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'Sad and devastating': Austin teacher raises money to stop hogs from destroying school garden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After wild hogs destroyed an Austin school garden over several nights, a teacher is asking the community for help to stop the hogs. Austin Discovery School, a charter school in east Austin, has a school garden where students can grow food, learn about nutrition and broaden the taste buds of "picky eaters." "Even those kids that are like, 'I don't like carrots' are then all of a sudden eating a carrot that they just pulled out of the ground. They're like, 'Oh, actually, this was pretty good,'" Thora Gray, the school's EcoWellness teacher, said. PREVIOUS: Feral hogs causing headaches for some people living in northeast Austin Unfortunately, wild hogs have wrecked the garden several times over the past two years — most recently uprooting carrots and tomatoes. "We had such a nice crop of carrots this year, and we had just put our tomatoes on the ground for the season," Gray said. "And they came through, and they just destroyed everything. They uprooted everything, and...

City says May election to cost $1.3M, Alter looking to overlap elections for better turnout

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- On your ballot this election, two measures that could change what happens after a complaint is filed against a police officer. One is back by community advocates, the other by the police union. Early voting started Monday. The election is Sat., May 6. Why your vote on Austin police oversight measures will matter Despite controversy surrounding the competing -- and some say misleading or even illegal -- propositions, voter turnout is expected to be low. "We are expecting overall around 5-7% voter turnout in this election. So a pretty small turnout relative to our presidential, gubernatorial elections," said Dyana Limon-Mercado, Travis County Clerk. Some Austin city council members want to examine how we do elections like these so more people can be involved. That process is already underway. Earlier this year, council voted to create a group of residents to look at the city's official election rules. It's called the charter review commission. Members are being sel...

Winona State president one of two finalists for Minnesota State chancellor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

Winona State University President Scott Olson is one of two finalists to be the next chancellor of the Minnesota State college and university system.Scott OlsonOlson and Tonja Johnson, the University of Alabama System senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, will interview with select system leaders later this week.After that, back-to-back public forums with the candidates will be held from 9 to 11:15 a.m. Wednesday at the system office in St. Paul, with Johnson going first.The Board of Trustees is expected to name the next chancellor May 9.Devinder Malhotra, the former provost of St. Cloud State University, came out of retirement in 2017 to become interim chancellor following a failed national search. He stayed on without the interim tag a year later after a second failed search but is retiring again this summer.The system is made up of 26 state colleges and seven universities, including Winona State.The latest search yielded 30 applicants, nine of whom were chosen for intervie...

Loons still have ‘bad blood’ from ghastly Open Cup upset loss to Omaha

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

Minnesota United’s worst MLS-era loss happened 11 months ago, but like most bad times, traumatic memories of it can be easily triggered and come flooding back.The Loons’ third-round U.S. Open Cup game at second-tier Detroit City on Tuesday night conjures up MNUFC’s 2-1 home defeat to third-tier Union Omaha in the 2022 national tournament’s round of 16 last May.“It definitely stuck with us a lot,” Loons fullback D.J. Taylor said Saturday. “I was on the field, so that was a really tough one for me. For the guys, and the club in general, it was really tough on us. We definitely expected to win that game, and we just made a couple of mistakes that led to goals, lousy goals.”Detroit City, of the USL Championship, pulled off their own Open Cup upset a year ago, topping the Columbus Crew 2-1 in the third round. Also last year, Omaha beat Chicago Fire in penalty kicks before knocking off Minnesota.The Loons didn’t play four of their best players against Omaha last year but still took ...

Sheriff’s missing K-9 found

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

ALTAMONT, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The Albany County Sheriff’s office searching for one of their own. NEWS10 has the latest on the search that found a missing Sheriff's K-9 unit. Lawmakers discuss cell coverage in rural areas Sheriff Craig Apple says Thompson AKA Ghost, a black Dutch Shepard trained to sniff out drugs, went missing from his handler’s yard late Sunday night.“The K-9 handler, in the area of the village of Altamont, let his dog out and apparently it dropped its nose immediately. So, something must have come through the yard just prior to that. It’s all we can guess at this point. Because it dropped its nose and went into full mode and just took off,” explained Apple. Unknown substance splashing cars in Coxsackie Ghost was last seen in the area of Bozenkill Park, which is where the sheriff set up the search party and pulled out all the stops.“And we have, I was just looking, 12 to 13 people over there with their dogs, as well, and drones over there,” said the Sheriff. G...

