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New Project Connect renderings feature light rail buildout opportunities in the future

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After debuting five light rail design options last month, Austin's Project Connect leaders have released new renderings that highlight future expansion and light rail buildout opportunities under each proposal.Austin Transit Partnership, CapMetro and city leaders shared the updated renderings during the city's Housing and Planning Committee meeting Tuesday. All three entities are currently gathering public feedback on the options through May 2, with a final version set to be announced in June. PREVIOUS REPORTING: Project Connect debuts 5 scaled down light rail options "The full vision is there, and will be completed," said Annick Beaudet with the City of Austin's Project Connect office. "We're committed to that. It's just, because of funding constraints we've talked about extensively over the past year, we're building a core system as an initial investment."Both Austin Mayor Pro-Tem Paige Ellis and Austin City Council Member José “Chito” Vela have requested more c...

Texas House passes sweeping bills on teacher pay, school funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas House passed sweeping legislation on Thursday impacting school funding, teacher pay, and the way new educators will prepare to enter the classroom. The legislation is in response to a steep increase in the number of teachers leaving the profession.The most recent data from the Texas Education Agency shows 16% more educators left the profession in 2021-22 than in the previous school year. The previous school year saw a 26% increase from the year before.House Bill 100, filed by Rep. Ken King, R- Canadian, would move to calculate the amount of money districts receive from the state based on enrollment – and not attendance, and raise the per pupil funding, or the student allotment, from $6,160 to $6,250. The Exit: Teachers Leave. Students Suffer. The bill would also raise and restructure the law which determines the minimum salary a district can offer a teacher. The salary schedule proposed would require districts to pay educators more based on both experienc...

Dungeons & Dragons was invented in this Wisconsin town. Why no statue?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

Christopher Borrelli | Chicago TribuneWhen Ed Schwinn thinks about the history of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin — and as president of the board of directors for the Geneva Lake Museum, he thinks about it quite a bit — he thinks of a summer retreat, a tourist town that has fewer than 10,000 year-round residents. He thinks of his own family living there year-round for 34 years. He thinks of his grandfather, who helped steer the Schwinn Bicycle Company into becoming a household name, buying a second home on the lakefront in the 1920s. He notes that a lot of summer families have long since become permanent residents, though “when I grew up on Lake Geneva, people with homes on the lakefront shut off the water on Labor Day, slipped a key under the mat and went home until May.”He thinks of all those wealthy, famous names associated with the history of the town — the Schwinns, the Wrigleys, the Maytags, the Wards — then admits, “No matter how many well-known families have been coming here a centur...

Wild send clear message ahead of Game 6 against Stars: ‘This series isn’t over’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

The question was simple as Matt Dumba stood in the Wild locker room following a blowout loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 5.What gave him the confidence that the Wild could keep their hopes of winning the Stanley Cup alive in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series?“This series isn’t over,” Dumba said. “Simple as that.”No, it’s not, and on Friday night at the Xcel Energy Center, the Wild understand the task at hand. If they win, they will force a do-or-die Game 7 in Dallas. If they lose, they will be going home.“We have to go through this adversity to get to where we want to go,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “This is a good opportunity for us to play our best hockey right now.”There have been stretches of good and bad from the Wild throughout the first-round series with the Stars.They were fantastic in a Game 1 victory, with No. 2 goaltender Filip Gustavsson making a franchise-record 51 saves. They were erratic in a Game ...

Humane Society’s ‘Walk for Animals’ at Fairgrounds to proceed without pooches because of canine flu guidelines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

The Animal Humane Society’s annual “Walk for Animals” will still take place at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds next week — minus man’s best friend.The Animal Humane Society, which was forced to temporarily shutter its adoption centers in Woodbury, Golden Valley and Coon Rapids following an outbreak of canine influenza, said the Minnesota Board of Animal Health has issued a new public guidance to prevent the spread of the canine influenza.The state board is calling for COVID-like precautions, including keeping six feet between dogs and avoiding areas and events with large concentrations of pooches. That’s put a damper on but not a halt to the planned May 6 walk, which will begin at the Fairgrounds’ International Bazaar.“While the walk is still moving forward, we’re asking participants not to bring their dogs this year,” reads a written notice from the Golden Valley-based humane society. “Once again, we’ve been faced with a d...

