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Over 2,000 volunteers clean up Lady Bird Lake for Earth Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Earth Day weekend kicked off with a massive volunteer effort to pick up litter in Lady Bird Lake and on the land nearby.The Rowing Dock, Epic SUP and Sand Beach Park came together for the cleanup's second year, with more than 2,300 volunteers attending. The event is also a fundraiser for The Trail Conservancy. 2022: Earth Day cleanup crews remove tons of trash from Lady Bird Lake Volunteers worked during three time slots: 9:30 a.m., Noon and 2:30 p.m. The docks provided kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards for volunteers to use.Volunteers launch from the Rowing Dock to gather trash from the banks of Lady Bird Lake in Austin. (KXAN Photos/Cora Neas)Volunteers pick up trash under Mopac. (KXAN Photos/Cora Neas)Volunteers scour the banks of Lady Bird Lake for trash. (KXAN Photos/Cora Neas)Volunteers also went through the brush near the lake for trash. (KXAN Photos/Cora Neas)Kate Aoueille, Rowing Dock director of marketing, said that this year has around 1,000 more...

Austin program helps people repair items so they don’t end up in the landfill 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The City of Austin has an ambitious zero-waste goal to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills by 90% by 2040. One program helping the City reach that goal is Fix-It Austin, which aims to educate Austinites about the value of repairing and reusing. “We've just been so immersed in this culture of like, ‘We need to have new [and] we need to have it now,’” Maddie Morgan, a program manager with Austin Resource Recovery said. “We just kind of have fallen into this cycle of buying things and getting rid of them. So repair is an important aspect and can help reduce consumption.” The program has quarterly “clinics,” where residents can bring inoperative electronics or holey clothes. At the clinics, several “coaches” with different areas of expertise will work with residents to try and repair their items. Fix-it Austin has an upcoming in-person clinic May 20 and several other virtual classes online. The goal of the program is to try to equip residents with...

SILVER ALERT: Austin man found safe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A 65-year-old Austin man at the center of a Silver Alert has been found safe, the Austin Police Department said Friday afternoon. The man was previously last seen in the Kimble Cove and Ohlen Road area on Thursday.

Twins, Pablo López make extension official: ‘I’m ready to live and breathe Minnesota Twins baseball’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

One of the first things Pablo López did on the day he was traded from Miami to Minnesota in January was acquire contact information for the Twins’ community relations staff in search of ways to make an impact in his new hometown.Upon his arrival in spring training, López had a favor to ask: The starting pitcher wanted to show up to Hammond Stadium early, before his teammates, to make sure he was able to get all of his work in.In the months between the Jan. 20 trade and Friday, when a four-year, $73.5 million contract extension with the starter became official, the Twins have seen a countless number of examples from the 27-year-old, both on and off the field, that have convinced them that López was the right guy to reward with the largest contract given to a pitcher in team history.“It’s rare … when you read the scouting reports that you look on paper and the player exceeds everything that’s written there and it says ‘high character’ and it says ‘incredible work ethic’ and it says ev...

Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul expected to reach major flood stage soon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

Fed by fresh rain, the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul was expected to reach the major flood stage of 17 feet on Friday evening, flooding the Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion, picnic tables, parklands and other low-lying areas beneath Water Street nearly to the Harriet Island playground.The National Weather Service has repeatedly revised forecasts for the river’s crest, with the latest estimates calling for the river waters to plateau by Monday before rising again to peak at 18.8 feet next Friday, April 28. The river would have to surpass 19.02 feet — recorded on March 29, 2011 — to reach a historic top 10 crest level.Um guys… pic.twitter.com/1UOl7flo6F— Frederick Melo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) April 21, 2023In 2014 and 2019, the river surpassed 20 feet downtown, touching the bottom of the swings within the Harriet Island playground. The highest crest ever recorded in downtown St. Paul was 26.01 feet on April 16, 1965.Flood waters are back at Harriet Is...

