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Austin Public Library expanding passport services to 3 new locations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

Editor's Note: The video above shows KXAN Live's top headlines for Aug. 8, 2023AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Public Library (APL) opened new Passport Services offices at three APL locations, which are the Ruiz Branch Library, the Spicewood Springs Branch Library and the Recycled Reads Bookstore, according to a news release from the City of Austin. Spots fill fast at Austin’s July passport fair but you might have other options Opening these three locations will serve members of the community who are applying for new U.S. passports, the release said. Passport services through APL were previously only available at the Austin Central Library.“Passport services have been a very highly-demanded service at Austin Public Library since we first started offering the service at the Central Library, with thousands of people starting their international travel journeys at APL,” stated Austin Public Library Director Roosevelt Weeks. “We are happy to be able to expand the options for accessing pas...

Critical wildfire danger in the longest heatwave Austin has ever seen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- High temperatures soared to 100°+ in the Austin area again Tuesday -- the 32nd straight day of triple-digit heat. Excessive Heat Warnings are in effect nearly areawide again on Wednesday with unusual heat in the forecast, even by August standards. BLOG: When will 100º days end in Austin? A Fire Weather Warning is in again Wednesday as well as south-southwest winds gust over 25 miles per hour -- stronger than recent days. Any fires that start will spread rapidly given ongoing weather and drought conditions. The Texas A&M Forest Service has placed portions of our area in 5-out-of-5 "Extreme" wildfire danger Wednesday.Fire danger Wednesday, reaching extreme levels in the Hill Country (Texas A&M Forest Service)We are seeing hints of at least a chance of rain beginning somewhere around Aug. 20, along with temperatures that may finally drop below 100°, but this is not yet a guarantee. Stay with KXAN and the First Warning Weather team for updates as the heat drag...

City of Austin holds off on Equity Office merger after community pushback

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN)—The City of Austin is holding off on merging its equity office with other departments for now.Interim City Manager Jesús Garza made the announcement to council in a budget work session on Tuesday. “Many of you have expressed concerns echoing what others in the community have shared, regarding the creation of the community and business equity department, plus other aspects of our reorganizations. Fundamentally, there have been issues that have been raised that have touched on the history of how the Equity Office, in particular was established. And it’s critically important that you’re able to be able to focus your attention on the resources allocation for all these departments as you adopt the budget for ’24.And as a result I want to take the time to step back. We’re going to reassess the concerns that have been expressed about the creation of these organizational changes.Interim City Manager, Jesús Garza Garza said once the budget is approved, he's considering creating...

Here's another way to show your Texas pride with the Adopt-A-Beach program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For more than 30 years, many Texans have been flocking to the coast to help clean up the state's beaches. Dr. Dawn Buckingham, General Land Office Commissioner, reports that since the program started in the mid 80s, more than 500,000 people have cleaned up more than 11,000 miles of beaches by picking nearly 10,000 tons of trash.The program is yearly when the call to help clean up beaches, from Beaumont-Port Arthur to Brownsville, and all beaches in between. Their pride in the state's beaches are so appreciated, because they believe that all who visit the coast should not have to deal with debris and litter.Another facet of the program is that the General Land Office is offering personalized Adopt-A-Beach license plates. The plates cost $30, with all the proceeds going to the Adopt-A-Beach program. The money raised, approximately $12,000 a year, goes to help the volunteers with the supplies and tools they need to neaten the beaches.Myplates.com is the website to go t...

State Wildfire Preparedness Level increases to Level 4 — what that means

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A significant increase in the wildfire activity in Central Texas and across the state is the reason the Texas A&M Forest Service has increased its Wildfire Preparedness Level to Level 4. This has also been done due to the potential of more of these wildfires becoming more severe as time goes by.Over the past seven days, local and state firefighters have battled as many as 119 wildfires that have burned 9,012 acres. Evacuation checklist: What to grab when evacuating Chief Meteorologist David Yeomans spoke with Karen Stafford from the Texas A&M Forest Service. She said rising to Level 4 has more to do with the volume of the wildfires, resulting in an increase in the commitment of the resources needed to battle these fires. She added we've been here before; during the summer of 2022, the Forest Service reached Level 5.If Level 5 would be needed this year, it would not only take into account the volume of these wildfires but also how complex they become to mana...

