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Lightning causes 4 residential fires throughout Austin area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Austin Fire Department said it responded to four structure fires caused by lightning strikes Saturday between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.Firefighters said those fires happened in the 2500 block of Tivoli Drive in Cedar Park, the 9700 block of Rainlily Lane, the 10000 block of Austral Road and the 7900 block of West Rim Drive in Austin.Fire crews remained on the scene of the Rain Lily Lane fire so that they could monitor hot spots. They said the lightning caused extensive issues with the electrical systems in the home and a fire between floors. AFD said two adults were displaced.

Saharan dust in Texas: Will it come in this year and when?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Summer is on its way and some new weather and allergy considerations are coming along with it. Saharan dust has increasingly become a notable visitor to Texas over the summer months — but is it expected to blow in anytime soon?After all, as KXAN News' Chief Meteorologist David Yeomans explains, right now is typically when the the whole process starts happening. Texas allergens you may be forgetting about "Saharan dust travels our way in the summer," Yeomans says. "This is the time of year when big, windy thunderstorms over the Sahara Desert kick up massive plumes of dust into the lower and mid-levels of the atmosphere."It's during the summer months, typically, when these plumes of dust (which is technically a soil mineral), travel thousands of miles on easterly winds from Africa across the Atlantic — bringing the grit to the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern U.S. Plumes can sometimes be a mile high, Yeomans says. Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, Shania Twai...

These Texas cities have the most apartment space for $1,500, report finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Despite a recent slowdown in growth, rent costs across the U.S. are well above pre-pandemic levels – so where can you get the most space for your money in Texas?An annual analysis from Rentcafe, a nationwide listing service that helps find apartments or houses for renters and buyers, compared cities in Texas to find out how much square footage you can get, on average, for $1,500.The most square footage for $1,500Unfortunately for many renters, the study found that the state's big cities aren't among the best places to find spacious units for $1,500.That being said, the cost of square footage in the Lone State's big cities is still substantially less than in other states. While, on average, you'll only get 243 square feet in Manhattan, $1,500 is enough to afford 1,020 square feet in San Antonio, 997 in Houston and 805 in Dallas.On the pricier side, the most expensive cities were Austin (714 square feet), Frisco (740 square feet), Plano (766 square feet) and Dallas (805 sq...

Pennsylvania fugitive nabbed in Catskill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

CATSKILL, N.Y. (NEWS10) — U.S. Marshals said they captured Travis Lanzo, 29, in Catskill on Friday afternoon. He was wanted in Scranton, Pennsylvania for criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and a firearms violation, according to the Department of Justice. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Officials with the U.S. Marshal’s Albany Division of the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force said Lanzo shot David Deshler multiple times, killing him in Scranton in March. Marshals offered a $5,000 for information leading to an arrest.Scranton police roped in the Marshalls on March 29, and investigators determined that Lanzo fled to the Capital Region. The local law enforcement investigation led to monitor a home in Catskill, where they said they found Lanzo. Police search for missing Bennington man Lanzo allegedly surrendered. After the arrest, they executed a search warran...

5/13/2023: Trending cooler, but still a great forecast!

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

The latest Storm Tracker Forecast from meteorologist Matt Mackie:A couple clouds around early this morning, but it won't spoil our weekend! High pressure diving down from Canada brings the sunshine back by midday. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! With cooler air in place, we won't feel quite as summery, but we'll still cruise to the upper 70s in the Capital District, and low to mid-70s in the mountains.Tonight looks a bit chillier, with mostly clear skies and winds out of the north dropping us down to the low to mid 40's in most spots.Tomorrow, a cooler forecast all around for Mother's Day. Even though our highs in the low to mid 60's fall short of average, it's still quite comfortable with sunny skies and only a light breeze.Back to the low and mid 70's for a couple days to kick off the work week. Dry for Monday, but a round of showers could push through the region later in the day Tuesday.That sets up another shot of cool ...

