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Austin council member wants to make zoos, aquariums safer following recent incidents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) –  After hearing from several concerned constituents regarding the Austin Aquarium, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly – who represents District 6 where the business is located – said she is working on a resolution to potentially change relevant city code to make things safer at facilities with wild animals. In the last couple of years, there have been at least a couple of incidents where people were reportedly injured while interacting with lemurs. The Austin Aquarium touts on its website that “the Austin and San Antonio Aquariums are the only facilities in the United States where guests can interact and pet lemurs.” MORE: Woman says lemur attacked her at Austin Aquarium Further, Kelly said constituents have expressed concerns about how animals are treated at the facility. Charmaine Dickerson said a lemur attacked her during an interactive experience at the Austin Aquarium. (KXAN)“[The Austin Aquarium] is in my district. I need to be responsive to people ...

San Antonio mayor brings local control fight to White House as Biden announces heat protections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg joined President Biden during a White House announcement of extreme protections Thursday, stressing his advocacy for local regulations as his city sues the state of Texas over local control."Texas cities are in a battle with the state for local control," the mayor told the president. San Antonio joined Houston this week in suing the state over a new law that will preempt a wide range of local ordinances in favor of uniform standards in Texas law. Cities sue Texas over ‘Death Star’ preemption law in latest power struggle "We're going to do everything possible to protect our most vulnerable workers, especially those outdoor workers, for basic things like being able to access water breaks," Nirenberg said.House Bill 2127 asserts the state's dominance across sweeping areas of law including labor, employment, and environmental codes, preventing local governments from regulating those areas in ways that may conflict with state law. It ...

City department says it's working to fix AFD vehicle AC issues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The city says it will undertake several initiatives to reduce the number of Austin Fire Department vehicles without air conditioning in the future. In a social media post Monday, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly said there were 20 fire trucks in Austin without air conditioning “putting our brave firefighters at risk in scorching Texas heat,” she said.  MORE: Council member pushes for prompt response from city manager over no AC in AFD vehicles Kelly sent a memo to Austin City Manager Jesus Garza saying it was “crucial to address these issues promptly to ensure the health and safety of our firefighters, especially during the hot summer months,” the memo read. Jennifer Walls, the Director of the Fleet Mobility Services Department, submitted a memo Wednesday to the Mayor and City Council Wednesday saying Fleet Services is coordinating with AFD to repair the malfunctioning fleet while ensuring enough of the fleet remains available for community needs. ...

Osceola Landing boat launch reopens after improvements

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

A new motorized boat launch on the St. Croix River will open this weekend, according to the National Park Service.The Park Service recently undertook a project to create two separate landings for motorized and non-motorized vehicles at Osceola Landing on the St. Croix. Previously, motorized and non-motorized watercraft used the same landing, raising safety concerns and creating pedestrian traffic.The new landing arrangement has increased parking, a paved walking path with informational signage, a new orientation and waiting area, and new restrooms.“We are excited to welcome visitors back to Osceola Landing Day Use Area,” Craig Hansen, superintendent of the St. Croix National Scenic Waterway said in a press release, “This project was a significant undertaking, and we appreciate everyone’s patience during the construction process and flood delays.”Record flooding in the spring of 2023 delayed the project.Future plans for Osceola Landing include improvemen...

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter vetoes 2024 ballot question for childcare initiative

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter on Thursday vetoed a city council measure to put funding of early childhood initiatives on the 2024 ballot.Carter expressed concern that the dedicated property tax levy would increase by $2 million annually in 10 years, creating a budget equal to that of the city’s library system — but likely with less oversight — to fund private childcare providers.“While the underlying goal behind this effort — to provide quality early childhood care for every child and family in our city — is laudable, our excitement for this bold proposal must not preclude a temperate examination of its details,” according to his veto letter to the council.The letter questioned whether the proposal would actually meet the needs of St. Paul children. While the resolution cites a need for $39 million per year to reach children up to 2 years old living at 185% of the federal poverty level, the proposed tax would only raise $20 million.Further, t...

