Austin news

• Texas inspections again snarl truck traffic at Mexican border

  29-04-2024 22:53 via kxan.com
  
  EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Trucks carrying merchandise to the U.S. are sitting in line for hours at the El Paso-Juarez border, as the Texas Department of Public Safety has resumed enhanced inspections of commercial vehicles.The trucks are waiting 480 minutes (eight hours) or more to cross the border at the Ysleta port of entry, when the usual wait time is about an hour, according to the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.Border Patrol says it’s ready for new mi
  
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• Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, an Austin Westlake graduate, loses fight against ruling that keeps her from elite events

  13-06-2024 02:41 via kxan.com
  
  (AP) — Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas failed in her challenge against rules that stop her from competing in elite women’s races because judges ruled she did not have standing to bring the case.The Court of Arbitration for Sport panel of three judges dismissed Thomas’ request for arbitration with the World Aquatics governing body, in a ruling released Wednesday.World Aquatics banned transgender women who have been through male puberty from competing in women’s races. It al
  
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• Changes coming? Alamo Drafthouse acquired by Sony

  13-06-2024 02:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — In a city known for keeping it weird, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and it's many locations around the area have long been an Austin Landmark.On Wednesday, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced it would acquire Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.What does that mean for the movie theater moving forward?We asked movie goers if they were worried this move could mean big changes for the popular movie theaters."I hope that they don't, I feel like Austin already has enough of that, so I would
  
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• Texas men's hoops opens first SEC-ACC Challenge against 2024 Final Four team NC State

  13-06-2024 02:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas men's basketball team will take on a 2024 Final Four team in its first appearance in the SEC-ACC Challenge.The Longhorns will head to Raleigh, North Carolina on Dec. 4 to take on the N.C. State Wolfpack, a team that made an improbable run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed in last year's March Madness tournament.
  MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersIt's
  
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• Flores, Belyeu named to baseball writers' All-America team

  13-06-2024 01:20 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two Texas Longhorns baseball players can call themselves All-Americans this season.ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 22: Texas outfielder Max Belyeu (44) holds up the Hook 'Em Horns sign after hitting a home run during the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship game between Texas and Cincinnati on May 22, 2024, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
  Sophomore shortstop Jalin Flores and sophomore outfielder Max Belyeu were name
  
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• Bush Foundation celebrates George H.W. Bush's 100th birthday, legacy at Texas A&M

  13-06-2024 01:05 via kxan.com
  
  COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KXAN) — Texas A&M is holding a series of events celebrating what would have been former President George H.W. Bush’s 100th birthday on June 12.
  The George & Barbara Bush Foundation’s 41@100 centennial celebration from June 11-13 will include events for Bush administration alumni, commemorative parachute jumps by President Bush’s grandchildren and performances from country music stars Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen.  During the three-
  
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• Texas' push for election transparency met with unintended consequences 

  13-06-2024 00:54 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) — New Texas laws met to promote transparency in election results are having some unintended consequences, a top state election official told lawmakers Wednesday.
  In 2023, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 5180, which allows the public to access public election records 61 days after an election. Republicans said it was necessary to promote transparency in elections — which became increasingly important to GOP lawmakers nationwide after former President Donald Trump pr
  
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• LGBTQ+ Pride flags fly for first time outside Austin police headquarters, other city facilities

  13-06-2024 00:27 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The flag pole in front of the Austin Police Department's downtown headquarters has a colorful new addition this month.
  Police are flying the rainbow LGBTQ+ Pride flag in front of their tall, brick building along the southbound Interstate 35 frontage road near East Eighth Street. A spokesperson confirmed Wednesday this is the first time the department is doing this, too, at all of its buildings.Pride flag repeatedly stolen from outside Cedar Park churchKXAN asked why Austin
  
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• Texas Longhorns capture 3rd Learfield Directors' Cup in last 4 seasons

  13-06-2024 00:26 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns have the best overall athletic program once again, according to the Learfield Directors' Cup results released Tuesday.Even with the Men's College World Series left to be played, the Longhorns have a big enough lead over the field to clinch the cup for the third time in four years. Texas has 1,339.50 points, ahead of Stanford with 1,312.75 and Tennessee with 1,117. Florida (1,106) and UCLA (1,017.5) round out the top five.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to d
  
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• Downtown program aims to fill vacant storefronts with small businesses and artists

  13-06-2024 00:07 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) --- The Downtown Austin Alliance (DAA) wants to see fewer boarded and locked up storefronts in the downtown area.
  According to this year's State of Downtown report, 12% of storefronts were empty in 2023. That was up from 10% the year before.DAA Chief Impact Officer Jenell Moffett said there are vacancies in both office spaces and storefronts.Downtown Austin Alliance said storefront vacancies were up by 2% in 2023. (Photo: KXAN)Downtown Austin Alliance said storefront vacancies were
  
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• Deer may fight off-leash dogs during fawn season