These are most popular baby names in the U.S.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Ten years ago, the most popular baby names were Jacob and Sophia, according to the Social Security Administration. That wasn't the case in 2022.New data from the federal agency shows Liam and Olivia were the most popular names of last year — not much of a surprise, considering Liam had been the most popular since 2017 while Olivia had held the top spot since 2019. In 2021, the only new name to enter the ranks of the top 10 — for either boys or girls — was Theodore, ranking as the 10th most popular boys' name.This year, the only new name to crack the top 10 was Luna, replacing Harper as 10th most popular.The ten most popular baby names of 2022, as recorded by the Social Security Administration, are below.BoysGirls1. Liam1. Olivia2. Noah2. Emma3. Oliver3. Charlotte4. James4. Amelia5. Elijah5. Sophia6. William6. Isabella7. Henry7. Ava8. Lucas8. Mia9. Benjamin9. Evelyn10. Theodore10. LunaThe aforementioned Jacob and Sophia? In 2021, Jacob ranked 24th while Sophia sat in 6th....

Bay Point man accused of raping teen then inviting friend over to molest her for $90; trial set to start next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

PITTSBURG — A trial is set to start Tuesday for a Bay Point man accused of raping a 15-year-old girl, then inviting a friend over to sexually abuse her for a $90 fee, court records show.Francisco “Pancho” Perea-Parra, 34, has been in jail since July 2022 when he was arrested on charged of human trafficking, pandering, rape of an unconscious person, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, committing a lewd act upon a child, and assault. The charges stem from accusations by a then-15-year-old girl who accused Perea-Parra of raping her after he gave her tequila at her home, then allowing another man to sexually abuse her at Perea-Parra’s direction for a $90 fee.Perea-Parra gave a voluntary police interview and denied most of the girl’s claims, telling police he believed she was 18 and that she was making up false accusations about him to cover for the fact that she stole his Honda. But the second man accused of sexually abusing her, Angelberto “Goo...

Pac-12 board meets Monday: Packed agenda includes media rights and legal affairs but no decisions expected

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

The number of realignment carnival barkers and basement-couch Twitterati with an opinion on the Pac-12’s existential crisis runs into the hundreds, if not thousands across the college football landscape.The number of people who know the details of the media rights negotiations and expansion strategy is probably closer to 15 or 20.Many of them will convene Monday in Seattle for the quarterly board meeting.The presidents and chancellors are not expected to vote on a media deal or expansion. Resolution on both matters likely will come in the late spring or early summer.In fact, the twin pillars of Pac-12 survival will share the board’s agenda with a litany of other issues, including updates on the Pac-12 Networks and on-field competition, plus financial and legal affairs.Legal matters alone could consume an outsized portion of the meeting, for there are headwinds on numerous fronts facing the conference specifically and college sports generally:— Former Pac-12 executi...

What went wrong for the Warriors in ‘disappointing’ season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Steve Kerr examined the visitors’ locker room at Crypto.com Arena Friday night and saw tired eyes and disappointed faces looking back at him.The Warriors didn’t have enough this year, with their season coming to an end at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers, who defeated them in six games to advance to the Western Conference finals.There was obvious sadness amongst the Warriors, but many had already come to terms with the reality.“That’s probably where we should be,” a top-eight team in the league, Kerr said. “This is not a championship team.”The Warriors opened training camp eager to defend their title after an improbable climb back to the mountaintop last summer. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala had a fifth championship on their brain.“It’s mind-boggling to think that we have that opportunity,” Thompson said back in September. “We are going to seize it, I just ̵...

Youngkin signs law requiring stringent age verification for porn sites

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill Friday night that requires users to verify they are 18 years old through advanced verification methods to enter pornographic websites.He said this is in an effort to protect children from being exposed to adult content. Under the bill SB 1515, adult websites must require users to provide government-issued IDs, biometric scans or submit to age verification software.This new law is for websites where at least 33.3% of its content can be considered “material harmful to minors.”Earlier this month, a similar law was put in place in Utah. In retaliation, PornHub blocked all users in the state from accessing their content. Virginia also was warned by the porn industry that it could lose access to adult sites if the bill was signed.Critics of the bill say the legislation raises data privacy concerns while doing little to protect minors.The law goes into effect on July 1.Source