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City manager announces new general manager for Austin Energy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The City of Austin Interim City Manager Jesus Garza announced several key leadership appointments, including Austin Energy's next general manager, according to a city news release Friday.Industry veteran Bob Kahn was announced as Austin Energy's new general manager, the news release said. His first day as general manager will be July 3, according to the city.“Since returning to this organization in February, I have spent considerable time assessing the strengths of our organization and identified opportunities to reorganize to ensure we are operating cohesively, effectively and efficiently,” Garza said. “I am confident the changes announced today will strengthen the City of Austin as we continually work to improve the services we provide to our residents.”According to the city, Kahn is a respected leader in the utility industry, and is currently serving as the General Manager of Texas Municipal Power Agency. He was formerly the president and chief executive officer ...

'Priced out:' Texans frustrated with property taxes and their politics

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — After more than two decades in Liberty Hill, Lyndon Ebright and his wife have built a good life in their forever home."I've got a lot of sweat labor involved on the property," Ebright said. He works on wood and metal projects in his backyard shop while his wife tends to a vegetable garden just under the patio he built.But those improvements, and the furious development of the greater Austin area, are taking their toll on their tax bills."I'll be priced out of the house," Ebright said. "I'll be forced to sell, and I don't want to be forced to sell just because I gotta pay my taxes."Ebright is recently retired and on a fixed income. They have no debt and have paid off their house, but Ebright is still concerned about their long-term stability because of one creeping cost — property taxes.In 2018, the Williamson Central Appraisal District valued Ebright's home at $71,506. This year, that value has ballooned to $137,971."It's a massive increase in five years. An unrea...

First 100-degree heat of the year comes early, but storms are possible this weekend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin recorded a 100° high temperature Friday afternoon nearly one month ahead of schedule, tying 2020 for our 10th-earliest start to triple-digit heat in any given year.A ridge of high pressure will build further over the next week, leading to dangerous levels of heat and humidity, and even several daily record high temperatures next week.Riding around the periphery of the ridge, however, is a compact but potent disturbance that will bring scattered thunderstorms late Saturday.The severe thunderstorm risk has increased locally late Saturday to 2 out of 5, even 3 out of 5 northeast of Austin. Very large hail, damaging winds, and an isolated tornado are possible. The main storm chance comes between 5 p.m. Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday.Severe storm threat late Saturday "The future is smoky": Northeast U.S. air quality problems linked to climate change Rain chances decrease Sunday, then disappear much of next week. Forecast high temperatures soar above 100 degrees thro...

Austin FC reacts to Lionel Messi coming to MLS

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Soccer superstar Lionel Messi is undoubtedly an all-time great and one of the most well-known athletes in the world. News came down earlier this week that the Argentine will be coming to Major League Soccer to play with Inter Miami. Lionel Messi picks MLS’s Inter Miami "I think along with everyone else [I'm] pretty impressed and excited to have such an influential figure in the game join our league," Austin FC Head Coach Josh Wolff said. "I think our league continues to grow and he'll continue to elevate the platform."Messi, who is heading to Florida from France's Paris Saint-Germain, won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina. Fellow countrymen and Austin FC Captain Sebastián Driussi have made waves in the MLS, and Driussi shares his coach's excitement."It's incredible," Driussi said through a translator. "Of course, all Argentinians are glad that he's here. And me especially because I came to this league knowing it's going to grow. Now it's definitely going to grow....

Vikings officially release star running back Dalvin Cook

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

A mere 24 hours after news broke that the Vikings planned to release star running back Dalvin Cook, they made the official announcement via social media.In the moment, Cook hit the open market, free to sign anywhere he wants ahead of next season. He has been linked to the Miami Dolphins and it wouldn’t be surprising if he wound up there in the very near future.As for the Vikings, they will move forward with running back Alexander Mattison as their leader in the backfield, with fellow running backs Kene Nwangwu, Ty Chandler and DeWayne McBride competing for playing time.Meanwhile, regardless of how things ended with Cook, it’s clear how much of an impact he had on the Vikings during his tenure.“I hold Dalvin in the highest regard and am grateful for his contributions on and off the field,” coach Kevin O’Connell said in a release while calling Cook a “dynamic player” on the field and a “respected leader” in the locker room. “We app...