Gov. Walz may rent UMN presidents’ home instead of house on Sunfish Lake

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents will consider renting Eastcliff, which is typically where the institution’s president resides, to Gov. Tim Walz and his family while the Governor’s residence is renovated.The regents will consider the $4,400 monthly lease agreement during a special meeting at 3 p.m. on Monday. Joan Gabel, the current university president, is expected to leave this summer for a job at the University of Pittsburgh.Walz had plans to rent an 8,000 square-foot Sunfish Lake home for $17,000 a month or roughly $300,000 for the time the family needs to relocate. Some Republican lawmakers were critical of the high cost of renting the home.The Governor’s Residence on Summit Avenue in St. Paul is set to get a $6.3 million renovation starting in June and lasting about 18 months.The Minnesota Governor’s Residence on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)If the regents approve the deal, in addition to rent the state would be respon...

Supreme Court pauses abortion pill restrictions from taking effect during appeal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

Access to the common abortion pill mifepristone will remain unchanged, for now, after the Supreme Court sided Friday with the Biden administration and paused a lower court ruling.The justices, in a brief order, said they will put on hold a ruling from a Texas federal judge while the Biden administration’s appeal proceeds.Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the court's conservatives, said they would have denied the request for a pause.On April 7, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of mifepristone. Kacsmaryk ruled the agency’s approval process was improperly rushed and resulted in an unsafe drug regimen getting on the market.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week paused part of Kacsmaryk's ruling until it considers the government’s appeal, temporarily preserving the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone. But it left in place another part of the ruling that blocked steps th...

Man arrested for shots at Koeneman Park, threatened to kill girlfriend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

JENNINGS, Mo. - A man is behind bars after gunfire at a north St. Louis County park earlier this week, which reportedly happened after he threatened to kill his girlfriend. Mario Hudgins faces 12 felonies in the investigation. His slate of charges includes armed criminal action and domestic assault, kidnapping. Police arrested Hudgins late Wednesday evening. According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Hudgins shot at his girlfriend, but missed, at Koeneman Park around 3 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities then received a shot spotter alert and rushed to the scene. Trending: Is it legal to collect rainwater in Missouri & Illinois? As police first attempted to confront Hudgins, he reportedly flashed his gun at the first officer to respond and ran away. More police began arriving to a scene, and a foot chase followed. Hudgins climbed a fence during the chase and dropped his gun, per court documents. Eventually, police tracked his location and found him barricaded in a sewer. After s...

St. Louis police chief’s comment about prosecution crisis may surprise you

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy discussed issues with the Circuit Attorney’s Office during the chief’s news conference regarding his first 100 days.Tracy responded to questions about the office by saying the following:“We are professionals here. We’ll make sure we bring the best case forward, and my job is to make sure that we’re working well with all of our criminal justice partners.”Tracy delicately addressed issues at the Circuit Attorney’s Office that even a spokesperson for the judges called “untenable.” During Tuesday’s quo warranto hearing, Booker Shaw told the judge, “The Circuit Attorney’s Office is now in a state of near total collapse.”Tracy addressed concerns by turning it back on himself. Top Story: Missing Texas teens sold for sex in Missouri “My job is to make sure that we do everything we can do right," he said. "If there are issues on the policing side, I’ve got to make sure we identify them to bring the best case forward.”His answers were consiste...

Spring tour! Fox Hill near Parker has seven custom designs to visit, all wrapped in space and scenery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:26 GMT

Spring Fling Home Tour at Fox Hill, Today thru Apr. 30What: Spring Fling Home Tour at Fox Hill, view 7 homes, all ready for spring move-in, on sites from 1.5 acre to 3 acres, wrapped in native trees & views.Where: 2562 Fox View Trail, Franktown; from E-470 head south on Parker Rd 8 mi. to Bayou Gulch Rd., left on Bayou Gulch, east 5 mi. to Flintwood, turn south one milePrice: From $1.8MWhen: Sunday, April 23 and then Thurs-Sun thru April 30, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.Phone: 303-620-6677More Info: LiveInFoxHill.comAt a moment when the state legislature is opting whether to increase the density of existing neighborhoods across urban Colorado, one of the last remaining communities with truly large home sites is seeing sales explode.You can come tour the newest designs that custom builders are creating for that market today and later this week, as Fox Hill stages a Spring Fling Custom Home Tour just south of Parker.“We’re literally seeing an explosion of families reaching for more space, ...