaStorm damage in Temple, Texas from a tornado that moved through the area on May 22, 2024 (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)Storm damage in Temple, Texas from a tornado that moved through the area on May 22, 2024 (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)Storm damage in Temple, Texas
  
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• Are Texas shoppers legally required to stop for receipt checkers at store exits?

  23-05-2024 17:18 via kxan.com
  
  (FOX40.COM) -- Retailers all over Texas have employees placed at store exits to check receipts as a person leaves as proof of purchase for merchandise. But are shoppers legally required to stop?Most notably, Walmart has asset protection associates, formerly known as door greeters, at every entrance and exit of its stores. While some people choose to wait in line to get their receipts verified before leaving the store, others will breeze by without stopping.   Costco vs. Sam’s Clu
  
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• Road closures planned for CapTex Tri race on Memorial Day

  23-05-2024 16:19 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Bikers, swimmers and runners will gather in downtown Austin on Memorial Day for the 2024 Ascension Seton CapTex Tri. As racers compete in the triathlon course, there will be plenty of road closures and detours in and around downtown.Here's a breakdown of those full and partial road closures, which run from 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday.
  Those seeking alternative traffic routes can use MoPac Expressway, Lamar Boulevard and Interstate 35 for north and southbound traffic. Congress Avenue
  
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• Injured family files lawsuit in fatal Austin hospital crash

  23-05-2024 15:47 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's Note: The video above features Levi and Nadia Bernard sharing about their experience and recovery after a car hit their family inside a north Austin ERProject Summary:This story is part of KXAN’s “Preventing Disaster” investigation, which initially published on May 15, 2024. The project follows a fatal car crash into an Austin hospital’s emergency room earlier that year. Our team took a broader look at safety concerns with that crash and hundreds of others across
  
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• Silver Alert issued for missing 79-year-old Austin man

  23-05-2024 15:39 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department is searching for a missing 79-year-old man who has a cognitive impairment. He was last seen Wednesday night in east Austin.
  A Silver Alert was issued early Thursday morning for Henry Johnson, who was last seen around 11:30 p.m. in the 6500 block of Auburnhill Street in Austin in a black, 2017 GMC Yukon with Texas license plate DV53729.Johnson is described as a Black 79-year-old man who is 5’9” in height, 203 pounds, and bald with brown ey
  
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• What nonstop flights were available when Austin-Bergstrom Airport opened in May 1999?

  23-05-2024 14:30 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thursday marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.The airport opened to the public on May 23, 1999, after the closure of Robert Mueller Municipal Airport, now the Mueller neighborhood in east Austin.A total of 19 airlines currently offer service to 92 destinations, 14 of which are international. When the airport first opened, the number of nonstop routes was about a third of what is available now, with 31 in total. What are the bus
  
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• Exclusive: Drug overdoses leading cause of accidental death in Travis County for third year

  23-05-2024 14:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For the third year in a row, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in Travis County. That will be revealed by the Medical Examiner Thursday afternoon with the release of the 2023 Medical Examiner Report.
  KXAN exclusively received an advanced copy.
  The report shows that in 2023, 486 people died of overdoses in Travis County. That's up from 417 people the year prior. Looking specifically at fentanyl-related deaths, there were 279 in the most recent report compar
  
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• Drug overdoses leading cause of accidental death in Travis County for third year

  23-05-2024 14:00 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For the third year in a row, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in Travis County. That will be revealed by the Medical Examiner Thursday afternoon with the release of the 2023 Medical Examiner Report.
  KXAN exclusively received an advanced copy.
  The report shows that in 2023, 486 people died of overdoses in Travis County. That's up from 417 people the year prior. Looking specifically at fentanyl-related deaths, there were 279 in the most recent report compar
  
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• APD investigating homicide overnight in north Austin

  23-05-2024 12:56 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Police Department is investigating after a man died at an apartment complex in north Austin late Wednesday night.
  APD said around 10 p.m., officers responded to a call at the Villas de la Plaza Apartments on Middle Fiskville Road. That complex is just east of I-35 and north of East Rundberg Lane.
  Officers found a man in his 30s with "signs of trauma to his body" inside an apartment.
  Police said medics arrived to the scene and tried to save him, but he ultimately died.
  
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