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Accountability at Austin Energy? Historic documents reveal potential for independent board

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Jessica Parker vividly remembers the week she spent without power in her Austin apartment during the winter storm in 2021. "At one point, I had to give up on the refrigerator," she said. "I opened it, and it was warmer in the refrigerator than it was inside the apartment." INVESTIGATION: Whose power gets shutoff during winter storms and for how long? Across town, a woman named Julie logged onto Nextdoor, looking for where to buy food and clean water. She moved to Austin from Chicago the year prior and had not "stocked up" on supplies. "I wasn't ready for Armageddon because an inch of snow, to me, is like nothing," Julie said. She didn't expect the city to shut down. Through a thread on the site, Julie, Jessica and a group of other Austinites connected and started asking questions: why had their power had gone out? Who was responsible? Who is in charge of overseeing the utility?These two Austin residents met online in the wake of the 2021 winter storm and both s...

Lawsuit: Texas school districts ask court to temporarily stop new A-F ratings

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

Del Valle, TEXAS (KXAN) -- Del Valle Independent School District and six other districts are suing the head of the Texas Education Agency over the agency’s decision to change how the state grades schools. The lawsuit against Education Commissioner Mike Morath alleges the changes will arbitrarily lower performance ratings for many school districts and individual schools even if their performance improved. The districts are asking a judge to temporarily stop the state from issuing ratings based on the new methods.  TEA refreshing ‘A-F’ accountability rating system “A school district that should receive an A rating for this component based on the 10 current measures, methods, and procedures could receive a D rating for this component even if performance has improved,” the lawsuit stated, referring to the College, Career and Military Readiness part of the accountability rating. The lawsuit also alleges the TEA did not give the legally required notice to school districts...

Live: Trump arrives in Georgia, headed to county jail for booking on 2020 election charges

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump arrived in Georgia on Thursday evening to surrender on charges that he illegally schemed to overturn the 2020 election in that state, a county jail booking expected to yield a historic first: a mug shot of a former American president.Trump's surrender, coming amid an abrupt shake-up of his legal team, follows the presidential debate in Milwaukee the night before featuring his leading rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination — a contest in which he remains the leading candidate despite broad legal troubles. His presence in Georgia, though likely brief, is swiping the spotlight anew from his opponents after the debate in which they sought to seize on his absence to elevate their own presidential prospects.Trump landed in Atlanta around 7 p.m. and was to be driven, though rush-hour traffic, to jail for a booking process.The Fulton County prosecution is the fourth criminal case against Trump since March, when he became ...

Raul Meza: Interview with victim's daughters, catch up on the case

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

KXAN crime reporter Brianna Hollis and digital reporter Sam Stark dive into the investigations into Raul Meza Jr. on "KXAN Live: The Meza Case" to give you a look behind the curtain at the team's coverage. You can watch the streams live on Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m.AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Raul Meza, 62, is a convicted murderer who now faces charges in the 2019 death of his neighbor and the May 2023 death of an 80-year-old man. TIMELINE: What we know of Raul Meza’s criminal history The Austin Police Department arrested him in May after he called and confessed to the murder of Jesse Fraga, 80, of Pflugerville, and implicated himself in the death of Gloria Lofton, 65, of east Austin. Meza's criminal history dates back to his juvenile years and includes a murder conviction in the death of 8-year-old Kendra Page, who he killed while on parole for an aggravated robbery sentence. Brianna and Sam address the following topics in this week's episode:Sam's interview with Lofton's daughtersAPD...

Gus Varland earns first big league win as Dodgers beat Guardians, 6-1

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

CLEVELAND — Mookie Betts matched his career high with five hits and drove in two runs, and North St. Paul graduate Gus Varland earned his first major league victory as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Guardians, 6-1, on Thursday in the completion of a suspended game.Betts singled four times in the first six innings and had a two-run double in the eighth for the National League West-leading Dodgers, who are 18-3 in August. The seven-time All-Star, who also had five hits for Boston against Kansas City on Aug. 26, 2016, is batting .561 during an 11-game hitting streak and has a .456 average this month.Varland, the older brother of Twins prospect Louie Varland, worked 1⅓ innings, striking out three, for his first big league win as seven pitchers combined for a four-hitter. In three appearances since joining the Dodgers this month, Varland has allowed one earned run in five innings pitched.Guardians starter Xzavion Curry (3-2) gave up three runs in three innings.The teams were to play th...

