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Texas' State of Education: 'It's not about us'

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

Editor's Note: Watch the State of Education special on KXAN at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Read a sneak peek of what to expect below. AUSTIN (KXAN) – State and school leaders from across Texas speak with KXAN Investigative Reporter Kelly Wiley and Education Reporter Nabil Remadna about some of the most important challenges facing our schools: from the governor’s push for Education Savings Accounts to school safety in the wake of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting.The panel includes veteran Del Valle ISD teacher Cristela Rocha, rural Rockdale ISD principal Cheyenne Miller, Pflugerville ISD Superintendent Dr. Douglas Killian, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Mandy Drogin, and from the Capital: Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin; Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R- New Boston; and Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie. School SafetyThe mass shooting at Robb Elementary sparked action inside the Texas legislature – leading to hearings to figure out what happened and several bills to address gun violence on school c...

El Niño has a little brother: How it affects storms

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It turns out there's more than one Niño impacting our weather. According to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, they're increasingly researching a phenomenon known as "Atlantic Niño" which may have a major impact on certain hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. Meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with NOAA Oceanographer Hosmay Lopez about their findings so far.KXAN Meteorologist Nick Bannin: Hosmay, some of your research has pointed to the importance of Atlantic Niño. Can you explain what that is?Hosmay Lopez, Oceanographer with NOAA: Atlantic Niño is a version of [the] El Niño that occurs in the Pacific... it is known as El Niños little brother. Little brother, because it's usually smaller than the well known Pacific Niño and because the Atlantic basin is smaller, geographically speaking, and the dynamical aspects of the Atlantic are not as strong as those in the Pacific so that Atlantic Niño could be viewed as a smaller little broth...

124 DWI arrests made over Labor Day holiday, APD says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin Police Monday released the results of the department's DWI Enforcement Initiative on roadways and waterways over the Labor Day holiday. APD said officers made 124 DWI arrests during the enforcement period which lasted from Aug. 18 to Sept. 4. Austin Police made their arrests as the the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) increased enforcement for the Labor Day holiday in an effort to reduce crashes.DPS said Sept. 3 it was looking for people not wearing their seat belts, speeders, people driving while intoxicated and drivers who failed to follow the state’s Move Over, Slow Down law, among other traffic violations.

Schenectady man wins $1M on Powerball ticket

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

LATHAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) --  A Schenectady man has won $1 million on a Powerball ticket. According to the New York Lottery, Peter Cornell claimed the second-place prize for matching the first five numbers in the July 19 Powerball drawing. Get the latest news, weather, and sports delivered right to your inbox! The winning ticket was bought at Cumberland Farms at 1159 Troy Schenectady Road in Latham. Cornell chose to receive the prize as a one-time lump sum, totaling $651,121 after required withholdings.The winning numbers were 7, 10, 11, 13, and 24, with the Powerball being 24. The numbers for the Powerball game are drawn from a field of one to 69. The Powerball number is drawn from a separate field of one to 26. Clifton Park resident wins $1M on Powerball ticket New York scratch-off games generated $516,866,283 in total sales during the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Officials said school districts in Schenectady County received $48,224,180 in Lottery Aid to Education funds during that tim...

New Siena poll shows attitudes towards migrants

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A new poll from the Siena College Research Institute gives insight into attitudes toward migrants, using federal properties to shelter migrants, work authorizations, and more. The new poll was released on Tuesday. Get the latest news, weather, and sports delivered right to your inbox! According to a new Siena poll, 56% of participants support using federal land and buildings as temporary shelters for the current migrants in New York. 59% of participants believe in work authorizations for migrants regardless of legal status. 60% of participants support a comprehensive immigration reform bill that provides a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants in the United States. Graphic via SCRIAccording to SCRI, 11% of the New Yorkers in the survey say they were born in another country. 16% say the first member of their family came to this country before 1840, 31% can trace their family’s arrival to the period of American growth from 1840 through World...

