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Texas House passes bill that removes Ashe Juniper tree protections, concerning environmentalists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) –  A bill filed by Texas House Rep. Ellen Troxclair, (R-Austin), that would remove municipal protections for Ashe Juniper trees across Texas, was passed by the Texas House of Representatives Wednesday, making it one step closer to becoming law. Some activists worry if this bill is successful, it will have grim repercussions for an already endangered bird and the Hill Country ecosystem at large.HB 2239 would change the state law to add the Ashe Juniper, the tree associated with “cedar fever,” to the list of trees already permitted for removal. Dead or diseased trees and trees that pose an imminent danger are already on the list of trees that can be removed without backlash from a local government.  PREVIOUS: Bill would remove city protections for ‘cedar fever’ Ashe Juniper trees “Just as Ashe Juniper pollen notoriously drifts across Texas each spring, restrictive local policies tend to spread unless stopped,” Troxclair told KXAN’s Cora Neas in March 2023. “S...

Transfers from schools in Texas now playing for Longhorns men's hoops program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns men's basketball program picked up two more players from the transfer portal Thursday.Guard Chendall Weaver from UT Arlington and Ze'rik Onyema, a power forward from UTEP, are the newest Longhorns as Rodney Terry fills out the roster ahead his first official season as the head coach.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/newslettersWeaver averaged 9.5 points per game in his freshman season for the Mavericks, playing 29.5 minutes per game. He appeared off the bench in the first six games of the season and was part of the starting lineup the rest of the season. He scored a career-high 21 points Feb. 4 against Sam Houston that started a streak of six consecutive games in which he scored double figures. He shot 40% from 3-point range for the season.Onyema will be a junior next season and played 20.1 minutes per game for the Miners this past season. He sho...

As Uvalde anniversary nears, 'dead suspect loophole' closer to an end

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Three weeks shy of the one year anniversary of the Uvalde mass shooting, the Texas House has given initial approval of a bill to end the state's so-called "dead suspect loophole" -- the same law used to block the release of records in that case and many others. DENIED: KXAN investigates Texas' 'dead suspect loophole' KXAN has been investigating this issue for five years. On Thursday, the bill, HB 30, passed the House in a vote of 112-31 without debate. House members have to give it one final approval before it heads to the Senate. This is the closest the loophole has ever come to an end. Scot Rice watched the vote from his home in Santa Fe, Texas. It was five years ago this month that his wife, Flo, was shot six times at the high school where she worked. She survived the mass shooting that killed 10 people."The families that lost a loved one have nothing," said Rice, who still wants answers. "They don't have any autopsy reports, no video."Scot and Flo Rice (Court...

If 'cap and stitch' comes to I-35, what should be built over Austin's busiest highway?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

AUSTIN (ABJ) — The city of Austin plans to take advantage of a state effort to transform and expand an 8-mile stretch of I-35 that runs through the core of the city.The Texas Department of Transportation has proposed adding lanes to the interstate, some with tolls, and moving the double-decker highway below ground level — drastic changes for a road that has been a major feature of downtown Austin since the early 1960s. The state agency has said the investment is needed to help with traffic on an already congested road.The city, meanwhile, plans to "cap and stitch" the completed route with a series of bridges and platforms over I-35. "Caps" rest atop the road as plazas, creating a space for greenways, community amenities and new buildings, while "stitches" are smaller bridges that would span the interstate.Read the full story online at the Austin Business Journal.

Law enforcement defends DPS partnership as community advocates raise more concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA) and members of the Austin Justice Coalition view data on DPS traffic stops differently.A group of about 20 people organized by the Austin Justice Coalition took to the City Hall steps Thursday to express their concerns.Those concerns are largely tied to where DPS is more heavily patrolling.The Austin Police Department (APD) dictates where DPS focuses its patrols based on 911 call data for violent crimes. We learned this week, those neighborhoods are Rundberg, Cameron Road and Riverside. "We are Latino-community majority. With African Americans we make up 90 percent of people of color in our Montopolis community," said Montopolis Neighborhood President Susana Almanza at Thursday's press conference.The Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA) sees this data differently and said traffic stops in high-crime areas are pivotal to getting drugs and dangerous people off the street. "I think we need to keep in mind this rhetoric...

