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200+ more special events in Austin this year compared to last

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Monday evening, the Austin Police Department will discuss special event staffing with the Public Safety Commission. According to the public documents related to the department's presentation, the amount of largest-scale special events is up 88.89%, and the amount of the smallest-scale special events is up 288.24%. Below is a yearly breakdown of the number of special events in Austin from 2019-2023.Austin special event breakdown presented during the September Public Safety Commission meeting.The Public Safety Commission will consider action on a recommendation to Austin City Council regarding the use of overtime and unsworn staff members to staff events. Austin City Limits Music Festival, one of the city's largest-scale events, is less than one month away. The event typically requires police overtime and supplemental law enforcement help. APD listed the following factors as challenges the short-staffed department faces when it comes to special events.Officer vacancy ...

Dane Mizutani: Let that loss be a lesson to the Vikings. You don’t always win the close games.

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

Let’s be honest: You thought the Vikings were going to find a way to win Sunday’s season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We all did.No matter how discombobulated the Vikings looked for prolonged stretches, the assumption was that they were going to get the ball back at some point in the final minutes, then promptly march down the field and win the game like they did last season a dozen or so times.Everybody with the Vikings had the same feeling on the sideline.“Even if we got it back on our own 1-yard line,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “The expectation was we were going to go down and try to win the game.”Which made the 20-17 loss so jarring for the Vikings.They were prepared to give the announced home crowd of 66,741 yet another miraculous finish. They ended up having to watch helplessly while Buccaneers journeyman quarterback Baker Mayfield took a knee several times to run out the game clock.The state of shock was palpable ac...

Gophers got Darius Taylor out of state of Michigan; tailback showed Saturday why that’s a big deal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

Darius Taylor, a running back from Walled Lake, Mich., committed to the Gophers in April 2022 over existing offers from Michigan State and a host of other top-level programs.Then last November, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh offered Taylor a scholarship with the Wolverines. This was P.J. Fleck’s biggest fear.“It wasn’t easy,” the Minnesota coach said of Taylor’s recruitment last year, “because everybody came in early, middle and late. I just give him a lot of credit. There is a lot of, on paper, places that say, ‘Why aren’t you going here?’ … He had to handle a lot of crap from a lot of people.”Taylor, of course, picked Minnesota and showed why there was consternation over his college choice. The true freshman rushed 33 times for 193 yards and one touchdown in the Gophers’ 25-6 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. On Monday, he was named Big Ten freshman of the week.“Just riding the coat tails of the O-line and the tight ends,” Taylor said Saturday. “Ride along.”Fleck ...

Report: How big a threat is road salt to the Adirondacks?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Since 2020, New York State has been interested in salt. This month, a final report was released by the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force, a group convened to study whether the use of road salt in the winter is safe for the Adirondacks. Get the latest news, weather, and sports delivered right to your inbox! The task force's work has culminated in a 27-page report, released last week by the New York State Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Conservation. The report looks at what the introduction of salt onto roadways does to rivers, streams, and wildlife around the Adirondacks. The core messaging: Use less."I thank the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force and our agency partners for their hard work on completing this report prior to this year's snow and ice season," said State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez. "The State Department of Transportation takes its role in balanci...

Governor Hochul signs 9/11 Notice Act

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)-- In Manhattan Monday morning, a moment of silence was held at 10:28, the time the North Tower fell. Those in attendance including federal, state, and New York City leaders bowed their heads in remembrance of those who were killed on September 11th, 2001.Names of the fallen were individually read aloud. While those who died are being remembered, the governor signed legislation aimed at helping those still feeling the effects of the attacks. The 9/11 Notice Act will make sure people who worked in the vicinity of ground zero aren’t forgotten as well."It seeks to address the underutilization of federal health compensation programs for those affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks," explained Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, who co-sponsored the bill. "Those who were in the exposure zones near Ground Zero."These programs are the September Eleventh Victims Compensation Fund and the World Trade Center Health Program. The new law will require the New York State Departm...