Still no state budget: 5th budget extender signed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)--A new budget extender that will be in effect until Friday has been signed by the governor, making this the 5th extender passed."I haven’t seen any budget bills yet," said Assemblyman Chris Tague. "Now there is rumors going around, but there were rumors going around the first extender— that by the end of the week, we are going to have something in place. I hope so because this extender is only good until Friday so that means we are going to have to be in session on Friday to pass another extender if we don’t have any budget bills."Speaker Carl Heastie said as of now, charter schools is one of the big holdups with the budget."I’d say, the governor wants them," explained Heastie. "Most people in the legislature don’t want them. So, that’s where the discussion is."We also learned housing is no longer on the table. Heastie said it’s an issue that will be talked about after the budget gets finalized. When it comes to making changes to bail, Heastie said, "From the l...

Sexual assault evidence storage facility opens in Capital Region

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WUTR) – Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a new state facility to store sexual offense evidence collection kits—commonly referred to as rape kits—that have not yet been released to law enforcement custody. The facility—opened by the State Office of Victim Services and already operational—follows state law requiring any unreported kits to be stored for 20 years from the date of collection. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "New York State remains committed to supporting survivors of sexual assault in every way possible," Hochul said in a statement. "This new State facility will be a critical tool to help deliver support and justice while providing a strong foundation for victims to heal and alleviate some of the pressure they may feel when it comes to legal timelines."The secure storage—located in the Capital Region—empowers victims to receive the medical care they need, to consent to evidence collection, and let them ...

Gibson sentenced for jumping bail, vehicular homicide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Monday was the court date for Andrew Gibson’s sentencing. After admitting to causing a deadly crash in May 2021, Gibson—44-years-old and from Westerlo—skipped his previous sentencing date in 2022 and went on the run. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! The crash killed Lisa Sperry, 55, a wife and mother of four boys, and hospitalized others. According to the Albany District Attorney’s Office, he had posted a $160,000 bond and was released after being arraigned in June 2021. Gibson pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide in November 2021, and ultimately pleaded guilty to jumping bail in March 2023.Judge Andra Ackerman sentenced Gibson to 2 1/3 to 7 years for the jumping bail charge and 8 1/3 to 25 years for the aggravated vehicular homicide. Both sentences are to run consecutively, so in the end he will serve between 10 2/3 and 32 years.

8th year, advocates push for Medical Aid in Dying

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- For eight years advocates in New York have been pushing for the Medical Aid in Dying Act., which would allow doctors to prescribe terminally ill patients with medicine that helps them die peacefully. Supporters of the bill lined the halls of the Capitol before sharing their personal testimonies.  New Yorkers discuss pros & cons of Medical Aid in Dying "Our daughter lived in Manhattan. She was a ballerina, and yoga instructor, as well as an artist, and she actually did a beautiful rooftop painting with a partner dancing on top of the canvas in Manhattan just days after she was diagnosed with a very severe tongue cancer," said Amy and Dan Eilert who traveled from Dallas, Texas to push for the legislation. The Eilerts say it certainly would have helped their daughter, Ayla pass on without so much suffering.  "She went through all of the horrendous treatments, where chemoradiation just burned her severely," said Alya's father, Dan. In just six months their d...

St. Louis teen sentenced for murder he committed at 14

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:24 GMT

ST. LOUIS - A teenager who was tried as an adult for a 2020 murder in north St. Louis was sentenced Monday to nearly 20 years in state prison.Marcus "Mojo" Ursery, 17, admitted shooting Timothy Lucas outside a local market in the 8300 block of North Broadway on Jan. 18, 2020. Both Ursery and Lucas were 14 at the time of the shooting.Ursery pleaded guilty in May 2022 to second-degree murder, reduced from first-degree murder, and armed criminal action. Top story: Private messages reveal St. Louis warning siren issues An assistant circuit attorney requested Judge Rex Burlison hand down a 25-year sentence. Ursery's lawyer asked the judge for the minimum 10-year term.In the end, Judge Burlison sentenced Ursery 10 years for the murder and an additional 10 years for armed criminal action. The sentences will run consecutively.Ursery must serve at least 85% of the sentence for murder before beginning the next term. He must then serve at least three years for armed criminal action before he...