Wet, cooler start to summer helped reduce air pollution across Colorado’s Front Range

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

Colorado’s Front Range recorded fewer days with high levels of ozone pollution over the summer than in recent years, but environmentalists warn the region can’t rely on favorable weather conditions to help with air quality as much as they did in 2023.The region recorded 26 days of ozone levels that exceeded the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards between June 1 and Aug. 31, which is considered the summer ozone season. That is the lowest total of days with high ozone since 2019, when the region recorded 22 days, according to Regional Air Quality Council data.The Front Range’s air quality benefitted from an unusually wet and cool start to summer, said Scott Landes, air quality meteorologist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.“Ozone really thrives in hot and dry conditions, which we really didn’t have in the first half of the summer,” Landes said.On top of the cooler start to summer, wildfires were kept to a minimum ...

8 “made-in-Colorado” tours to take this fall

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

You shouldn’t stop taking field trips just because you’re an adult. Throughout Colorado, companies that make goods in the state open their doors to give visitors a peek at the process. You can see how they craft high-performance mountain bikes, learn why snowmelt makes whiskey taste good, and see how money is made.Here are seven Colorado places – and an entire industry (brewery tours, anyone?) — where you can go behind the scenes and get the inside scoop on the creative process.U.S. MintIn 1862, not long after miners struck it rich in Colorado, Congress established the Denver Mint to convert gold into coins. Today, Denver’s mint creates commemorative coins and coin dies and stores gold and silver. The mint’s machinery can churn out as many as 50 million coins a day. The historic building on Cherokee Street near Colfax Avenue was designed to mimic the Riccardi Medici Palace in Florence, Italy.Tours are free, but tickets are required and given out on a first-come, first-se...

Denver moves to permanently close some streets to traffic

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

Denver is taking steps to permanently close three streets that became pedestrian-only during the pandemic, part of a broader effort to make the city more friendly to those walking and biking, but has decided to reopen a segment of Seventh Avenue.Two stretches along Larimer Street and one on Glenarm Place in the heart of downtown have entered a city process to stay closed for another five years. After 2028, those closures — backed by business owners and economic development groups — would become permanent if nobody objects.Meanwhile, in neighborhoods, a re-launch of the city’s COVID-19 pandemic partial closure of streets, where road crews placed barriers to slow and deter cars, will bring at least five new pedestrian-friendly streets before 2030 combined with greenspace landscaping and narrowing of lanes, city planners told the Denver Post.Street closures fit into a citywide long-term overhaul, costing up to $800 million a year, to enable more car-free transportatio...

A Denver father dreamed of a home for his family. Medical debt nearly pushed them onto the streets.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

By Noam N. Levey, KFF Health NewsKayce Atencio used to be haunted by a thought while working at a homeless shelter in downtown Denver. “It could have been me,” said Atencio, 30, who lives in a small apartment with his son and daughter not far from the shelter.It nearly was. Atencio and his children for years slept on friends’ couches or stayed with family, unable to rent an apartment because of poor credit. A big reason, he said, was medical debt.Atencio had a heart attack at 19, triggered by an undiagnosed congenital condition. The debts from his care devastated his credit score. “It always felt like I just couldn’t get a leg up,” he said, recalling a life of dead-end jobs and high-interest loans as he tried to stay ahead of debt collectors. By 25, he’d declared bankruptcy.Across the country, medical debt forces legions of Americans to make painful sacrifices. Many cut back on food, take on extra work, or drain retirement savings. For millions like Atencio, the health care system i...

Here’s how to visit Sweetwater County, Wyoming

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:23 GMT

By Irene Middleman ThomasSpecial to The Denver PostIf you were around in the ‘70s and ‘80s, you can now forget what you heard about Rock Springs and Green River, Wyo. They no longer deserve the notoriety of Wild West oil boom “Sin City” towns with more prostitutes than New York’s Lexington Avenue, and more bars than Las Vegas.Recently, while visiting both cities in Wyoming’s largest county, Sweetwater, I was pleasantly astonished to find swanky bistros with yes, even vegan offerings. At Sidekicks, a poshy coffee/wine bar bookshop, well-dressed women gathered to sip on pinot noirs while discussing the latest bestsellers.This enormous region, in the southwest corner of the state, boasts much of the same spectacular red rock ridges and towering formations that draw throngs in neighboring Utah’s national parks, but without the daunting crowds or entrance fees. Frankly, this might just be the most under-discovered and underrated place in Wyoming.Sweetwater County is home to d...