Noyes & Cutler and Big Biscuit Bar to close temporarily because of Lowertown hotel construction

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

As construction is set to begin on a high-end hotel in St. Paul’s Lowertown, Noyes & Cutler and Big Biscuit Bar restaurants will close temporarily, building owner Jim Crockarell said.“There’s going to be a lot of construction that’s going to happen on the first floor,” Crockarell said. “We decided we can’t run two restaurants in the middle of a construction zone. We are temporarily suspending operations until we can get the hotel up and running, then Noyes and Big Biscuit will be an integral part of the operation.”Crockarell said the hotel will be part of the upscale Marriott Tribute brand and the name will be either Hotel Mears or Mears Hotel.Closing the restaurants is less than ideal, Crockarell said, but necessary. Employees will be offered jobs at other Madison Restaurant Group properties, including Handsome Hog, Ox Cart Rooftop, Gray Duck and others.“We have a home for all of them if they choose to stay with us,” he said.Crockarell said he hopes that Lowertown and dow...

Accessibility projects to begin this fall at William O’Brien State Park; open house Thursday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

An open house to learn more about plans to provide additional accessibility and updated amenities at William O’Brien State Park in northern Washington County will be held next week at the Wildwood Library in Mahtomedi.The open house, hosted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, will be 4-6 p.m. Thursday in the library’s Zephyr Room. DNR staff will share information and answer questions about the construction project, its impact on park visitors, and how the project fits into the park’s management plan.The construction project is slated to begin in September. Among the improvements planned: An accessible counter and accessible phone for visitors at the visitors center; an accessible path from the trail and parking lot to the picnic shelter, and accessible picnic tables.Starting in September, the lower part of the park, located east of Minnesota 95, will be closed to the public to accommodate construction.The Riverway Campground, the Riverside Group Camp, the Riverside Tra...

Smoke clearing in Capital Region draws people outdoors

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

RENSSELAER, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Albany skyline looked less smoky despite rain clouds on Friday. Some enjoyed an outside lunch. Some walked their dogs. Others just went out for a stroll. Whatever the reason, they were outside, enjoying the cleaner air.MORE NEWS from NEWS 10Maryanne & George Marano were out walking: “Oh it's wonderful, yesterday I couldn't smell anything so it's nice to be able to get back outside” Maryanne told us.Tyler Dick who suffers from asthma told us he had to use a nebulizer during the height of the smoke. “Especially compared to Wednesday, even in my office, I had to go home from work early because I just couldn’t breathe” he said.WATCH Empire State Weekly on NYS air quality responseIt wasn't just humans impacted by the smoke. Dog owner Dorothy Marcello told us her German Shepherd named Lydia had breathing trouble as well.“She likes to run wherever we go, but while the smoke was at its heaviest, [the dog] was really breathing hard, to a point I had to ca...

Cardinals Math: What might it take for postseason?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

ST. LOUIS - We're not quite halfway through the season, but the St. Louis Cardinals have some major work ahead if they hope for a Red October. The Cardinals enter the weekend with the third-worst record in the National League at 26-37. They trail the Milwaukee Brewers by eight games for the NL Central division lead and the Pittsburgh Pirates by seven games for the closest Wild Card spot. RELATED - Revisting Mike Shildt’s comments on his Cardinals departure The slow start has the Cardinals in jeopardy of missing the postseason for the first time in five years. In recent years, the Cardinals have propelled themselves to postseason behind some late-season surges. To some extent, that will likely be needed again. To what exact degree, it's not quite known. But perhaps some recent team history and current MLB seeding scenarios could give the Cardinals an idea of the challenge ahead. With less than 100 games remaining on schedule (99 to be exact), let's do some Cardinals math around so...

Time change for Warrenton High School graduation causes confusion, frustration

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:24:55 GMT

WARRENTON, Mo. - The threat of severe weather at an outdoor graduation has convinced Warrenton High School to make a time change on when seniors will walk.The school announced it's changing the senior graduation time from 7 p.m. to 10 a.m. This announcement has caused confusion and frustration among some graduating seniors."You're telling your family members like at 7 p.m., and then they have to like wake up now early to be there at 10 and get their seating," said senior Bryan Guerrero. "In one way, it's good, but in the other way – I think it's bad, I mean I feel like it should be at 7 p.m." Neighbors next to decomposed body say they smelled pungent odor for weeks "As you guys may know, Mexicans – we have a lot of family members, and well, I've got to call everyone and each of them and like change the hours that they got to be here," said senior Miguel Tano.Another issue is that ACT testing scheduled for Saturday morning is happening at the same time as graduation."An ACT is not ...