Remembering 9/11 in the Capital District 22 years later

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – September 11 is a national day of remembrance and is a particularly painful day for New Yorkers. Hundreds of Capital District first responders jumped into action that day and many people are still reeling from the lasting impacts still felt 22 years later.“9/11 was a horrible tragic day and we want to be respectful to those people,” said Schenectady Fire Chief Don Mareno. Get the latest news, weather, and sports delivered right to your inbox! He said the department has a subtle way of “never forgetting” and honoring individuals with ties to 9/11. For the entire month of September they’re flying the American flag on their first responder vehicles in a simple, yet respectful, gesture of support.“It is our way of showing that we are in support of the 343 firefighters that died that day, of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day and not just for them but all the family and friends who are affected to this very day,” said Mareno.Eight Schenectady ...

Niskayuna man arrested in connection to 1994 cold case

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

Editor's note: Niskayuna Police documents spell Smerk's first name "Stephan," while Fairfax County Police spelled it "Stephen."SPRINGFIELD, Va. (NEWS10) -- A Niskayuna man has been arrested in connection to a homicide that took place in 1994, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. Stephan Smerk, 51, was charged with second-degree murder. Get the latest news, weather, and sports delivered right to your inbox! On November 20, 1994, Robin Lawrence, 37, was found stabbed to death in her home on Reseca Lane in Springfield. During the preliminary investigation, detectives were able to recover evidence from the scene and a DNA profile was developed, however, at the time, there was no match in any system for the recovered DNA.For decades, detectives from the Cold Case Unit continued their efforts to review evidence and identify a suspect. Many years later, a DNA match was found, and detectives determined that Smerk was working in the area at the time of the murder. Man arr...

Man driving stolen Kia dies in crash while fleeing from police

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

JENNINGS, Mo. – A man died overnight after crashing into a building while fleeing from police in a stolen vehicle.According to Sgt. Tracy Panus, a spokeswoman for the St. Louis County Police Department, the chase began shortly after 1:20 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Jennings Station and West Florissant roads. Police claim a patrol officer noticed a Kia Optima traveling northbound on Jennings Station and attempted to make a traffic stop. The driver did not stop and sped off. Local health agency discusses rising COVID cases in St. Louis Police claim the officer turned off the vehicle's sirens. About a minute later, the officer found the Kia had crashed into a building at Jennings Station and Fairhaven Drive.The driver of the Kia was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.Investigators determined the Kia, which had been reported stolen on Sept. 10, struck a utility pole before hitting the building.

Challengers seek rewrite of Missouri abortion-rights ballot measures, calling them misleading

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Abortion advocates asked a judge on Monday to rewrite what they call misleading descriptions of several constitutional amendments on abortion rights that voters could see on Missouri’s 2024 ballot.Missouri is among several states, including Ohio, where abortion opponents are fighting efforts to ensure or restore access to the procedure following the fall of Roe v. Wade last year.In part, one of the Missouri petitions would amend the state's constitution to ban government infringement on the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care."Decisions on abortion, birth control and childbirth are some examples of reproductive care protected under the proposed amendments. Local health agency discusses rising COVID cases in St. Louis In Missouri, summaries of proposed constitutional amendments are provided on ballots to help voters underst...

Denver police investigating separate fatal shootings of two homeless people

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:14:50 GMT

The Denver Police Department is investigating after two people were found shot to death on the South Platte River Trail in the last week.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Man killed in overnight shooting near Ruby Hill Park Crime and Public Safety | Denver police officer charged in 2022 LoDo shooting pleads not guilty Crime and Public Safety | Crash on northbound Santa Fe causing delays; two lanes blocked Crime and Public Safety | Woman dies after overnight shooting in north Denver Crime and Public Safety | Fired McAuliffe principal Kurt Dennis sues DPS, alleging district violated his free speech rights A woman was found dead at 12:25 a.m. Wednesday on the South Platte River Trail, under Interstate 70 in the area of East 45th Avenue and North Washington Street, and a man was found dead at 12:36 a.m. Saturday on the trail near the intersection of South Platte River Drive and West Florida Avenue.Ea...