  12-06-2024 23:58 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Late spring and during the summer, white-tailed deer in Texas are birthing their fawns. During this time, dog owners should keep their pets on leash while outside.A San Marcos resident sent KXAN video on Sunday, which shows a deer charging him and his dog while out on a walk during May 2023."I've had two separate instances of mother deer almost charging me this week," the viewer said in an email. "The deer in San Marcos are in fawn season so they're bein
  
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• Austin Police looking for 58-year-old man last seen in southwest Austin

  12-06-2024 23:37 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department is asking for the public's help finding a 58-year-old man last seen in southwest Austin, APD said in a press release on Wednesday.In the release, APD said it was concerned for Jon Stamm's wellbeing.Austin Police said Stamm was reported missing on Tuesday at 5 p.m. He was last seen at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning at his home located in the 10400 block of Wolftrap Drive, which is near Slaughter and Brodie Lane.Stamm was described by police as being 5
  
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• Texas-OU WCWS finals the highest-rated NCAA softball series ever on ESPN

  12-06-2024 22:40 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — It was a great year for college softball on ESPN.The cable sports giant released viewership numbers for their softball telecasts in 2024, and the Women's College World Series championship series featuring Texas and Oklahoma was the most-watched series on record, averaging 2 million viewers. The Sooners topped the Longhorns 2-0 in the best-of-three series to claim their fourth consecutive NCAA Division I softball championship. The first game averaged 1.9 million viewers whil
  
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• Ascension says 'small number of files' taken during hack

  12-06-2024 22:32 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Ascension provided an update Wednesday about the May ransomware attack on its servers, and said an investigation by third-party experts is beginning to uncover the extent of the attack.The weeks-long system intrusion began when an "individual working in one of our facilities" downloaded a malicious file they believed to be legitimate, according to the Wednesday update."We have no reason to believe this was anything but an honest mistake," the spokesperson said. "To our pati
  
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• Bitcoin, AI and the Texas grid: Lawmakers consider action

  12-06-2024 22:21 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Senate Committee on Business and Commerce convened Wednesday morning to evaluate the state of the electric grid, examine the impact of last year's investments into generating power, and hear striking statistics on the energy demands of the Bitcoin and artificial intelligence sectors.ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas told lawmakers that one graphics processing unit, a core technology for Artificial Intelligence (AI), uses as much power as an average home uses in an entire year. He com
  
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• Reports: Austin-Round Rock 15th in US for apartment vacancies; 66% of home listings 'stale'

  12-06-2024 21:35 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin-Round Rock Metro area is 15th in the nation for vacant apartments, according to a report from construction industry blog Construction Coverage.The report states that 9% of apartments in the Austin metro are vacant. This is up since 2023, when 7.3% of apartments were vacant.All of Texas (9.2%, fifth highest for U.S. states) and Houston's metro (10.9%) both have vacancy rates above the Austin metro, but San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth areas are slightly under (ar
  
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• Travis County judge dismisses AG Paxton lawsuit over Austin marijuana ordinance

  12-06-2024 21:22 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A Travis County judge dismissed a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over the City of Austin's voter-approved marijuana ordinance, according to Ground Game Texas and court documents.
  In 2022, voters in the City of Austin passed Proposition A, which effectively decriminalized low-level possession of marijuana. Nearly 80% of Austinites voted 'yes' on that measure.
  It was also something that was already in practice. In 2020, the Austin Police Department issued a general
  
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• Bastrop could be the next Texas town to decriminalize low-level marijuana offenses

  12-06-2024 20:47 via kxan.com
  
  BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) – Bastrop could be the next Central Texas town to see a marijuana decriminalization measure go in front of voters.Inspired by a recent effort in Lockhart, Desiree Venable, who’s running for the Texas House of Representatives in District 17, is collecting signatures to get a measure in front of voters this fall that, if passed, would decriminalize low-level marijuana offenses in the city. “We've only been doing this for less than two weeks, and we have
  
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• Majority of UT Austin staff to return to full-time in-person work

  12-06-2024 20:43 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The majority of staff at The University of Texas at Austin will return to work in person full-time in the fall, UT officials announced Wednesday.UT President Jay Hartzell said the change is in an effort to best support "an environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, availability, and reliability," the announcement read in part. Come early July, university leadership will finish plans outlining full-time, on-site work for the majority of staff.
  Staff members can most effe
  
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• Federal judge blocks Biden administration move to expand Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students

  12-06-2024 20:34 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A Texas federal judge blocked the Biden administration's efforts to extend federal anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ students.In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Reed O'Connor said the Biden administration lacked the authority to make the changes and accused it of pushing “an agenda wholly divorced from the text, structure, and contemporary context of Title IX.” Title IX is the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational settings. Gov. Abbott
  
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• Sony Pictures acquires Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the dine-in movie theater chain

  12-06-2024 20:13 via kxan.com
  
  Sony Pictures Entertainment is getting into the exhibition business. The studio behind recent films like “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and “The Garfield Movie” has acquired the distinctive theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the companies said Wednesday. Included in the deal is the genre film festival Fantastic Fest.Sony said it will continue to welcome content from all studios and distributors at the dine-in theaters.6 Alamo Drafthouse theaters shutter outside Austin metro,
  