The Jonas Brothers add second local tour stop in November

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

The Jonas Brothers have added a second local show to their impending tour and will headline St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center on Nov. 19.Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 4 through Ticketmaster. The group is using Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program. Fans can register through 10 p.m. Monday to get access to a presale that starts Aug. 3. Neither the promoter nor the venue announced ticket prices.The trio is booked to play the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand on Sept. 1. Tickets sold quickly, in part because they were not dynamically priced, with a top price of $207. Only obstructed view seats are available via Etix.Siblings Kevin, Joe and Nick formed the Jonas Brothers in 2005 and rose to fame two years later when they signed a deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records. After making a guest appearance on Miley Cyrus’ Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana,” they hit the road with Cyrus as her opening act. Soon after, they began headlining arenas on their own.After releasing four albu...

Crowded Twins infield would not send Royce Lewis into the outfield

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

The Twins expect to have Jorge Polanco back from a hamstring injury when they play a three-day series in Kansas City this weekend, possibly as early as Friday.The longtime second baseman will play at third so that hot-hitting rookie Edouard Julien can remain in the lineup. Officially enjoying an off day with the Saints on Thursday, Polanco offered to play third base to make it happen, painlessly solving a short-term issue.The Twins plan to ride that convenience as long as possible before the infield gets crowded again when third baseman Royce Lewis returns from a Grade 2 oblique injury. What they might do then is unclear.“Spending time thinking about that, I don’t even know if that’s beneficial to me or even our staff right now,” manager Rocco Baldelli said this week. “That’s still a ways away.”By the initial estimate of a six-week recovery, Lewis is about halfway there. He was injured while hitting a pitch during a victory July 1 at Baltimore.Since entering a July 3 game in the eig...

Questions loom around education services for asylum seekers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Many questions still remain around the education of school-aged asylum seekers in Rotterdam. Leaders say the on-the-ground representatives for asylum seekers have not shared vital information with school districts. With school starting in just over a month on September 7, a meeting between Schenectady County, the town of Rotterdam, Mohonasen Central School District and the company representing asylum seekers, DocGo, was abruptly canceled on Tuesday. And now, so has the line of communication. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Mohonasen Central School District Superintendent Shannon Shine said they can fulfill their legal obligations to educate the children but communication is necessary.“We can definitely handle the logistics but we need the specifics, and we need answers to a lot of the basic questions that I suspect others have as well. And we should have answers to those questions relatively soon,” sa...

St. Louis County settled lawsuit over child drowning at summer camp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - St. Louis County just settled a lawsuit over a 6-year-old's drowning at his summer camp last July.FOX 2 has repeatedly exposed failures by the county and summer camp staff that led up to TJ's tragic drowning on July 20, 2022.It happened at the Kennedy Recreation Center in south St. Louis County. Olga and Travone Mister, TJ's parents, filed a lawsuit earlier Thursday, which the county recently settled.It was settled for $8 million, paid by two insurance policies. The county will also work with the Mister family to name the playground area at Suson Park.In honor of TJ. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page commented:“TJ’s drowning was an absolute tragedy, and I hope that today’s settlement brings some solace to his family. This was an unimaginable loss.” St. Louis police search for man after child sex crime “This was a heartbreaking case, and no amount of money could fix what this family lost," said Todd Nissenholtz, the Mister's attorney. "But, the family is s...

Suicide, crisis hotline sees 70% increase in calls statewide since going live

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:37:21 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- It's three numbers that can connect you with life-saving help, 988, and it went live one year ago for people in crisis, giving them the opportunity to connect quickly with a mental health specialist.The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was created to help anyone connect with resources quickly during a time of need without having to remember a 10-digit phone number. Since going live last July, call volumes in Missouri have gone up 70%. "It's more of a crisis continuum of care than just a phone call," Missouri's 988 task force chair Lauren Moyer said.For more than 365 days, a three-digit number has been helping thousands of Missourians. "We really want people to reach out when they are in crisis, and it's really more than just if you're in a suicidal crisis, any sort of mental health crisis, substance use crisis," Missouri Behavioral Health Council crisis services manager Jason Romont said.  Lincoln County mother pleads for answers 32 years after son’s dis...