Dairy is in, pickles are out: Our definitive rankings of the State Fair’s new foods for 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

The sun is shining. The crowds are ready. The Minnesota State Fair is on. It’s time to go outside and eat.As usual, the Pioneer Press crew started bright and early on Thursday, the first day, to taste through all 34 official new foods. But this year, we’re not simply giving you a list of our thoughts — no, we’re ranking the best, the worst and everything on a stick in between. Some foods didn’t make the top 15 or the bottom 10, so those are your call.Family, friends and fairgoers offered their tastebuds and opinions for our rankings, too.Here’s what we tried and what we think. What was your favorite new food? Think we screwed up? Let us know at [email protected] BESTCounting down to our No. 1 favorite 2023 Minnesota State Fair new food.15. Cheese Curd Stuffed Pizza Pretzel ($9)Cheese Curd Stuffed Pizza Pretzel from Green Mill at the 2023 Minnesota State Fair. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)What is it: Scratch-made jumbo pizza dough pretzel, hand-twisted...

St. Paul City Council apologizes for hiring process around Hmong city staffer to Black reparations commission

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

The St. Paul City Council issued a joint written apology on Thursday for the hiring process surrounding the sole staffer for its new Community Reparations Commission.The apology follows a public protest Tuesday outside St. Paul City Hall, where some 15-20 Black civic and elected leaders said the council had erred in offering the role of senior policy analyst to a Hmong woman rather than a Black descendant of American chattel slavery or a descendent of the city’s historically-Black Rondo neighborhood.The council’s apology, released by Director of Council Operations Brynn Hausz, noted the “council and its central staff would like to acknowledge and apologize for the pain caused in the course of this process.”It was still unclear on Thursday the circumstances surrounding the hiring process, including how many applicants were interviewed for the staff position and by whom.Nathaniel Khaliq, president emeritus of the St. Paul NAACP and an appointee on the commissio...

Judge to decide if Missouri can restrict gender-affirming care to minors

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Missouri is just days away from a new law going into effect banning transgender minors from gender-affirming care, but a judge could halt the measure from going into place.It was the headline of the legislative session, restricting gender-affirming care for minors, and now it's set to go into effect Monday, but Attorney General Andrew Bailey and families of transgender children spent the week in court fighting over the new law. It's now up to the judge to decide how the court challenge plays out."We're going to defend it against the attack, and we anticipate winning on the merits of that case," Bailey said in an exclusive interview with our Missouri Chief Capitol Bureau Reporter Emily Manley. "Our role is to defend the statute enacted by the General Assembly. Activists on the other side of the political spectrum attack these laws and don't like that state legislatures are passing these laws."It was a priority for Republicans and the governor to prohibit doctors...

Kansas City, Missouri, says US investigating alleged racism at fire department

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department is under a U.S. Department of Justice investigation for alleged racial discrimination, a Kansas City spokesperson confirmed to The Kansas City Star Thursday. Associated Press phone calls requesting comment from the federal agency were not immediately returned Thursday. Three Black firefighters told the newspaper that they were interviewed by the Department of Justice within the past year about racism and their treatment at the agency. A Black firefighter sued last week, claiming he was retaliated against for talking to the Justice Department, the newspaper reported.The federal investigation comes after The Kansas City Star reported on unwritten rules within the department that kept Black firefighters from preferred stations, hampered their ability to be promoted and often left them ostracized in majority-white stations.In one incident, a white fire cadet “joked” that his favorite knot was a noose and placed it around...

What Jerry Jeudy’s hamstring injury means for Broncos’ early season plans, roster going forward

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:21:31 GMT

Just before the Broncos broke minicamp for summer break in mid-June, Tim Patrick thought about a potential reunion tour and couldn’t help but smile.“It would be amazing, honestly,” the Denver wide receiver said. “I think we’ve got two or three games together. It’s something that we all want. That’s the whole point of asking KJ (Hamler) to live with us, to make sure this season there’s no excuses.”The “we” Patrick referred to: Himself and fellow Broncos wide receivers Hamler, Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. Patrick’s memory was spot on. The quartet all had been part of the organization since the 2020 draft, when the club used its first two picks on Jeudy and Hamler. They joined Sutton coming off a breakout 2019 season and Patrick working his way from undrafted free agent to special teams standout to reliable receiver.Since then, the Broncos have played 50 regular-season games. Those four receivers have never played a full one together. Half of Week 2 in 2020 before Sutton tore his ...