Events celebrating Cinco de Mayo in Central Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- If you're looking for ways to celebrate Cinco de Mayo this weekend, there are a few events commemorating the day around Central Texas this weekend. Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.AustinFiesta Austin will celebrate its 49th annual Cinco de Mayo at Fiesta Gardens on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.Gates open at 10 a.m., and the event is free for everyone under 12. There is a $7 charge after 12 p.m., but tickets can be purchased online in advance for $5. There will be food, art, and performances from several musicians and bands, including mariachis. There will also be a Kids Zone from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.Find details about the event and performers online. KyleIn Kyle, the city is spotlighting a local artist's work all month long to commemorate Cinco de Mayo.  Various pieces of art done by Anna Martinez Boling will be on dis...

Max Hastings: Britain needs a King, even if it’s Charles III

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

This Saturday morning, tens of millions of people all over the world will switch on their screens to watch an elderly English couple borne in a rattling coach to Westminster Abbey, where they will be adorned with crowns much bigger than their nation’s modern importance justifies. The Royal Family is an element of Britain that still commands fascination as a gilded soap opera.A cynic might suggest that the absence from the ceremony of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will slightly diminish TV audiences. Had she attended, some people would have watched in order to see whether Prince Harry’s American wife would precipitate a row, or if one of the royals might gain revenge for all the grief her verbal assaults have inflicted on them.As it is, King Charles III’s younger son — the “spare” as he calls himself in the title of his best-selling autobiography — will attend the ceremony but then hasten back to his new home in California, where he and Meghan s...

A sign he’s feeling good: Twins’ Byron Buxton steals two bases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

CHICAGO — How’s this for a sign that designated hitter Byron Buxton has been feeling pretty good lately? The speedy-but-injured center fielder forced to DH to open the season is once again stealing bases.After not attempting a steal in all of April, Buxton did so twice in as many days against the White Sox during the first two games of the series, and was safe on both attempts.“Feel good, take your chances. Some days you feel better than others,” Buxton said. “So you do what you can to help the team on the days you feel good, and the days you don’t, back up a little bit.”For Buxton, the decision to run appears to rest heavily on how he’s feeling on any given day. He had season-ending knee surgery last season and the Twins have kept him in a strictly designated hitter role this year, out of center field, as they manage his workload.“Some days he’s running well, very well, and other days he’s not,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “On the days he’s not, he’s not going to be stealing bases...

Carrie Fisher gets her Walk of Fame star, on May the Fourth (be with you)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Carrie Fisher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, a May the Fourth tribute to a beloved “Star Wars” actor that had a touch of stardust.The late star’s daughter, Billie Lourd, wearing her mother’s portrait printed on her metallic dress, accepted the star on behalf of Fisher. She threw glitter, her mother’s favorite, on the newly unveiled star.“My mom used to say you weren’t actually famous until you became a Pez dispenser. Well, people eat candy out of her neck every day. I say you aren’t actually famous until you get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” she said. “My mom is a double-whammy — a Pez dispenser and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame now. Mama, you’ve made it.”Mark Hamill, who played Fisher’s space brother, Luke Skywalker, was also on hand, and recalled meeting the young actor when she was just 19.“She played such a crucial role in my personal and professional life and both would have been far emptier without her. Was she a ha...

St. Paul bedroom invader sentenced for rape, four other cases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:13 GMT

A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 12½ years in prison for raping a woman and attempting to sexually assault a 14-year-old girl after sneaking into their bedrooms on the city’s East Side in 2021.Dawada Steven Deputie was convicted Wednesday of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of first-degree burglary in connection with five cases filed against him in Ramsey County District Court.Dawada Steven Deputie (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)The 34-year-old had reached a plea deal with the prosecution Jan. 9 that included the 150-month prison term and dismissing six other charges. After confinement, Deputie must serve a statutorily required 10 years of conditional release and register as a predatory offender.According to the charges, Deputie raped the woman May 23, 2021, after they met at a bonfire the night before at a home along Wheelock Parkway west of Jackson Street. After drinking and smoking ma...