Lake Travis focused on the road ahead, not what's behind them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — For a program with the success Lake Travis has had over the years, a 7-5 season in 2022 isn't exactly something to be happy about. The Cavaliers are looking to rectify that and go deep in the postseason once again, where they feel like they belong.The Cavaliers kicked off training camp Monday, and senior running back Nico Hamilton said this year will be better than last year's third-place district finish.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/newsletters"I think we'll be a lot better than last year," he said. "I think we'll beat a lot of the teams we should have beaten last year, for sure. We have the firepower to do it."Hamilton rushed for 1,278 yards last year and 12 touchdowns and has multiple scholarship offers, mostly from Ivy League schools and both Air Force and Naval academies. He said something missing from last year's team was solid senior leadership, and he we...

Massachusetts governor declares state of emergency as shelter for migrants fills up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts Tuesday as local emergency shelters fill up with an ever-increasing number of migrants arriving from other countries and surging housing costs hurt residents already here.Healey is the latest governor to turn to emergency action to respond to migrants fleeing unstable conditions in their home countries. The Massachusetts Democrat also paired the declaration with a full-throated appeal to the federal government for funding and expediting work authorizations for migrants, which she said was a primary driver of the emergency.At a press conference inside the State House with shelter providers, faith leaders, and other advocates, Healey said the emergency declaration directs local officials to utilize “all means necessary” to secure housing, shelter, and health and human services to address the “humanitarian crisis.”“These families include newborns, very young children, and expecting mothers. It’s more families than our sta...

Ramsey County names West director of property tax, records, election services and auditor/treasurer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

Ramsey County has appointed Tracy West to the position of director of property tax, records and election services and auditor/treasurer. West had served in the position on an interim basis since March.Undated courtesy photo, circa August 2023, of Tracy West, who will serve as the Director of Property Tax, Records and Election Services and Ramsey County Auditor/Treasurer after holding the position in an interim capacity since March. (Courtesy of Ramsey County)Since 2016, West has held the positions in controller for information and public relations service team, and principal financial management analyst with Ramsey County.Ramsey County’s Property Tax, Records and Elections Services was established in 1849 to track property ownership, collection and balancing of funds and maintaining legal documentation like birth certificates. The department also administers city and county elections including providing staffing.“I am honored to take on this role as director. This opportunity ...

Patricia Murphy: In Aldean’s Macon hometown, they’re trying everything

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

Country superstar Jason Aldean, who grew up in Macon, Georgia, got into hot water recently with the video for his song “Try That in a Small Town.” It featured images of Black Lives Matter protests and Aldean wearing a pricey leather jacket, growling during a nighttime video shoot, “Try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road.”The video sparked a national debate so loud that Sunny Hostin of “The View” spoke up to say that Aldean’s hometown of Macon is “one of the most racist places in this country.”Her father had also grown up in Macon when there were not one, but two, Confederate monuments in the middle of town. But he also grew up there before Macon elected its first Black mayor, Jack Ellis, and before the current mayor of the city of 160,000 (it’s not actually a town) took over in 2021.I met Mayor Lester Miller during my first road trip series two years ago and was surprised that, like Atlanta, the bigg...

Trudy Rubin: Lessons from a military funeral in Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:19:14 GMT

TORKIV, Ukraine — At the entrance to the village cemetery, where they buried Vasyl Pushkar, stands a tall, gray stone marker.The stone is engraved with an Orthodox cross and the words “Holodomor, 1932-33,” a memorial to the 4 million or more Ukrainian peasants who were starved to death by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin when their farms were collectivized and their harvests seized.Ninety years later, Vladimir Putin is sending food prices for poor nations soaring by blocking Ukraine’s grain exports, which come from black earth villages such as Torkiv, a community of a thousand people about 200 miles south of Kyiv. Meantime, on Monday, village residents gathered to bury their latest casualty from Moscow’s current genocidal effort to erase Ukraine from the map.No wonder the pain and the defiance here run deep.Mobilized in March, the 42-year-old Pushkar died from wounds sustained in a mine explosion on the war’s front lines in the Donbas region of easte...