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• Affidavit: North Austin stabbing stemmed from parking lot fight

  12-06-2024 20:10 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A stabbing in north Austin over the weekend that left several people injured stemmed from a fight in an apartment complex parking lot, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KXAN.
  Austin Police said officers responded to a shoot/stab call at 8:42 p.m. Sunday at an apartment complex on North Lamar Boulevard. Five people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Previous coverage: 5 injured in stabbing in north AustinThe suspect was identified in
  
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• 'The Olympic Curse is over': ATX Rower to compete in Paris, relatives have tried to qualify for decades

  12-06-2024 20:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — "The curse has been broken!," Matt Knifton said ecstatic, as he took his morning row down Lady Bird Lake.
  Matt Knifton, owner of Texas Rowing Center is heading to Paris to watch his daughter compete in 2024 Olympic Games for rowing. (KXAN photos/Jala Washington).Knifton has been rowing competitively, training in Austin for the last 38 years. He tried to qualify for the Olympics in rowing back in 1992. And his father, a National Team Race Walker, also had Olympic dreams.
  Kat
  
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• 'Olympic Curse is over': Austin Rower to compete in Paris, relatives have tried to qualify for decades

  12-06-2024 20:06 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — "The curse has been broken!," Matt Knifton said ecstatic, as he took his morning row down Lady Bird Lake.
  Matt Knifton, owner of Texas Rowing Center is heading to Paris to watch his daughter compete in 2024 Olympic Games for rowing. (KXAN photos/Jala Washington).Knifton has been rowing competitively, training in Austin for the last 38 years. He tried to qualify for the Olympics in rowing back in 1992. And his father, a National Team Race Walker, also had Olympic dreams.
  Kat
  
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• Pitbull to perform at University of Texas' SEC Celebration this month

  12-06-2024 19:51 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Mr. Worldwide himself will land right here in Austin for a free concert on June 30 in front of the University of Texas tower.
  It's part of the university's SEC Celebration to mark the Longhorns officially moving to the Southeastern Conference. UT describes the celebration as an "all-day party" across its campus, culminating in the global superstar's performance.‘Texas-sized’ celebration set for Longhorns’ official move to SECThe event has free admission an
  
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• LIVE: Austin Police responding to suspicious package call outside elementary school

  12-06-2024 18:57 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police are responding to a suspicious package call outside of a southeast Austin elementary school Wednesday morning, according to an APD post on social media.APD said the reported suspicious package is in the 7500 block of South Pleasant Valley Road, which is the address for Cortez Elementary School. APD confirmed the package was found outside of the school.Police shared information about the incident at 11:44 a.m. WednesdayAPD is asking people to avoid the area. Dr
  
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• Austin Police responding to suspicious package call outside elementary school

  12-06-2024 18:57 via kxan.com
  
  Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Wednesday, June 12, 2024.AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police are responding to a suspicious package call outside of a southeast Austin elementary school Wednesday morning, according to an APD post on social media.APD said the reported suspicious package is in the 7500 block of South Pleasant Valley Road, which is the address for Cortez Elementary School. APD confirmed the package was found outside of the school.Police sha
  
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• All clear given after police investigate suspicious package at southeast Austin school

  12-06-2024 18:57 via kxan.com
  
  AUSTIN (KXAN) — Police cleared the scene Wednesday afternoon after determining a suspicious package spotted by staff members outside of a southeast Austin elementary school was not an explosive device.A lieutenant with the Austin Independent School District Police Department told reporters that officers responded at about 9:53 a.m. based on a report from a worker at Perez Elementary School, located at 7500 S. Pleasant Valley Road. That person said they saw a "suspicious package" outside th
  
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• Amber Alert issued for 6-year-old girl from San Antonio

  12-06-2024 16:41 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KXAN) -- An Amber Alert was issued for a six-year-old girl who was last seen in San Antonio early Wednesday morning.
  Police are searching for Kennedy Harrington, 6. She was last seen in the 13100 block of Beals Circle in San Antonio around 7:47 a.m. Wednesday.
  Harrington is described as a Black girl with hazel eyes and sandy-colored hair. She is 3'6" in height and 60 lbs.
  She was last seen with Deandre Harrington, 36. He's described a Black man with brown eyes and black hair.
  
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• Amber Alert discontinued after San Antonio girl found safe, officials say

  12-06-2024 16:41 via kxan.com
  
  SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KXAN) -- A 6-year-old girl at the center of a recent Amber Alert in Texas is now back with family, according to authorities.
  The Amber Alert initially reported the girl was last seen in San Antonio early Wednesday morning. In an update, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said deputies have reported that she is safe.
  As a result, the Amber Alert has been discontinued, the sheriff's office said.
  The Amber Alert also said the girl was last seen with a 36-year-old man. The man was
  
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