FDA approval for treatment marks ‘pivotal moment in ALS research’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

Massachusetts-based Biogen has gotten the green light for a breakthrough ALS treatment that targets a devastating, ultra-rare genetic form of the progressive neurodegenerative disease.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday granted approval of Qalsody for the treatment of ALS in adults who have a mutation in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene. Biogen’s treatment is the first approved treatment to target a genetic cause of ALS.“For more than a decade, Biogen has been steadfast in our commitment to pursuing treatments for ALS, and I want to thank the scientists as well as the entire ALS community who have all worked tirelessly to bring this first-of-its-kind treatment to people with SOD1-ALS,” said Christopher Viehbacher, Biogen’s president and CEO.About 30,000 people in the U.S. have ALS, according to estimates. SOD1-ALS is diagnosed in about 2% of all ALS cases, with about 330 people in the U.S. living with the disease.The FDA approval for the treatment was based on the...

Troy man sentenced 13 years as a second felony offender

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- On Thursday, Bryan Wright, 33, was sentenced to 13 years in prison and 3 years of post-release supervision. Wright is a second felony offender and was found guilty of two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! When he was arrested, Wright was on parole. He was found to be in possession of over a half-ounce of cocaine and almost $3,000 in currency.“Mr. Wright has a history of recidivism. He was convicted of a violent assault in 2014. Less than a year after being released to parole in 2020, he was again arrested and ultimately convicted on new charges for which he served a one-year jail sentence. He was released and placed back under parole supervision in 2021. Within weeks of release, he was arrested on the crimes he was sentenced for today. He was not held in custody after that arrest and, while those charges were pending, he was ch...

Vermonter pleads guilty to attempting to entice a minor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A West Rutland resident has pled guilty to one count of attempted enticement of a minor. Scarlett Shadows, formerly known as Randy Emillion Goodreau, 32, admitted trying to entice and coerce an individual, who Shadows believed to be an 11-year-old girl, to have sex. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Shadows admitted to exchanging sexually explicit text messages with the individual and another person they believed was the child's guardian. In January 2022, Shadows traveled from Vermont to Warren County, with an engagement ring, condoms, and gifts for the child, with the intention to have sex with the child.Sahadows faces up to at least ten years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-supervised release of at least five years to life. Shadows will be required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison. Sentencing will take place on August 25.

LIVE: Kim Gardner faces second contempt of court hearing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

ST. LOUIS - For the second time this week, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner faces the prospect of being held in contempt of court.Judge Michael Noble requested that Gardner appear in his courtroom Thursday to "show cause" why she shouldn't be held in contempt. If Gardner fails to appear or show cause, then Noble could levy a fine against the city’s chief prosecutor, put her in jail, or both.This latest contempt of court hearing is the result of an assistant circuit attorney missing an April 10 court date over a shooting case. Our news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch report prosecutor Chris Desilets had another attorney pass a note to Judge Noble, explaining that Desilets had to miss court for a doctor's appointment. New Metro Transit cameras catches suspect in rape attempts Noble asked Desilets to appear in court on April 24 with proof of the doctor's appointment and to reschedule the start of trial. However, Desilets no-showed that hearing as well, prompting Noble t...

Aurora homicide investigators seek public’s help in locating a suspect vehicle and driver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:08 GMT

Homicide investigators in Aurora are asking for the public’s help in locating a car connected to a shooting in January.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Rock-throwing suspects turned back to take photo of fatal crash as memento, Jeffco affidavit says Crime and Public Safety | Denver police seek tips from the public in parking lot homicide investigation Crime and Public Safety | 3 suspects arrested in rock-throwing spree that killed Alexa Bartell in west metro Denver Crime and Public Safety | Victim in Jefferson County rock-hurling attacks mourns the loss of life in crime spree Crime and Public Safety | Police ID victims of double murder at American Elm restaurant in northwest Denver Aurora police are looking for a dark gray car, believed to be a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, linked to an early-morning Jan. 30 shooting in the 1500 block of Dallas Street, according to a Metro Denver Crime Stoppers t...