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Jarrell ISD and Williamson County work to keep up with growth

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Jarrell Independent School District's superintendent gave an update on the district's growth at a recent commissioners court meeting. She asked county leaders for their continued support in accommodating JISD's expanding population.Superintendent Dr. Toni Hicks presented the update at the December 5 meeting of the Williamson County Commissioners Court.Hicks thanked the county for its continued partnership in maintaining infrastructure such as roads in the historically rural community.Hicks said currently the student population is sitting around 3,800 which is expected to more than double in the next decade.According to a 2022 demographic report from JISD, the district's enrollment is projected to grow to 6,100 students by the 2026/27 school year, and 10,000 by 2031/32.Hicks said one of the next steps for keeping up with that growth is expanding the right-of-way for roads near the district's elementary schools. This would be up to the county to chang...

Thankful for sight: Senior shares her story about preserving her vision

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Debbie Pearson has spent more than half her life caring for others as a nurse.Last fall, an annual eye exam at Austin Retina Associates led to doctors discovering wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in her left eye.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in adults over the age of 55.In Travis County, more than one out of every 10 people have AMD.Pearson hadn’t been suffering any symptoms, so this diagnosis came as a complete shock."All of a sudden I couldn't see out of that eye,” she said. “I had been unaware of it because you use your eyes together."Having a family history of AMD, Pearson never missed her routine eye exams."I don't want to go blind but that’s a potential outcome without treatment and surveillance,” she said.Now, the 75-year-old is receiving regular treatment to restore her vision.This includes injections delivered by retina specialist Dr. Jose Agustin Mart...

Project Connect leaders preview next steps in engineering, design work

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — With Project Connect's initial phase one light rail plan greenlit, the Austin Transit Partnership held an event Tuesday morning with prospective prime contractors and subcontractors who could help shape the expansion of mass transit in Austin.Thirty-four prime contractors and 79 subcontractors gathered at ATP's headquarters in downtown Austin Tuesday, as the transit organization overseeing Project Connect outlined light rail development. It came as ATP continues working on initial architectural and engineering design work for the light rail system while simultaneously undergoing federal funding and environmental review processes. UT engineering students aid in Project Connect light rail design near Lady Bird Lake ATP officials said they anticipate sending out a request for qualifications (RFQ) to start a bidding process in January. By next summer, officials said they expect to award a contract for on-call preliminary engineering and planning work. That on-call prel...

Ex-Jimmy Lee recreation center worker pleads guilty to shooting teen; attempted murder charge dismissed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

A former St. Paul parks and recreation worker pleaded guilty to first-degree assault for shooting and critically wounding a 16-year-old boy last year at the Oxford Community Center/Jimmy Lee Recreation Center.Exavir Dwayne Binford Jr. entered the plea in court Monday after reaching a deal with prosecutors, who agreed to dismiss an attempted murder charge against the 27-year-old for shooting JuVaughn Turner in the head during a fight outside the rec center in the city’s Summit-University neighborhood.Exavir Dwayne Binford (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)Binford previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, with his attorney telling a judge that he had acted in self-defense.Prosecutors filed a motion Monday in court stating their intent to seek an aggravated sentence of nearly 10½ years in prison. The presumptive prison sentence calls for just over 7 years. Binford remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail ahead of sentencing, which was set for Feb. 9.Charges say t...

Glens Falls Hospital issues temporary mask mandate

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- In response to an increase in COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, everyone visiting the Glens Falls Hospital and off-site locations will be required to wear a mask effective Wednesday, December 13. All staff and patients will abide by the mandate. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! The mandate does not impact visiting hours or visitation requirements. Visitors are strongly encouraged to avoid eating or drinking while visiting. Individuals in need of an outpatient visit or testing with signs of respiratory illness or exposure are asked to notify the hospital upon arrival. The temporary requirement will be reevaluated in early January.

How to protect yourself from charity scams this season

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Division of Consumer Protection is cautioning generous New Yorkers against charity scams, which become more prevalent during the holiday season. Data from the Federal Trade Commission indicate that over 10K reports of charitable solicitation fraud were made in 2022, resulting in a loss of $21 million. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! “The season of giving is in full swing, and people are purchasing gifts for loved ones and making generous donations to causes they care about,” said Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez. “But before making these donations, it is important to remember that scammers like to prey on the good intentions of people, and we encourage New Yorkers to do their research before making donations so that these good deeds reach the right place.”Fraudsters may pretend to be affiliated with well-known organizations or even the government. To avoid charity scams, donors are encouraged to follow...

Officer involved shooting closes Morganford Road

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Police are investigating after an officer involved shooting this morning in south St. Louis in the Boulevard Heights neighborhood. It all happened a little before 9 a.m. on Morganford not far from Loughborough.Details are still coming in but at this point, police tell us that there was some sort of armed confrontation between at least one city police officer and one suspect. Authorities have not released details about what the armed confrontation was about.Investigators say that an officer fired shots. It's unclear whether the suspect fired any shots. Police say that nobody was hit by gunshots in the incident. There are two suspects in police custody and they may be juveniles.The force investigation unit has been called in on this case since an officer fired a service weapon.More details will be posted here as they come into the FOX 2 Newsroom.

Colorado Jews embrace Hanukkah amid Israel-Hamas war. “We are in a very dark place and we need light.”

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

As the days grow shorter, Jews around Colorado somberly and resolutely have begun Hanukkah celebrations of light, turning to tradition amid discord over the killing in Israel, the nation created as a haven for Jews fleeing persecution.Jewish community leaders on Monday reported healthy turnouts at holiday gatherings and more menorahs in windows than usual. Seldom have Jews felt a greater need for this eight-day religious celebration, said Dan Leshem, the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, which represents 40 Jewish organizations in the state.“We are in a very dark place and we need light, ” he said.But the estimated 110,000 Coloradans who identify as Jewish also have braced against rising antisemitism and intense public criticism of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defense Forces launched the military campaign in Gaza after Hamas, which has been designated by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization, attacke...

Chargers QB Justin Herbert out for the year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

Justin Herbert will undergo surgery on Tuesday on his broken index finger on his right hand and will miss the Los Angeles Chargers' remaining four games this season.Herbert visited two hand specialists on Monday after he suffered the injury during the second quarter of Los Angeles’ 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.“He is tough as they come, but we’re going to make sure that, whatever it is, we’re going to do what is best for Justin, long term,” head coach Brandon Staley said on Monday.Herbert is the seventh starting quarterback in the league to be lost for the season because of an injury if the Jets' Aaron Rodgers does not return from his torn Achilles tendon. That includes the top two QBs who signed extensions during the preseason.Herbert signed a $252.5 million extension on the first day of training camp and Cincinnati's Joe Burrow inked a five-year extension worth $275 million three days before the start of the regular season.Easton Stick will get his first NFL start on ...

Review: Evil’s banality smolders brightly in ‘The Zone of Interest’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:20:51 GMT

A Holocaust movie in the way a skull MRI is a mugshot, Jonathan Glazer’s film The Zone of Interest is a tribulation of evasion and restraint — in the best ways possible. As you watch this sinister, elusive thing, suffering its moral distance as if you’re holding your breath underwater, you feel every media representation of the Holocaust — every simplified conclusion and revulsed platitude — dissolve into goo. Adapted from the comparatively farcical novel by Martin Amis, Glazer’s movie is an aloof challenge, insisting in its horrifying coolness that you have your own subjective experience with it. What you take away is largely contingent on who you are.Most of us know enough about the Holocaust, specifically, Auschwitz, to let Glazer’s strategy do a job on us, in a calm cataract of brutal details that never comes close to being explicit. (An uninformed or duped viewer who knows or believes little about the history would be mystified.) Whereas Amis’s book, because it’s an Amis book, ...